324 Stray Feathers. [TilApdi" 



title [Siiperbiis — proud;, and remains in brilliant colour through 

 May, June, July, August, through si)ring and early summer, until 

 nesting is over, and the moulting season comes round once more. 

 The time may vary somewhat in indixiduals; certain ones, for 

 instance, may not complete the moult until towards the end of 

 May ; but this is only to be expected, as there is no hard and fast 

 line in Nature. Some observers.have s])oken of a moult towards 

 the end oi June; this has never been observed by me in the adult, 

 but the idea probably originated in seeing the first coloured 

 feathers of the immature male ccjming through the neutral-tinted 

 ])lumage. 



The summer-change described above is a true moult, not merely 

 a loss of colour by abrasion, as I have frequently found the blue- 

 tipi)ed feathers in the bathing-tin which is put out for the re- 

 freshment of the small birds during the exceedingly arid months 

 of P>bruary and March. While the moult is taking place, the 

 male is very shy, "skulks" a lot behind shrubs or bushy plants, 

 and makes a dash for his bath when he thinks no one is looking, 

 while his wife and family come out cjuite boldly and chase each 

 other in and out of the tin with prodigious splashing. — H. Stuart 

 T)o\i;. F.Z.S., I\..\.O.U., W. Devenport, Tasmania. 



* * * 



The Yellow-throated Scrub=Wren as a mimic. — Among Aus- 

 tralian birds there are many that imitate the call notes of species 

 other than their own. The male Lyre P>ird (Meniira novcc- 

 hnllundi(C) is pre-eminent as an imitator, and may be justly 

 called the king of mimics, his mimetic ability going beyond the 

 notes of his own class. The bird, however, that is to be specially 

 mentioned now is the Yellow-throated Scrub-Wren (Sericornis 

 latlunni). The male of this species is a charmingly sweet 

 warbler, but he, too, is also an exact mimicker. A few years 

 ago, at (Xirimbah, N.S.W., the writer was first attracted by his 

 melodious notes. A nest with young had been found, and, 

 while waiting to make observations, to listen more intently to 

 his song, the notes of other birds were discerned. When moving 

 about damp gullies overgrown, with dense and luxuriant sub- 

 tropical trees, or proceeding along the banks of creeks fringed 

 with Lillipilly, Callicoma, Coachwood, and the like, the call 

 notes may be usually heard trilling from beneath their .sombre 

 shade. "Pit-pit-pit" the male and female call to one another, 

 as they hop along side by side, or within easy distance of each 

 other. Ever and anon he will pause to give his \aried and 

 tremulous song, while his companion joins in with a subdued 

 warble. If they are nesting, or if they arc about to commence 

 that operation, and a pedestrian is approaching their appointed 

 site, the male changes his usual song, inter|)olating it with notes 

 of other birds. Tlie song of the Eastern Spinebill (.Icaii- 

 thorhynchns tenitirnstris) is one he regards with favour, then 

 he will change to the notes of the Silvereye {Zosterops lateralis) 



