XESTS AND EGGS Ol' .{LSI KALIAN BIRDS. 201 



Mr. J. A. Kershaw took a pair of fresh cgg.s about the :niddle of 

 October, 1886, in Gippsland. Therefore it would appear tliat tlie 

 breeding season for Llic I'ilot Bird may be included in the months from 

 October to January. 



212. DUYMAOSDES BUUNNE0PYGIU8, Gould. (173) 



SCRUB ROBIN. 



/^igH>-ir.- Gould : Birds of Australia, lol., vol, iii., pi. lo. 



Reference. — Cal. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. vii., p. 343. 



Previous Description 0/ Eggs. — Campbell: Victorian Naturalist, vol. xv., 

 p. 130. 



Gfoyraplncal Uistrihution. — New South Wales, Victoria and South 

 Australia. 



Xt>it. — Cup-shaped, .somewhat loosely constructed ; composed of 

 strips of bark outwardly protected by twigs, and lined inside with grass 

 and a few rootlets ; situated in a slight hollow scraped in the ground, 

 in thick wattle (acacia) sci-ub. Dimensions over all, 7 to 8 inches ; egg 

 cavity, 3 inches across by 2 inches deep. 



Eijys. — Clutch, one, probably two sometimes; stout oval in shape; 

 textiu'e of shell fine ; surface glossy ; colour, light greenish-gi'ey or didl 

 greenish-white, spoiled and blotched (in confluent patches round the 

 apex) with cinnamon-brown and slate. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) •98x-74, (2) -92 X -7. 



Observations. — There are two or three species of these rare RobiMs 

 in Australia, winch, on account of the lengthened legs, would appear 

 to spend much of their time upon the gi'oimd. Therefore it seems to 

 me that " Groiuid Robin would have been a more appropriate 

 vernacular name than Scrub Robin. 



With reference to the finding of the first Scrub Robin, Gould 

 writes: — "I discovered this singular bird in the gi-eat Miu-ray scrubs, 

 where it was tolerably abimdant ; I have never seen it from any other 

 part of the country, and it is doubtless confined to such portions of 

 Australia as are clothed with a similar character of vegetation. It is 

 a quiet and inactive species, resorting much to the groimd, over, which 

 and among the underwood it passes with great ease ; it appeared rarely 

 to take wing, but to depend for its secuiity upon its dexterity in 

 liopping away to the more scrubby parts. I have occasionally observed 

 it mount to the most elevated portion of a low bush, and there , pour 

 forth a sharp, monotonous whistling note, not very unlike that of some 

 of the Pachi/crpha/ince ; indeed, it wa.s its note that first attracted my 

 attention to it. When on the ground, and occasionally when perched 

 on a twig, it elevates its tail considerably, but not to the extent of 

 the Maluri." 



