70 [page number]
6 + 7.2.47  On Saturday afternoon we took Michael and
[margin]33[circled][/margin] nurse down to Gellibrand, just beyond La Mimosa
where the road begins to turn up to the left into
the bush from the valley. The cleared valley
reminded Joan and I of Ceylon with the
paddy-fields surrounded by hills and mountains
of jungle â€“ but with a difference, tussocks, sheep
and rabbits in the valleys! I wandered off to
look out the lay of the land and find nests.
I didn't wander far from the valley where
there were GREY FANTAILS and BLUE WRENS singing
in abundance. I soon found a female of the
latter with material in her bill which I followed
to a nearly completed nest, three feet from the
ground in a tussock. SWALLOWS and MARTINS
were feeding low over tussocks while RED-
BROWED FINCHES fed among them on the ground.
GANG-GANG COCKATOOS were heard and not seen.
CRIMSON ROSELLAS with mature and immature
flew &[and] called noisily through the bush. Then
to my surprise a pair of BLUE-WINGED PARROTS
flew across the valley to settle on a dead tree.
In the evening I again came upon them
â€“ three in all â€“ which flew from the ground
up to a dead tree where they perched silhouetted