Vol. XV.-I 

 1016 J 



Camera Craft Notes. 



191 



disappear, thr hiids take to the trei'S. On tlic mooiland which 

 Hes at the back ol the coastal scrub along some parts ot Port 

 Phillip Bay, nests are occasionally found in clumps of heath 

 {Hpacris) or grass tussocks. My' earliest record for seaside nests 

 is the first week in July ; usually tlu' nesting st'ason ended in 

 October, witli August as the piincipal month. The Scrub-Wrens 

 are greatly victimized by Fan-tailed Cuckoos [Cacomantis 

 fiabclliformis). During one season, in the Black Rock district, 

 many of the nests examined contained eitlier an Qgg of the 

 Cuckoo with two of the Scrub-Wren, or a Cuckoo fledgling in 

 solitary possession. In the majority of cases the Cuckoo's egg 

 closely rcseml)le(l tliose of the foster-parents, both in size and 

 coloration. 



This season (1915) 1 was able to secure a series of photograi)hs of 

 the White-browed Scrub- Wren. A nest was found at Evelyn, Vic, 

 the site being a chniip of sword-grass in an " island " of tea-tree 

 and acacias, close to the roadway. The lighting was fairly good 

 when a few obtruding boughs had been temporarily pulled aside, 

 and after an hour's indecision the birds became confident. 

 Mostly they approached the nest from the rear, creeping up the 

 sharp-edged grass-stems like field mice. The nest contained 

 three chicks, a few days old. and food was brought to them at 

 short intervals for half an hour ; then the parent birds dis- 

 appeared, and nothing was seen or heard of them for a long time. 

 When they did return it was so quietly that one was perched on 

 the to|) of the nest befcjre its jiresence became known to me. 



Spme-bill Honey-eater. 



'HOTO. BY R. T. LITTLEJOHNS. 



