46 THE WOMBAT. 



as its scarlet-breasted congener, it entirely disappears from 

 bush as well as open country in the breeding season. A friend 

 tells me that in Gippsland the bird builds in very much the 

 same places as the Scarlet-breasted Robin, but that the nests 

 are harder to obtain. Otherwise its nesting habits are similar, 

 and the eggs of the two species are hardly distinguishable 

 from each other. 



The Hooded Robin (Melanodryas bicolor) is the rarest of 

 the robins that breed in our district. The male bird is of 

 striking appearance, from its black and white plumage, while 

 the female is a soberly-coloured bird of grey and white. It is 

 of a migratory species, and may be found in scattered instances 

 at the Queenscliff Road, You Yangs and Winchelsea. I have 

 noted isolated birds in the sheoak woods between Lake 

 Connewarre and Barwon Heads. The Black Robin, as it is 

 called, builds a loose open nest of bark and grasses, generally 

 in a sheoak or gum, where a branch has broken off or there 

 is loose bark that will conceal it. The eggs are of a uniform 

 apple-green colour, and are two or three in number. The 

 birds lay during the months of September, October, and 

 November. 



The Pink-breasted Wood-Robin (Ery thro dry as rhodino- 

 gasterj can only be considered as a rarity in this district, and 

 it does not in all probability breed with us. I have noticed 

 the male bird four or five times near Marcus Hill, and once 

 near Ocean Grove, also occasionally in the bush at Spring 

 Creek and Airey's Inlet. The nest and eggs are similar to 

 those of the Scarlet-breasted Robin. 



The genus CEopsaltria is represented with us by the 

 Yellow-breasted Robin (De anstralis). The Yellow Robin 

 used to be common round Jan Juc and Spring Creek, but as 

 the timber has been destroyed the bird has left those places, 

 and it would be hard to find a specimen now nearer than Jan 

 Juc. This is essentially a quiet-loving species, and inhabits 

 the ti-tree scrub on the banks of forest creeks. The sexes are 

 alike in colour — dark green on the back and yellow on the 

 breast. Both the bird and its nest are larger than with the 

 majority of robins. 



The nest is a somewhat bulky structure built almost 

 entirely of eucalyptus leaves and bark, and is quite without 

 lining. It is placed in the fork of a gum-sapling or ti-tree, 

 generally about ten feet from the ground. No attempt is 

 made to conceal the position, but the tree chosen is in the 

 thicker parts of the scrub. The birds commence to lay in 

 September, and the eggs are two, sometimes three, in number. 

 They are of a dark green ground colour with red and brown 

 markings. 



