MUSCICAPID.E. 



123 



On the morn.n- of the 29th October, 190., at RosevUle, I disturbed from a nest bu.lt in a 

 aum sapHn- three vounR birds, two of which I captured, brought them into the Museum, 

 photocaaphed them as shown below, and returned them again to their anxious parents m the 

 afternoon Nine davs after, I saw one of them being fed ; it had grown almost as large as the 

 parent, the dark band on the throat was clearly indicated, and the tail feathers were nearly as 

 long as in the adult. 



In the neighbourhood of Svdney, nidil^cat.on usually commences early in September; the 

 tail below the branch being first constructed, and the entire nest is generally finished in ten 

 days- but when the buds ha^■e been just previously robbed of their eggs, it is built much 

 Quicker The eggs are deposited on successive days;£incubation, in which duty the male 

 takes part, occupying twelve days^ and the young birds leave the nest from ten to twelve days 

 after bein- hatched. Two broods are reared during the breeding season, which generally 

 terminates^about the middle of January, but at Eastwood I saw several new nests just bemg 

 started on tst January, 1S9+. On the same day I saw a pair of these birds attending to the 



wants of a young Square-tailed Cuckoo. 



No species more readily forsakes its nest 

 if disturbed while building, or clings more 

 pertinaciously to it after the eggs are laid. 



On the 24th September, 1898, at Koseville, 

 I found a nest built on a thin horizontal 

 branch of a gum sapling, about eight feet 

 from the ground, and saw one of the birds 

 sitting on it. A companion who was with 

 me climbed the tree, and before I could warn 

 hull, put the tip of his finger inside the nest 

 which was just finished. On visiting it ten 

 days later we saw the birds removing it to the 

 topmost twigs of a sapling, about forty yards 

 away, and to a height of twenty-five feet from 

 the 'aound. This nest was examined on the 

 :6th October, with a sm.lar result, portion of it bein^g removed three days later,_the tail alone 

 being left at the end of a week. The nests, however, are riot removed by the birds as a rule, 

 althou-h they are often deserted if one only too closely examines them. 



The following instance will illustrate the tenacity with which this species clings to its 

 nest after the eggs are deposited. On the 2c,th October, 1898, Mr. C G. J°^-7;-; ^^f 

 visited a nest we had found nearly finished the previous week, m a tall gum sapling on the side 

 of a gully at Chatswood. On nearing the tree .-e saw one of the birds fly up to the nest and 

 relieve its mate who was sitting. After awaiting for a few minutes, my --P-j-^j-^^f^^ ^^ 

 lower limbs of the tree, but the occupant of the nest did not move. Reaching the ne t he tried 

 to frighten it off by waving his hands, but it would not budge, and all attempts to dislodge 1 

 with : thin stick wle of no avail. He then tried to lift it off, but the bird clung wi hi s 

 to the lining of the structure. Finally slipping his fingers down to the bird s claws, he gently 

 detached them from the sides of the nest, and placed the bird in his coat-pocket w:hile he took 

 the eggs. This was by no means an easy feat, for he could just manage to reach the nest as 1^ 

 was built on a very thfn terminal twig, and a gale was blowing at the time After descend ng 

 Lm the tree and examining the eggs, which proved to be ^^^ .'^[^^ ""f^-ff;^^ 

 and one of the Square-tailed Cuckoo (Caccnantis vanolosus). he lifted the bird out of h. pocke ■ 

 It did not exhibit the slightest fear or struggle to get free -while we examined it. Directly U 

 was restored to liberty, it flew to a neighbouring branch and started to preen its feathers, and 



WIHTF.-SIIAFTED FANTAlLS (FLKDGELINGS) 



