^''i9^i^'-J HOWE, The Genus CUmactcns. 35 



Mr. I^. G. Chandler first observed a Red-browed Tree-creeper* 

 at Olinda in 1909. I also met this agile and beautiful form in 

 the Dandenongs, from Ferntree Gully towards Gembrook, and 

 have little doubt that it extends through the eastern and north- 

 eastern portion of Victoria. It is far from rare, and half-a-dozen 

 birds may be seen together, generally in the non-breeding months. 

 In Victoria, the habitat is the hilly country where messmate, 

 blackwood, mountain-ash and white gums abound. W'hen half 

 creeping and fluttering up the long hanging strips of bark of the 

 two latter trees, the bird is seen to advantage while it examines 

 a tree very thoroughly, often working each limb to the extremity. 

 It rests in an upright position on the side of a tree, and I believe 

 these Tree-creepers roost in a like 'position in the burnt-out 

 hollows at the base of large trees. The call-notes are a harsh, 

 high-])itchod medley, not unlike those of the Striated Grass-Wren 

 {Diapliorillas striata) when disturbed from a bunch of p(jrcu- 

 pine grass ; other notes are silvery and tremulous, and it also 

 utters the familiar high-pitched staccato notes of the White 

 throated Tree-creeper, but sweeter and not so sustained. 



The bird is arboreal, and may feed on ants on fallen dead 

 trees in company with its White-throated cousin. The flight, 

 rapid and undulating, also resembles that of the White-throated 

 bird. The birds are silent at times, and hours may be spent 

 in their feeding grouwds without catching a note. The first inti- 

 mation that they are about is, perhaps, a few high-pitched, harsh 

 notes, often difficult to locate, or else, after a lightning-like 

 streak, a bird alights on a tree trunk, and, as its back is 

 turned towards one, it has then to be ascertained whether it is 

 C. erythrops or not. In this country of dense undergrowth, it 

 is difficult to follow the birds. However, they are strictly local. 

 Two pairs I know can always be located in about twenty acres 

 of dense scrub and big timber. On September 13th, 1914, at 

 Selby, where I had located a few of the elusive "Red-brows," I 

 at length caught the familiar high-pitched call. To observe more 

 conveniently, I leaned against a small dead messmate, and 

 immediately a female joined her mate and was fed by him. This 

 was encouraging, and I followed the birds until I lost them up 

 the hillside. Returning to the tree, I was surprised to see a 

 bird leave it. She alighted on the side of a tree, and preened 

 her feathers. Close examination showed a small crack about 

 twenty feet up. The nest contained two eggs, and was a pad of 

 stringy-bark, warmly lined with the fur of rabbit, hare and 

 possum. On October 10th, 1915, a female alighted on the side 

 of a big messmate with a bill full of fur from a dead flying 

 scjuirrel. A week later the nest contained two well-marked eggs. 

 Close by a bird was flushed from another hollow containing 

 two eggs of the W'hite-throated. The discovery of the eggs of 

 two si)ecies of Tree-creepers on one day is a rare occurrence. 



* " The Emu " Vol. IX., pp. 28 and 84. 



