GROUND CUCKOO-SHRIKE. 
living tree, and they vary very considerably according to the material avail- 
able, some nests being simply a low circular rim of bits of dry grass stems 
bound together and on to the branch with cobwebs, while others are more 
substantially constructed and stand up quite four inches in height, and are 
mostly composed of wool from dead sheep, with an addition of a certain species 
of plant stems, which, owing to having a tiny prickly seed pod, binds it all 
together. Sometimes there is an addition of a few feathers.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has given me the following long note : “ The Ground 
Cuckoo-Shrike is locally distributed in the lightly -timbered districts that extend 
inland east of the heavy forest country of the extreme south-west. They 
are not very common and are somewhat erratic in their movements, as some- 
times several months would pass without any being seen about Broome Hill, 
and they were much more abundant some years than they were others. The 
following notes are from my Broome Hill Journal : “ Very few seen after the 
end of August, 1906. July 5, 1908 : Six birds noted, the first seen for some 
months. June 23, 1910 : Saw three at Broome Hill, the first since March. 
July 5, 1911 : First birds seen this year ; very few that year. Aug. 7, 1912 : 
First seen ; very scarce in 1912. The birds feed mostly on the ground, and 
walk about in a very brisk way. When not feeding they frequently go about 
in small parties. June 23, 1906 : Party of eight seen. For some weeks a 
party of seven was seen very regularly about sundown, flying in a northerly 
direction over my house evidently going to roost together. March 16, 1910: 
Saw twelve feeding together on sand plain near Cranbrook, the largest number 
noted in a mob. This species seems to be extending its range (or else settlers 
are becoming more observant of birds). Probably the real reason is increased 
settlement on the land and clearing of the timber. When driving from Albany 
in a northerly direction towards the Stirling Ranges in March 1910 an 
observant settler told me that Ground Cuckoo-Shrikes had been first\\ noted 
at his farm (30 miles north of Albany) two years previously. He had never 
seen the birds before. Dec. 12, 1911 : When 20 miles west of Mount Barker 
(50 miles N.W. of Albany) a pair of these birds were pointed out to me as being 
strangers and never seen there previously. I was taken out to identify them, 
by my host, another observant farmer. The breeding -season about Broome 
Hill is in September. The nests are very shallow and flat and resemble those 
of Graucalus novcehollandice in being placed on the fork of a horizontal limb, 
and therefore difficult to see from below. Sept. 21, 1910 : After some time 
spent in watching a pair of these birds, their nest was found on the fork of a 
horizontal limb, about thirty feet from the ground, of a York gum. It was 
practically invisible when standing below it. The nesting material consisted 
of fine grass, roots, weeds, and a little moss, lichen, and sheep’s wool 
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