104 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



about these birds. Firstly, that they are combative. One 

 pair for several minutes fought while on the wing ; having 

 ascended to a high altitude a downward chase followed, when 

 they appeared as comet-like objects floating rapidly through the 

 air, chattering all the time. Secondly, that the male is a vocalist 

 with a considerable amount of ability, for if the sun be shining, as 

 you know it often enough does at this time in this bright country 

 of ours, a strain of music continuous for minutes is produced 

 while it rests upon a post or other suitable object. As it now 

 wishes to choose a partner for next month it must needs be 

 busy with the duty of the season. Thirdly, that owing to the 

 amount of moisture regularly falling upon the ground they find 

 part of their sustenance there. As they " float " above the short 

 grass the little body assumes an ovate form, and the tail feathers 

 become lowered. The short legs prohibit them from standing 

 anywhere other than on a flat surface, and it is not unusual to 

 have them pleasantly rise from the asphalt path as you approach. 

 Swallows gather moths and other insects from the grass as they 

 rise, noiselessly hovering within a few inches, and at times 

 appearing motionless. 



On the 3rd of the month I was interested in watching fourteen 

 swallows skimming the surface of the local reservoir. This was at 

 4.45 p.m., and soon the active flock became twenty-three, after 

 which the number quickly reached seventy. The arrivals all 

 came from the south, and still continued until the number totalled 

 about two hundred in thirty minutes from the arrival of the first 

 group. They arrived in companies of from twelve to eighteen. 

 The sun was brightly setting and the weather mild. The 

 scene above the artificial lake was truly a pretty one, with the 

 distant birds of apparently small proportions and light colour, 

 while those in the foreground were large and dark, all gliding in 

 a circular form until one almost imagined the whole scene was in 

 revolution. The flock left at 5.30 p.m., as the light faded, and 

 all occurred as in an instant, and I was left to contemplate, with 

 only a faint idea that they had moved northwards to their usual 

 roosting-place in a group of timber. 



The cuckoos as a whole did not leave our shores, and I am 

 inclined to consider this as a sign that we have had a mild autumn 

 and winter. I heard and saw either the Bronze or Narrow-billed 

 Bronze Cuckoo on the 2nd July at Altona, while the first egg of 

 the former was observed in this district on the 22nd in a nest 

 of Acanthiza pyrrhopygia, one of the many species of the foster 

 parents of this group. That this Acanthiza should thus early lay 

 its eggs and be so quickly accommodated with a stranger's egg 

 shows further the dependency of the latter and watchfulness 

 bestowed by it. The Acanthiza having changed its month for 

 egg-laying, the cuckoo follows suit. The cuckoo is not yet heard 



