18 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



immediate surroundings. Nests may be placed close 

 to the ground, in the fork of a bough, or in a similar 

 position at some height. Typical eggs of the Yellow- 

 breasted Shrike-Robin are of a delicate apple-green 

 colour, splashed and spotted with chestnut and blue- 

 gray. A clutch in which the colour was blue, with- 

 out any markings, has been described. The coloration 

 of birds' eggs is a fascinating study. 



MISTLETOE - BIRD AT NEST. 



Mistletoe-Birds [Dicseum hirundinaceum] were 

 not rare ; but the discovery of a nest was an event for 

 rejoicing. Often we watched the brilliant little birds 

 (whose nearest relations flourish in the Indian region) 

 gleaning among big clumps of Loranthus on gum tree 

 boughs, and searched diligently for their pendulous 

 nurseries, generally in vain. Early in October one 

 year fortune favoured us. A nest was found suspended 

 in a gum sapling growing on a hill slope. It was the 



