18 



Yet even here, in this our adopted land, the return of summer is 

 marked by the greener foliage of the Eucalypti, the thickly-clothed 

 grass lands, which will soon he scorched by the intense heat of the 

 sun's rays ; and the air is enlivened by the twitter of the swallow, 

 the " chit- chit-chit" of the long- tailed tit, and the sweet, soft warble 

 of the robin (Petroica multicolor). The cocoons, so varied in shape, 

 which every one must have observed on the Eucalypti — some fasces, 

 some egg-shaped, others octagonal, are all empty, their inmates 

 having cast off their sluggish pupa state, and entered into the 

 world on their own account to taste some of the good things of this 

 life. Tread softly! — the hasty flight of that long-tailed tit, 



"That giddy sprite, 

 Bluecap, with his colours bright/ 1 



proves that there is a nest in yonder bush of Bursaria spinosa. 

 We thought so — and there flits the hen-bird, remaining with her 

 young to the last. We expected to see a pretty compact nest, like 

 that of our English long- tailed tit (JParus caudatus), but this is made 

 ei dried grass, carelessly put together, with an aperture at the side 

 — yet more care is taken with the interior, the bottom is soft as 

 velvet with feathers, on which are laid four or five white eggs, 

 about nine lines in length, tinged with pink, and spotted at the base 

 with light brown spots. Much as we long for the nest and eggs 

 we cannot withstand the earnest, piteous cries of the mother-bird 

 for her young. Now watch the male bird (vowing vengeance in 

 that sharp angry note, as he flies around our head) approach the 

 nest, as we retire, and reconnoitre. Assured of its safety, and 

 joined by his mate, how amply are we repaid for our forbearance 

 by those sweet notes of joy and love. 



The male bird has its forehead of the most exquisite azure blue ; 

 the female is of a more sombre plumage, dull brown, so much 

 resembling the colour of the dried grass of which she forms her 

 nest that it is difficult to detect her when sitting. A wonderful 

 provision of our Creator is this assimilation of the plumage of the 

 female bird, in almost every instance, to the surrounding vegeta- 

 tion, thereby affording protection to her whilst rearing her young 

 brood. The absence of fear, which is mentioned above, we have 



