98 MUSOIOAPID^. 



departure again in March and April. Its arrival is at once made 

 known by its soft and varied strain of considerable melody. From 

 its song (not that it resembles the notes of any other bird), and 

 partly on account of its yellow breast it has gained the local name 

 of the " Native Canary " Upon its arrival, it betakes itself to 

 the smaller trees and saplings, and almost at once commences to 

 build, selecting some strong twig among the innermost boughs of 

 a bushy tree, to which it suspends its oblong dome-shaped' nest, 

 the extremity of which terminates in a well formed tail of about 

 three inches in length, which is extremely characteristic. The body 

 of the nest is in length from six to eight inches, and four in breadth; 

 it is composed of fine pieces of stringy bark and grasses closely 

 interwoven and matted together with cobwebs, being lined with 

 the silky down of the cotton-tree or with opossum fur ; the 

 entrance which is about two inches and a-half down the side, is 

 one inch in diameter, and completely hidden from view in front 

 by a neatly woven hood of one inch and a-half in length. The 

 nests are often placed in trees infested with ants, which insects are 

 often found on the nests themselves, but do not, as far as I am 

 aware, cause the bird any anxiety. The eggs, which are laid from 

 October to December, and sometimes even as late as January, are 

 three in number. Their ground colour is of a delicate white, but 

 almost hidden by numerous spots, dots, blotches and freckles of 

 dull red ; in some the markings are thicker upon the larger end, 

 where they form a well-defined zone or circular blotch ; others are 

 minutely dotted. Upon the whole, both in shape and colour they 

 closely resemble those oiMalurus cyaneus, but maybe distinguished 

 by being more thickly and strongly marked ; they are also slightly 

 larger and more lengthened in form. 



This species shows a decided preference for the more open parts 

 of the forest, with thickly foliaged trees and young saplings of 

 Eucalyptus; its actions among the leaves, where it searches 

 for insects, their larvae, &c., are very pleasing and graceful, 

 stopping in its search every now and then to pour forth its curious 

 and varied song, in which it will sometimes stop abruptly and fly 

 off without finishing, as if something had startled it or suddenly 

 (J-a 



