YELLOW-BREASTED ROBIN. 151 



CHAPTEE CXXXIX. 



YELLOW-BREASTED EOBIN. 

 (Eopsaltria Australis, Latham.) 



As this beautiful bird is not, strictly speaking, a true 

 robin, it is known to ornithologists as a " Shrike " Eobir, 

 but, as all growers know it as the Yellow-breasted Eobin, 

 I have adhered to the old name. 



The full-grown male is slightly smaller than the one 

 illustrated. The female is much the same in colour, but 

 smaller in size, and, as Gould says, has the rump olive 

 instead of yellow. The nest, of which Mr. Campbell has 

 obtained such an excellent photograph, has been described 

 by him as being cup-shaped and beautiful in form, con- 

 structed of fine twigs, but chiefly of bark, with lengthened 

 pieces of outer bark, sometimes 2 or 3 inches long, stuck 

 on perpendicularly outside by means of spiders' web, and 

 further ornamented, especially about the rim, with lichen, 

 lined inside with rootlets and pieces of dead flat sword-like 

 grass, or with whole small dead leaves of eucalyptus. The 

 nest is usually placed low in a fork or on a horizontal branch 

 of a tree in the scrub or a creek or in a forest. 



This is one of the greatest favourites among birds ; its 

 confiding manner, somewhat slow movements, and cheerful 

 note render its presence welcome at all times. In the dense 

 gullies in the Dandenong and other ranges, its delightful 

 note may be heard before darkness sets in, and even in 

 the Tea-tree (Leptospermum) bay fringes it is by no means 

 uncommon. 



The Yellow Eobin has a marvellous appetite, and there 

 are few birds of its size which destroy so many insects. 

 It is one of the fruit-growers' best friends, and should be 



