140 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



company with them on the small shey oaks and honey- 

 suckles. The eggs were three, lightly spotted with red. 

 One of the bush wonders is the Leatlierliead, or bald- 

 headed friar, a curious-looking bird ; not so large as the 

 wattle-bird, of one uniform dun-blue colour, with black 

 pencillings, a dirty-white breast and belly, white under 

 the tail, which was long and square. The greatest pecu- 

 liarities in this bird, however, are the head and neck, 

 which, instead of being feathered, are covered with a thin 

 black skin. The beak is large, with a sharp curve ; and 

 a high ridge or comb runs along the top of the head. It 

 has a ruff or fringe of long pointed feathers, like a cock's 

 hackles, at the bottom of the neck ; the eye is reddish, 

 bright, and deeply shielded, and the head and neck give 

 the bird rather the appearance of a small vulture ; and 

 had it been larger, one might have supposed that it was 

 a snake-killer; but for what purpose the head of so 

 small a bird is so securely guarded I never could imagine. 

 It is not a carrion-feeder, for the long feathery tongue 

 proves it a honey-eater. They were very gregarious, 

 building in small colonies. Large flocks used to visit our 

 parts at irregular periods, and they then frequented the 

 high gum-trees. I generally saw them in the middle of 

 summer. They did not breed with us, but I remember 

 seeing their nests in the small shrubs in a paddock under 

 the Dandenong ranges. The leatherhead has the most 

 curious and varied call-notes, they can hardly be called 

 a song, which it would be impossible to describe with 

 the pen ; a jargon of whistling, chattering, and cackling, 



