BUSH TOMTIT OR BUFF-RUMPED TIT 281 
trunk of a big gum tree ; or, thirdly, right on the 
ground among scrubby herbage. In any case it is 
built of fine strips of inner bark and fine grasses, but 
has no cocoons or other white adornment, and presents 
a reddish appearance. It is domed, with a small 
entrance hole at the side, and is warmly lined with 
fur and a few feathers. It is a much smaller and 
neater nest than the Common Tomtit's. 
The eggs number four as a rule, and these, too, are 
more like one of the Acanthiza's ; they are small and 
white, with a well-defined ring of reddish-brown spots 
round the larger end. 
The Bush Tomtit lives even more on the ground 
than does the Common Tomtit, and is generally met 
with in flocks of about six. As they rise from the 
ground they all twitter freely, and also give one a 
chance of identifying them by the buff patch on the 
rump, which is very conspicuous in flight. 
The nesting-season is at its height in September, 
but^Mr. H. A. Purnell found a nest with eggs near 
Jan Juc on October 13th, 191 3. On August 29th, 
1 891, a nest was found in the same district, in a niche 
in a messmate trunk about 3 feet from the ground, 
with one egg. On October 22nd, the following year, 
it was found to contain three eggs, the birds having 
relined it. It is most unusual for small birds to use 
a nest more than once, especially in consecutive years. 
The Bush Tomtit is plentiful throughout the 
eastern part of the Otway Forest and adjoining 
messmate scrubs ; so also is it at Anakie. At the 
