OF VICTORIA. 151 



mice. In the daytime it roosts generally on a thick 

 bough, with another piece of dry limb over it. The dry 

 limb being of the same colour as the bird, it would be easily 

 passed without being noticed. This at least helps to show 

 that the bird not only knows its own colour, but also the 

 l)rotection afforded by the dry piece of wood above, as 

 hawks, magpies, &c., would not dive at it while against the 

 limb. They generally roost in pairs, and in the same place 

 for weeks together. It does not fly until forced by the 

 throwing of a stick or in some other way. The breeding 

 season is about the last week in August or beginning of Sep- 

 tember. The nest is generally composed of a few green leaves 

 placed in a large fork, often not more than 10 feet from the 

 ground, the fork generally being flat but sometimes a little 

 slanting. The nest is so shallow that on more than one 

 occasion I have seen the eggs roll out when the bird was 

 disturbed. The eggs are white in colour and generally 

 two in number, but on one occasion I found three in a 

 nest. It seems to guard its young, for when forced to 

 leave its nest it will sit on a limb near by, snapping its beak 

 very savagely at you. I have frequently heard the note 

 of this species during the day in the breeding season, but 

 it is generally heard just after sundown." To its menu I 

 I can add, from personal observation, centipedes, tarantulas, 

 crustaceans, and many hard-winged insects. In fact, they 

 are excellent destroyers of garden vermin, often slugs in 

 particular. The plumage of the bird is a clear case of 

 protective colouration, and the mimicry of the bough on 

 which it rests is by the bird well displayed, resting length- 

 wise, as it generally does. On the 19th October, 1894, I 

 found a nest containing two grey-downed young, with male 

 parent sitting at an angle of 45 degrees and motionless. 

 After a few minutes' interval, as if to cast a shadow of 



