256 stray Feathers. [JlU 



plums, pears, apples, &c. When on a raid, a sentinel is placed 

 in a high tree, while the others feed below, and at the slightest 

 sign of danger he swoops from his perch with a loud call, and 

 the whole flock rises into the air and flies away. Yellow-faced 

 Honey-eaters {Ptilotis cJirysops) are very numerous, and during 

 the course of an afternoon's ramble as many as ten or twelve 

 nests may be observed. Nests are placed in small trees and 

 bushes, and rarely exceed the height of 6 feet, and I have seen 

 them as low as 2 feet from the ground. When only two eggs 

 are laid, and one is taken, the birds destroy the remaining ^^^ 

 and desert the nest, but if the full number is three and one is 

 purloined no notice is taken of the robbery. Wattle-Birds 

 {Anellobia carunculata) are plentiful, the bush resounding with 

 their queer calls — " Chock-o-lock ! " " Kurra-choc ! " " Ker-choc- 

 chock ! " " Peet ! " 



Neither Mr. A. G. Campbell * nor Mr. R. Hallf states very 

 definitely in what positions the Flame-breasted Robin {Petraxa 

 plixnicea) places its nest, and as the birds build regularly in 

 this district (2,000 odd feet above sea level) the following notes 

 may be of interest : — In. this locality the nest is invariably 

 situated in a small cavity in a rock bank, generally under the 

 shelter of an overhanging tussock of grass. The materials used 

 in its construction are wool, horsehair, and cowhair, firmly 

 welted together ; sometimes a ^q^n lichens ornament the exterior, 

 but such is not always the case. November and December are 

 the breeding months, though one or two nests may be found 

 in January still containing young. Two, three, or four eggs 

 constitute a clutch. I have never seen a nest in any other 

 situation than that described — perhaps because the crevices of 

 the rocks are to be found everywhere in the slate formations, 

 and no trouble is needed on the part of the birds to find a 

 suitable site. On 12th November I discovered a Rufous-breasted 

 Thickhead {PacJiycepJiala rufiventris) greedily devouring a large 

 emperor gum moth, and this is, I think, a new departure on 

 the part of the birds, from which great benefit will be derived. 

 The only other birds (exclusive of Owls and other nocturnal 

 birds) that feed on this pest are the Gang-Gang Cockatoos 

 {CallflcepJialum galeatjiin), which tear open the tough cocoon to 

 get at the chrysalis inside. — NoEL E. Ma-DDISON. Wood's 

 Point. 



From Magazines, &c. 



A WoNDERFUL^MiGRANT. — To The Lytteltcn Times (N.Z.), 

 of nth September, 1908, Mr. James Drummond, F.Z.S., con- 

 tributed an interesting account of the Barred-rumped Godwit 



* Efnu, vol. viii., part 3. t " Insectivorous Birds," 



