THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 85 



and water," and a more delightful bit of countryside no nature 

 lover could wish for in which to spend his leisure hours. 



The creek itself, which winds out of the Dandenong Ranges, 

 and ripples through sylvan glades of tea-tree (Leptospermum and 

 Melaleuca, sp.), Native Hazel (Pomaderris, sp.), wattle (Acacia, 

 sp.). Sassafras, Atherosperma moschatum, LabilL, and Musk, Aster 

 argophyllus, Labill., is a very pretty stream of clear, cold water, 

 on which slender water-lily leaves are always asway, and little 

 brown water beetles weave mazy dances in quiet reaches under 

 the banks. • 



Maiden-hair and many other species of ferns grow luxuriantly 

 along the margin of the creek, and among the low bushes and 

 bracken such familiar birds as the Brown Tit, Acanthiza pusilla, 

 Lath., the Yellow-rumped Tit, A. chrysorrhoa, Quoy and Gaim., 

 and the Blue Wren love to build. 



In the soft, crumbling, overhanging banks the Spotted Diamond- 

 bird, Pardalotus punctatus, Temm., excavates its tunnel, laying 

 four pearly-white eggs in an enlarged chamber at the end lined 

 with soft bark and grass bents. The Pardalote is a lovely species, 

 which spends the greater part of its life in the topmost boughs of 

 the tallest forest trees, where its tiny form is scarcely visible. 

 Its sweet chinking notes are very soft and plaintive, and are 

 repeated with monotonous regularity. 



The most familiar bird of the creekside, however, is the Yellow 

 Robin, an unobtrusive yet friendly little bird withal, that has a 

 charming habit of clinging sideways to the bark of a tree, and 

 eyeing the intruder with mild and fearless curiosity. The nests 

 of this species are generally built low down in the hazel and tea- 

 tree thickets, and are composed of strips of reddish bark, loosely 

 woven together, and covered externally with green spiders' 

 cocoons, overlaid with lichens of delicate green and golden hues. 



One of the most charming pictures in bird-land, to my mind, is 

 that formed by a Yellow Robin sitting on her three appie-green 

 eggs, with her deep yellow breast pressed against the green 

 lichens around the rim of her nest, and watching you with a 

 bright, alert eye. 



Another very common bird at Olinda is the sprightly White- 

 shafted Fantail, Rhipidura albiscapa, Gould, a confiding little 

 sprite that accompanies you along the bush track, tumbling about 

 high in air in pursuit of small insects, and uttering its musical and 

 almost indescribable song, which faintly resembles the notes of a 

 softly-played violin. The cobweb-covered " wineglass " nests of 

 the White-shafter are common objects of the bush at Olinda, 

 although those of its cousin, the Rufous Fantail, B. rtofifrons, 

 Latham, are exceedingly rare, and the bird itself is seldom seen. 

 The Black and White Fantail, B. tricolor, Vieill., is more 

 num erous, and we come across many of their pretty homes during 



