The Emu. 
59 
the Hooded and Dusky Robins {P. bzcolor diwd P. vittata) diVQ 
much duller and plainer in colour, and use thin strips of bark 
wherewith to construct their nests and fix them either on dead 
branches or stumps or on boughs that are covered with grey 
bark of a similar colour to that of which their homes are com- 
posed. The back of the female harmonizes very closely with its 
surroundings. 
The Large-billed Fly-eater {Pseudogerygoiie magnirostris) is 
another wonderful instance of how a bird can build its nest to 
look like surrounding objects. Its home is constructed on the 
end of a creeper which is hanging either over a swamp or 
stream. It is about a foot long, and consists of fibre, &c., 
very loosely twisted round and fastened to the creeper, and 
at the very bottom the small nest is fixed. When you first 
see it you at once think it is simply a piece of rubbish left by 
some flood, as plenty of pieces similar in appearance can be 
seen that have been so left, and the birds seem to have imitated 
them to perfection. 
In the Mahiri, or Wrens, the males are resplendent, but the 
females grey, but as their nests are domed the sitting bird 
cannot be noticed. Their homes are generally constructed of 
dry grass and well hidden in thick vegetation about a foot or so 
from the ground, where a good deal of undergrowth is dead, so 
making them difficult to detect. 
In the Fan-tails (^RJiipidurce), the White-shafted, and others of a 
similar grey colour, construct their wineglass-shaped nests of 
fine shreds of grass and bark, well covering them with cobweb, 
and they are situated in some cases high up, especially in the 
Western Fan-tail {^R. preissi), and occasionally low down, 
generally on the branch of a eucalyptus tree, where the outer 
covering of bark is dead and grey, and harmonizing in colour. 
The Common Fan-tail {R. tricolor), having a black back, and 
therefore more conspicuous, builds its nest generally a few feet 
from the ground under a leafy cover, or, failing that, on a small 
branch jutting out underneath the covering of a larger bough ; 
it is rarely that this sociable little bird has its nest exposed 
from above. The MyiagrcB construct their nests of shreds of 
bark, and situated on the outer dead bark of the horizontal 
branch of a eucalyptus tree, such as those of the Leaden Fly- 
catcher (^M. rebeculd), and the back of the hen bird is dark-grey, 
corresponding in colour to the bark. The Spectacled Fly- 
catcher {Piezorhynchus goiddi) constructs its nest on a small 
shrub in thick scrub, and generally in a dry watercourse, and 
fastens on the outside of its nest, by means of cobweb, green 
moss and cast skins of lizards, &c., and the back of the female 
bird is inconspicuous. The Ground-Thrushes {Geoczc/da) build 
their nests in the densest thicket they can find, and if moss is 
plentiful construct them principally of that material, otherwise 
of grass. The birds themselves generally live on the ground, 
