FLAME-BREASTED ROBIN 225 
The appearance of these Robins coincides more or 
less closely with the first heavy autumnal rains ; but 
I have known them appear before there was any 
proper break in the season. In 1902 (a dry year) the 
first I saw were on April 13th, at Batesford. In 191 2 
they were seen on March 30th, on the plateau not 
far from Moorabool station. In 191 3, the only 
other year of which I have records, the first appeared 
at Torquay on March 21st. That year the autumnal 
rains came early, at the beginning of March, nearly 
6 inches falling in Geelong ; yet I saw no Flame 
Robins on March i6th between Geelong and Bates- 
ford, though the rains were well over. 
I am inclined to think the sexes travel out separately 
from the forest, though of course the sight of a 
great many males or females together, which is not 
uncommon, may be but coincidence. 
Unlike the Scarlet Robin, which sings all the year 
through, the Flame Robin does not let us hear much 
of its pretty cadence till near the time of its departure. 
It is a pleasing song, beginning on a high note, fol- 
lowed by five or six others, delivered staccato, and 
ending with a couple of little runs ; louder and 
merrier than the Scarlet Robin's. I have heard it as 
early as June 30th, but it is not till August that the 
birds are in full voice. Curiously, both sexes appear 
to sing, unless it be that some which I have taken 
for females are young males which have not yet 
put on their full dress. 
In winter these birds love the basaltic plains ; you 
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