It flies 111 a most peculiar manner, going almost perpendicularly upwards from its nest, then 

 descending rapidly t«> the edge of a brush, whence it proceeds horizontally, with expanded wings, 

 between the various trees on which it procures insects. It also sometimes captures them while on 



the winy, as fche Flycatchers do. 



It breeds from dune or July (bo the end of November, in which time it rears two broods. 

 Two eggs are laid in a nest constructed of small twigs and strips of hark, lined with Zamia wool, 

 and, in some parts of the country, with sheeps' wool. The eggs are dull reddish-buff in colour, with 

 well-defined -pots of chestnut-brown, and some have also blotches of bluish-grey. They are nine 

 lines long and seven lines broad. 



The head, chin and throat are black : over the eye is a narrow line of white ; ear-coverts, 

 white; upper surface, brownish-black, each feather edged with white; under surface, white, with a broad 

 strip ot white down the centre of each feather: wings and tail, brown, with a conspicuous border of 

 y. llow : irides, light brow n ; bill and feet, black. 



Total length, fi.^ inches ; bill, I inch : wing, :5 inches ; tail, l >: ^ inches. 



Habitat : Western Australia. 



GENUS LICHMERA (Cabanis). 



/ iABANIS considered that there were two species of this form, but later investigation has shown 

 that one of them possesses very distinctive characteristics, and it lias, therefore, been described 

 under another name, Stigmatops Ocularis. The other one has retained the title of Lichmera 

 A wstralasiana. 



LICHM ERA AUSTRALASIAN A . 



TA SUA MA X IK )NEY-EA TER. 



npHE vast, dense forests of Tasmania are fche home of this bird, which is also found, though in much 

 J smaller numbers, in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It frequents especially 

 those parts which are covered with a thick undergrowth amidst the tall Eucalyptus trees. 



In Tasmania it procures most of its food from the flowers of the Epacris, a kind of heather 

 peculiar to that country. 



When feeding, one may approach close enough to it to watch its actions without its taking 

 flight. W hen disturbed, it flies off and hides in a shrub, or among the branches of a small gum. 



The breeding season lasts from September to the end of December. The nest, composed of 

 narrow strips of the inner rind of the stringy-bark, lined with soft grasses, is nearly always placed 

 in a small shrub. 



The sexes differ considerably in colouring. 



