24 



The Sheep-Fluke. 



It will doubtless excite the reader's amusement to be told that these birds 

 perform accurately-timed duets. This trait is well developed among Aus- 

 tralian birds and frogs ; in fact, I do not remember to have heard in any- 

 other part of the world such good examples of this phenomenon. Witness the 

 comic responsive duet of the Australian Butcher-bird and his wife. Says he, 

 " What do you drink when you go on a drunh ?" " Water, xoater^'' invari- 

 ably responds his wife, with an ironical and very comical upward inflection. 

 '•'• Oi'll tell yer father ^^ says he in a rich brogue, upon which she calls for 

 " Quarter, quarter y 



Of course, these words and meanings are an imagination of the mere 

 human audience, but of the responsive duet there can be no doubt. 



Pee-wee duets are much simpler, but no less marked. The female calls 

 out in a somewhat weaker voice, and less than half a tone flatter than her 

 mate : — 



Male, 



_E_feL_ 



f ■ t t 







Female, 









^ ! — --^ 



1 



^ 



Or the duet sometimes occurs in this form : — 





Male. 



A. 



m 



-111 



II 



-^-^\^- 



-p--p- 



1 n n - 



-b- 



Female 



m 



- inn 





11"! 



F ^ 



- "inn 



F ^ 



ty 



The cause of these interchanges of sound is no doubt oft-times the pre- 

 caution taken by each bird to make known his whereabouts to his mates, 

 and to assure them of his safety, but they cannot always be explained on 

 this simple assumption, as, for instance, during nest-building, and on some 

 other occasions. 



Nesting takes place during October, November, and December, at which 

 season the birds gravitate toward rivers and tanks, the nest being seldom 

 far from water, and usually located in the side of the tree nearest some 

 creek or water-hole, often on a limb overhanging the water. From 5 to 80 

 feet above the ground on a horizontal or gently sloping limb, often at a fork, 

 built substantially of mud, with no eifort at concealment, the nest is typical 

 of its owner — simple, frank, substantial. Any approach to a tree where nest- 

 building is going on is a signal for the birds to silently depart, and they will 



