308 THE BIBDS OF ATJSTEALIA 



These attractive little birds, of ornate plnmage, found in 

 pairs, or in small family companies at the end of the season, 

 which frequent open lands studded with low bushes, and feed on 

 caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects. The first two migrate 

 southwards to breed, and rear two broods at least in the season. 

 The White-fronted Chat is the one most frequently seen, and 

 around Sydney may often be met with in marshy localities in 

 the spring and summer. The nest is cup-shaped and usually 

 built in a low bush, or in a tuft of rushes, of coarse grasses or 

 fine twigs lined within with finer grass and hair. The birds 

 often betray the situation by their over anxiety to avoid detec- 

 tion. They feign broken wings, uttering a plaintive note, or 

 will lie struggling on the ground as in a fit. The eggs are three 

 or four, white, spotted and dotted with red, and measure about 

 .65 X .5 inch. 



Family Sylviidce. Warblers. 



Reed Warblers. 



Genus Acroceplialus. 



Bill typically large, depressed and broad at base, with 

 moderate rictal bristles. Wing rounded, with very minute 

 bastard primary. Tail moderately rounded. Plumage more or 

 less uniform in colour, of some shade of brown. 



Migratory birds which winter in the tropical regions of Africa 

 and Asia, and are especially common in the islands of the Malay 

 Archipelago. The two species met with in Australia come south 

 to breed in the reed-beds, and spend the summer with us. One 

 directs its course to Western Australia probably via Timor, and 

 the other entering by Cape York spreads over all the Continent 

 except the West and Coburg peninsula, and reaches Tasmania. 



The Reed Warblers, though homely in their plumage, have 

 the sweetest of songs. All who listen are enchanted with the 

 melody. Gilbert even goes so far in his enthusiasm as to say 

 that the strain is in many parts very like that of the far-famed 

 Nightingale. The beauty of the song is enhanced by the 

 picturesque surroundings of the bird's home. These may 



