Vol. XXII. j ROIUCRTS, lairds of the Craiiitc Belt 291 



In numbers the birds would be : Rcgiiloidcs 0, Liiicaia S, 

 Chrysorrlious 3, Brcvirostris and ^llboyularis 2, Pusilla and 

 Sagittata 2, Fusco — and we have thus far pictured them at a 

 normal time, the more numerous in flocks, the less in pairs. As 

 the nesting season approaches a pair of Brcvirostris anchor them- 

 selves, become fierce and pugnacious, whilst the courting display 

 is very beautiful for so small and sombre coloured a bird; he 

 ruffles his head and cheek feathers, his dull coloured eye takes 

 on a sheen, and he literally hangs by his toes with out-s])read 

 wings and tail, .llhoguloris, too, anchors himself, and tlie song 

 is very sweet; in fact, this seems to be the male bird's contribu- 

 tion to the nesting. Pusilla becomes more than ever the stern, 

 silent fellow. Regidoides, Chrysorrlious and Lineata still wander 

 considerably, and their courting is of the nature of a si)arrow 

 fight ; nor do they seem to mind others of their kind prying round 

 their nests. 



As regards the nests, it is surprising that each sjjecies has 

 such individualistic ways of building. Smicrornis builds either 

 in a hanging or an upright bunch of twigs, but always starts with 

 a cup, the hood and dome being added as a sort of afterthought, 

 and not attached to the twigs of the tree. Ikiilding is very 

 prolonged in this species and we have seen the birds carrying 

 lining after the full clutch was laid. The nest is beautifully 

 built from the green needle-like leaves of the dog-wood woven, 

 but usually fastened in addition by the egg-containers and webs 

 of spiders. It is lightly lined with feathers and soft things, and 

 is quite diminutive. 



"This least of the Australian birds," as Gould puts it so beau- 

 tifully, lays a tiny egg. Alhogidaris, on the other hand, first sus- 

 pends by its top a hollow almost shapeless mass of bark fibre, 

 taken from the inner layers and consequently khaki in colour. 

 It hangs from a point where two or three twigs branch out, and 

 act as an anchor, is heavily woven, and, in addition to fastenings 

 from the useful spider, resin from the trees is used as a binding 

 and maybe waterproofing material, for it is usually concentrated 

 on the upper surfaces. This mass of bark, etc., is shaped by 

 putting in of stiffeners on the inside, and the bird, in doing this, 

 leaves her hindquarters protruding from the nest, an action 

 which is almost characteristic. The result of this bulging of 

 the centre is that the completed nest is shorter than the incom- 

 plete. Lineata builds high or low, and the nest is a gem when 

 finished. It is usually suspended from a single slender twig, and 

 anchored by a leaf ; pear-shaped when viewed from its front, but 

 square from the side, the entrance in the long axis of the suj)- 

 porting twig, the whole thing is beautifully modelled, and the 

 selection of material — brown bark fibre, white bark fibre, green 

 spider egg-containers, and so forth — is worthy of the sha])e. If 

 one w^atches the bird to find the nest it is immediately apparent, 

 to your sorrow, how far it will go for material, as it often flies 



