2'r8 Dove, Some Tasmanian Birds' Nests. f ^""'" ■, 



■^O'-' ' List April 



these twisted shrubs, a pair of Brown-rumped Tit-Warblers 

 {Acanthiza diemenensis) had built a domed nest, with side entrance. 

 It was woven of grass and moss, the lining being mainly composed 

 of feathers of the Rosella {Platycercus eximiiis). In another bush 

 of the same kind, near by, was the little cup-like nest of a pair 

 of Fantail Flycatchers [Rhipidnra diemenensis), known to boys 

 as " Crazy Fans," from their erratic aerial evolutions when 

 capturing insects. The nest, which was about five feet from the 

 ground, was made of small fragments of white decayed wood, 

 very light and delicate, a little moss, and bound, as usual, with 

 spider-web. A small branch of the shrub passed through the 

 bottom of the nest, and on this and around it the structure was 

 placed — the tiny cup above, the irregular tail, about 3 inches in 

 length, below. This pecuhar appendage, the use of which can be 

 only guessed at, is also formed by the mainland White-shafted 

 Fantail [Rhipidnra albiscapa, Gld.), but in our island s})ecies, known 

 as the " Dusky Fantail " from its darker tint, it sometimes reaches 

 a great length, nests with a " tail " of 6 inches having been 

 found ; I have heard of one even 7 inches in length. The egg 

 cavity is not usually more than i^ inches across, and less in 

 depth. It is often lined with the reddish fruiting-stalks of moss. 

 The " Crazy Fan " may sometimes be touched, even stroked, on 

 the nest ; perhaps the most confident of our small birds, fluttering 

 about a pedestrian on the bush-track or by the wayside in order 

 to capture the flies, small moths, and so on, which are disturbed. 



While pushing through the belt of thick tea-tree [Leptospermum) 

 which adorns much of the banks of a large creek in the Launceston 

 district, excluding the sunHght and keeping the ground almost 

 devoid of undergrowth, we noticed one of those fine Honey-eaters 

 formerly called the " New Holland," but now the White-bearded 

 {Meliornis nova-hoUandice), upon her nest, about eight feet from 

 the ground, in a fork of the scrub. She hopped to a twig which 

 projected at an angle from the nest, and stayed there, without 

 a note or a movement, for about 12 minutes, until cameras had 

 been erected and pictures taken. As soon as one of the party 

 went close, the female bird left and the male appeared, dashing 

 about and uttering angry cries. The nest was roughly cup- 

 shaped, composed of small twigs and wool, and lined with the soft, 

 downv seed-pods of the " cotton-bush " [Pimelea nivea, Lab.), 

 which grows plentifully hereabouts and is commonly used by this 

 Honey-eater. The nest contained two good-sized young birds and 

 an infertile egg. It is interesting to note that this hvely and 

 handsome species is partial to a similar nest-hning on the main- 

 land of Australia, for an observer records a case at Upper 

 Werribee, Victoria, where the fining was entirely of soft, yellowish- 

 white seed-casings derived from a particular shrub there. 



Towards the end of September I discovered the nest of a 

 Brown Scrub-Wren {Seyicornis humilis) within a few yards of a 

 public road daily traversed by carts, cyclists, pedestrians, and 

 occasionally by motor-cars. The nest was within 50 yards of the 



