BIRDS OF OUR BUSH 



birds as they left the nest. Even this unusual treatment 

 had little effect on their trustfulness, and they continued 

 their work as soon as they were liberated. 



In the banks of a sand pit between Greensborough and 

 Eltham a pair of ''Spotties" nested every season, and were 

 disturbed also every season by our attentions. A photo- 

 graph of the site of this nest is reproduced on page 128, and 

 will convey some idea of the class of position chosen by both 

 species of Diamond Bird. The entrance to the nesting 

 hole is plainly visible. The picture of a male ''Spottie" 

 was obtained near this nest. 



The haunts of the Diamond Birds in the Greens- 

 borough and Eltham districts are also famous to us for the 

 oppoitunities of observing the Speckled Warbler, a small 

 bird, not uncommon but far from widely known. The 

 opportunities for its observation in this district are un- 

 limited, as we have stated, but the opportunities for photo- 

 graphing it are rare — here or elsewhere. It is not at all 

 an easy bird to deal with, and, so far as we are aware, we 

 possess the only pictures of it in its natural surroundings. 

 What credit there is due to us for such a result has been 

 hard-earned, as it was after many hours of patient waiting 

 at scores of nests that we happened across a pair of birds 

 more trustful than usual. Not that we can say that even 

 that degree of trustfulness rendered photography an easy 

 matter. 



This particular nest was built amongst the very short 

 grass of an open paddock, and without cover of any kind. 

 It was not easy to locate, nevertheless, as it is a confirmed 

 habit of the species to spare no pains to disguise its home 

 This is done very successfully, too, a fact which is proved 

 by the conspicuous absence of the egg from the collections 

 of most of the egg-collecting boys of our day. The 

 material of which the nest was composed harmonised so 

 well with the surroundings that we had considerable diffi- 

 culty in finding it even when we flushed the bird at close 

 quarters. The parents were busy with a brood of young 

 ones recently hatched, and this fact probably accounted 

 for our success eventually. When the camera had been 

 placed in position and trained on the entrance of the nest — 

 the doorstep as it were — we found it necessary to retire to 

 such a distance that it was impossible to see clearly. 

 Within half-an-hour the birds had visited the nest once or 



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