INSESSORES. 109 



of rocks and dark caverns, but since the colonization of 

 Australia it has in a remarkable degree imitated its European 

 prototype, by selecting for the site of its nest the smoky 

 chimneys, the chambers of mills and out-houses, or the 

 corner of a shady verandah ; the nest is also similarly 

 constructed, being open at the top, formed of mud or clay, 

 intermingled with grass or straw to bind it firmly together, 

 and lined first with a layer of fine grasses, and then wdth 

 feathers. The shape of the nest depends upon the situation 

 in which it is built, but it generally assumes a rounded 

 contour in front. The eggs are usually four in number, of a 

 lengthened form ; their ground colour pinky white, with 

 numerous fine spots of purplish brown, the interspaces with 

 specks of Hght greyish brown, assuming in some instances 

 the form of a zone at the larger end ; they are from eight to 

 nine lines long by six lines broad. At Sw^an River the 

 breeding-season is in September and October. In the spring 

 of 1862 two nests of this species were sent to me by George 

 French Angas, Esq. These very closely resembled those of 

 our own bird, both in form and materials ; they were, how- 

 ever, somewhat more square and more stoutly built. The 

 interior was composed of the usual plastered mud strengthened 

 with a little hair, and thickly lined with the downy feathers 

 of various domestic birds. These nests are now in the British 

 Museum. The following note by Mr. Angas was attached to 

 one of them : — " Built on a rafter of my stable at Collingrove, 

 South Australia: taken Oct. 3, 1861." 



Forehead, chin, throat, and chest rust-red; head, back of 

 the neck, back, scapularies, wing-coverts, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts deep steel-blue ; wings and tail blackish brown, 

 all but the two centre feathers of the latter with an oblique 

 mark of white on the inner web ; under surface very pale 

 brown ; under tail-coverts pale brown, passing into an irre- 

 gular crescent-shaped mark near the extremity, and tipped 

 with white ; irides dark brown ; bill and legs black. 



