THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 53 



There was a family of Blue Wrens living among the nursery 

 plots and hedges at the Gardens, and it was interesting to watch 

 them. The family consisted of one male and two females. As 

 winter was drawing on the blue and black coat of the male would 

 disappear, and there would then be three little brown wrens hop- 

 ping about the garden, but one had a blue tail. About September 

 the one with the blue tail would again don his blue colours and 

 appear as the male. I never actually saw this male bird while its 

 colours were changing, but I believe it takes a very short space of 

 time for the moult to occur, and the bird probably remains in 

 hiding during the process. 



Reed Warblers are plentiful along the River Yarra. They 

 occasionally leave the willows and the water to breed, for two 

 nests were taken in fennel plants, and another with eggs was 

 found in some dock-weed. The birds leave the district in 

 February and March, appearing again in September. 



In November, 1896, several pairs of Rufous Song-Larks made 

 their appearance. They had evidently been driven from their 

 accustomed breeding grounds by the dry season. The next 

 month, December, several nests were found. One contained four 

 eggs, another three, and another one, while a fourth nest was seen 

 with young. The following year the larks again appeared. The 

 birds, with but one exception, built their nests in long kangaroo 

 grass. The female alone performed the task of incubation. 



The Spiny-cheeked Honey-eater is another of our winter 

 visitants, coming in April and remaining till September. 



The Flower-pecker, or Swallow Dicseum, is fairly plentiful 

 during the winter months, but as spring approaches it leaves for 

 more suitable nesting grounds. 



The Yellow-belHed Shrike-Tit, however, stays with us all the 

 year round. During the winter time it is sometimes seen busy 

 among the fruit trees in search of food. It seems to be partial to 

 the small case-moths, which are to be found hanging among the 

 branchlets. With its strong bill and claws it soon tears an open- 

 ing in the tough case sufficiently large to pull the insect out. 

 Numbers of these empty cases with the sides torn are to be 

 seen as evidences of the Shrike-Tit's usefulness. 



The Wood-Swallows are interesting birds, inasmuch as in 

 October and November, 1895, the White-browed and Masked 

 varieties came in tremendous numbers. The White-browed built 

 their nests in every convenient tree or shrub, including numerous 

 fruit trees, and one nest was taken in a clump of raspberry canes. 

 The following year, 1896, and also in 1897, the birds came to 

 breed, but not in such great numbers. The Masked variety, 

 though plentiful, did not nest in the Richmond Park. The 

 Sordid Wood-Swallows leave the district regularly every March 

 and appear again about the end of August. 



