THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 71 



in ranks, and the instinct to build their houses, a pair assisting 

 each other, is born. 



Wrens are sensitive. A few seasons past I remember taking 

 one of the three eggs from the nest, and the bird felt so much 

 hurt that it did not return to its duty — at least, this is my view of 

 the matter, comparing it with other birds' actions. In November 

 of last year a nest had been deprived of its eggs, and the bird did 

 not again lay in it, but, strange to say, in three days the old nest 

 was removed gradually, and rebuilt in the same paddock. 



During winter months it is not unusual to count a dozen of 

 which only one bird is in livery, or a group of six ordinary brown 

 birds foraging along a creek bank ; but it is quite apart from the 

 ordinary to count twenty-seven sombre-coloured birds in one break 

 of thicket, with a possible three or four more. In June last I was 

 favoured with a sight of this vast group of what our boys call the 

 " blue tit," when the leader flew away with nineteen as imme- 

 diate followers in single file, and the remainder, feeling themselves 

 disbanded, with very little hesitation followed in pursuit of the 

 first contingent. There were no blue birds! Where were they 1 

 This almost made me think that the male bird does lose its 

 livery. The commencement of nest-building varies according to 

 the season, but you may safely look for the workers at their toil in 

 September, after which the vivacity of the mother is toned, easily 

 noticed as it rises with trembling pinions from its group of three 

 or four nestlings. The nest is invariably placed within three or 

 four feet of the ground, domed, and year after year with little 

 divergence from the type. One nest placed in grass overhanging a 

 pond in our garden was the cause of a fatality, as after its first 

 essay in flight I found one young bird in the water. Occasionally 

 an egg of the Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo will be deposited in a 

 nest of this species, and my notes refer me to a case where the 

 nest was deserted by the rightful owner as soon as the migratory 

 bird placed its red-spotted, elongated oval egg therein. Soon 

 after a spider watched its opportunity, and spun a web across the 

 entrance of the house, which proved formidable enough to stay 

 the proceedings of all other claimants. 



The persistence of the wren in rearing one brood in a season 

 was regularly brought under my notice, the circumstances causing 

 me great concern on their account. The birds built four nests 

 consecutively, each being taken by certain boys as they travelled 

 along the creek on their Saturday morning's visit for vandalism. 

 The Warblers kept to the same hedge and built a fifth time, but 

 in a more secret spot, close to the ground, amongst the strong 

 growth, where they sat upon three eggs in a nest that was only in 

 parts finished. The usual nest is not a slovenly piece of organiza- 

 tion, such as could be put together in a few hours, as a wood- 

 swallow might do hers, but of a uniformity and compactness with 



