Nesting of the Bed-haeded Bullfinch. 203



bushes had been killed by a running fire, and when scorched in that

way the Beyeria has the habit of curling and twisting together at the

apex, so as to form a thick mass, much in the same manner as the

Jamwood Acacia of Western Australia is described as doing. About

10 ft. from the ground, in one of these twisted shrubs, a pair of

Brown-rumped Tit-Warblers ( Acanthiza diemenensis ) had built a

domed nest, with side entrance. It was woven of grass and moss,

the lining being mainly composed of feathers of the Rosella ( Platy -

cercus eximius). In another bush of the same kind, near by, was the

little cup-like nest of a pair of Fantail Flycatchers ( Bhipidura

diemenensis ), known to boys as “ Crazy Fans,” from their erratic

aerial evolutions when capturing insects. The nest, which was about

5 ft. from the ground, was made of small fragments of white decayed

wood, very light and delicate, a little moss, and bound, as usual, with

spider-web. A small branch of the shrub passed through the bottom

of the nest, and on this and around it the structure was placed—the

tiny cup above, the irregular tail, about 3 in. in length, below. This

peculiar appendage, the use of which can be only guessed at, is also

formed by the mainland White-shafted Fantail ( Bhipidura albi-

scapa, Gld.), but in our island species, known as the “ Dusky Fan-

tail from its darker tint, it sometimes reaches a great length, nests

with a “ tail ” of 6 in. having been found ; I have heard of one even

7 in. in length. The egg cavity is not usually more than 1J in.

across, and less in depth. It is often lined with the reddish fruiting-

stalks of moss. The “ Crazy Fan ” may sometimes be touched, even

stroked, on the nest; perhaps the most confident of our small birds,

fluttering about a pedestrian on the bush-track or by the wayside

in order to capture the flies, small moths, and so on, which are

disturbed.


(To be continued.)



NESTING OF THE RED-HEADED BULL¬

FINCH (Pyrrhula erythrocephata).


By Herbert Bright.


It is just a little over two years since I received my pair of

Orange-headed Bullfinches, and I remember I was somewhat disap-



