THE ROCK WARBLER. 



371 



„ Besides the Honey Eaters, Australia has many other expert 

 nest^juilders, such as the Kock Warbler (Origma rubi^cata), 

 which suspends its nest from the rocks in .sheltered places, 

 wherever an overhanging ledge affords protection from the 

 elements ; the Sericornis cltreogularis, which constructs its 

 dwelling in the centre of the large masses of moss which in the 

 Australian forests often accumulate at the extremities of droop- 



b-\VAIXOW DlCilXI 



ing branches, and the brilliantly coloured Swallow Dicoeum 

 {Dicfjeum hirundiaaceum), wliich hangs its pietty nest from 

 the tops of the tallest Casuarinas, where its minute body can 

 scarcely be seen without tlie assistance of glasses ; but nothing 

 can be more extraordinary than the constructions of the Bower 

 }^irds, which are built not for the useful purpose of containing 

 the young, but purely as a playing place or an assembly room. 



B B 2 



