334 Jackson, The Haunt of the Rufous Scnih-Bird. [,sf April 



Atrichornis to-day pleased me very much, and it was my intention 

 to carefully watch, and later on remove and thoroughly search 

 this mass for No. 2 nest ; I would then lose no opportunity of 

 shooting the female. If No. 2 nest should be in one of these huge 

 masses of debris, then the chances of finding it are very remote 

 indeed, for to remove one of these large heaps of confused rubbish 

 and trees is a big undertaking (see photos.) 



I still continued to hunt day after day, and removed tons of 

 debris, sometimes spending several hours at a time, following the 

 male Atrichornis as he called and continued his wonderful mimicry. 

 I walked to and fro over these heaps for days, with gun ready 

 with extra small charges of dust shot, in case the female might 

 possibly be in company with the male. I saw the male many 

 times, but did not want him unless I ultimately failed to secure 

 the female. When following him it is often very difficult to 

 locate the sound on account of his ventriloquial powers. Some- 

 times he sounds quite close, whereas the bird is perhaps many 

 yards away ; again, the notes often appear to be overhead 

 though they are actually issued on the ground. 



The food of this Scrub-Bird consisted chiefly of snails' eggs, 

 young tender-shelled scrub snails [Helix and Panda), worms, 

 insects, and the larvae and pupae of various Carabidce and other 

 Coleoptera living in the masses of debris and under the damp 

 leaves on the ground. 



On 6th November I heard the male calling out at 11. 15 a.m. 

 in the mass of debris marked No. 2 in the accompanying plan, 

 and 80 yards north-east of the spot where I had found the nest 

 on i6th October. However, suddenly he became silent, and 

 remained so until about noon, when he started, and frequently 

 imitated the scolding and other notes of the Yellow-rumped Robin 

 [Eopsaltria chrysorrhoa). White-fronted Scrub-Wren [Scricornis 

 frontalis), and other species, and he gradually ran along through 

 the pile of rubbish towards the western end, and I followed and 

 saw him several times. Now, under the debris here, and close to 

 a tall green iron wood tree * (Tarrietia, sp.) which was growing 

 up through the rubbish, he made a scolding cry, for possibly he 

 saw me ; then he became silent, and later on went away un- 

 observed to the eastern end of the heap, and, while he was calling 

 out loudly there, I suddenly saw the female for a few seconds at 

 the extreme western end of No. 2 mass of debris (see plan), and 

 in the same place as the male had made the scolding cry just 

 previously, and where I had seen the female also on 22nd October. 

 This was encouraging, as I concluded that No. 2 nest was in this 

 heap of rubbish or its immediate surroundings. When the female 

 vanished under the debris she gave three faint and feeble whines 

 or cries similar to those uttered by a very young domestic kitten ; 

 this was the first and only sound I ever heard her make. 



The following day (7th November) I was about shortly after 



* Not to be confused with the ironbark tree {^Eticalyptiis) of our forests. — S. W. J. 



