| OCR Text |
Show 1875.] BIRDS FROM QUEENSLAND. 581 26. PODARGUS PHAL^ENOIDES. One specimen only procured ; it is looked on as a very rare bird at Cardwell. 27. PODARGUS MARMORATUS. One specimen only shot, at Salt-water Creek, near Cardwell. 28. EUROSTOPODUS GUTTATUS. Plentiful at times ; several specimens were obtained. They fly low over the clearings and grassy flats for about an hour at dusk. Its single egg is laid on the ground without any preparation for it, usually near some stone or stump on the side of a stony ridge; the ground-colour is of light-greenish, creamy white, sparingly marked all over with dots and oval spots of blackish and slaty brown, a few appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. Length 1*38 by 1 inch in breadth, both ends nearly equal. 29. EUROSTOPODUS ALBOGULARIS. I shot several of this species on the Mary river, but only obtained one specimen from the Cardwell district. The egg resembles that of E. guttatus, without the greenish tinge on the ground-colour, which is of a rich, light cream-colour, spotted sparingly all over with round dots and oval-shaped marks of black, blackish brown, and slaty black, which latter appear beneath the surface of the shell; length from 1*41 to 1*5 inch, breadth from 1*03 to 1*03, equal at both ends. I found this species breeding both at Brisbane and on the Mary river. My brother, James Ramsay, Esq., of Nanama, forwarded to me authentic eggs from the Merule in the Riverina district of New South Wales. I take the present opportunity of correcting a mistake respecting the egg of this species that I described as such in the list of birds from Port Denison (P. Z. S. 1875, p. 113); it evidently belonged to the following bird (Caprimulgus macrurus). Rainbird, who was not aware of the generic difference between the two birds, sent me a Eurostopodus instead of a Caprimulgus, the great similarity in the plumage of these two Australian species evidently misled him. 30. CAPRIMULGUS MACRURUS. This species is plentiful near Cardwell; many specimens were procured. I am indebted to Inspector Robert Johnstone for a fine pair of their eggs ; they were found on the ground on the side of a ridge near the Herbert river, and are of a light rich cream-colour, fading to whitish after being emptied, clouded all over with fleecy markings of pale slaty lilac, which appear beneath the surface of the shell ; length 1*1 by *8l inch in breadth. 31. CHATURA CAUDACUTA. Met with on the plains inland and flying over the extensive grass beds on the lower Herbert. |
