32 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



of eucalypti are ubed for building in, the rule is low to mother 

 earth. 



The two species build promiscuously, favouring a brake of 

 low scrubs. The nests are placed in prominent positions, each 

 species as a whole keeping apart, though in certain instances 

 members of both species nest close together. 



By the middle of December many of each species were 

 preparing homesteads for the third brood, and they seldom 

 use the nests of a past family for a future one. Late builders 

 were observed in the early portion of January carrying twigs. 

 After sundown those birds not engaged in the night caring for 

 the young or eggs congregate in bodies of from 10 to 15 close 

 to each other in a tree or shrub convenient to the nests and 

 near the ground, and there pass the night. 



With both kinds I find an egg deposited each day, and the 

 first of the clutch hatches out on the twelfth day of sitting. 

 The young of the two species fly upon the eleventh or twelfth 

 day from hatching, subject to a shght variation in a number 

 of broods. 



Nest. — Saucer-shaped ; twigs externally, with finer grasses 

 within them ; very flimsy or neatly made. Further reference 

 above. 



Eggs. — Two or three, sometimes four, to a, sitting. The 

 under surface may be light brown, or occasionally light green, 

 and all blotched with light or heavy brown. Length, 0.8 inch ; 

 breadth, 0.7 inch. 



