152 Dove, The Blue Wren of Tasmania. [ is^T„_ 



from the ground in a large Lcpidosperma tussock, and having 

 the entrance facing slightly upwards (which is usual) and 

 pointing to the north-west. One ^%^ was laid on the 23rd 

 September, one on 24th, and the third on 25 th, when 

 incubation in earnest was begun, and continued until the loth 

 October, when three young appeared, thus giving fifteen days as 

 the period of incubation. On the sixth day the eyes were open 

 and the bodies and wings covered with sprouting feathers, which 

 at this stage have a curious blue-black appearance. I have seen 

 no down on the Wren nestlings, the bodies being naked and 

 flesh-tinted until covered with the sprouting quills. When nine 

 days old the feathers had opened out, and the wings, bodies, and 

 heads were covered with a long brownish plumage, with light-grey 

 breasts, much like that of the mother. When touched with the 

 finger, they opened the bills widely and made a loud " We-ee-ee," 

 no doubt asking, like Oliver Twist, for more. On the eleventh 

 day after hatching they left the nest, all having a plumage very 

 like that of the mother, but the beaks had a kind of flesh-tint, 

 and the tails were exceedingly short, measuring only about i 

 inch ; none exhibited any blue tint. 



It was very interesting to see the parents leading their babes 

 out of danger as I approached, giving a sharp double call-note 

 (especially the female), which was obeyed by the young taking 

 very short flights after the parents from one piece of scrub to 

 another. One of the youngsters ruffled up its head while sitting 

 on a slender twig, and assumed an air of profound wisdom which 

 accorded ill with its years, or days. The male flew close to me 

 several times, and chatted angrily in his anxiety to keep me 

 away from the fledglings. 



The nest was of the short type, and being slightly uptilted one 

 could, without difficulty, see to the end of it ; it was still beauti- 

 fully clean when the family left to begin their lives in the scrub. 

 The young, in my experience, never return to the nest after once 

 leaving. The three eggs were white, with reddish spots about 

 the larger end ; in one of the clutch the ring of spots was not 

 nearly so thick as in the others. 



The second nest under observation was of a longer type, 

 placed in a fine large Xerotes tussock growing on a small 

 mound within a few yards of the railway line ; this nest, also, 

 had the slight upward inclination at the entrance, which faced 

 north-west like the first. This aspect is mentioned because our 

 Striated Field-Wren {Calajuanthus fuliginosus, V. and H.) — 

 which, by the way, is referred to in Mathews' list as peculiar to 

 Tasmania and adjacent islands, the mainland species being 

 separated as " CalainantJius albiloris, North " — almost invariably 

 places the entrance of its domed nest, also built in large tussocks, 

 to the south-east, or away from the prevailing winds. As the 

 north-westers are often violent and accompanied by much rain, it 



