1 1 2 INSECTI VO ROUS BIRDS 



During tho time of incubation the sitting bird leaves the 

 nest to feed at early morning and evening, and at night 

 returns with a small feather or some downy plumage, so 

 that gradually the internal layer of its house is completed 

 to its satisfaction. In six nests observed in that district 

 two were lined with the fur of rabbits, the others with 

 feathers. All were inclined, with the entrance protected 

 from above, and faced the north-east, which is the fine 

 quarter of that period of tlie year. It was noticeable 

 that the intelligence of the birds led them to build 

 the external portion of their dome nest during rain 

 or in the early morning, when the wiry grasses were pliable 

 and the wet-softened material could be the more easily 

 adjusted to the required shape, while the inner layer 

 was constructed at midday, when the material was 

 drier. My last visit to the timber of Box Hill frequented 

 by the Sericornis and other forms enabled me to witness a 

 little scene. It showed me the forms of gallantry on the 

 part of the male Sericornis in his courtship are as intense 

 as the most chivalrous of other birds. How those two 

 males courtesied before the lady bird you could not realize 

 without a good-natured smile, bowing deeply, stately, and 

 continually as competition alone, in the majority of cases, 

 forces one or more to do. How the anxious matter term- 

 inated I do not know. Doubtless the knight of better points 

 won the day and the other went afield for a second trial of 

 his strength. 



]^esl_ — Oval, side entrance, made of grasses and lined 

 with feathers, &c. It is placed in low, rank vegetation, 

 and always well hidden. 



Eggs. — Three or four to a sitting ; deep fleshy- white, with 

 a zone of purplish-brown spots about the larger end. 

 Length, 0-75 inch; breadth, 0-6 inch. 



