8 Ramsay, Birds in Upper Clarence River District. F.^'^'Ti 



might be found at any time of the day within half a mile of the camp. 

 It was only, however, by persistent searching that the females 

 would be discovered unless called up by the male. Except when 

 feeding on the berries, they frequented the highest trees, and rarely 

 called, though they would lift their heads and listen if the male did so. 

 At this time the ground was covered with fallen timber and over- 

 grown with "giant nettles," "wild raspberry" bushes, and numerous 

 vines and shrubs, that made rapid progress impossible, and moving 

 about at all a great difficulty, especially when one must keep one's 

 eyes aloft. 



On the I St November, however, a bush fire swept most of the 

 district around us, and on the morning following the country 

 presented a totally different aspect. Instead of thick scrub that 

 closed in over one's head, the ground was covered with ashes ; where 

 a great tree had lain with its spreading top all tangled with vines 

 was only a smoking log. Everywhere was clear going, if one kept 

 a sharp look-out for smouldering trees, w^hich continued to fall at 

 intervals for some weeks. The old male Rifle-Bird took up his 

 position ; I took mine, and in due course one of the females appeared, 

 and, after watching the male " showing off " for a few minutes, flew 

 off across a little gully into some open forest. It was then that the 

 effect of the fire was appreciated, and I made good progress after 

 her. Suddenly she appeared flying towards me, and apparently 

 sweeping down from a great height, which was unlike her usual 

 behaviour, for as a rule both sexes travelled always ahead, working 

 from tree to tree, like Climacteris. She passed by and alighted in a 

 bushy tree, then returned to the top of a tall gum, stayed a few 

 minutes, and swept past again. When this w^as repeated my heart 

 sank, for it seemed as if her only interest in such a place could be a 

 young bird, and the thought that all the hunting and searching through 

 the awful scrub was for naught was very bitter. However, I went 

 over, and presently saw her swoop up into an immense mass of 

 mistletoe, stay a few minutes, and then swoop down into the bushy 

 tree again. By getting in another position, a round, dark mass could 

 be seen in the mistletoe, and presently, with the glasses, I saw the 

 bird hop into it. Even then I could hardly credit that a Rifle-Bird, 

 famed as an inhabitant of thick brushes, should build at the top of a 

 gum-tree on a steep hillside half a mile from the scrub. (See Plate IV.) 

 By hiding beneath the bush she visited so often, however, all 

 doubts were settled, for at a distance of only a few feet I watched 

 her picking pieces of vine which she took to the nest in the mistletoe., 

 A curious thing is that the short pieces were taken inside the bill, 

 so that they were invisible. It was only when long pieces were taken 

 crosswise that one could see she was carrying anything. Being 

 satisfied that the nest was in course of construction, I left it severely 

 alone, and, forsaking the scrub, searched consistently through the 

 forest for other pairs. The result was that on the nth November 

 a second nest was found in a similar position in a giant gum growing 

 in the very edge of the scrub. (See Plate V.) A female was seen 

 at about 1 1 o'clock carrying both dead and green leaves and pieces 

 of vine to a large bunch of mistletoe, in which a nest could be plainly 

 discerned. As with the first bird, the short pieces of vine were taken 

 right inside the bill, and both birds went to and from their nests 

 without any attempt to disguise their actions. 



As no other birds could be discovered within a wide radius, a close 

 watch was then kept on the old male in order to check the actions 



