Vol. XII. ~j Fletcher, Field Notes on (he Emu-Wren. i6q 



in deep water. ' The female lays one egg each day, and sits on 

 the day when the last egg is deposited. 



If disturbed while brooding, the female drops from the nest 

 after the manner of a fledgling, and secretes herself in the nearest 

 tussock. However, if the observer remains quiet she soon 

 returns and enters the nest again. Emu-Wrens take no notice 

 of the human voice ; it is movement which they distrust. On 

 31st August, 1912, I saw a female Emu-Wren, carrying material 

 in her beak, disappear in a large clump of coarse rushes, locally 

 named " wild pampas." I could not find the nest then, nor on 

 a second visit a week later. On the evening of 19th October 

 I disturbed the birds near the same spot, and judged by their 

 actions that they had fledglings somewhere. I was unable to 

 stay, but early next morning my sister and I cycled to the 

 swampy creek. Shortly afterwards we saw the male Wren fly 

 from the bank with an insect in his bill. He disappeared in the 

 same rushes. I left my sister to watch, while I examined a nest 

 of Lewin's Rail [Hypotcenidia br achy pus). The female Emu-Wren 

 flitted past me, carrying food. I returned to the bog where I had 

 left my sister. She reported that the male bird had disappeared 

 and returned again, this time carrying a spider. The birds now 

 became aware of our presence, and made a great commotion. The 

 male appeared to decide that all was well, and entered into a 

 sword-grass tussock. Then we heard young ones crying. The 

 male flew away. The female, after feeding the young birds, also 

 left. 



After some trouble, we found the nest. It was situated in a 

 small tussock near several larger clumps on the edge of a sheep- 

 track running through the bog. The young birds were about a 

 week old. They kept their eyes closed. The feathers were 

 showing on the wings, displacing the long blackish hairs or down. 

 The fledglings paid no attention when a hand was held above 

 them ; but instantly the reeds rustled they became alert. The 

 parent birds soon returned, and crept to within a few inches of 

 us. The female, whose beak already held insects, began picking 

 scale off the reeds without losing any of her former captives. On 

 making a second visit to the locality we found that the male bird 

 had gained more confidence ; he fed two of the fledglings. 



Next evening I watched the birds for a while from my seat on 

 a tree-fern stump a foot or two from the nest. The male appeared 

 first, bringing in his beak a brown moth nearly as big as himself. 

 But he saw the camera, which I had not had time to conceal. 

 Round and round he hopped, up and down the rushes, across 

 the sheep-track, and up to the nest. An hour elapsed before he 

 fed one of the fledglings, and departed in search of more food. 

 The female, meanwhile, had shown no fear except for a few 

 minutes. She fed her young ones freely, each in turn. On the 

 reeds near me she found a soft-bodied, greyish-coloured insect, 

 which she seized and popped into a little beak. I examined the 

 fledglings. Their eyes were wide open. The feathers were 



