158 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA : 



upright trunks of the trees, commencing at the bottom, 

 and gradually creeping up the bole to the top, generally 

 in a spiral direction. It is so partial to the CasuarincB 

 that I have seldom seen a group of those trees without 

 at the same time observing the White-throated Tree 

 Creeper, their rough bark affording numerous receptacles 

 for various kinds of insects, which constitute its sole 

 diet. 



The White-throated Tree Creeper is very plentiful in 

 the neighbourhood of Ringwood, Croydon, Bayswater, 

 and other parts of Victoria, where it renders valuable 

 service in destroying many insect pests in the orchards. 

 I have counted as many as thirteen in one orchard 

 searching for insects on the fruit trees and amongst the 

 strawberry plants. They were so intent on their work 

 as to permit me to approach close enough to see them 

 extracting small grubs from the crevices in the bark on 

 the fruit trees. 



The breeding season is September and the three fol- 

 lowing months, during which time they usually rear two 

 broods. The nest is built of grasses, is warmly lined 

 with feathers, and is placed in the hollow branch or bole 

 of a tree. The eggs are two in number, of a dull white, 

 thinly speckled with fine spots of rich brown and a few 

 larger blotches of the same colour. 



The female is precisely the same in colour, with the 

 exception of having a small orange-coloured spot just 

 below the ear coverts, and by which she is at once dis- 

 tinguished from the male. 



