Vol. X. 

 igio 



] Chandler, Notes on Pardalotes. 117 



third and fourth primaries showing white edges. One skin in my 

 possession has the third and fourth primaries boldly fringed with 

 white, the fifth primary is faintly edged for a quarter of its 

 length, and the sixth primary shows about one-sixteenth of an 

 inch of white. I believe this bird to be the result of interbreeding 

 between P. ornafiis and P. assimilis. A close study of these birds 

 will probably prove that they frequently interbreed. On the 

 28th November, 1909, at Frankston, Mr. F. E. Wilson and myself 

 identified these two birds cross-breeding. A Pardalote's nest 

 was found in the earth, at the base of an uprooted tree. This tree 

 was growing on the side of a bank, so the nesting- tunnel was really 

 about 10 feet above the level of the ground. The nest was fully 

 2 feet in the soil. The eggs looked much smaller than usual, 

 and two feathers were woven into the lining of the nest, which 

 was composed principally of strips of red stringy-bark {Eucalyptus) 

 and a few dried grasses. As this was the first occasion on which 

 we had noticed feathers in a nest of P. assimilis, and knowing that 

 P. ornatus is said to use feathers in the lining of its nest, we were 

 anxious to examine the birds closely before we quitted the spot. 

 An opportunity soon occurred, for both birds settled on some 

 exposed tree-roots a few feet away. One was, without doubt, 

 P. ornatus, from the broad, white patch on the primaries, and the 

 other P. assimilis, with the third primary only edged white. I 

 visited the locality a fortnight later, in the hope of finding the 

 birds nesting again, but they had deserted the spot, probably to 

 nest in the trees. The material used in the construction of nests 

 varies to a large extent. Nests in trees are constructed generally 

 of grasses and bark, while those in the earth are usually composed 

 of rootlets and root fibre. One nest I found in sheoak {Casiiarina) 

 country was composed almost entirely of the " needles " of that 

 tree, with a few grasses and bits of bark added. I have examined 

 a fresh nest built on the remains of an old one, so that, like P. 

 punctatiis, this species sometimes uses the same tunnel for two or 

 more seasons. The average clutch of eggs is four, but I have oc- 

 casionally noticed five. When fresh the eggs have very little gloss 

 on them, and are a beautiful pink in colour. As incubation 

 advances the shell gets smooth and glossy, and darker in appearance. 

 The birds sit closely, and often will allow one to excavate the tunnel 

 right up to the nest before they leave the eggs. I believe this is 

 due to their timorous nature. 



The young of this species is born naked and blind, and the body 

 is then of a delicate pink in colour, wings and feet pale cream, 

 gape sulphur-yellow. When two or three days old the head is 

 covered with a grey down, and on the back and flanks a mixture 

 of grey and white, gape pale yellow, mouth saffron. When 

 about a week old the primary quills were nearly an inch in length, 

 with the feathers just unfurling ; primary coverts showing red 

 feathers at tips through blue quills ; middle of back and head, 

 brownish feathers just breaking ; tail half an inch long ; throat 

 yellow; flanks tawny; a row of^feathers on^ [sides of^ abdomen 



