142 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



egg — nest in curious position, being placed on a dead limb that was 

 suspended in a creeper (Tfcoma austra/isj." 



Subsequently, in the same gully, several other nests of Rose Robins 

 were secured. It was the season (1898) after the fire-fiend had swept 

 wholesale through the ranges, and I was fearful that the dear birds would 

 for ever forsake the burnt and blackened tracts. 



On the 19th November I sent Arcliic to prospect, and to my 

 delight, he returned with two sets of lovely eggs. A fortnight after we 

 (Mr. J. Gillespie, mj'sclf, and son) again \-isited the locality and found no 

 less than three nests building, and apparently nearly finished, the female 

 in each case being the sole builder. This may in some measure account 

 for the length of time it takes to complete a nest. 



After the lapse of another fortnight (or on 17th Decembei') 

 Mr. Gillespie and I returned for the trophies. The first nest was situated 

 on a somewhat low hmb of a musk-tree, overhanging the stream, the 

 beautiful nest being protected by suckers, which threw theu- broad 

 and fragi'ant leaves around and over the nest. I ascended the adjacent 

 tree, and with the aid of the " monkey " (a sticky substance attached to 

 the end of a rod) I withdrew the eggs (tlu'ee) from the nest and passed 

 them down to my companion. 



The next nest was in quite a different situation, being exposed on 

 the Umb of a dead tree (blackwood) on the side of the hill. Mr. Gillespie 

 essayed the task of taking tliis nest, but the " monkey " failed to hold 

 at the critical moment, and two out of the three eggs fell to the ground, 

 and were most unfortimately smashed. The tliird and last nest was down 

 again near the stream, on the dead portion of an arching branch of a 

 musk. We fastened a rope to the centre of the limb, and passed it over 

 another forked branch above, then, with a saw, severed from its trunk the 

 hmb upon wliich the nest was saddled, lowering it down. It seems 

 easy to describe the t-ask, but the exertion expended to lower the limb, 

 at the same time to keep the precious nest upright, made the pair of us 

 perspire at every pore. The nest contained a pair of eggs. 



Never shall I forget the afternoon — that of a most delightful summer 

 day — because it was one of the last nesting-outs I enjoyed previous to 

 closing my manuscripts for the piibUsliing of this book. 



It seems specially fitting that Rose Robins, on accoimt of the romantic 

 interest surrounding them, and the extraordinary beauty of their moss- 

 made nest, should be associated with the close of my life-long work. How 

 appropriate, too, a frontispiece for a book on Australian birds they form 

 may be seen by reference to that so beautifully executed by Mi-. C. C. 

 Brittlebank for this work. 



Breeding months for Rose Robins have been proved to be from 

 October to January, during which time they possibly rear more than one 

 brood. 



