l8o Ei^vioiT, Bird Life at Ditmblcynng, IV. A. [i.f'jan- 



at the flowers of a small salmon gum, in company with some 

 more of the same tribe, and instantly a battle-royal follows for 

 possession of the tree. Many times I have seen the bird fear- 

 lessly tackle a Purple-crowned Lorikeet {Glossopsittu porphyro- 

 cephala), though usually, in this case, the sharp and strong beak 

 of the Lorikeet has driven the smaller bird from some favoured 

 bunch of blossom. The Honey-eater is always ready for fight, 

 and the appearance of any other species is the signal for a set-to. 

 Of all the birds which assemble at the common warning call on 

 the appearance of a Hawk, none puts up a fiercer fight than P. 

 ornata. Its notes are harsh, and, so far as I can learn, it has 

 three distinct calls. 



These birds breed from September onwards, though they are 

 somewhat irregular in habits. The nest, composed usually of 

 dry grasses and devoid of lining, is somewhat shallow, considering 

 the size of the eggs. It is placed usually in mallee suckers or 

 some convenient bush from three to six feet above the ground, 

 but I have seen it placed high up in trees. Two years ago I was 

 attracted by two of these Honey-eaters repeatedly flying to a 

 salmon gum stump ; the tree had been cut down, and the stump 

 had sprouted. Much to my surprise, there was a nest containing 

 a young Bronze-Cuckoo {Chalcococcyx plagosus), which the Honey- 

 eaters were assiduously feeding. When I made a second visit 

 to the nest the Cuckoo had grown to such an extent that it was 

 sitting on the rim, the nest being hardly visible. I went a third 

 time, and found that the occupant had completely outgrown its 

 quarters, and was sitting gripping a branch with one foot and 

 the side of the nest with the other. When I returned the bird 

 had flown. This was the first time, either here or in New South 

 Wales, that I had found a Bronze-Cuckoo in an open nest. 



Rufous-rumped Ground-Wren {Hylacola cauta, Gould). — It 

 has been my good fortune to make several observations of 

 this shy, but interesting, mouse-hke little bird. My first ex- 

 perience of it was five years ago. It was the first week of 

 October, and I was engaged in fencing. The fence line, through 

 thick mallee, had been cleared to a width of about 9 feet, the 

 rubbish being thrown to the edge of the line, thus forming a 

 continuous heap about 2 feet 6 inches high ; it had been down 

 some time, and was dead. I saw one of these birds go several 

 times to a spot where the mallee tops were very thick, and there 

 I found a nest attached to the small twigs. It was ready for eggs, 

 but next day the Ground-Wrens were gone, and the nest destroyed ; 

 evidently my placing of a finger in the entrance to find out what 

 the nest contained had upset the birds. The following year, at 

 the end of September, I took a nest from a fence line on my own 

 property. It was in an almost identical position to the other, 

 except that the fence line was not so wide, and the nest was 

 attached to a small green bush growing among the dead rubbish. 

 Both the nests were within two feet of the ground. This one 



