79 



us that the time of incubation is an interval of necessary rest between building 

 the home and rearing the young, those times of incessant labour. 



Towards the completion of the home, as it assumes a cup-like form, a still 

 more abundant use of cobweb may be noticed, the festoons are multiplied, the 

 wall being finished off with numberless ties and braces ; the interior is now 

 lined with fern-down, the slender fruit stalks of moss, or other soft material 

 other than feathers, and the structure is complete, and admirably finished ; it 

 is warm, strong, and elastic, and so well felted that it is not easily pressed out 

 of shaj)e ; it is a marvel of construction, efiected by the beaks of two small 

 birds which have had numberless other offices to perform ; all their food during 

 the time has had to- be found and caught, assisted by no store of fruit or grain 

 to supply their wants, requiring only discovery. A few notes are appended, 

 which touch on the peculiar form of the nest of R. flahellifera in certain 

 sitiiations only ; as far as our observations reach, several theories have been 

 aired in urder to account for this singular form of structure. 



Jan. 2. — A nest was observed in a small plant of Aristotelia racemosa, just 

 above the creek, by the farm buildings ; the construction somewhat resembles 

 the homes which have been figvired of B. albisccqya, a portion descending in a 

 tail-like form below the spray on which the structure is built. (See 

 Plate VIII.) 



The use of this appendage is not very clear, but we have observed that 

 part of the creek where this nest was found has several bends in it ; it is 

 probable that at such a turn, sudden drafts or giists of wind might, by agitating 

 the spray, endanger the safety of the eggs in a nest, the cavity of which 

 scarcely reaches 1 inch 6 lines in depth ; would not the resistance offered by 

 this peculiar addition lessen any such danger by diminishing the extent of the 

 vibration 1 It may be asked how it is the instinct of the bird does not lead 

 to the selection of a spot where such a precaution would be unnecessary ; the 

 answer to this is, that this particular place, from its immediate contiguity to 

 the stockyard, bullock sheds, etc., offers special inducements to a purely insect- 

 eating bird, as it affords an extraordinary food supply from the numbers of small 

 insects which there assemble. This is the third example from the same locality. 



Jan. 8. — The nest contains four young birds and two addled eggs, 

 and is being enlarged by the addition of a slight rim all round the wall ; the 

 interior is kept clean by the old birds removing the white pasty excrement as 

 soon as extruded by the young, dropping it a few yards off; 10th — the two 

 strongest birds left the nest ; a bell-bird which made some menacing darts at 

 them was driven off by the old birds acting in concert ; the young were fed on 

 an average of about once a minute. April 26. — The fantails now frequent the 

 house, clearing the rooms of flies, which they effect whilst on the wing, 

 picking them off the curtains, ceilings, etc. ; the most difficult feat appears to 

 be in taking them off the side walls. Augiist 6. — Saw B. fuliginosa with a 



