230 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
stuff from tree-ferns, and were sometimes placed on 
the branches of the tree-fern. 
BLACK OR HOODED ROBIN 
Melanodryas cucullata vigorsi 
At once the largest and most conspicuous of our 
Robins, the Black or Hooded Robin is, I fear, fast 
becoming extinct in the district. It is only seen in 
localities where land is fairly heavily covered with 
bush in various stages of growth ; and can no longer 
be said to be a regular breeding-species except at 
the You Yangs (probably also the Anakie Gorge) 
and Marcus Hill, at which latter spot it was within 
my recollection almost abundant. Mr. Riordan saw 
a nest there on October 21st, 1905, containing two 
eggs of the beautiful apple-green tint which makes 
them readily separable from all others. This nest 
was placed on a stump about 5 feet high. One 
which I found in 1904 was a loose structure of grasses 
and rootlets and built about 7 feet up in the hori- 
zontal fork of a honeysuckle (Banksia) on the plain 
north of Jan Juc, which is now cleared of all trees 
and converted into wheat land. I have seen the birds 
at Batesford (not recently) and at Anglesea (October, 
191 2). They must be counted among the rarest of 
our resident species. 
The note of the male is a loud whistle. 
The male has the head, neck, throat, and upper 
surface black, white band on the wings, under surface 
