Vol. XV 111. 1 Stune, Bird-lover in Eus/orn Malice P'rinuc, Vic. 12^ 



browed {Artannts siiperdliosiis) and the Masked (.4. personal i/s). 

 Their somewhat makeshift nests were in evidence everywhere, 

 but the birds had only recently arrived, and therefore full clutches 

 were rare ; in eleven nests, two was the maximum. Later on in 

 the day we observed many hundreds of Wood-Swallows occupying 

 the upper strata of air, many of them slowly coming to earth, 

 this, I believe, being this particular fiock's first arrival in the 

 district for the season. Away, even higher in the bright, clear 

 sky, several hundreds of Cormorants were carrying out concerted 

 movements and fresh formations on their way from Lake Bael Bad 

 to Lake Boga. In the overhanging boughs of a clump of mallee, 

 7 feet high, the somewhat loosely-constructed nest of the Butcher- 

 Bird {Cracticiis destructor) was found, containing a full clutch of 

 four eggs. These birds, equally with the Black-backed Magpie, 

 almost immediately resent the intrusion of a stranger into their 

 domain, and in some districts have earned an unenviable name 

 for destroying caged Canaries. A large number of Tricoloured 

 or Crimson Chats had recently appeared, and were now spread 

 over the district busily engaged in selecting suitable nesting-sites. 

 In previous years they appeared to nest in any suitable site 

 offering near the ground in low scrub, or right on the ground under 

 dead brushwood. In favourable seasons Lake Boga district seems 

 to be a happy hunting-ground of three varieties of these really 

 beautiful birds — namely, the White-fronted {Ephthianura alhi- 

 frons), Orange-breasted {E. aiirifrons), and Tricoloured or Crimson 

 Chat {E. tricolor). 



On the previous day 1 had gone in an easterly direction and 

 found the delightfully pretty Orange-breasted Chat rearing young 

 in the blue-bush. They were exceptionally tame, and in the 

 bright sunlight they looked like bits of golden fluff, their little 

 black bibs accentuating the golden colour. The male Orange- 

 breasted Chat delights to perch on the topmost twig of the stunted 

 blue-bush (which is never more than 2 or 3 feet high) and pour 

 forth his poor little metallic song. There were fully a score of 

 pairs of these birds, and they have always appeared to be confined 

 to this one spot when they do happen to visit the district from 

 the interior. On the outskirts of the Chat colony a pair of tlie 

 beautifully-marked White-winged Wrens {Maluriis cyanotiis) had 

 successfully hatched three young ones, and the movements of the 

 parent birds through the bushes in search of food for the nest- 

 lings reminded one of those of mice. Very close to the Butcher- 

 Bird's nest we found the pendulous nest of the White-plumed 

 Honey-eater (Ptilotis penicillata), containing one young one and 

 one egg. The nest next claiming attention was that of the Black- 

 and-White Fantail {Rhipidiira uiotacilloides), containing four eggs, 

 with the parent birds bravel}- and fearlessly trying to drive us 

 away from their nest. 



A short distance and we discovered the poor makeshift nest 

 of the Australian Brown Flycatcher {Micrcvca fascinans), with 

 two eggs, and the similarly situated and liardl\- better nest of 



