Vol. XVItl, 

 1919 



1 Gilbert, Notes on Chestnut-rumped Ground-Wren. 293 



Tawny-crowned, and White-bearded Honey-eaters. The notes of 

 these birds are intermingled with those of his own, more especially 

 during the breeding period. This mimicry, too, is the best 

 indication that nidification has commenced. The female is 

 always exceedingly shy, and, almost needless to say, is a visual 

 nonentity in the breeding season. However, both sexes are 

 habitually cautious, and while they are foraging in the under- 

 growth for some entomic morsel they are ever on the alert, and 

 never neglect to ascend to some vantage-ground from whence 

 they can see that no enemy is lurking round. More usually the 

 male assumes this responsibility, and if " all's well " frequently 

 gives forth his magnificent song, but should an intruder be 

 lurking around he gives a warning note, and both make themselves 

 scarce the while. Sometimes the female creeps up to watch for 

 any prospective enemy, and should " no enemy " be in sight 

 utters a few clucks, and both resume their foraging together ; 

 but she, too, gives a warning note similar to that of the male, when 

 they both disappear into the thickest part of the undergrowth. 

 In the late winter and early spring, when the male is in full song, 

 he frequently ascends a small sapling to 10 or 15 feet to give forth 

 his liquid notes, but never leaves the foliage, and descends as he 

 arose. 



The nest, which is a domed structure, is either placed on the 

 ground or up to a foot off it, and is usually constructed, out- 

 wardly, of coarse bark and grasses securely woven together ; 

 inwardly, of finer materials, and lined with down and feathers of 

 other birds or very fine bark. If the nest is raised from the 

 ground the entrance is more towards the top, but when on the 

 ground it approximates that of the Speckled Warbler {Chthonicola 

 sagittata). The female appears to do all the building. At Rose- 

 ville, N.S.W., during March, 1916, I saw a female carrying bark 

 to a nest half built. It was placed under a broken dead branch 

 of a eucalypt lying on the ground among stones and stunted 

 undergrowth. The male stood by as she worked at it, and 

 dodged here and there whilst she went in pursuit of more material. 

 The next time I visited the nest I found it lined, but apparently 

 deserted, as it was saturated with moisture — the results of a 

 heavy downpour. This is the only instance of autumnal nidifica- 

 tion that I have come across. 



Three eggs form the normal sitting ; they vary in ground colour 

 from purplish-buff to a brownish-buff, with either a cap or zone 

 of much deeper tone on the larger end. They are lustreless or 

 slightly lustrous, with the grain inclined to coarseness for such 

 small eggs. The shape varies from elongate-oval to a roundish 

 oval, the smaller end being somewhat pointed in some specimens. 

 They are usually zoned, but occasionally the capped specimens 

 are met with. The former have freckles and spots in varying 

 intensity from the zone outward, diminishing as they reach the 

 smaller end. The latter are rarer and more handsome, and arc 

 generally of the brownish-buff type, with very few surface 



