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wnicli occurs in a flock, they commence to pair and make a 

 cup-skaped nest in a hole in a tree, rock or other similar 

 situation. The nest is made of bark lined with wool, &c. They 

 lay four greenish-white eggs freckled with purple and chesnut- 

 brown, but no two eggs are quite alike. The male bird soon 

 gets very shy and difficult to obtain, hiding himself in the 

 swampy places, where, standing on a clod or stick, he presents 

 a handsome picture — the female the while sitting close about 

 the collector and singing a pretty twittering song. The 

 common Eobin may be said to be quite arboreal in its habits, 

 but the bird under notice is quite the reverse, and delights in 

 wet flats with plenty of dead timber on w^hich to perch and 

 show himself off. The peculiar feature in the habits of these 

 birds is that when they have reared their young, say in six or 

 eight weeks after their arrival, they make off again and are 

 seen no more until the following season. "Whither do they 

 go? 



