136 MATESHIP WITH BIRDS 



With the coming of September the little drooping 

 wings are no longer seen in these Queensland gul- 

 lies. The birds have moved off in the warming 

 nights of late August, and are then working their 

 way down the coast to southern New South Wales 

 and the recesses of Gippsland, or up into the cool- 

 ness of the coastal ranges. In the absence of orni- 

 thological evidence on the point for it is strange 

 how little has been written of this fascinating bird 

 the non-discovery of Rose Robins' nests in Queens- 

 land seemed to indicate a distinct southern migra- 

 tion with each Springtime, just as it was formerly 

 believed that the Flame-breasts of the mainland 

 crossed to Tasmania with the passing of Winter. 



The finding of several pairs of Rose Robins dwell- 

 ing on the shaggy heights of the Macpherson Range 

 and Bunya Mountains (South Queensland), during 

 the latter part of the year, has caused a modification 

 of this view. Interstate migration may be practised 

 by the Robins, but certainly it is neither complete 

 nor general. How strange it is, then, that Queens- 

 land yet lacks a record of the discovery of the dainty 

 nest of little Erythrodryas of the rose breast ! Con- 

 versely, too, is it not curious that the species is not 

 remarked on during the Winter of Victoria? 



For here in Southern Queensland the birds are 

 not at all rare, either amid the tea-tree or elsewhere, 

 during the cooler months. Indeed, I hear the queer 

 little call at this time in almost all classes of coun- 

 try about Brisbane, and for at least 100 miles far- 

 ther north, sometimes nearly a score of miles in- 

 land, and sometimes right on the margin of the sea. 



