Birds of the Buffalo Basin 49 



end of April; at Pirie on September 27th, I watched a pair 

 vainly trying to lay the foundation of a nest on the elbow joint 

 of a down-pipe at the school; when the rain washed away their 

 structure they found out their folly and they gave up further 

 work there. The birds often build on ledges outside or inside 

 of buildings, or may choose a box set up for pigeons, but they 

 prefer a hole as their nesting site. On a ledge they build a 

 large foundation of mud, twigs and plant stems; but in a hole, 

 where no such support is necessary they content themselves with 

 constructing a cup of slender grass, lined with the very finest 

 strands or with hair. Those nests examined by myself have 

 either been empty or had young. At least two broods are reared 

 m the season, and Mr. Wood has found the young still in the 

 nest, though just ready to fly, as late as April 27th. The adults 

 are very bold in the defence of their young, and, even under a 

 verandah where they are receiving sanctuary, they swoop down 

 with their harsh guttural alarm at the heads of their protectors. 

 The young, on acquiring the power of flight, leave the nesting 

 site, but the adult pair remain. On 16th June, 1912, the female 

 of the Pirie church pair was caught in the church and put in 

 a wire enclosure with a rock-dove that had also been caught in 

 the church. Throughout the next day the male redwing haunted 

 his mate's prison, sitting often on the top of the wire netting. 



