CHAPTER XII. 



PENSILE BIRDS (CONTINUED). 



Australian Pensiles — ^The Yellow-throated Sericornis — Its habits — Singular 

 position for its nest — Conscious security — ^The Rock Warbler — Shape and 

 locality of its nest — ^The Yellow-tailed Aoanthiza — Its colour and song — 

 Supplementary nests — The Pinc-pino and its home — Supposed use of the sup- 

 plementary nest — The Singing Honey-Eater and its nest — The myall or 

 weeping acacia — Various materials — The Lunitlated Honet-Eatbr — ^A new 

 material— The Painted Honby-Eatbe, its habits and nest — The art of preser- 

 vation — Nests and their branches— The colour of eggs — The 'White-throated 

 Honet-Eater and its habits — Its curious nest — Locality of the nest — The 

 GoLDEN-csESTED Wren, and the resemblance of its nest to those of tho 

 Honey-Eater — The Swallow Dic^VU — Its song and beauty of its plumage — 

 The nest, its materials, form, and position — The Malurds and its nest — The 

 Hammock Bird — Singular method of suspending the nest — The White-shafted 

 Fantail — Strange form of the nest — The appendage or tail of the nest. 



Some very remarkable instances of pensile birds' nests are 

 found in Australia, and for many of them we are indebted to the 

 patient and careful research of Mr. J. Gould, from whose skilful 

 works on ornithology several illustrations have been, by per- 

 mission, copied. 



A very curious instance is found in the nest of the Yellow- 

 throated Sericornis (Sericornis citreognlaris), a rather pretty, but 

 not a striking bird. The general colour is simple brown, and, as 

 its name imparts, the throat is of a citron-yellow. The only 

 remarkable point in the colour, beside the yellow throat, is a 

 rather large patch of black, which envelops the eye and passes 

 down each side of the neck, nearly as far as the shoulders. It is 

 the largest of its genus, and, although not rare, is seldom seen 

 except by those who know where to look for it, as it is scarcely 

 ever observed on the wing, but remains among the thick under- 

 wood, flitting occasionally between the branches, but mostly 

 remaining on the ground, where it pecks about in search of the 

 insects on which it feeds. 



The reason for its mention in this work is the singular 



