50 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



YELLOW-BREASTED SHRIKE- 

 ROBIN 



(Yellow Robin), 



Eopsaltria australis, Lath. 



E-op-sal'tri-d aus-tra'lis. 

 Eos, dawn ; psaltria, a female harper ; australis, southern. 



Eopsaltria australis, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fol., vol. iii., 



pi. 11. 



Geographical Distribution. — Ai-eas 3, 4. 



Key to the Species. — Abdomen bright yellow ; only upper throat 

 whitish ; upper surface greyish ; rump pale yellow ; bill at nostrils 

 broader than high; culmen, 0.7 inch. 



The liome of this strangely-coloured Robin is principally in 

 the most densely timbered lands of the eastern portion of the 

 Commonwealth. In the jarrah country of the western half 

 there is a second species of the genus in which the yellow of 

 the breast is replaced by white {E. gularis, White-breasted 

 Shrike-Robin). 



The growers of the smaller kinds of fruits scarcely realize 

 the value of this most thorough insect-eater, which renders 

 incalculable service in those orchard lands situated in humid 

 valleys untouched by other species. 



The silent, unobtrusive bird, that would not so much as 

 disturb a thought of the naturalist in a glen, will remain for 

 minutes together attached in a perpendicular position to a 

 tree without any apparent movement of muscles or feathers. 

 Suddenly it noiselessly darts at a fly, and as suddenly regains 

 its former position in readiness for a second excursion. One 

 Saturday afternoon I approached a tree, thinking to take off 

 what I considered at the distance to be a new fungus, when, 



