Vol. ill. I Australasian Ornithologists Union. \^>\ 



A few Swamp-Hawks {Circus gouldi) were seen leisurely 

 beating over crops or grass land, while a bold Little Falcon 

 (Falco lunulatus) was observed to fly along under cover of a 

 standing train at Parattah and. disappear over the roof of a 

 carriage after some Sparrows. 



Three, if not four, of the common species of Cuckoos were heard, 

 some young Bronze-Cuckoos being fed by a family of Tits. The 

 ringing notes of the Hill Crow-Shrike (Strepera argutd) were 

 heard in the gullies, and a fine bird seen on the road to Mt. 

 Wellington. As may be expected, Whistling Shrike-Thrushes 

 (Collyriocincla rectirostris), Butcher-Birds (Cracticus cinereus), 

 and Magpies (Gymnorhina hyperleucd) were often in evidence 

 the Magpies especially in the more open lands. One morning 

 half a dozen were observed following close upon the heels of a 

 ploughman, on the look-out for unearthed " grub." Mr. 

 M'Gowan is collecting a number of young Magpies for trans- 

 portation to King Island, where that bird does not exist. 



The wooded gullies were the home of the two Thickheads — 

 the Olive (Pachycephala olivaced) and the Grey-tailed (P. glau- 

 cura), and the eggs of both species were seen, a nest of the former 

 being cosily hidden in the crown of a tree-fern. The Olive 

 Thickhead has a very plaintive, whistle-like call-note, while the 

 sweet notes of the Grey-tailed sounded even sweeter than the 

 call of its mainland cousin and close ally, the White-throated 

 Thickhead. 



The Flycatchers and Robins were denizens of thickest forest. 

 The plaintive .calls of a pair of migratory Satin Flycatchers 

 (Myiagra nitidd) were heard in nearly every gully, where the 

 birds were busily incubating high up in the trees, while the 

 Dusky Fantails (Rhipidura diemenensis) darted about with 

 rayed tails in every pocket of scrub. The Scarlet-breasted Robin 

 (Petroeca leggii) and the Flame-breasted Robin (P. phceniced) 

 were here and there tending fully-feathered young, but some of 

 the lovely Pink-breasted Robins (P. rhodinogaster) were still 

 brooding, sitting upon lovely triplets of eggs in the most exquis- 

 itely made of moss nests, the nests being usually placed in musk 

 or hazel standing in dark, damp gullies, the home also of the 

 Ground-Thrush (Geocichla macrorhyncka). The Long-tailed Wrens 

 (Malurus gouldi) were common in every bit of bush, the beautiful 

 blue bands of the males making them specially attractive as 

 they perched upon or darted through the undergrowth. These 

 blue beauties are exceedingly fond of the briar-bushes for covert. 

 The visitors viewed with alarm the manner in which Tasmanians 

 allow this thorny nuisance to encroach upon the forests and to 

 spread over valuable lands in tangled masses, without taking 

 precautions to check its prodigal growth. 



The Scrub- Wren (Sericornis humilis) in the humid gullies was 

 noticeably larger and darker compared with its compeers on the 

 mainland, but some of the birds on the Launceston side appeared 

 to be a smaller race of humilis. The Tits, however, were especially 



