Birds. 2603 



were all killed by a farmer, who brought them to us immediately after. 

 All three appeared to be young birds. 



A. & H. Matthews. 



(To be continued). 



The Birds of Melbourne. By J. J. Briggs, Esq. 

 (Continued from page 2565). 



Wren {Sylvia Troglodytes). In May, 1844, a pair of wrens built a 

 nest several inches within a crevice of a new unmortared stone wall. 

 Straws and moss composed it, but the shape was like that which a 

 redbreast would have built in a similar situation, not having a dome 

 or cover at the top. 



Nuthatch (Sitta Europaa). 



Common Cuckoo (Ouculus canorus). I believe that although con- 

 fiding her young to the care of other birds, the cuckoo does not en- 

 tirely forget them. I am strengthened in this opinion by a fact which 

 fell under my notice in June, 1849. As I was walking over a parti- 

 cular part of this parish, with a dog, I was struck with the remarkable 

 actions of a cuckoo. It came flying about me within a hundred yards, 

 seeming agitated and alarmed, and occasionally struck down at the 

 dog in the same manner as the lapwing does. It immediately oc- 

 curred to me that the bird had young near, and that these actions 

 were the result of maternal solicitude. I examined the neighbouring 

 hedgerows in order to find the nest, but without avail : the next day 

 a neighbouring farmer told me that he had something to show me, 

 which proved to be a young cuckoo in the nest of a hedgesparrow, 

 and the place where the nest was situated was but a very short distance 

 from the spot where the old cuckoo had attracted my notice in the 

 manner described. 



Common Kingfisher (Alcedo Ispida). They never quit our pools 

 and waters on the approach of winter, as they are said to do in some 

 inland situations, for I have seen them darting by me in the hardest 

 winters, even when frosts have set in and snows lay deep upon the 

 ground : their beautiful plumage renders them one of the most agree- 

 able birds that linger with us through that dreary season. On the 10th 

 of December, 1846, I observed a kingfisher, and on the previous night 



