122 Ross, Notes on the Rufous Bristle-Bird. [2nd Oct 



During October, 1909, I spent about a week at Lome, renewing 

 my acquaintance with the Bristle-Bird : and I was there again 

 for a httle more than a week in November, 1910. During these 

 trips I found several more old nests, one with a pair of young 

 birds, a few with eggs, and two being built. Wiring to Mr. 

 A. H. E. Mattingley that I knew of a nest with young, he 

 made a flying visit and secured photographs (Plate X.) The male 

 bird is a little larger than the female, but otherwise I believe 

 there is no practical difference in appearance between the sexes. 

 The R.A.O.U. member to whom I referred as being a resident of 

 the Cape Otway Ranges has stated that, as far as his experience 

 goes, all nests have their openings towards the east ; but I think 

 that the position of the opening is more a matter of the direction 

 in which the shrub or other cover in which it is placed is leaning 

 than of the point of the compass. One nest I found building had 

 evidently only been commenced on the day of discovery. Two 

 days later it was a substantial structure, requiring only a little 

 lining to make it complete. On the seventh day after my finding 

 it it contained two fresh eggs. I would hazard the opinion that, 

 from the start of the nest till the laying of the clutch, usually a 

 little longer period than a week would elapse. Mr. Belcher com- 

 pared the nest to that of the Babbler {Pomatorhinus temporalis) 

 and also to that of the Blue Wren (Malurus cyaneiis). I think 

 the former comparison the better, from the position of the 

 opening in the side and the general structure of the nest, although 

 it is not so large or composed of such coarse materials as is the 

 nest of the Babbler. Apparently the birds will place their nest 

 in anything dense enough to hold it securely — native hops, wire- 

 grass, sword-grass, tea-tree, eucalypt, grass tussock, and fallen 

 bough are positions noted ; but in no case did I see a nest on the 

 ground or more than 3 feet above it. From the fact that I have 

 found what appeared to be the nests for several seasons of the 

 same pair of birds, within a few yards of each other, I conclude 

 that a pair of birds will for years be faithful to a very limited area. 



Another comparison made by Mr. Belcher was between the 

 Bristle-Bird and the Pilot-Bird {Pycno-ptilus ftoccosus), and this, 

 1 think, was most apt. Seen at a little distance, the species are 

 much alike in plumage ; both frequent dense scrubs, are nearly 

 always on the ground, over which, when disturbed, they move 

 at a very rapid rate, taking advantage of every bit of cover ; 

 and some of the call-notes are very similar. Indeed, I thought in 

 November, 1910, that I would be able to record the Pilot-Bird 

 as a frequenter of the Cape Otway Forest, for I heard a bird 

 calling frequently within a few feet of me, and I could not dis- 

 tinguish the notes from calls I had often heard the Pilot-Bird 

 use. However, a little patience revealed the author of the notes, 

 and then there was no doubt that it was a Bristle-Bird. Two 

 eggs form the clutch, and generally, though not always, one egg 

 is considerably lighter in colour than the other. A peculiarity of 

 this species is that fairly often of the two eggs laid only one will 



