DAYS AMONG THE ROBINS 133 



land, and that a larger number still spend their 

 whole time in Tasmania. 



The housekeeping of all the little Petroicas is on 

 much the same lines. They build dainty nests of 

 bark and fibres, half the size of the homes of the 

 Shrike-Robins. The usual site is a tree-fork or the 

 cleft of a stump, but frequently the Flame- and 

 Scarlet-breasts choose the upturned roots of fallen 

 trees. The length of time required for the males to 

 assume their gorgeous livery is probably two or three 

 years. But they do not wait for that before mat- 

 ing; it is not uncommon to see the birds nesting in 

 adolescent plumage, when the male is indistinguish- 

 able in color from the female. 



The Pink and Rose-breasted Wood-Robins (Ery- 

 throdryas) were formerly grouped with the Red 

 Robins of the fields. They are, however, quite un- 

 like these in many respects. Their habitat is the 

 semi-humid gullies of the eastern and southern 

 coast, and, whereas their relatives wage war against 

 the ground insects, these small wood-nymphs take 

 most of their food on the wing. Here, again, the 

 problem of distribution and movements is a real 

 one. These kin-spirits, who are so much alike that 

 they were confused for many years, breed together 

 in the gullies of Gippsland. After that they part 

 company. The larger Pink-breast is found nowhere 

 but in Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, 

 while the tiny Rose-breast spreads northward from 

 Victoria, through New South Wales, to Queensland. 



About the middle of April of each year I go to a 

 certain tea-tree gully in the neighborhood of Bris- 

 baneto welcome back the Rose Robins. If they 



