THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 153 



but they do not breed in the district. The little Warbling Grass 

 Parrakeet, Melopsiltacus undulatus, also puts in an appearance at 

 certain times of the year, departing again on the approach of the 

 breeding season. 



We decided, if possible, to procure some young parrots for the 

 purpose of conveying them to Melbourne with us. So far all we 

 had seen, being unfeathered, were not in a fit condition to leave 

 the nest. However, one Red-backed Parrakeet's nest contained 

 seven young which could fly. One escaped, but six were 

 captured and carried in triumph to our quarters. They com- 

 prised two males, with their red backs showing, and four sombre- 

 coloured females. They were placed in a cage outside, and a 

 curious thing was that next morning the two parent birds had 

 found them out. The poor birds flew to and fro over the house 

 for some time, and all their calls were answered by the captive 

 young. Four fledgelings of the Many-coloured Parrakeet were 

 also obtained from a hollow spout. They were not so old as the 

 former nestlings, although they were feathered. In this lot three 

 were females. It was interesting to notice how conspicuous was 

 the yellow mark across the shoulders of the solitary male, the 

 same patch on the females' wings being red-coloured. Thus we 

 had got a nice lot of lo young birds to take back with us. But I 

 am sorry to say none of them reached Melbourne alive. They 

 all died en route, the probable cause being, no doubt, improper 

 feeding and exposure. 



Part of the timber on Pine Plains, having been ring-barked 

 some years ago, was now dead, and in this the various parrots 

 found abundant suitable nesting hollows. Tree Martins also 

 made use of the hollow spouts in which to rear their young. But 

 only one nest containing eggs was discovered, and in this five 

 pretty red-speckled specimens were found resting on a bed of 

 green leaves. The Striated Pardalote and Brown Tree-creeper 

 were tenants too. One nest of the former species was observed 

 ready for eggs. Bee-eaters were numerous, flying overhead, but 

 they had not yet commenced nesting, for they had only arrived 

 from their winter haunts a few days previously. 



In a belt of box saplings we examined a bower or playing-ground 

 of the Spotted Bower-bird, Chlamydodera maculata. The 

 measurements were as follows: — 36 inches in length and 21 

 inches in width externally, while the passage itself was only 9 

 inches wide. Around the bower was a miscellaneous collection 

 of pieces of rag, bits of lead (from a tea-chest), and wire, while 

 at either end were heaps of bones and numerous pieces of glass 

 and broken bottles. The floor of the bower was strewn with 

 quite a number of short pieces of wire. The number of bones 

 was found to be 334, and were nearly all the vertebrae of lambs. 

 The most of them were placed at one end, while the broken glass 



