163 
Nov. 30, 1910. The Queensland Naturalist. 
Harmonious Thrush (Collyriocincla), containing three eggs ; 
the finished burrows of the Pardalote also being very 
plentiful. 
Attracted by the noise made by a pair of these last- 
named birds, I walked over to the edge of a sand-spit 
where a little heap of shredded bark laying on the floor, 
was an eloquent lesson on the old moral of building 
castles in the sand.” This pair had evidently found that 
the sides of the pit provid!ed an easy material to burrow 
in, but the sand carters had undermined the area with 
disastrous results to the Pardalotes. 
The song of the Wild Canary (Gerygone) and the call 
of the Blood Bird (Myzomela) were perhaps the most 
pleasing features of the ramble, especially the note of the 
latter, which was only eclipsed in its persistency by the 
strident call of the Pardalotes. I was greatly pleased in 
discovering a family of 7 or 8 Blue Wrens (Malurus), as 
these birds are not plentiful about Brisbane, and when 
one has been accustomed to their cheery notes forever 
round one’s garden, as they are in the South, such pleasure 
can be readily understood. 
A fine soloist in these scrubs just now is the Harmonious 
Thrush (Collyriocincla). At this time of the year this 
bird fully justifies its first name, and when this artist is 
assisted by his lesser cousin the Thick Head (Pachyce- 
phalus), the resulting concert is worth a long journey to 
hear. Nor is the “ Harry Lauder ” side of the perform- 
ance forgotten, for frequently the listener has his attention 
diverted from the thrushes by the sarcastic chuckle of a 
Kingfisher, as it flies up with a fat grub to a convenient 
outlook, or the ridiculous remarks of a Leather Head, 
preening its feathers in a near-by tree-top. An acrobatic 
turn in the entertainment is also provided, for every now 
and then there is a startled scream, and one looks in time 
to see a green flash as a pair of parrakeets go hurtling 
hither and thither in a headlong dash through the trees. 
Then a long sustained cadenza attracts one’s notice to a 
side show where a little performer is going through some 
strange movements on the next tree : backwards and 
forwards, upwards and downward's, with an occasional 
vicious stab at the bark. This useful little bird,, the Tree 
Creeper, is more often heard in the timber of the hills and 
gullies, but I suppose that many of these unwritten rules, 
at this season of the year, are broken through the sheer 
joy of living. 
But evening draws on ; there is a train to catch ; so 
reluctantly I hie myself to the railway, leaving my 
feathered friends to prepare for the coming night. Thus 
ends the afternoon at Northgate, and one returns to the 
many duties of every-day life, conscious of having been 
