THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



131 



Notes on the Babblers*. 



By Neville W. Cayley. 



GREY-CROWNED BABBLER. 



{Pomatustomus temporalis) . 



These well-known birds are found 

 over the greater portion of eastern and 

 south-eastern Australia. They frequent 

 open forest country, and are commonly 

 seen playing and hunting for food near 

 habitations and along the roadside; 

 their strange cries and calls have been 

 responsible for a number of their 

 "bush" names, such as Dog-bird, Cat- 

 bird, Barking-bird and Chatterer. They 

 are very interesting to watch, being al- 

 ways on the go and playing all sorts of 

 games from "chasings" to a fine exhibi- 

 tion of "catch-as-catch-can" wrestling. 

 At first sight one would believe them 

 very quarrelsome — but not so; they are 

 friendly, happy creatures, .so much so 

 in fact that "Happy Family" is the 

 name they are mostly known by. An- 

 other name, which they share with the 

 Grej' Jumper {Struthidea cinerea), is 

 "Twelve Apostles," because they usual- 

 ly go about in flocks of twelve. They 

 do a huge amount of good, destroying 

 large numbers of noxious insects — 

 especially the larvae of the codlin motli 

 ■ — and should therefore be encouraged 

 in one's orchard and garden. All hands 

 help with the making of the huge dome- 

 shaped nests; these are usually built in 

 small saplings, constructed of sticks, and 

 lined with gi-ass, bark, wool, etc., with 

 a side entrance that is hooded over. 

 Many nests are built — often two or more 

 in the same tree — but only a very few 

 are used for laying, the others being 

 occupied as roosting-places. Four eggs 

 constitute the usual clutch; they are 

 elongate-oval in shape, and the ground 

 colour varies from pale brown to pur- 

 plish brown or buff, marked or veined 

 all over with hair-like lines of dark 

 brown or black. The strange thing 

 about these markings is that they can 

 be removed by rubbing with a damp 



cloth. The breeding season is August to 

 December. Outside measurements of 

 nest: 14 inches long by 13 inches wide, 

 14 inches in depth. Measurement of 

 egg, 27 mm. by 19 mm. This species is 

 known throughout Queensland, N.S. 

 Wales, Victoria, and Soutli Australia. 



WHITE-BROWED BABBLER. 



(Pomatostomus superciliosus). 



This bird is smaller than the Grey- 

 crowned Babbler, but has a wider dis- 

 tribution, being found in both eastern 

 and western Australia. Captain S. A. 

 White, of South Australia, says : "This 

 bird is found practically all over the 

 State, and is a most useful bird, des- 

 troying large numbers of noxious in- 

 sects, especially ridding orchards of cod- 

 lin-moth grubs. Very sociable, even in 

 nesting time they seem to live in fami- 

 lies, and at other times more in parties 

 of five to twenty. Like the other 

 species, they build a great many nests 

 and lay in very few of them. It is a 

 common sight to see four or five birds 

 come out of a nest, wliich they seem to 

 occupy as roosting places." 



The nests are similar to those of the 

 Grey-crowned Babbler. Three is the 

 usual clutch of eggs, but they vary in 

 number from one to five; the shape is 

 oval, the ground-colour a pale greyish 

 brown, varying to light or buff-brown, 

 and slightly marked or veined with dark 

 brown hair-like lines or indistinct mot- 

 tlings of a darker shade of the ground- 

 colour. From the middle of May to the 

 end of the year constitutes the usual 

 breeding season. Outside measurements 

 of nest: 10 inches by 12 inches. Mea- 

 surements of egg: 23 mm. by 17 mm. 



CHESTNUT-CROWNED BABBLER. 



(Pomatostomus ruficeps.) 



This species of Babbler, found most- 

 ly in the interiors of N.S. Wales, Vic- 

 toria and S. Australia, resembles the 



See coloured frontispiece. 



