A'^.fr^ A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



237 



arid and isolated tract of Mallee countr}', locally known as tlic Wliipstick, 

 in the Bendigo district, Victoria. 



I cannot do better than quote from the " Victorian Naturalist " 

 Mr. R. H. Nancarrow's own pleasantly written account of the nidification 

 of the Chcstnut-runiped Tit: — "The llcd-ninipcd Acanthizas' nests that 

 I met with were built in low bushes, or in tangled bunches of scrub 

 creeper, and I naturally expected to find nests of its congener in similar 

 situations. More than once, on discovering a partly built nest where a 

 pair of C'liestnut-nmijjs was flitting about, I i-ecorded in my notes the 

 finding of the much coveted prize, but, to mj' chagrin, subsequent visits 

 invariably proved the nest to belong to some other species, and, notwith- 

 standing many long hoiu's of patient watcliing, the nidification of this 

 little bird remained a mystery to me until the summer of 1881. 



" In October of that year, I was watching a pair, and, from their 

 actions, I felt sure their nest could not Ijc far from where I was standing. 

 Presently I heard a faint " cheeping " behind me, and on tinning roimd 

 was delighted to see one of the birds feeding its young in, the nest. Now 

 I could see how I had hitherto been baffled, for the nest, instead of being 

 placed among foliage, as one would expect an Acanthiza's nest to be, 

 was actually built in the cleft of a hollow tree. In tliis case the nest was 

 about seven feet from the ground, in a dead, hollow sapUng, which was 

 cleft on one side from top to bottom. The cleft gave access to the 

 interior, where the nest — a neat, little domed stiiictiire, formed of strips 

 of bark and gi'ass, and lined with feathers and fiu' — was built. 



" A few days after I saw another pair on the edge of the scnxb, and, 

 now that I had the clue, I had not much difficulty in discovering their 

 nest. After watching them for a time, I saw one of the birds clinging 

 to a piece of bark that was hanging fi-om a half-burnt sapling, about six 

 feet from the gi'ound, and there, sure enough, was the nest, containing 

 three eggs. The bark formed a ' pipe,' with an oix;ning on one side. 

 Since then I have found three other nests. 



" The Red-iiunped Acanthiza is confined to the scrub, but the Chestnut- 

 rumped species is frequently met with at considerable distances from it 

 in the siurounding forest." 



One of the eggs collected by Mr. NancaiTow is in my collection. Young 

 have been noticed early in September. 



191. — Acanthiza squamata, De Vis. 

 SCALY-BREASTED TIT. 



Rifcrencc. — Proc. Roy. Soc , (j., vol vi., p. 24S. 



Gfograjihical Dixtrihiitiitn. — North Queensland. 



Next and Eijgx.- — Undcscribed. 



Oh.tfri'fifinnK. — Thi.s, tlio mo.st northern of our Acanthizas, is found 

 (so I am infoi-med by Mr. Broadbent) at the base of the Herberton RaJige, 



