NUMEROUS SMALL SUBJECTS 



for the Grass Warbler, two whistling notes, followed by a 

 rasping sound, greets the ear of the Nature student, but fail 

 to attract the attention of others. It is extremely difficult 

 to trace this call, moreover, as the owner thereof is an 

 efficient ventriloquist. 



Possibly we would have succeeded before now in locat- 

 ing a nest of the species were it not for the fact that any 

 kind of crop in these days is far too valuable to be trodden 

 down by roaming bird observers. Only once have we been 

 able to make a serious attempt to trace the bird to its home, 

 which in this case we judged to be hidden in a self-sown and 

 not very valuable crop. We were unsuccessful, but the 

 insight which we there obtained into its ways may be 

 useful to us later on. 



Many people are unaware that we have a native Song 

 Lark which soars as it sings, just as the English Skylark 

 does. Our Lark has not a song comparable with that of 

 the introduced bird, but the credit nevertheless that is due 

 to it in this respect is usually assigned to the English Lark. 

 When seen, moreover, the Song Lark is frequently confused 

 with our own Pipit, so that in all respects its light is hidden 

 beneath a bushel. The nest and eggs resemble greatly 

 those of the Pipit. 



That wonderful bird, the Bee-eater, is not a South Vic- 

 torian native ; we only wish that it were. We have a great 

 and strong desire to picture a species of such remarkable 

 beauty, and have also one eye on the fact that it is one of 

 those satisfactory nest builders which choose a burrow in 

 the ground. As the name of the bird indicates, it is not 

 averse to putting a bee in its place now and again, thereby 

 incurring displeasure in certain circles. However, it 

 would have been just as correct to call the bird the Insect- 

 eater, as it disposes of many more of other insects than it 

 does of bees. Probably, also, its reputation would have 

 been much better as a result of such a course. As matters 

 stand, its name has probably a great deal more to do with 

 its unpopularity than has the number of bees it destroys. 



We saw the Bee-eater once, once only, and for a fraction 

 of a second. We believe that a record of the bird so far 

 south is very unusual, but we are positive that our observa- 

 tion was correct. The bird we saw was disporting itself 

 in the tea-tree scrub along the course of the Plenty River, 

 Greensbo rough. We both saw it just for an instant, and 



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