74 SOME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



The nests of these birds are placed in exposed positions in gum trees, and 

 are large domed structures formed with dried sticks. The basal portion is a 

 rounded basin with a stouter portion built up behind and projecting on the 

 sides and above, thus forming a rounded roof over the entrance into the nest 

 on the side. They often build several nests in the same clump of trees, and 

 the community take an interest in each other's work, even if they do not 

 actually assist each other in the building. The interior of the nest is deeply 

 lined with feathers and other soft material, and contains four light-brown 

 eggs clouded with darker brown and purple, streaked with fine hair-like 

 lines running round the egg, but sometimes more marbled. 



The Grey-crowned Babbler (Pomatorhinus temporalis Vig. and Horsf.), 

 Gould's Handbook, vol. I, p. 479, No. 292 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 130, No. 273. 



Like the species just described, the Grey-crowned Babblers have a wide 

 range over the south and eastern portion of Australia, from Queensland 

 through New South Wales and Victoria, into South Australia. They are 

 gregarious, travelling about in small flocks of about a dozen or more, 

 following each other and having a similar chattering call to that of the 

 previous species. They have been overloaded with popular names most of 

 them (such as Chatterer and Cackler) suggestive of their call-notes, some 

 (the Hopper and Jumper) on account of their curious movements, and some 

 (like Yahoo, Happy Jack, and Apostle-bird) on account of their gregarious 

 habits. Some enthusiastic Victorian bird-man wanted to have the name 

 Codlin-moth Eater attached to this bird, because an orchardist near Summer- 

 ville found them in an apple orchard, presumably looking for codlin-moth 

 grubs. Anyone who knows the forest-loving habits of these birds, and the 

 peculiarities of the codlin-moth, would not expect to obtain much relief from 

 the pest by their casual presence in the orchard. They are insectivorous 

 birds ; but they feed upon small beetles or larvae found under the dead bark 

 on tree trunks, or under the cow-dung or bits of bark and wood they turn 

 over on the ground. 



The Grey-crowned Babbler makes a large nest, similar to that of the 

 White-browed Babbler, with overhanging sticks above the opening. It is 

 placed in the fork of a tree, and often two or three nests are near each other. 

 The irnnber of curious, da?-k brown, hair-streaked eggs in the clutch varies 

 so much tha,t some collectors state that ten or more eggs may be found in one 

 nest, and that two or three birds lay their eggs together. 



The Apostle-bird (Struthidea cinerea Gould). 



Gould's Handbook, vol. I, p. 472, No. 289 ; Leach's Bird Book, p.- 188, No. 390. 

 Those quaint gregarious noisy birds are to be found all over the open forest 

 and scrub lands of the inland portion of New South Wales, ranging south 

 and north through Queensland into the Northern Territory. The first 

 district I noted them in was near Wagga, but I have never seen them in 

 similar country in Victoria. 



