OF VICTORIA. 79 



ground, and has its own special camp. Mr. Graham says : 

 — " In 1898 I wrote to you about three males attending 

 a nest I had transferred to a cage, and about which I was 

 making notes. The spring before (1897) I had noticed a sim- 

 ilar case, so, when in August, 1898, I found a pair of males 

 attending one female in a very isolated patch of cover, 

 which could be easily seen, I determined to watch them 

 right through. From the first it was evident that one male 

 had the happy possession of the female, and that the other 

 male was tolerated either because it could not, or would not, 

 be driven away. When the female was on the nest the two 

 males were apparently friendly enough, fed, hunted, and 

 camped together. One day when I was watching a Magpie- 

 Lark building its nest a female wren (a stranger) came 

 into the tree. Both males at once attacked it. For five 

 minutes their bills were chipping like shears, when the poor 

 little female took flight for the nearest cover, pursued by 

 both of its tormentors. When the young were hatched out, 

 on the 28th of October, both males fed and attended to 

 them, and right on to the present time (*20th June) the 

 partnership continues. This, being the third instance of 

 such conduct in three successive seasons, leads" one to 

 assume it is not an isola^ted example. In June, 1897, I had 

 completed the building of a large heap of logs preparatory 

 to the burning, and I was intently watching the actions of 

 a White-throated Tree-creeper, which, having secured an 

 unusual prize, a meal-worm, was making a long task of 

 killing it. Tree-creepers do not seem as expert at such 

 work as other birds, for a robin would have finished 

 it in a few seconds. There were some wrens about 

 at the time, and one female, seeming as much interested 

 as I was, twice sidled close up to the tree-creeper and 

 was rewarded with a couple of sharp pecks in order 



