THE PAEEOT. 157 



gray and white, barred with black and yellow, and three 

 or four small red spots ou each wing. They bred in the 

 holes of the trees, and the eggs were small and white. 

 Some of our spring migrants appeared to come very 

 early, and I have noticed the swallow, the marten, and 

 the diamond sparrow the first week in August, but the 

 majority of them came to us early in September. 



The last on our list of the small bush birds, and cer- 

 tainly one of the handsomest little birds in the colony, is 

 the Diamond Bird, which rather resembled the last in 

 shape, habits, and appearance, but was much smaller 

 and prettier. It would be in vain to attempt to do 

 justice, in a written description, to the vai'ied and beau- 

 tiful plumage of this handsome little bird. The general 

 colour, ash-grey and white, but spotted and spangled all 

 over with red, yellow, orange, and black, and the tail 

 coverts rich dark-red. It was very common in some 

 places among the large gums in the deep forests, and we 

 rarely found this bird and the diamond sparrow in the 

 same localities. The habits of the two are similar, and 

 the call-note of the diamond bird, although not so loud 

 and pretty as that of the diamond sparrow, is very loud 

 for the size of the bird. It bred in old logs, and some- 

 times in a hole in the ground. It was a summer migrant 

 to us, but I once saw a small flock in the winter, 



]\Iany of the birds above described bear a strong re- 

 semblance to their European namesakes, so much so, in 

 fact, that we can class them by their peculiarities in 

 shape and general appearance. But we now come to a 



