THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. 
female birds secured had bills and legs greyish black ; pharynx greyish-flesh ; 
irides reddish-brown. One had cestodes in the intestine, the other none.” 
When Vigors and Horsfield described their Pachycephala striata they 
recorded : 44 The inside of the mouth of these birds is noted by Mr. Caley as 
being yellow ; the eyes are black ; their weight is an ounce.” 
This was the immature of this species from New South Wales. 
Again I find Chisholm’s notes instructive and pleasing : “ Spring in Victoria 
would not be complete without the Rufous-breasted Whistler. Its rich, clear 
warble, 4 with ring and with ripple ’ is one of the most joyous lilts in the bush 
and country towns from late August to mid-December. Occasionally the bird 
— male and female are both songsters — may be seen and heard in and about towns 
during the autumn and winter months, but it is seldom then that the song has 
the emphasis, the power, and the joyous abandon of the spring psean. Into 
this the male particularly seems to throw his whole spirit. His body vibrates 
with the melody. It is a curious fact, too, that the birds can sing finely 
when their beaks are full of insects. When photographing young Whistlers, 
I have seen the parent birds emitting a vigorous musical protest from bills that 
were crammed full of orchard flies. On one occasion a male Whistler flew to 
an apple tree in a favourite old bush orchard, and sang delightfully. His beak 
held a large, red worm, which, by the way, he ate himself. The loud rippling 
song does not exhaust the Whistler’s repertoire. When the spring is over and 
gone, specimens of each sex may sometimes be detected pensively uttering a 
sweet little soliloquy, much akin to the autumn song of the Silver -eye ( Zosterops ). 
This habit of 4 thinking aloud ’ is, I believe, characteristic of the whole family ; 
probably of many other birds also. Occasionally the Whistler sings from a 
high tree top, but more often it is content with whistling and singing in fruit 
trees. It is this predilection for orchards that has earned the valuable bird 
the name of ‘ Gardener ’ in some parts. 4 Joey -joey ’ is another colloquial 
title, derived, presumably, from the series of notes that follow the whiplike 
crack. Apparently the birds are constant to the one locality. Year after year 
a pair returned to the same pear tree in the bush orchard mentioned. These 
birds could always be expected about the first week in September. No one 
ever saw them arrive. On one day there would be no hint of their presence, 
and at dawn next morning the garden was vocal with melody. The fragile 
nest involves very little labour, and most of this is done by the female. Her 
consort, however, takes his turn at brooding, and is also attentive to the young.” 
Mr. Tom Carter simply notes : 44 The Rufous-breasted Thickhead was 
common about Broome Hill and south-west generally. Nest with three fresh 
eggs noted Oct. 14, 1906.” 
Milligan has written : 44 Individuals of this species were very numerous 
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