236 Dove, Some Tasmanian Birds' Nests. f isf A^ril 



uses wool as material, with some moss and spider-cocoons ; they 

 may line with fur or with feathers. The nest is suspended among 

 the pendulous twigs at the extremity of a gum-branch — the 

 white gum {Eucalyptus viminalis) being the one usually selected 

 — and is so buffeted by the winds that it is often topsy-turvy, 

 but the brave little mother bird " sits tight," so that the eggs or 

 young are not thrown out. A nest of this species found in North- 

 West Tasmania by Dr. Holden was composed of green moss and 

 spiders' web, the lining being of fluffy seeds. The dimensions 

 of one nest were: — Egg cavity — width. i| inches; depth, 

 if inches ; outside dimensions — depth, 4 inches ; width, 3 inches. 

 Both this species and the Strong-billed Honey-eater usually lay 

 three eggs to a clutch. The eggs are of a delicate flesh tint, 

 marked (chiefly about the apex) with rich reddish-brown spots ; 

 those of the latter are somewhat the larger, about .88 by .66, 

 while an average egg of the Black-headed Honey-eater measures 

 .78 by .57. 



Of those structures which are suspended among vegetation, one 

 of the best examples is that of the Reed- Warbler {Acrocephalus 

 australis), a migrant, which usually comes to us in September. 

 The nest is generally placed in reeds, about two feet above the 

 water, and is bound to three or four stems, which pass through 

 the sides of the structure ; the material is stems and leaves of 

 aquatic plants, or coarse grass. The lining is sometimes fine grass, 

 sometimes the soft down from seed-vessels of the "bulrush" or 

 reed-mace. These migrants are plentiful near Launceston, and 

 build in the reeds which line the North Esk River. The railway 

 sheds are close to the river, and the Reed-Warblers which nest in 

 that vicinity avail themselves freely of the cotton-waste used for 

 cleaning engines, quantities of which are strewed about outside 

 the sheds. Mr. H. C. Thompson showed me a nest composed 

 almost entirely of this soft, warm material. When in Victoria 

 I was somewhat surprised to find a nest of the Reed-Warbler at 

 a height of eight feet from the ground, bound to two stout upright 

 twigs of the exotic shrub Sparmannia africana, Linn., close to 

 the edge of a lake. The nest was formed of grasses and lined 

 with the seed " wool " of the reed-mace (Typha). Another nest 

 was found in a clump of bamboo, five feet above the water line, 

 where two smaller shoots forked out from the main stem, and 

 was tied to all three. A third example was four feet above the 

 water, in a bamboo, and was most unsymmetrical, one side being 

 much bulged with a large knot of fine grass which had been 

 teasled out and then stuck there. The structure was tied to four 

 small .stems, but not to the main one, and contained two young 

 birds, blind, and devoid of down, but with tiny quills just 

 beginning to sprout. 



An interesting example of the supported nest was that of a pair 

 of Flame-breasted Robins {Petroica phoenicea), found in the 

 second week of November while I was on the trip to Mount 

 Arthur, mentioned previously in connection with a pensile nest. 



