THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 21 



stage of this sub-species had not been recorded as found in this 

 colony, but I am now able to do so, Mr. Lehmert, of H.M. 

 Customs, having secured a specimen at Tooradin on the ist of 

 August last, which he has handed to me. In a few words I will 

 express what I saw of the habits of this trichloratic bird. It is 

 nomadic, arriving along the latitudes of Port Phillip in August — 

 e #.,4/8/94, 14/8/97 (an early spring), Box Hill; 4/8/98, Somerville, 

 per Mr. Geo. Shepherd ; and on the confines of the Heytesbury 

 Forest, further south, in September — 13/9/96, 13/9/97, per Mr. 

 Geo. Graham. From the Heytesbury its departure was noted 

 1/2/97. 



The bird does not stay to winter in its breeding haunt, and is 

 away long before sure signs of the coming fall are generally notice- 

 able. Quickly bounding in its flight, it shows the usual methods 

 of the Ci Diamond Birds." Rushing from bough to bough and 

 eucalypt to eucalypt in search of insects, it leads an active life. 

 The same vigour is shown on leaving its lowly-placed nest, for it 

 flies rapidly up into a tree to view the position, hunt the trail of an 

 insect, and more easily glide or flutter down to its previously 

 occupied position, perhaps en route spending a moment on a 

 bough close by. In the search for provender this useful 

 insectivorous bird follows the course of a bough in search of 

 " scales," picking up strays and permanents alike. I have 

 watched this phase of the sub-species and the species acting 

 similarly in travelling along the stems of saplings, taking off the 

 coverings and feeding upon the insects within. I have found the 

 remains of coleoptera and diptera within the stomachs, but these 

 are not their only food in the wide range of insect life. On a 

 clear summer's day I have tried to quickly locate the birds in the 

 high parts of tall timber, but with slim-bodied animals, 4 inches 

 long, it is not easv. Assisted by their calls and a field-glass you 

 will find them. For a time the little ventriloquists may lead your 

 eyes in all directions, and finally close above you will be seen the 

 objects of your search. 



Mr. Gould writes of P. ornatus having two notes in its call. 

 This phase has three, phonetically "pick-it-up" or " wit-e-chu." 

 Occasionally, I believe, there is a hard-sounding trill, the identity 

 of which I am not sure. 



Both sexes take part in planning the nest and in the exca- 

 vation work. While one is labouring at the bowl the other is 

 expelling the material with its feet, little by little, until finally it is 

 forced out beyond the entrance to the ground below. By quietly 

 approaching the tunnel mouth I saw the process in certain of its 

 interesting stages. 



The male either takes part in incubation, or, which is more un- 

 likely, does all the " sitting," because when I cut away, at a later 

 date (4th November, 1893, 4 p.m.), the whole tunnel, I found it 



