DAYS AMONG THE ROBINS 135 



If the Rose Robin is essentially cheerful, that is 

 not to say that the bird is a model of amiability. On 

 at least two occasions I have seen a male and female 

 of the species sitting lengthwise on a horizontal 

 bough, and "Churr-churring" at each other in most 

 animated fashion, the bright-breasted bird appa- 

 rently being the moving spirit in each case. On 

 another day, as I walked along a road skirting a tea- 

 tree gully, attention was claimed by a strange bird- 

 note, a sharp "Tick-tick," as of a twig snapping ; and 

 presently there flashed into view a beautiful male 

 Rose Robin, fleeing ignominiously from an excited 

 little female of the species! 



Again, on August 31, 1918 the date is notable as 

 the latest record for Erythrodryas rosea amid the 

 tea-tree I was watching a lordly little Scarlet 

 Honeyeater coming down to a pool, when he was 

 forced to flee from the onslaught of a pugnacious 

 Robin of the opposite sex, who then turned her 

 unladylike attentions to an inoffensive Tree-Tit. 

 This particular Robin was the most consummate of 

 all wing-artists, extending the pinions wide rather 

 than drooping them low about the feet. 



Whether the females of the Rose Robins (as in 

 the case of the Flame-breasts) are the first to lead 

 the way on the annual pilgrimages cannot yet be 

 said with any certainty. I was inclined to return 

 an affirmative answer to the question until the year 

 1919, when I saw my first Robin as early as 

 April 13, a bright-breasted male bird, which sat 

 quietly in a leafy sapling, as though tired out after 

 a long journey. 



