NESTS A.\'D EGGS Oh AUSTKAUAN BIRDS. 25 I 



According to Mr. North the Spotted-lhroatccl Scrub Wren is also 

 a lover of forest fastnesses. In Gippshuid, he usually found its nest 

 at the bottom of a clump of sword-gi-ass or under the shelter of a 

 projecting fern branch. I agree with Mr. North that Scrub Wrens sit 

 al times very closely, so much so tiiat you may peer into the nest 

 entrance and sec a pulsating whitish-coloured throat, a sliai-p bill, and 

 a pair of white-encircled eyes. 



202. — Seiucornis HUMILI8, Gould. — (214) 



BROWN SCRUB WREN. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds ol .-Australia, fol., vol. iii., p. 47. 



Rejermce. — Cat. Birds Hrit. Mus., vol. vii., p. 310. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Qo\i\A: Birds of Australia (1848), also 



Handbook, vol. i , p. 357 (1865) ; North: Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 130 



(1889). 



Geui/ra/iliitd/ Uixtrilittt tan. — Tasmaiii.i, King Inland and Fmiieau.x 

 Group. 



Nest. — Somewhat large, covered in, with side entrance ; composed 

 of dead leaves, grass, moss, &c. ; lined inside with fur and feathers. 

 Usually situated on or near the ground in some thick bush or scrub. 

 In some instances a nest has been embedded under moss upon the 

 ground with only the entrance visible. 



J^O'J^- — Clutch, three, occasionally four ; oval inchned ; texture of 

 shell fine ; colour, light pui-pUsh-buff, splashed and spotted, especially 

 round the apex, with umber and purpUsh-brown. Large compared with 

 the size of the bird. Dimensions in inches of a pair: (1) -97 x 'GS, 



(2) -gx-G. 



Ohservatioiis. — The Brown Scrub Wren is common to Tasmania 

 and some of the islands in Bass Strait. As to its being a Victorian 

 bii'd, the statement needs to be verified by further evidence. 



Some of our Scrub Wrens, in cei-tain stages of plumage, resemble 

 the sombre-coloiu'cd Scrub Tit ; but when the latter was seen threading 

 the thick undergrowth of such places as King Island and Flinders 

 Island, it appeared to be much larger and different to the mainland bird. 



The egg of (he Fan-tailed Cuckoo fC. fluheUiformi.?) has been taken 

 from the nest of the Brown Scrub Wren. 



Breeding months from August to December. 



