DUSKY ROBIN. 
Dove has given a detailed account of such an instance. This feature does 
not seem to have been commonly noted in connection with the other Australian 
“ Robins.” 
Captain S. A. White has written me : “I met with it in every locality I 
have been in Tasmania, and found it plentiful on Flinders Island, a quiet soft- 
flighted bird, which loves seclusion.” 
Mr. Frank Littler has written me : “ Called in Tasmania the Stump Robin, 
where it acts as foster-mother to the Pallid Cuckoo. It delights to come about 
bush habitations, and there busies itself in looking out for scraps thrown from 
the house. In some districts I have found the birds very numerous and much 
in evidence early in the morning and towards evening. It is very amusing 
to watch a number of these birds hunting among the clods on the cultivated 
ground for insects. Great is the excitement when a worm is disclosed to view. 
The lucky finder calls gleefully to his mate : unluckily for him, other birds, 
as well as his mate, come and the consequence is that a general melee ensues. 
The blight on cabbages and turnips comes in for a fair share of attention, 
while food is also obtained from the air or under the bark of trees. During 
the breeding-season the birds always forage in pairs. The vocal capacity is 
limited to a few low notes, and the flight is moderately strong.” 
H. Stuart Dove has contributed to the Emu, Vol. X., p. 127, 1910, a 
complete life-history, entitled “ The Dusky Robin ( Petroeca vittcita),” to which 
the reader is referred for details. He wrote : “ The Dusky Robin is not in 
the least afraid of the human form, but seems rather to enjoy its proximity. 
Wherever a settler makes a bit of a clearing in the bush, and erects his slab 
or paling hut, there will this friend of man be seen sitting about upon stumps 
or on the rough deadwood fences which are the first attempts at property 
enclosure, watching his opportunity to help the newcomer by ridding the 
earth of some of the chafer grubs and other industrious workers among the 
roots of vegetation. The Dusky Robin starts nesting in August in sheltered 
localities, two broods, and probably three in some cases, being reared. It 
has a curious habit of sometimes returning to the same site and rebuilding 
on the same nest. Mr. E. D. Atkinson found no fewer than five, and in another 
case six, nests piled one on top of another. Sometimes the same nest even 
is used for a second brood during the season.” 
The Flinders Island Dusky Robin is according to Mellor and Capt. White : 
“ Numerous in the thick scrub as well as close to the seashore. We found 
them breeding, and in all stages from fresh eggs to fully fledged young. A 
favourite situation for the nest was in the upturned roots of large gums. On 
comparison with Tasmanian birds it was found to be much darker throughout.” 
The King Island form is recorded by A. G. Campbell as : “A species 
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