THE MASKED WOOD-SWALLOW 149 



amusing to watch them bustling about among the grass 

 tussocks, so that when a moth, on being disturbed, flies 

 upward, it is at once pounced upon, and either devoured 

 upon the spot, or carried off to the nest. Grasshoppers 

 appear to be a favorite food for these birds, as they 

 follow up the swarms of hoppers, making great havoc 

 among them. It has been asserted that this bird will 

 kill bees ; I am not prepared to contradict this, although 

 the quantity of bees eaten is very small indeed, and is 

 hardly worth mentioning. It is hardly to be supposed 

 that these birds have had sufficient entomological 

 training to enable them to discriminate between bees 

 and many other flying insects, so that a few bees are 

 possibly secured as victims. The large Cicada? , com- 

 monly known to boys as locusts, which they are not, are 

 also tackled by these birds, the writer having frequently 

 seen the birds listening, for the purpose of locating the 

 exact spot on the tree from which the shrill stridulation 

 comes ; and, this found, a bustling amongst the leaves 

 usually starts the Cicada, which go whirring away in 

 the air, until frequent attacks by two or three of the 

 birds, acting in concert, usually seal the fate of the 

 captive. 



This bird has a wide geographical range, being found 

 in New South Wales, Victoria, South Queensland,, 

 South Australia, West and North-West Australia. 



