38 



There is little need to dwell oii its usefulness, for every one 

 knows what a gi-eat friend the magpie is to agriculturists and 

 pastoralists. One of these birds will do more work of its kind 

 in a day than three men. This bird is known to the scientist 

 as the white-backed crow shrike (Gymnorhina leucouota). 

 Small families of six to ten are often seen running over the newly 

 turned up soil in search of insects, and the number of locusts and 

 grasshoppers they devour is immense. Who is there who has 

 not felt a thrill of delight when, on some morning in early spring, 

 the magpie's carol floats out on the bright, clear air from some 

 high dead pucalypt? 



— The Cuckoo Shrike. — 



A. few pairs of the black-faced cuckoo shrikes (Coracina- 

 robnsta) came under observation. Its undulating and powerful 

 flight, also the peculiar call, would soon draw attention to this 

 useful bird, which lives almost exclusively on insects and their 

 larvae. It has a remarkable habit of perching on the top of a 

 dead tree for .hours; occasionally it will sally out in pursuit of 

 some' insect that may have come within the range of vision, then 

 back to its perch again. The nost of this bird is placed in the fork 

 of a horizontal branch, and is composed of small dead twigs glued 

 into position by flue cobwebs, and in many cases pieces of 

 "lichens" are attached to the nest to make it resemble the bough 

 on which it is placed. The nest is very shallow, barely h,igh 

 enough to keep the three 1)rownish-green eggs in position. Tlie- 

 bird is rather conspicuous in coloration, for the plumage is of a 

 delicate grey, with a deep contrast in forehead and face, which 

 are deep black. 



— Thickheads.— 



One of the most interesting and sweetest song birds on the 

 peninsular is the Rufus-breasted thickhead (Pachycephala 

 ruflventris). This pleasing little bird has a wide range, being 

 found over the whole of southern Australia, and is to be found 

 fairly plentiful around the partially timbered country, and few 

 birds in Australia utter a more animated and lovely song or loud 

 continuous whistle. The thickhead's food consists of insects of 

 various kinds, and, like other members of the familj", it creeps 

 and hops about the branches of the trees in a gentle and quiet 

 manner. The nest is of cup shape, nnd veiy loosely put to- 

 gether with roots and fibres. It contains, as a rule, three eggs of 

 an olive tint, with a zone of indistinct spots and blotches. The 

 Avhite-throated thickhead (meridionalis) were also met with in the- 

 scrub near the creek. 



