90 PRIONOPID.E. 



remarks: — "Magpie- Larks, which have been absent for three years, are now here in hundreds." 

 And again, on the 24th January, i8g6, Mr. Boyd writes: — "The 'cane-beetles' have been here 

 in milHons this season; about ^"700 has been already spent in buying them from collectors at 

 sixpence a quart. A quart holds about two hundred and twenty." 



Stomachs of these birds I have examined, contained chiefly portions of \arious insects, those 

 being shot near the coast also containing a little sand mixed with a few blades of grass. I have 

 never known it to eat fruit or grain. Pastoralists, sugar-planters, farmers, and orchardists, to 

 whom this bird renders such valuable services, should therefore assist in affording it absolute 

 protection by preventing thoughtless boys and pot-hunters from trespassing on their lands in 

 search of "something to kill," not only in the close season but all the year round. The ever 

 trustful and fearless disposition of this bird should in itself be a sufficient claim to the protection 

 it undoubtedly deserves; but unfortunately the easy manner in which it may be approached is 

 too often the cause of many of them falling victims to misplaced confidence in man. It is an 

 extremely sociable species, freijuenting the vicinity of houses, and breeding in trees close to the 

 streets in many of the outlying Sydney suburbs. As I now write there is one calling in a 

 fig-tree in the Museum grounds. On the outskirts of Ashlield, during the autunm months, I 

 have observed just about dusk large flocks of these birds lea\e the well timbered paddocks, 

 where they had been feeding all day, and take up their (|uarters for the night in some lofty 

 gum trees in the most thickly populated part of this suburb. 



Although the flight of this species is apparently slow and laboured, it is remarkably active, 

 and an expert dodger when on the wing. While accompanied by Mr. i£. H. Lane and Mr. 

 George Savidge, at Rosexille, near Middle Harbour, w'e heard shrill cries of distress uttered 

 by some bird, .-uid on looking round observed a Magpie- Lark and a White-fronted Falcon 

 (Falco lumilatui), tumbling over and over one another in the air. This was kept up for ten 

 seconds or mare, the Magpie-Lark at last successfully eluding the grasp and further pursuit 

 of its flset-winged and active enemy. 1 have also frequently seen it exhibit remarkable powers 

 while on the wing, pursuing generally a zig-zag course, more espsciallv when molibed by a 

 flock of smaller birds. 



The nest is a round bowl-sha|ied structure, and is formed ot pellets of mud mixed with 

 bits of grass or rootlets, the inside being lined with dried grasses and occasionally with feathers. 

 An average nest measures externally five inches and a half in diameter by four inches in 

 depth ; the inner cup measuring four inches and a quarter in diameter by two inches and a 

 quarter in depth. It is usually placed on a bare horizontal branch, but not infrequently a site 

 is selected where a few upright leafy twigs are growing out which slightly shelters the structure, 

 although no attempt at concealment is made. It is a conspicuous object and at all times easy 

 to discover, for it is generally placed towards the extremity of a limb, or some distance 

 away from the trunk of the tree. .\ favourite situation is a smooth-harked gum tree on 

 a river bank, but it may be also found in trees in open forest country, some distance from 

 water. It is built at \-arious heights, generally it is from twenty to sixty feet, but in stunted 

 timber it is much lower, and I liave found it in a Melaleuca' Vi\thm ten feet from the ground. 

 The nest of this species resembles that of Struthidea cincrea, but when closely examined 

 may be generally distinguished by its greater average depth, straighter w^alls, and thicker rim. 

 Nests are frequently built close to the one occupied the previous season, and often inside of the 

 old one. I once saw four nests built one on the top of the other, resembling so many basins 

 placed one in the other, only about two inches of the top portion of the three upper nests being 

 visible. At Ashfield I saw a nest of this species, resorted to by presumably the same pair of 

 birds for three successive seasons. It is remarkable that the Black and White Fantail 

 (Saulopyocta melaleuca) frequently constructs its nest in the same tree as one containing a 

 nest of Grallina picata. 



