1 8 Stray Feathers. [,,f j^^.^ 



contain many " Nature Study Notes." The foregoing has been 

 taken from his MS. by permission. — Eds.] 



Swallows and Robins.— After the incident of the Swallows 

 {Hinindo neoxena) driving Dusky Robins {^Petnxca vittata) from 

 the latter's nest and dragging out the two young ones,* the 

 Robins retired to an outside verandah and built their second 

 nest. The Swallows, after spending a few days fixing up the 

 Robins' nest, left it and went back to their own old one. During 

 the nesting season of 1904 the Robins returned to the verandah, 

 but were driven off by the Swallows, who were early arrivals 

 that year, so they built a nest in a hollow tree in an adjoining 

 paddock. The Swallows reared one brood of four in their own 

 old nest, and a second brood of four in the Robins' nest. 



Last year the winter was late and the spring very wet, so all 

 birds were late in their nesting. The Swallows returned at the 

 beginning of September, but did not begin to fix their nest until 

 late in October, at which time the year before they had a brood 

 ust ready to fly. They completely discarded their own nest, 

 and spent nearly a fortnight doing up the Robins' nest with 

 mud and lining it with feathers. Here they reared one clutch 

 of four, and did not rear a second one this past season, although 

 our summer weather extended into March, and the migratory 

 birds did not leave us until towards the end of April. The 

 Dusky Robins built a nest in the shed last November. It seems 

 strange that these birds should regularly come to the school 

 ground to build their nest, in spite of the presence of the 

 children. 



Another interesting fact worthy of note occurred last year. A 

 pair of Scarlet-breasted Robins {Petrara leggii), which con- 

 stantly frequented the garden, built a nest in a corner of the 

 front verandah, where it was boarded up at the end. I used to 

 watch them through the window. Unfortunately, during a 

 strong gale, the nest was partially blown down, and they 

 deserted it. I was very sorry, as I think they do not commonly 

 build in such close quarters to mankind. 



A most extraordinary phase of Swallow nature was shown by 

 a pair of these birds at the house of some friends of mine who 

 live a few miles from here. A pair of Swallows had built a nest 

 and the female was sitting. No particular notice was taken of 

 the nest or its owners for some time, when one day it was 

 observed that two Swallows were busily engaged bringing in 

 mud. An examination was made, and it was found that the 

 female bird was entirely built round with mud, and was quite 

 dead. Regret was then felt for not having watched the nest. 



* Emu, vol. iv. , p. 16. 



