240 Whitlock, Further Notes from Stirling Ranges, W.A. [,^t^Xprii 



I fully expected to find this bird an early breeder, and I was not 

 mistaken. I was much hindered by the rough winds prevailing 

 during the greater part of August and September in my searches 

 and observations on the nesting and general habits of the more 

 secretive birds. Especially was this the case with the present 

 species. The easiest way to discover the presence of a pair is 

 to listen for the song of the male, which, to my ears, resembles 

 somewhat that of Acanthiza apicalis, and, again, that of Cala- 

 manthus montanellits. Hylacola cauta, however, does not appear 

 to sing in the very early morning, which is a pity, for the winds 

 at that early hour are usually light ; and as the bird has not at 

 all a powerful voice, and is by no means a constant singer, one 

 does not hear it to advantage in half a gale of wind. 



It was some days before I found the first pair, which haunted 

 rather open and low scrub, with a few patches of marlock and 

 stuixted jarrah trees. In the marlock Ptilotis cratitia was breeding. 

 On the ground itself were small patches of what looked like a 

 dwarf banksia, and it was amongst this latter growth that I caught 

 sight of a beautiful male Hylacola. It was only by keeping 

 motionless that I had any chance of watching him. On my 

 making the least movement he hopped or flew at once into a clump 

 of marlock, and disappeared. Once or twice I saw him catch a 

 caterpillar and hop into the scrub with it — I suppose to share 

 the capture with his mate, whom I never once saw. Despite the 

 most persistent and systematic search, I failed to find the nest 

 of this pair. 



To vary the monotony of non-success, I went on alternate days 

 to watch the second pair, and at the third attempt I flushed a bird 

 from a nest built in a little hollow excavated in the ground under 

 the lee of a clump of dwarf banksia. I hid myself and waited 

 patiently until the bird returned, when I satisfactorily identified 

 her as Hylacola cauta — a similar bird in all respects to the 

 specimen procured the previous year. The nest was globular, 

 and much like that of a Calamanthus, the entrance being flush 

 with the ground. The general structure, however, was not so 

 firmly interwoven as that of the former species. The interior 

 was lined with fine grasses and a little fur and feathers. The 

 eggs have been accurately described in Campbell's " Nests and 

 Eggs," and the present clutch of three was typical. In this 

 particular set there seems to be a tendency for the spots to form 

 a zone. The eggs of Hylacola appear to have an affinity to those 

 ol Scricornis, and also to those of Calamanthus. The nest, too, 

 belongs to the same class as those of the two latter kinds. As 

 a field naturalist, therefore, I should be inclined to place the three 

 genera very near together rather than admit other intrusive 

 genera in the present classification obviously less nearly related. 



I was again successful in finding nests of Calamanthus mon- 

 ianellus, the Rock Field- Wren. With one exception all were, as 

 previously described, being built in a little hollow excavated in 

 the bare ground by the parent birds. The odd nest was in a 



