THE SINGING EIRDS. 237 



The following particulars respecting this species we extract from one of Dr. Bennett's interesting 

 works on Australia :— " The locality it frequents, says Dr. Stephenson, ' consists of mountain ridges 

 not very densely covered with brush. It passes most of its time on the ground, feeding and strutting 

 about, with the tail reflected over the back to within an inch or two of the head, and with the wings 

 drooping on the ground. Each bird forms for itself three or four " corroborring places," as the 

 sawyers call them. These consist of holes scratched in the sandy ground, about two feet and a half 

 in diameter, by sixteen, eighteen, or twenty inches in depth, and about three or four hundred yards 

 apart, or even more. Whenever you get a sight of the bird, which can only be done with the greatest 

 caution, and by taking advantage of intervening objects to shelter yourself from its observation, you 

 will find it in one or other of these holes, into which it frequently jumps, and seems to be feeding; it 

 then ascends again, and struts round and round the place, imitating with its powerful musical voice any 

 bird it may chance to hear around it. The note of the Dacelo gigantca, or Laughing Jackass, it 

 imitates to .perfection. Its own whistle is exceedingly beautiful and varied. No sooner does it 

 perceive an intruder than it flies up into the nearest tree, first alighting on the lowermost branches, 

 and then ascending by a succession of jumps, until it reaches the top, whence it instantly darts off 

 to another of its playgrounds. The stomachs of those I dissected,' continues Dr. Stephenson, 

 ' invariably contained insects, with scarcely a trace of any other material. Now collectors of insects 

 know that gravel-pits and sandy holes afford them great treats, and it appears to me that one, if not 

 the principal use of the excavations made by this bird is to act as a trap for unwary coleopterous and 

 other insects, which falling in cannot ascend again, and are therefore easily secured.' Mr. Strange, 

 who met with this species in the cedar bushes which skirt Turanga Creek, Richmond River, says, 

 ' Like the Menura superba, it is of a shy disposition. When alarmed or running away, it carries the 

 tail erect, and not drooping downward like that species. I spent ten days in the midst of cedar- 

 brushes in the hope of seeing something of its nidification, but did not succeed in finding any nest 

 with eggs. I found, however, one large, dome-shaped nest, made of sticks placed in the spur of a 

 large fig-tree, which the natives assured me was that of the Colevin, their name for this bird. It 

 resembles that of Orthonyx, except that the inside was not lined with moss, but with litter from a 

 large mass of parasitical plants that had fallen to the ground. The natives agree in asserting that 

 the eggs are only laid in cold weather, by which I apprehend they mean the spring, as I shot a young 

 specimen about four months old on the 24th of November which had the whole of the body still 

 covered with brown and greyish down. I have seen this specimen take extraordinary leaps of not 

 less than ten feet from the ground, on to some convenient branch, whence it continues to ascend in 

 successive jumps, until it has attained a sufficient elevation to enable it to take flight into the gully 

 below.' " 



The WARBLERS (Sylviadcz) are among the smallest and most fascinating of the feathered 

 race. They are recognisable by their short, awl-shaped beaks, powerful feet, short, rounded wings, 

 long, variously formed tails, and usually silky plumage. 



The SONG WARBLERS (Sy/via), the most attractive group of this family, are all little Iv'rds, 

 having soft, silky, variously-coloured plumage and a slender body ; the beak is slightly conical, strong 

 at the base, almost as broad as it is high, hooked and slightly incised at its tip ; the foot is powerful 

 and of medium length, the toes short and strong. The wings are rounded and of moderate size, the 

 third and fourth quills being longer than the rest ; the tail, which is composed of twelve feathers, varies 

 in its formation. Light grey predominates in the coloration of the plumage ; but is varied with 

 different shades of red and brown ; the adult male and female are generally but not invariably alike. 



