THE WOMBAT. 45 



and may be found difficult to get at. Sometimes, however, it 

 is placed in a low tree near the ground I remember seeing a 

 nest built in a fig tree only about three feet from the ground, 

 in a deserted garden near Marcus Hill. The eggs are in- 

 variably two in number, and are of a greenish ground-colour, 

 thickly marked with red and brown spots. They fade a great 

 deal within a short time after blowing. 



The Robins form an extensive subdivision of the family 

 of flycatchers, and examples of four genera are to be noted in 

 the Geelong district. The genus Petroica is most prominent 

 of these, containing as it does the two specie's that are most 

 usually and popularly known as robins — P. hggii and 

 phcenicea. The scarlet-breasted Robin (P. leggii ) is a 

 familiar bird near the town in the winter time, when it is to 

 be seen in numbers on the commons and ploughed fields. The 

 first arrivals come at the beginning of April ; by the end of 

 September all have returned to the bush. The scarlet-breasted 

 robin breeds at Queenscliff Road, and also in the messmate 

 scrub behind Spring Creek and Alglesea River. But it is note- 

 worthy that the nests at Queenscliff Road are almost always 

 built in the upright forks of a honeysuckle tree and never 

 very high up, while in the messmate forest along the south 

 coast the birds build as a rule much higher up (I have seen a 

 nest 40 feet from the ground) and in the horizontal forks of 

 the eucalypts. Occasionally the nest is adroitly hidden 

 between the loose bark of a messmate and the trunk, or is 

 placed in the hollow where a branch has broken off. And 

 further, in the Queenscliff bush preference is shown for build- 

 ing in trees quite close to the road and in full view ; but at 

 Spring Creek the quietest parts of the forest are favoured. 

 The earliest date at which I have taken the eggs is September 

 3rd (1892), and the laying-season does not extend beyond the 

 middle of October. The eggs number two or three, usually 

 the latter ; they are of a whitish-green ground colour very 

 thickly freckled with spots of red, brown and lilac, deepening 

 into a zone at the larger end. The nest is compactly built of 

 grasses, bark, and cobweb, and is lined with horse-hair or 

 rabbit-fur. 



Next we must consider the Flame-breasted Robin (P. 

 phcenicea). The males of this and the preceding species are 

 somewhat similar in colouring, but the throat as well as the 

 breast of the Flame-breasted Robin is red, whereas the 

 Scarlet-breasted Robin has a black throat. The back of the 

 present species is dark greyish-black, while that of the Scarlet- 

 breasted Robin is jet black. Such are the more obvious 

 marks of distinction. The nest of the Flame-breasted Robin 

 has not been taken near Geelong to my knowledge. In fact, 

 though during the winter the bird is quite as common with us 



