ASH BY — Tasmanian Field Notes. 61 



hand the aborigines used to, and some sportsmen on the Mur- 

 ray still, make use of an imitation of this alarm call to bring 

 high flying ducks to the water and within range. 



Food — Largely consists of insects taken on the ground or 

 captured in the air. The bird may sometimes be seen, espe- 

 cially in the evening, flying out from a tree and catching some 

 fly or other insect, and returning to its perch to eat it. In the 

 Eastern States they have a bad name as fruit eaters, but in 

 South Australia have not done much harm in that respect up 

 till yet, though the gardeners at the foothills say they are 

 beginning to get a taste for soft fruits. They are known to 

 feed on the berries of the African box thorn. Like the rest 

 of the honey-eating family, they, of course, feed largely on 

 the nectar of flowers. 



Nest — This is built outwardly of small sticks and dry 

 grass stems, lined with finer grasses and rootlets, and when 

 procurable a little fur or sheep's wool. It is placed in the 

 fork of a tree at varying heights from the ground, sometimes 

 •being at the top of the tallest available gum tree, and some- 

 times in a she-oak within reach of the hand. The birds are 

 very silent about the nest, and when disturbed fly off very 

 quietly. They are common hosts of the pallid cuckoo. The 

 eggs are three in number, but four are not uncommonly laid. 

 As many as six has been recorded, probably the product of 

 more than one female. 



Eggs — The eggs vary much in shape and in the distribu 

 /tion of the markings, but not in colour, which is fairly con- 

 stant. A typical egg has a creamy white ground colour, in 

 some instances flushed with pink, covered with irregularly 

 shaped blotches of salmon pink, forming an indistinct zone at 

 /the larger end. Other eggs have the markings only at the 

 large end in the form of a distinct ring, and others again are 

 covered with small spots so as to almost hide the ground 

 colour. Average measurement of 10 eggs — 2.79 cm. x 2.01 

 cm. Largest egg, 2.90 cm. x 2.05 cm. Smallest egg, 2.65 

 cm. x 2.00 cm. 



Tasmanian Field Notes. 



By Edwin Ashby, M.B.O.TJ. 

 The period covered is from 26th September, to end of first 

 fortnight in October, 1916. Only a portion of my time was 

 available for work amongst the (birds. The travelling was 

 done bv motor. 



