^'^'"i^iV"'] Movt.SE, Nesdng Notes from Moree. 6q 



here, seven years ago, we cleared a small area of ground, and in 

 felling one tree, close to where the present nest is, a limb split 

 open, which contained, for fully two feet, mould, and more 

 particularly bones of small birds and mammals ; there must have 

 been thousands destroyed to form such an accumulation of 

 bones, which were chiefly the jaws of small rodents and beaks 

 of birds. 



4th February. — Found a Mistletoe-Bird building. As on a 

 previous occasion, I noticed the little female bird did all the 

 work, encouraged by the melodious little twitter of her more 

 gaily-dressed mate. 



5th February.— Noticed a pair of what I believe to be Black- 

 eared Cuckoos ; have never seen these birds before. Most of 

 the Wood-Swallows have disappeared during the previous fort- 

 night, though I have not noticed them collect as they usually 

 do before migration. The Bronze-Cuckoos and Pallids are still 

 about, but the Fantails have been absent for the whole of the 

 summer. I cannot help thinking that these birds winter here, as 

 I have noticed many of them in the depths of winter in the big 

 belar scrubs. About July one could see 20 or 30 birds in half an 

 hour's ride, but they all go away for the summer. The Pallid 

 Cuckoo is here all the year, but the Bronze leaves us in March, 

 and does not appear till the following spring. 



■ Have been carefully watching all the season for another set 

 of Owlet Nightjar's eggs with the black markings. The bird 

 did not come back to the same hollow to nest. I have been 

 unable to find a Nightjar's at all this season, although we can 

 hear the little birds calling every night close to the house. 



loth February. — Merops ornatus. — ^Took a young Bee-eater 

 from its nest to photograph it. The nest had a fortnight earlier 

 (when the little ones were just hatched) been broken in by a horse ; 

 we noted the occurrence, and built a roof of boards over the tunnel. 

 I have done the same thing on several previous occasions, and 

 have never known the birds to desert their young, though our 

 construction was very different from the original. 



12th February. — Dicceum hirundinaceum. — Found a nest of the 

 Mistletoe SwaUow containing three fresh eggs ; just recently have 

 noted several of these little birds getting material for building. 



I2th February. — Ptilotis sonora. — Found a Singing Honey- 

 eater's nest with two eggs. I often wonder why these birds are 

 designated " Singing." Their notes are few and far between — 

 one a " Preet, preet, preet," which is a call to its mates ; another 

 a plaintive little mew, something like that of a kitten ; and another 

 of two notes, which I never heard during the breeding months. 

 Their food is chiefly gathered from the mistletoe blossoms, and, 

 although they can be heard from the house, I never knew one to 

 touch fruit in the garden. 



Turnix velox. — Last week I brought home a Little Quail, the 

 young of Turnix velox — a tiny thing not larger than the joint of 

 one's thumb. For the first afternoon it would not eat, but next 



