PARDALOTUS. 



223 



31st of the same month, it contained four eggs very slightly incubated. On the 23rd November 

 I also cut out a nest of this species from a tree on the neck of Circular Head Peninsula, it was 

 only ten feet from the ground, and was a loosely put together dome-shaped structure, formed of 

 dead grasses and bark, and lined inside with bark; the bird was sitting on four pure white eggs. 

 The nest was scarcely a foot from the entrance, and there was much decayed wood and rotting 

 remains of former nests in the hole. I have also found the nest in a bank behind a rifle butt, and 

 in one of the sides of a gravel pit. The birds will fly close about and call vigorously while you 

 are there, and are sometimes loth to leave the hole at all. They breed from October to January. 

 Eggs very round and large, generally four in number. HylochcUdon itigricans disputes possession 

 of holes in which this species is breeding." 



From Tasmania, Mr. Malcolm Harrison writes me as follows: — " Pai'dnlofiis affinis nests 

 freely in holes in Eucalypts, and in the breeding season one can hear in all directions 

 its peculiar notes, resembling the syllable 'willyeu,' pronounced rather quickly. There can 



A BREEDING-PLACK OF THE ALLIED DIAMOND-BIRD, IK SOUTHERN TASMANIA. 



be no doubt that its general habit is to nest in trees wherever it can find a suitable cavity, 

 and only in two spots have I known of a departure from this custom. One of these localities 

 is a high sandy bank on the side of a river in Southern Tasmania, in which some years ago quite 

 a number of pairs nested, boring holes into the soft sand after the manner oi P.pmctatns. I have 

 generally visited this spot at least once during the breeding season in each year, and it appeared 

 to me that the number of birds decreased with each succeeding year, so that comparatively few 

 pairs now frequent the spot. Having what eggs I required, I did not on these occasions molest 

 them, and as I am not aware of others doing so to any extent, the falling off in numbers cannot 

 be attributed to persecution. 



"The second breeding place referred to was in a bank on the side of a tributary of the 

 former river. It was late in December when I observed the birds in the latter locality, and they 



