198 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



cincla. The bright plumage of the beautiful Western Thickhead, 

 Pachycepliala occidentalis, was easily discerned in the scrub, 

 and the bird itself was by no means shy ; it generally nests in 

 the thickest vegetation. The Rufous-breasted Thickhead, P. 

 Tufiventris, is usually found in the more open country, especially 

 near water, and is locally called " Joey." Honey-eaters, 

 being a numerous family, are well represented here. The 

 Dusky Minah, M. ohscura, takes the place of the Noisy 

 Minah, M. garrula, in Victoria, and is just as troublesome when 

 you are duck-shooting, for instance, and do not want your 

 presence known; they are very plentiful, but seem to prefer certain 

 localities more than others. The Brown Honey-eater, Glycyphila 

 ocularis, is generally found near permanent water, and is plentiful 

 along the river banks. Its note is very similar to that of the 

 Reed Warbler, Acroceiolialus longirostris ; its nest is often built on 

 a thin branch overhanging the water. The Singing Honey-eater, 

 Ftilotis sonora. is possibly the most common, and is the favourite 

 foster parent of the young Pallid Cuckoo, Cuculus pallidus. I 

 noticed one nest, with young ones in, built in a large fig tree over- 

 hanging a house. In cavities and caves among the granite rocks 

 half-finished nests of Swallows, Uirundo neoxena, were often 

 noticed, but I never saw a perfect one, and cannot account for 

 the reason why the birds should so often start and not finish. A 

 few Wood-Swallows, Artamus, are always to be seen. The Grey- 

 breasted variety, A. cinereus, seem to prefer country where the 

 White Eucalyptus trees grow, and they remain most of the year, 

 whereas I was told that the Masked, A. personatus, and Common 

 Wood-Swallow, A. sordidus, only came in summer, and then in 

 large flocks ; they generally put in an appearance at the same 

 time the grasshoppers are getting plentiful, and leave when those 

 insects disappear in the end of summer. The commonest bird 

 throughout the country is the Yellow-rumped Tit, Acanthiza 

 chrysorrhoa ; its bulky nests are often seen, and in them is 

 frequently found the egg of the Bronze Cuckoo, Ghalcites 

 plagosus. They often build their nests in situations that are^to a 

 certain extent protected from cats, hawks, &c., as, for instance, in 

 the centre of the Prickly Mimosa, or in the thick top of a dead 

 Jam-wood Acacia tree, and similar places. The Frogmouths, 

 Podargus jjJialcenoides, are often more numerous than they appear 

 to be, because of the difficulty of seeing them, as they sit length- 

 wise on a branch which harmonizes completely with their own 

 colour. They lay three elongated oval white eggs, but one of 

 them is often addled. 



At Cottesloe, one of the suburbs of Perth, a Sacred Kingfisher, 

 Halcyon sanctus, had built its nest in the hollow of a tree not 

 more than 20 feet away from a private house, where the owners 

 were frequently about ; it is rarely they build so close to a habita- 



