Vol. XVll, 

 '9'7 



J Howe, Observa/toim on the Genus UyUicola. 



"In the previous season I had found several pairs of a 

 Hylacola inhabiting stony hillsides covered with low scrub. I 

 was too late to find the nest, as the young were already on the 

 wing. In my previous paper I referred to this species as Hylacola 

 pyrrliopygia. On referring a skin, however, to experts, I find 

 that I was wrong, the bird being really Hylacola cauta. I deter- 

 mined to have a good hunt for the nest, which is described in 

 A. J. Campbell's 'Nests and Eggs' as always a difficult one to 

 find — an opinion which I can now thoroughly endorse. I was 

 not long in locating two pairs of birds, though the species is 

 distinctly local, and rare, in the Stirling Ranges. I fully expected 

 to find this bird an early breeder, and I was not mistaken. I 

 was much hindered by the rough winds prevailing during the 

 greater part of August and September in my searches and observa- 

 tions of the more secretive birds. Especially was this the case 

 with the present species. The easiest way to discover the 

 presence of a pair is to listen to the song of the male, which, to 

 my ears, resembles somewhat that of Acanthiza apicalis, and, 

 again, that of Calamanthus montanellns. Hvlacola cauta, however, 

 does not appear to sing in the very early morning, which is a pity, 

 for the winds at that early hour are usually light ; and, as the 

 bird has not at all a powerful voice, and is by no means a constant 

 singer, one does not hear it to advantage in half a gale of wind. 



" It was some days before I found the first pair, which haunted 

 rather open and low scrub, with a few patches of marlock and 

 stunted jarrah trees. In the marlock Ptilotis cyatitia was breeding. 

 On the ground itself were small patches of what looked like a 

 dwarf banksia, and it was amongst this latter growth that I 

 caught sight of a beautiful male Hylacola. It was only by 

 keeping motionless that I had a chance of watching him. On 

 my making the least movement he hopped or fiew at once into 

 a patch of marlock and disappeared. Once or twice I saw him 

 catch a caterpillar and hop into the scrub with it — I suppose to 

 share the capture with his mate, whom I never once saw. 

 Despite the most persistent and systematic search, I failed to 

 find the nest of this pair. 



" To vary the monotony of non-success, I went on alternate 

 days to watch the second pair, and at the third attempt I flushed 

 a bird from a nest built in a little hollow excavated in the ground 

 under the lee of a clump of dwarf banksia. I hid myself and 

 waited patiently until the bird returned, when I satisfactorily 

 identified her as Hylacola cauta — ^a similar bird in all respects 

 to the specimen procured the previous year. The nest was 

 globular, and much like that of a Calamanthus, the entrance being 

 flush with the ground. The general structure, however, was not 

 so firmly interwoven as that of the former species. The interior 

 was lined with fine grasses and a little fur and feathers. The 

 eggs have been accurately described in Campbell's ' Nests and 

 Eggs,' and the present clutch of three was typical. In this 

 particular set there seems to be a tendency for the spots to form 



