10 MORGAN— Three Species of Malurus (Blue Wrens). 



wings, and depresses the tail. At these times the song is a 

 subdued ehurring noise. 



Both sexes assist in building the nest, but the female does 

 most of the work, the share of the male being confined to 

 bringing a .piece of material now and then. 



The nest is built either on or close to the ground 

 between the stems of some thick bush or in the 

 .jsmall twigs of a fallen shrub. Externally it is 



composed of old dried grass stems, and the lining- 

 is rabbit fur, with a few horsehairs. A nest found 

 at Kallioota, Lake Torrens, measured — height, G inches; egg 

 cavity, H inches deep, hole of entrance 2 inches x 1^ inches. 

 The hole of entrance is placed near the top, and the eggs or 

 setting bird can just be seen without enlarging it. Three 

 nests found building at Kallioota were all deserted, and the 

 material carried away, although none of them was touched 

 or even closely examined. I found in all five nests at Kal- 

 lioota between August 2nd and August 21, 1912. The eggs 

 are two to four in number. Their food consists largely of 

 ants, though they will eat any kind of small insect. 



Malurus cyanotus (White-win yed Wren) — This is a bird of 

 the saltbush plains. I believe they are to be found in all 

 parts of South Australia where these plains exist. Samphire 

 or blue bush flats are also favourite haunts. The male can 

 often be seen perched on the summit of a bush uttering his 

 song and then diving down again out of sight. The female 

 is more retiring. The song which is uttered by both sexes 

 is like a very miniature spring rattle. 



The nest is placed in a salt or blue bush six to eight inches 

 from the ground, and occasionally in the thin twigs of a fallen 

 (shrub at the edge of the plain. It is made of fresh 

 dried grasses and thin saltbush twigs and lined with 

 rabbits' fur and an occasional feather. In one I found a 

 feather of the narrow billed bronze cuckoo. The nest is com- 

 pletely domed, and the hole of entrance; near the top is small 

 and round, so that the setting bird or eggs are completely 

 hidden. 



The eggs are three or four in number. In one nest I found 

 an egg of the narrow billed bronze cuckoo, together with 

 three of the host. I found eight nests at Kallioota between 

 August 10 and August 25, 1912. Injone case the male was 

 not in full plumage, having no blue feathers and only 



