THE MASKED WOOD-SWALLOW 147 



CHAPTER XCII. 



THE MASKED WOOD-SWALLOW. 

 (^Artanius personatus, Gotild.) 



This beautiful and valuable insect-destroying bird 

 was formerly almost unknown anywhere near Melbourne. 

 I allude to the early fifties, when cover for most birds 

 was plentiful ; the so-called White-eyebrowed Wood- 

 Swallow, or Summer-bird, being plentiful everywhere. 

 Old colonists prefer the name of Summer-bird, as the 

 appearance of these birds, in vast numbers, could always 

 be relied upon as a sign that summer was close at hand. 

 I have seen thousands of. the White-eyebrowed in 

 various flocks, and, as soon as they arrive, they commence 

 at once to build and to lay their eggs. The subject of the 

 present chapter is one of the handsomest of the genus 

 Artamus, being of a grey color, lighter and more 

 delicately colored on the breast and other under portions 

 of the body. The face, ear-coverts, and throat are black, 

 and sharply cut in color outline (see plate), forming a 

 sort of mask; hence its vernacular or common name. 



The Masked Wood-Swallow occasionally visits Victoria 

 in large numbers, the writer having seen large flocks of 

 them at Pakenham, Nar Nar Goon, and other places on 

 the main Gippsland railway line. This was in November, 

 and nest building was then being carried out with vigor. 

 The flimsy nests are usually composed of twigs, grass, 

 and pieces of rushes; and, like the other kinds of sum- 

 mer birds, are almost quite transparent. The nests are 

 usually built fairly low down, frequently on the top of 

 an old stump, and in this easily seen position the eggs 

 are taken by boys in a wholesale manner. 



The eggs (two or three in a clutch) are deposited in 

 these nests, and may be seen through the nests by 

 looking upwards from the bottom. The females are 



