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Campbell, The Flame-breasted Robin. [isf Tm. 



The Flame-breasted Robin (Petroeca phoenicea) : a 



Monograph. 



By a. G. Campbell, Pomonal, Victoria. 



{Read at the Aiimial Meeting of the A.O.i/., Melbourne, 20th Not., 1908.) 

 The time appears to be ripe for some conclusive statements 

 concerning this well-known species. It so happens that the 

 comings and goings of this little bird, which is, perhaps, with 

 the Magpie, the commonest bird known to the public mind in 

 this quarter of Australia, are shrouded in mystery— not to say 

 myth, for legends attach themselves to many a common form of 

 life. It is not difficult to understand how the " Red-breast," 

 ever noticed as a mark of colour in the dull winter landscape, 

 and in itself a glorified reminder of " the dear Home bird," the 

 English Robin, should elicit questionings concerning its dis- 

 appearance in summer. Where is it then ? Visitors from 

 Tasmania had the answer ready — " It nests with us ; " and the 

 chain of evidence was seemingly complete. The bright little 

 bird that makes its abode in the parks and gardens of the city 

 as well as in the country fields and lanes, disappearing on the 

 approach of summer, nests in Tasmania. Therefore the delicate 

 little creature migrates to Tasmania, flying across 100 miles of 

 Strait to reach its summer home. There are some seeming 

 absurdities in bird-life that do not prove so on critical examina- 

 tion, but here is one that should not stand much criticism. That 

 a feeble land-bird, not seen in the field to keep up a sustained 

 flight for more than 100 yards, should cross Bass Strait, one of 

 the stormiest channels about Australia, and at a time of the 

 year when equinoctial gales rage high, is, to say the least of it, 

 improbable. 



The illustrious John Gould set forth in his "Handbook 

 to the Birds of Australia" (page 282) a concise account of the 

 habits of the Flame-breasted Robin : — " Tasmania and the 

 south-east portion of the Australian continent constitute the 

 natural habitat of the species. In the former country it is very 

 common, but in New South Wales and South Australia it is not 

 so numerous, and is very local. It is far less arboreal than 

 Petrceca multicolor {leggii), giving a decided preference to open 

 wastes and cleared lands rather than to the woods ; in many of 

 its actions it much resembles the Wheatear and other true 

 Saxicoline birds, often selecting a large stone, clod of earth, or 

 other substance on which to perch and show off its flame-coloured 

 breast to the greatest advantage. . . . It is a very familiar 

 species, seeking rather than .shunning the presence of man, and 

 readily taking up its abode in his gardens, orchards, and other 

 cultivated grounds." 



Gould was writing in Tasmania of a Tasmanian bird, and his 

 remarks — " retire to the forest for breeding " — are true as far as 



