^'°''i?/'"'] Edwards, An Unidentified Petvoica. 3OI 



has trace of colour in the breast. The nest is cup-shaped, and 

 usually woven of soft stringy-bark, like that of the Scarlet-breast ; 

 eggs three in number, and greyish-white in colour, spotted with 

 brown. 



It has been suggested by experienced bird-observers that my 

 Robin was a Petroica nesting out of breeding plumage. This 

 suggestion is negatived by the fact that the Petroicas do not 

 nest in this peculiar manner, and that the nest of my bird was 

 found several times about Mittagong, in open timbered country, 

 and about creeks in the ranges. Further, the Robin to which 

 I refer has a strikingly large eye, tinged, I think, wdth pale 

 yellowish-white. 



It was also suggested that the bird might be the Scrub-Robin 

 {Drymodes brunneipygius), but it does not even faintly resemble 

 this species, and the Scrub-Robin does not nest in this peculiar 

 fashion, while the Tasmanian Dusky Robin does not come so far 

 north, and, further, in breeding habits and other points does not 

 answer to the description. 



I fancied I afterwards saw this apparently unidentified Robin 

 about creeks adjacent to the Snowy River, in southern Monaro, 

 but am not sure. On first discovering a pair of these Robins, 

 which, from their behaviour, evidently had a nest close at hand, 

 I searched on trees, stumps, &c. — everywhere, in fact, but the 

 right quarter. Eventually, the persistence of the birds in 

 returning again and again to a heap of cow manure induced me 

 to examine it, the nest being found built on the highest part of the 

 pile. 



A New Trait of the Goldfinch. 



By H. Stuart Dove, F.Z.S., Devonport, Tas. 



Mr. Arthur Mattingley's pleasant note on the Spinebill {Acantho- 

 rhynchus tenuirostris) in The Emu, vol. xviii., p. 209, was read with 

 much interest. Many times have we watched this spruce little 

 Honey-eater poised before a bunch of fuchsia or salvia blossom, 

 dipping his slender, curved bill into each flower while remaining 

 suspended on rapidly-vibrating wings. From this clever device 

 the bird is often known, not inaptly, as the " Tasmanian Humming- 

 Bird." But a few weeks ago I was much surprised to see that 

 the introduced Goldfinch {Carditelis cardnelis) was learning a 

 similar trick for obtaining sustenance. Some white cornflowers 

 {Centaur ea cyaneus, var.) had protruded their heads through a 

 picket fence, and a Goldfinch, in the absence of any support on 

 which he could place his feet, was suspended on the wing while 

 pulling with his beak at the florets in order to obtain the ovules 

 at the base of these. This Finch is exceedingly fond of the corn- 

 flower seed, whether immature or ripe, and it is difficult to collect 

 any from the plants when a flock of this handsome species is in 



