240 Dove, Some Tasmanian Birds' Nests. [isf A^rii 



months of winter and spring. He loves the swampy plains near 

 the beach, where abound the great " saggs " or tussocks amid 

 which he passes a large part of his existence. Our species was 

 formerly considered identical with that of similar habitat on the 

 mainland of Australia, but was separated by Mr. G. M. Mathews 

 in his "Hand-list" of 1908, the Tasmanian form retaining the 

 name of " fuliginosus," or " sooty," while the Victorian is dis- 

 tinguished as " albiloris." 



By making my way through the swamps I have discovered a 

 number of Calanianthus nests, several not being new, but well 

 preserved, owing to their being packed away in snug positions. 

 It has been stated that this songster builds under the overhanging 

 tussocks and in the midst of small bushes ; it may do so in some 

 parts of the country, but in this district my experience has been 

 that the domiciles are packed away right down in the tussocks, 

 and usually towards the south-east side of the bunch of drooping 

 blades, so as to be sheltered from the prevailing north-west winds, 

 which sweep at times with much severity across Bass Strait. 

 The structure is large and domed, with side entrance, made prin- 

 cipally of dry grass mixed with a quantity of green moss, the sides 

 thick and massive, so as to render it warm and cosy inside, this 

 effect being considerably enhanced by the plentiful lining of 

 feathers with which it is provided. A quantity of vegetable 

 matter, such as portions of dry tussock-blades, is first put down 

 into the clump where the blades converge towards the base, and 

 this forms a foundation to keep the superstructure in position. 

 In one of those found, an old nest seemed to form the base for 

 the new one, to raise it well up from the wet, marshy plain. In 

 many cases the top front of the nest appears to overhang and 

 form a sort of eave to cast off rain or hail and keep all within dry 

 and snug. In some cases, however, the lower lip of the entrance 

 projects and the upper recedes, so that one can look down 

 into the egg-chamber ; in these instances the structure appears 

 midway between a covered and an open nest. 



The Spotted Diamond-Bird {Pardalokts punctatus), or, in ordinary 

 parlance, the " Ground Diamond," may well be termed an under- 

 ground builder, for it burrows horizontally or in a very slightly 

 upward direction into the solid ground, and at the termination of 

 this burrow excavates an incubation chamber in which to rear 

 its brood. During the month of November Mr. H. C. Thompson 

 and myself explored the recesses of one of these miniature tunnels 

 made in the side of a hollow from which a gum tree stump had 

 been removed, the soil being a fine white grit. The hole which 

 marked the entrance was about 6 inches below the general ground 

 level, and the tunnel went back about 12 inches — no light contract 

 for a pair of tiny birds measuring each very little more than 3^ 

 inches total length, to excavate so far in hard grit, with no tools 

 but those of Nature's providing. At the end the burrow was 

 enlarged to form a chamber, in which was placed the spherical 

 nest with small side entrance, formed of fine strips of inner gum 



