The Emu. 
21 
or mere gallantry of pre-nuptial days ? — a pair of White-throated 
Tree-creepers showed. The male was clinging to a rugged tree, 
when suddenly the female came out of such hole as these birds 
choose wherein to build. Within her beak a yellow moth was 
held ; but though the male was within touch he made no attempt 
to secure the prey, which certainly would have made a bite 
apiece. How different from city Sparrow ways. 
Where a hill sloped to the south, beside the railway line, a 
shrubby, stiff-stemmed acacia clad the land with yellow prim- 
rose hue — siiaveolens most appropriately ; the sweetness of 
its breath at eventide was something for the memory to 
dwell upon. Above its blooms the Welcome Swallow darted 
frequently, Tree Martins joining in the quest for food, and some 
eight or nine Wood Swallows hawked persistently. It was a 
lovely sight. Was ever anything more dainty than Artamus on 
the wing, or curves more near "the line of beauty" than those 
described by these Wood Swallows as they flew, or aught more 
graceful than w^hen one or other of the keen-eyed birds clung 
momentarily to rugged bark, or with a white-rimmed fan out- 
spread it passed to handy twig } Each attitude was eloquent 
and elegant. Whilst we watched a zealous sentinel gave a 
danger call, all too quickly obeyed. It proved a false alarm ; 
for first one skirmisher appeared and darted after prey ; then 
came another, and another still, till all were back again. What 
they caught could not be seen ; the only way to discover would 
have been to kill a bird and find out what its crop contained — 
a deed akin to sacrilege. The strong north wind would waft the 
insects here, and possibly the thicker fringe of timber would 
make them stay ; or the favoured spot, where sunshine and 
humidity joined hands, may have made a fitting breeding 
ground for more than the mosquito. 
Leaving this breath from Riverina's plains, that brought as 
well suggestion of Tasmanian summertide, across the line, where 
silver wattles still were full of bloom, a Yellow-breasted Thick- 
head answered once to call of Rufous-breasted kinsfolk, who 
peered keenly at invaders of the thicket which they held as 
home, and whistled cheerily. Perhaps the tiny Buff-rumped Tit 
had told them we were harmless ; neither he nor they displayed 
a fear. The Pied Fan-tail was not so friendly in his ways as 
those " dainty Ariels " the White-shafted ones, whose pinions 
gleamed within a few feet of us, and whose marvels of acrobatic 
skill rank them amongst the most noted and notable of dwellers 
in the creek-side scrub. He would be heard, not seen, on this 
occasion. Has anyone yet solved satisfactorily the problem 
why the White-shafted Fan-tail ventures so close to men, even 
daring at times to touch one's hat or coat, or, as once seen, to 
perch on the muzzle of a gun ? The Spinebills were almost as 
daring. Once, while we rested, two were " rifling boughs " 
within a couple of yards. Later on, a male hung on a slender 
