84 CmsHOLM, Notes on the Yelloi^f-bellied Shrike-Tit. ris^"oci 



charge for the night by a casual adult female bird. I visited the 

 locality many times in the hope of seeing the company again, but 

 — though a large flock of Pied Grallinas {Grallina picata) regularly 

 spent the night in the one clump of bushes near by — the Shrike- 

 Tits did not return to the sapling where the quintette slept. A 

 full month later, however, I was at the same spot (the fringes of 

 the Maryborough reservoir) at dusk, and, watching a light- 

 coloured Shrike-Tit, finally saw it settle down in the identical 

 sapling that had been patronized by the five birds — right out on 

 a tiny branchlet again. Sitting bunched up, with crest flat, it 

 looked for all the world like a Yellow-breasted Shrike-Robin. The 

 throat of this bird showed a dull green breaking through the 

 creamy-yellow. 



Respecting that quivering supplication used by the young 

 Shrike-Tit, Mr. Whitlock, I notice, describes this as practised by 

 the adult female of F. leiicogaster. However, of the dozens of 

 pairs of F. frontatiis that I have watched in season and out, no 

 female was seen to act thus. The female is not fed on the nest 

 by the male. The last time I heard that quavering cry, and saw 

 the Robin-hke tremor of the wings, was in January, 1915, the 

 actors being two lusty young Tits, one of which followed a male 

 parent, while the other accompanied the female. Each of the 

 fledgelings looked sturdy enough to fend for itself. 



Of the utility of Shrike-Tits there can be onl}" one opinion. 

 Unquestionably they are among our most valuable birds. The 

 quantity of insects they eat must be enormous, for no part of a 

 tree — from bole to the uppermost leaves — is un visited by them. 

 Accordingly, they are acrobats of the first order, and. in displaying 

 their resemblance to the true Tits of Europe, they assume some 

 very graceful attitudes. By reason of its bark-hunting pro- 

 clivities, the hammering and tearing sounds at once call attention 

 to a Shrike-Tit's presence in a tree. These birds are sometimes 

 locally known as Bark-Tits, but the name of "Yellow-hammer" 

 will not easily be suppressed. 



In the non-nesting months Shrike-Tits often visit the towns and 

 do good service among the codlin moths in the orchards and 

 various pests in the flower-gardens. In 1914 a pair was in the , 

 habit of visiting the Maryborough fire-station yard, and the keeper 

 was entertained in watching two Sparrows dancing attendance 

 on them as they foraged in some eucalypts. When the strong- 

 billed native birds ripped off bark the Sparrows dashed in to share 

 the feast revealed, and got away again quickly. 



Occasionally, but not often, the Yellow-bellied Shrike-Tit works 

 low down ; more rarely it gets right on to the ground — which Mr. 

 Whitlock remarks he has not known to be the case with F. 

 leucogaster. On 28th June, 1914, I was watching a female, when 

 its piping call brought up a handsome male. For some little 

 time this bird was about the spot trying to emulate the work of 

 the Babblers on the damp ground, but without success. The 

 female remained among the tree-tops, and every now and again 



