^'°'i^^^"j GILBERT, The Urcnujc-wUujcd Trcc-Runncr. 125 



vantage when the bird is ll\ing-. The tail feathers are bkickish- 

 bruwn, some of which are tipped with wliite. 'i'he under surface 

 generally is a dull white streaked with light brown ; the under 

 tail coverts are barred with blackish brown ; and the head of the 

 female is slightly darker than that of the male. 



The nest is a neat structure closely resembling the branch on 

 which it is built, enabling it to escape the notice of all but those 

 acciuainted with the nesting habits of this bird. It is composed 

 of flakes and scale-like pieces of tea-tree bark, or shreds of stringy 

 bark and turpentine bark. An abundance of spiders' web is 

 used to hold the materials together, such is the skill of this 

 avian architect ; while fragments of lichen loosely laid in the 

 b.'^ttom of the rece{)tacle, or worked in with spiders' web, make 

 the only lining. .V rare specimen has ornamentations of lichen 

 around the rim, and on the outside, giving it a handsome ap- 

 pearance. August to December is the usual breeding period. 



Two or, more often, three eggs are laid for a sitting. The 

 ground colour is bluish-white, over w^hich spots, speckles and 

 blotches of glossy black and umber are spread. Many faint 

 underlying markings of grey appear beneath the prominent sur- 

 face markings. The coloration is thickest at the larger end. 

 where it gathers together to form a conspicuous zone. The eggs 

 take twelve or thirteen days to incubate. Cold weather hinders 

 incubation, while warm weather hastens it. The young remain 

 in the nest for thirteen or fourteen days. Oak (Casitarma), 

 Tea or Paper-bark (Melaleuca), Ironbark {Bucalyptiis,} and 

 Apple (Anyophora) trees are most frequently selected to build in. 



As the young grow from day to day, the parent birds are en- 

 abled to leave them for considerable lengths of time. . Nature, 

 in her many experiments, has taught the young the necessity 

 of relaxing and exercising their wings before undertaking the 

 risky move of leaving their nest. Many imitations of the flying 

 movements of the wings are fulfilled by the young, which 

 toughen and tighten their sinews, and develop their wing and 

 body muscles. From all apearances, it is a time of great anxiety 

 for the parent birds in keeping their young together once they 

 quit the nest. Long after they have left the nest, they are waited 

 on by the parents, who are tireless in their efforts to meet the 

 appeals for food expressed by gapes and vibrating wings of their 

 ravenous young. All kinds of insects in various stages of de- 

 velopment are devoured by this species. 



One day while leisurelv rambling through the bush, two 

 Orange-winged Tree-runners were met wdth, busily tearing and 

 tugging at some loose Tea-tree bark. As soon as they had torn 

 a i»iece of the requisite size, they hurriedly flew to another Tea- 

 tree near by. It was ascertained that a nest was in the course 

 of construction. They were so absorbed in preparing a home 

 for their potential offspring, that one was able to approach quite 

 closely and watch their movements without disturbing them. 

 The energy with which they uttered their call was ample evidence 

 that thev had warmed to 'their work. While one placed the 



