234



Mr. H. Stuart Dove,



grow up, now thickly populated (many of the houses containing six-

to eight-year children), where nine to ten years ago I could hear the

lark singing or see it feeding its young, and could always in winter

find a Meadow pipit or Grey wagtail.



SOME TASMANIAN BIRDS' NESTS.*


By H. Stuart Dove, R.A.O.U., West Devonport (Tas.).


(Continued from p. 203).


While pushing through the belt of thick tea-tree ( Lepto-

spermum ) which adorns much of the banks of a large creek in the

Launceston district, excluding the sunlight and keeping the ground

almost devoid of undergrowth, we noticed one of those fine Honey-

eaters formerly called the “ New Holland,” but now the White-

bearded (Meliornis novce-hollcindice ), upon her nest, about 8 ft. from

the ground, in a fork of the scrub. She hopped to a twig which

projected at an angle from the nest, and stayed there, without a note

or a movement, for about twelve minutes, until cameras had been

erected and pictures taken. As soon as one of the party went close,

the female bird left and the male appeared, dashing about and

uttering angry cries. The nest was roughly cup-shaped, composed

of small twigs and wool, and lined with the soft downy seed-pods of

the “ cotton-bush ” (Pimelea nivea, Lab.), which grows plentifully

hereabouts and is commonly used by this Honey-eater. The nest

contained two good-sized young birds and an infertile egg. It is

interesting to note that this lively and handsome species is partial

to a similar nest-lining on the mainland of Australia, for an observer

records a case at Upper Werribee, Victoria, where the lining was

entirely of soft, yellowish-white seed-casings derived from a particular

shrub there.


Towards the end of September I discovered the nest of a

Brown Scrub-Wren ( Sericornis humilis) within a few yards of a

public road daily traversed by carts, cyclists, pedestrians, and

occasionally by motor-cars. The nest was within 50 yards of the

sea, placed in a tangle of the prickly-leaved ( Stellaria pungens, Bron.),

■ and bracken fern, and was shaded by a small varnish wattle ( Acacia



* From the ‘ Emu ’ (with acknowledgments to the Editor).



