SOUTH AND CENTRAL AUSTRALIA 197 



about Mt. Lofty, Kangaroo Island, and Eyre Pen- 

 insula, map 84, a, b, c. 



The nest is generally placed low to the earth. 

 Each morning, for half an hour, building operations 

 are carried on, while the grasses are pliable with 

 dew; 6 o'clock being the time to start. Work may 

 not be quite suspended before 12 noon, when an 

 adjournment is made to 6 a.m. 



On the seventh day an egg is laid, a second on 

 the ninth and a third on the eleventh. On the 

 fourteenth the bird firmly sits. The eggs are laid 

 on the forenoons and the young hatch out on the 

 twenty-third day from laying the last egg. The 

 young fly on the fifteenth day from the breaking of 

 the shell. 



Next day the young and old begin a nomadic life. 



WREN-WARBLERS (Maluri) 

 (Plate 3, Fig. S5) 



Races of birds in South Australia have been 

 emphasized in the preceding pages. In map 85, 

 a f, we get an impression of the distribution of a 

 genus in South Australia, and if we examine the 

 altered country near each species we will again 

 find races. 



Wren- Warblers are without doubt among the 

 most resplendent of red, white and blue birds, with 

 attractive ways and pleasant voice. 



They moult their colour in the Autumn and get 

 a fresh set for the Spring. The hen is always 



