248 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
flying down in a long glide to the ground, back again, 
next poising in mid-air (doubtless over an unseen 
caterpillar), and so on — never still for an instant. 
The flight varies : sometimes, as when nest-building, 
it is direct ; at others as uncertain as a Swallow's. 
An account of the way in which the nest is built 
is given by " Mallee Bird " in the Argus of Sep- 
tember 13th, 1912 : ''The male started by collecting 
small bits of fibre and cobwebs. After he had laid 
two or three layers to form a foundation, the female 
came with some material and took up a position in 
the centre of the nest. When the male arrived with 
more material, she helped him to place it in position, 
putting her beak over the outer edge, employing it 
and her throat much in the same way as a mason 
uses his trowel for the purpose of smoothing, and 
thus working all round the outside of the nest. The 
time that the male took in getting material and 
returning was between thirty and forty seconds. 
The birds only worked for a short period in the early 
morning ; then about the same time again in the 
afternoon. The male gathered most of the material 
for the outside, while his mate attended to the inside 
decoration and lining of the nest. So the work 
went on, taking two days to finish. The first egg 
was laid on the second day after the nest was com- 
pleted." 
The nest is built upon a horizontal fork, and is a 
neat, small, and shallow structure. Trees favoured 
are pines, banksias, and she-oaks; the usual height 
