ASHBY — Tasmanian Field Notes. 67 



were bad, although a dead chicken in a fairly advanced state 

 of development was found in several of them; no doubt the 

 same flood was accountable for this. One wonders how long 

 the birds would continue to sit on rotten eggs. Several Tas- 

 manian Bald-Coots, Porphyrio melanonotus fletcherae, Mat., were 

 seen in the swamps, but none obtained. 



During my stay at Latrobe, a gorge of the Don river, was 

 visited. Near the entrance of the gully feeding on the 

 grassy flats along the banks of the stream were numbers of 

 Dusky Robins, Amaurodryas vittata, Quoy et C A nest of 

 one was found containing three chicks and one unhatcheds 

 egg. The nest was placed at the base of a few shoots coming 

 out of an almost dead tree, about five feet from the ground. 

 The parent bird was quite undisturbed at our presence, and 

 allowed itself to be photographed without any concern, its 

 great black eyes watching us with keenest interest. It only 

 left the nest when one's hand was almost touching it, and 

 returned again to the nest while we waited. A number of 

 brilliant plumaged Fire-tailed Finches, Zonaeginthus bellus, 

 Lath., were in some thick trees and brambles growing along 

 the banks of the creek, but neither of these birds were met 

 with in the damp precipitous sided gorge itself; the sides of the 

 gorge were covered with tall timber and dense undergrowth 

 and ferns, some of the timber being myrtle. In the gorge 

 were Olivaceus Thickheads, Acanthornis magnus, Gld., andj 

 Pink-breasted Robins were in considerable numbers. Always 

 close to river itself I should think there must have been a fresh 

 pair every hundred yards. A lovely nest of this species wast 

 found in a fork of a sapling overhanging the stream. Ther 

 nest was beautifully made of moss, ornamented with 

 lichen, the moss exactly corresponded with the mossy covered 

 boughs to which it was attached. The moss of the nest was 

 as moist and green as was the growing moss on the tree stems. 

 I left the nest till the day before I was leaving Tasmania, but 

 no eggs were laid ; no doubt it was a little too early in the 

 season. 



Perhaps the most important find in this gully was that of 

 Acanthiza ewingil, Gld., the Tasmanian or Ewing's Tit. Four 

 nests were found all in forks of tea tree overhanging the run- 

 ning water (a typical mountain trout stream). Mr. W. L. May, 

 who was with me, and who was very familiar with the nests, 

 notes, and habits of the common Tasmanian Tit, Acantliiza 

 (Hemenensis, told me that these nests were absolutely different 



