.VESTS AA'D nCGS OF AUSTKAUAN lilKDS 



239 



I myself am inclined to <agree with the schoolboy sohition, that the 

 second nest is really a comfortable shelter-place not only for the male 

 but also for the female, as required. Wc know tliat some Finches and 

 the Babblers ( I'miiaforfiinl J build shelter nests. Why not the Yollow- 

 tailcd Tit? 



Tlie nests of the Yellow-tailed Tits ai-e frequently the receptacle of the 

 single egg of both Bronze Cuckoos. 



It is (lifticult to define a rca.son why the Yellow-tailed Tits, like Finches 

 and Xerophila-s, should occasionally build their homes underneath and 

 adjoining the nests of such birds as Magpies, Ravens, and Eagles. Two 

 instances of the Tit's nest attached to a Magj^ie's came under my own notice 

 while in Tasmania. At Con'a Linn, on the 13th October, 1883, in com- 

 pany with the late Mr. F. H. Reed, I found such a combination, and three 

 days afterwards at Ridgeside I found another, with fresh eggs in both 

 nests — two in the Tit's and throe in the Magi>ie's. 



I possess the following note from Mr. C. C. Brittlebank ; — "29th 

 August, 1893. — Nest of Y'ellow-tailcd Tit attached to imder side of 

 Magpie's nest. Found one also on Eagle's nest.'' 



At Pyke's Creek, South Queensland, Mr. Hermann Lau records 

 having found a clutch of five eggs in the nest of a Yellow-tail, and that 

 tho bii-ds for several successive seasons built in a bulky rose bush. 



Mr, Jas. G. McDougall. writing from Yorko Peninsula, South Austi-aha, 

 says, regarding tliis species, " six eggs are not unusual. " but he did not 

 denote whether he meant a clutch including Cuckoos' eggs. I may here 

 mention, in regard to the Yellow-tailed Tit laying eggs white and some- 

 times faintly spotted, I never recollect finding both in the same nest. 

 Instances of nests with the spotted eggs are in small proportion to the 

 number of nests with the usual pure white eggs. 



Mr. C. French, junr., reported a nest containing eggs observed in 

 Fawkner Park, near Melbourne, 20th May, 1896, while a nest, built in 

 the usual way, containing three fresh eggs, was found 11th July. 1894. 

 near Owen Springs, Central Australia, during the Horn Expedition. 



Breeding months are, of course, chiefly in the spring and summer 

 season, but occasionally in autiunn and winter, according to locality and 

 season. 



A few birds occasionally continue constnicting or adding to their nests 

 after the eggs have been laid — the Yellow-rumped Tit is one. 

 Mr. C. C. Brittlebank tells me he has noticed the Little Tit, Red-browed 

 Finch, Swallow, Fairy Martin, and White-throated Tree Creeper doing so 

 likewise. 



193. — Ac.\NTHiz.\ REGULOiDES, "Vigors and Horsfiold. — (230) 

 BUFF-RUMPED TIT. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii., pi. 62. 



Reference— Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. vii., p. 299 



Prcvipiis Description of Eggs. —Ramsay : P. Z. S., p. 575 (1866) 



GeofjraphicaJ Dhtrihutinn. — South Queensland, New South Wales. 

 Victoria, and South Australia. 



