igi^^ 1 Dove, Some Tasmaitian Birds' Nests. 237 



The Robins' iiursei-y occupied a niche. ;ihout five feet from the 

 caith. in the trunk ol a giant gum-tree, and was formed of fine 

 bark strips and lined witli small feathers. We admired the 

 manner in which the architects (which were young birds, for the 

 male was grey,, like the female) had brought tiny fragments of 

 charcoal from the interior of a burnt-out tree near by, and bound 

 these round the outside of their nest with cobweb. This caused 

 the nest to harmonize with the charred surface at the back of 

 the niche abox'c it. thus making it appear ixit a })ortinn of the 

 tree -trunk. 



In the course of the same tiip a nest of the Large-billed (>round- 

 Thrusli {Oreocincla macrorhyncha) was found, placed upon the 

 to]:) of a large gum-tree stump, at a height of about five feet, and 

 screened by a copse of young dogwoods (Pomaderris). It was 

 com})osed of dry grass and green moss, and contained two eggs. 

 From my journal, kept while living in the bush within a few miles 

 of Table Cape, is culled the following : — " Nest of the Ground- 

 Thrush [Geocichla) discovered to-day (loth October) in the fork 

 of a large dogwood {Pomaderris apetala. Lab.), about lo feet up. 

 A large, beautifully-round structure, taking up the whole space 

 within the fork, and composed of green moss and fibres plucked 

 from the trunks of Dicksonia tree-ferns. Within were two fine 

 eggs, of a greenish tint, blotched all o\'er with dark red." This 

 Thrush is fond of the site of an old nest, and will sometimes build 

 on the same foundation season after season until the structure 

 outside becomes of a great size, although the egg cavity itself 

 may be under 3 inches in width and 2 inches in depth ; the eggs 

 are usually either two or three in number, rarely four, and an 

 average measurement would be 1.35 inches by .92 inch. 



On the occasion of a trip along the banks of Distillery Creek, 

 near Launceston, on 21st October, a nest of the Ground-Thrush 

 was noted in the scrub above our heads, on top of an old home 

 of the ring-tailed possum {Phalanger). ITpon the mass of sticks 

 which had been brought together in a former season by the 

 marsupial, the Thrush had constructed a large, circular nest of 

 grass, and lined it with soft green grass, but so far no eggs had 

 been deposited. Another nest was found only four feet from the 

 ground, built on dry gum-twigs which had fallen on to a bush ; 

 a dirt base had been placed upon the twigs, then a nest of grass 

 with a little moss intermixed, and lined with grass. Where moss 

 is easily obtainable, the Ground-Thrush is fond of using it in 

 profusion, giving a most pleasing appearance to the nest. 



While exploring a hill not far from Launceston, a friend 

 and myself found a patch of the scrub sometimes known as Pink- 

 wood {Beycria viscosa. Miq.), belonging to the Euphorbias. Some 

 of the bushes had been killed by a running fire, and when scorched 

 in that way the Bcyeria has the habit of curling and twisting 

 together at the apex, so as to form a thick mass, much in the 

 same manner as the Jamwood Acacia of Western Australia is 

 described as doing. About 10 feet from the ground, in one of 



