°igoS J Dove, Biyds at Essendon. 6q 



until housekeeping begins again. It is a beautiful sight to see a 

 dozen or twenty of these feathered gems congregated in a small 

 paddock during autumn or winter, their breasts glowing like so 

 many live coals. The red is of a different quality from that of 

 the Scarlet-breasted, and seems to glow with life, like that 

 wonderful tint one gets in a fine opal. The hen, strange to say, 

 has no red at all upon the breast, like that of the preceding 

 species, but is a plain little grey bird, and the young males 

 resemble her, for they do not enter into the delights of full 

 plumage until their second spring season. Thus, when one 

 comes upon a party of Flame-breasts feeding in autumn or 

 winter, the brilliantly-coloured individuals are quite in a 

 minority, by far the larger number being in plain grey ; yet so 

 glowing is the tint upon the mature males that these attract 

 one's notice instantly, while their sober-looking relatives are 

 comparatively unheeded. 



The Yellow-breasted Robin {Eopsaitria australis, Lath.), which 

 is so plentiful in the tea-tree scrub about the shores of Hobson's 

 Bay, I have not so far come across in this district. In Tasmania 

 there is another Robin, called the Dusky {Petrivca vittata, Q. and 

 G.), about the same size and build as the Yellow-breast, but 

 without its colour. A friend and myself, when on a bush trip 

 in the island across the Strait, had a most interesting experience 

 with this bird. We had, during our tramp, emerged in a clearing, 

 on one side of which stood a tall charred stump, once a gum-tree. 

 As we approached we were amazed to see a Dusky Robin come 

 fluttering down the side of the stump, and then lie twisting about 

 at the foot thereof, apparently in all the agonies of dissolution. 

 We had heard no shot from the mischievous pea-rifle, nor seen 

 any Hawk or Butcher-Bird near, so could not account for the 

 poor bird's dying condition. As we walked up to investigate she 

 fluttered very feebly for a short distance, then lay still ; we 

 advanced a step or two, still she fluttered just out of reach. A 

 few repetitions of this performance, then the truth flashed upon 

 us. Her nest was in a niche in the side of the old stump, her 

 disablement just a clever bit of acting, which would have done 

 credit to the heroine of a tragic drama, but was to our feathered 

 actress really a matter of life or death, for she was luring us away 

 from what was to her the most precious thing on earth. Many 

 crafty birds practice similar delusive tactics upon the simple 

 human being, but this trait in the Dusky Robin was new to us, 

 and was exhibited in such perfection that we could but marvel 

 at such a large amount of guile in so small a body. 



During the first week of July, while standing in the vicinity of 

 the lily pond in Queen's Park, which Mr. Oliver's fostering care 

 has rendered so attractive, I was much interested in hearing a 

 familiar note proceeding from a reedy island in the pond ; it was 

 a note which I had not heard since leaving the banks of the 



