38 Stray Feathers. [.sfTuly 



Have Birds Fixed Routes in Migration ?— In March 

 last a Rufous Fantail {Rhipidnra rufifro7is), that handsome, 

 delicate denizen of the mountain gully, appeared in the garden 

 of the School of Horticulture, Burnley, evidently en route from 

 the ranges to its winter haunts in the tropical scrubs of Queens- 

 land. On 1 2th December last year a single bird appeared, and 

 stayed in precisely the same part of the garden for a day or two. 

 It is impossible, of course, to say that this is the same bird, but 

 I suggest that it is, and that it passed the same spot on its out- 

 going as on its incoming journey. Referring to my note-books 

 I find I have records of solitary specimens of Rufous Fantails in 

 the same locality as far back as the year 1896. All the records 

 are in the months of either November, December, or March. — 

 A. G. Campbell. Melbourne, April, 1907. 



Do Birds Reason } — The following anecdote about the Blue 

 Wren suggests to me that they do. About our old homestead, 

 near Sunbury, Blue Wrens were always common and very 

 friendly, being easily attracted to the very doorstep by throwing 

 out a few crumbs. One day a fine male appeared in company 

 with his spouse and a brood of young birds. Some scraps of 

 bread were thrown out for them to feed upon. One of the 

 youngsters picked up a largish piece and endeavoured to swallow 

 it. The male, seeing this, quick as lightning dashed in and 

 took it from the other's mouth. Judge my surprise on seeing 

 the parent, instead of swallowing it himself, proceeded to beat it 

 up into small pieces to allow the young one to eat it without 

 the danger of choking itself. — Isaac Batey. Drouin, April, 

 1907. 



Robins in Autumn. — On the 17th April, rather later than 

 usual, the Flame-breasted Robin {Petnvca pJiceniced) appeared in 

 numbers in the immediate vicinit}' of Melbourne, the proportion 

 of red-breasted males in the flocks being about one to_ twenty. 

 The majority, as is always the case, are either females or imma- 

 ture males, and are of a very deep brown hue, which will in 

 about a fortnight wear to a greyish-brown, more in harmony 

 with the grey soil they love to frequent. A few days later a 

 solitary specimen of Petrccca rJiodiriogastra in brown plumage 

 was observed. I strongly suspect that this species is much more 

 common about the m.etropolis in winter than is generally 

 supposed, for it is easily mistaken for the female of P. pluriiicea, 

 which it resembles at a distance, but it differs in being smaller, 

 deeper in colour, and with a brownish mark on the wing instead 

 of white, and in frequenting thick growths about the gardens 

 or forest instead of the open country. 



