THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 169 



or goes in search of one of the opposite sex. After repeating this 

 practice several times the pair usually start housekeeping in a 

 hollow branch or hole tunnelled in a bank. After four or five 

 round, glossy-white eggs have been deposited and duly hatched, 

 the offspring are fed on small lizards, grubs, and grasshoppers. 

 Although the Red-backed Kingfisher is partial to the vicinity of 

 water in hot weather, in order to gratify its taste for bathing, in 

 winter I saw many of them in scattered mulga scrub or open 

 forest far from water. 



Black-faced Wood Swallow, Artamus melanops, Gould. — 

 One of the first, and certainly the last, birds noted during the 

 wanderings of the Horn Scientific Expedition in Central Aus- 

 tralia, was the Black-faced Wood Swallow. Whilst loading our 

 camels preparatory to make a start from Oodnadatta, several pairs 

 were seen perched on the few stunted trees near camp. They 

 appeared to be very affectionate towards each other, and when 

 not engaged gliding or soaring past the camels in pursuit of flies 

 were always close together, preening each other's feathers. They 

 were found throughout the journey, but after breeding time was 

 past they congregated in flocks for some time. Like Artamus 

 sordidus, they are local in their habits. Their open saucer-shaped 

 nests are usually placed in the horizontal forked branch of any 

 convenient tree. The four eggs which constitute a full clutch 

 vary considerably in colour. Whilst some are heavily blotched 

 with bright red on a fleshy white ground, others are marked with 

 patches of dark brown and slaty-grey on a dirty white ground. 

 Although strong on the wing the Black-faced Wood Swallow is 

 seldom seen far from timber or scrub, like A. personatus and A. 

 superciliosus, which frequent open grass plains in quest of food. 



Red-lored Pardalote, Pardalotus rubricatus, Gould. — This 

 is undoubtedly the most northern species of the genus, and the 

 farthest south I found these birds was on the Petermann Creek, 

 where they were hopping amongst the foliage of the gum trees 

 skirting the watercourse. At first I was puzzled by the note, 

 which was low, soft, and always uttered twice in exactly the same 

 key. When once heard, it is easily recognized on a subsequent 

 occasion. The beautiful red lores on the adult birds are very 

 conspicuous. As these birds are said to breed in holes in the 

 ground, similar to the nesting-place of P. punctatus, I was 

 surprised to see them exploring the hollow branches of several 

 trees. However, the eggs which Mr. Cowle has forwarded were 

 taken from a hole in a bank. 



Striated Pardalote, Pardalotus ornatus, Temm. — Although 

 these birds are very generally scattered on the southern portions 

 of the continent, the specimens secured in Central Australia 

 were shot at Alice Well and Stevenson Creek, and others seen 

 much farther north. Their habits are too well known to 

 necessitate an extended notice. — (To be continued.) 



