May, 1932, 
The Queensland Naturalist 
31 
though they don’t seem to be particular. Orange or lemon 
trees, cocksfoot or lantana, anything, especially if a bit 
prickly. 
With such large families the ambition of their order, 
they haven’t time to be too particular in this, or in any of 
their housekeeping ways. Their nests are particularly un- 
pleasant when the family is well grown and almost ready 
to leave, and I don’t wonder that these babes climb out 
into the unkind prickles of the nesting tree, almost before 
a feather is unfclden. Nothing but a mass of pins adorns 
their tubby nakedness. 
Nests may be found in use from January to June, and 
the quaint but common sight of a small bird with a long 
straw trailing behind is often seen. Also the playful 
antics of a bird with a feather. One will get a hen’s 
feather, and sitting on the clothes line or a tree twig will 
toy with the stem, twirling the feather ; dropping the toy 
another will catch it up ; ofttimes several will chase the 
feather holder. Whether eventually used for a nest or 
not I don’t know, as sometimes the feather holder goes out 
of sight and sometimes tired of play the feather drops and 
is abandoned. Tt seems to be a game they enjoy playing. 
In dry weather they make free use of the frying pan 
set with water for the birds. A prettier trimming a frying 
pan never had than when this one is decorated all round 
and up the handle with living tiny birds. They drink and 
sometimes bathe : in this they are comical ; there is no 
brave plunge in, as many birds do ; cautiously they try 
the water with one foot, clinging to the rim with the 
other, then one or two jump in and in a moment the pan 
is a mass of tiny splashing birds. In just such another 
long moment the bath is over, and they all whirr off with 
much “seiving” to each other as they go. 
The full plumaged bird, seen closely and for long 
enough to admire the colours, has a pretty neat appear- 
ance: the bill is the colour of red seal wax, the top of the 
tail and stripe over the eye being the same, with a grey 
head and underneath and a greeny brown back. Tie is a 
neat little chap but lacks the grace and daintiness of move- 
ment of many of our small birds. 
Certain old nests are used as community sleeping 
houses, and T have watched incredible numbers crowd in 
at night. They certainly must be quite warm, though 
most unsanitary in their crowded dormitarv. Neat in ap- 
pearance. alert and business-like, these little birds lead a 
busv. useful coramunitv life, freeing the farmer of thou- 
sands of weed seed. They fall easy prey to cats and 
sparrow hawks but breed in such numbers there always 
seems to be hundreds left. 
