Vol. VIII, 

 1909 



] Campbell, The Flame-breasted Robin. 125 



form as much as the Tasmanian race is different from the 

 Victorian stock, of which it was at some still more remote period 

 a part. 



In 1896 the information was first made known that Petrccca 

 pJuvnicca nested in Victoria. A nest and eggs were procured in 

 the Omeo district, above 3,000 feet level,* and the male bird 

 shot for identification. The next season, in November, nearer 

 Melbourne, I observed a pair of birds feeding young in nest in 

 the Dandenong Ranges — height, 1,500 feet above sea- level. 

 There were other birds about, and many a time since then in the 

 same and similar localities about these ranges have I met with 

 the Flame-breasted Robin in summer. As far back as January, 

 1889, the species was recordedf in the valleys of the Brodribb 

 and Bemm Rivers, East Gippsland — elevation, 1,000 to 4,200 feet. 

 Then in November, 1890, the species was observed above Marys- 

 ville, Victoria, associated with the Pink-breasted Robin {P. 

 rJiodinogastra). % At the head of the River Yarra, in some- 

 what similar country, both these Robins were seen by myself in 

 December, 1904 (see The Emu, vol. iv., p, 165), 



On 26th January, 1900, the Field Naturalists' Club excursion 

 to Plenty Ranges, part of the Dividing Range, north of Mel- 

 bourne, the crest of which is 1,700 feet above sea-level, left the 

 following record in the Victoi'ian Naturalist, vol. xvi,, p. 168 : — 

 " The appearance of several Flame-breasted Robins {Petroeca 

 phccuicea) quite upset the theory that these birds always leave the 

 mainland in spring to breed on the islands of Bass Strait and 

 Tasmania, returning again on the approach of winter. Mr. Hall 

 not only secured an adult male, but also a young male just 

 changing to the bright colours of the adult. Many others were 

 seen, so the specimens secured were not isolated birds," Robins 

 were observed by me some years later during a walking tour 

 through the Kinglake plateau at Christmas time. This plateau 

 is part of the Dividing Range, to the east of the Plenty Ranges, 

 continuing round towards Healesville. 



In the Victorian Naturalist, vol. xxii., p. 169, is a record of 

 Petrceca phcenicea being seen by the roadside from Fernshaw to 

 Buxton, which road is nowhere below 1,000 feet elevation: — 

 " With the thawing of the snow, birds become more plentiful. 

 Robins were very abundant. Four species were noted — viz., 

 Petrceca rosea, P. leggii, P. pJuviiicea, and Eopsaltria australis!' 

 This was during the end of September (1905). 



Mr. D. Le Souef records several Flame-breasted Robins seen 

 on Buffalo Mountains, in north-eastern Victoria, early in March.§ 

 Mr. C. French, jun., informs me he has seen the species very 

 plentifully among the rocks in the high altitudes (3,000 to 5,000 

 feet) of the Alps adjacent, at Christmas time. Three or four 



* " Nests and Eggs," Campbell, p. 138. J VicioHaJi Naturalist, \o\. \\\., \^. i"]"}. 

 t Victorian Naturalist, vol. vi., p. H- % The Emu, vol. vii,, p, 41. 



