220 INSECTIVOROUS BlliDS OF VICTORIA. 



search of provender. The young in the early phase 

 assume the dress of the parents, which is not the rule 

 with birds. 



Nest. — Placed in reeds or suitable grasses in the water, 

 attached to three or four stems ; open, cup-shaped, deej), 

 made of grasses and lined with finer grasses. The plate 

 illustrates the shape and position. 



Eggs. — Four to a clutch ; ground colour tawny, thickly 

 blotched and spotted with umber and dense brown, as well 

 as markings of a pale olive, appearing as if beneath the 

 surface. 



