SCRUB ROBIN. 
almost untouched belt of mallee near Woodchester, South Australia, just under 
forty miles from Adelaide, and there we found this bird fairly numerous ; the 
low double call of the cock first called our attention to their presence, the call 
is strangely soft and low and yet penetrating. We shot the hen first, which 
extruded an egg, showing that nesting had commenced. A little later in the 
season the more common note is a shrill warning whistle repeated twice, very 
similar to the warning note of Poodytes gramineus. I found the Scrub Robin 
common at Venus Bay in the Great Bight towards the West Australian border 
in February 1910. The birds there were a little paler and more rufous in 
plumage than the more eastern birds.” 
Mr. L. G. Chandler has forwarded me the following interesting account : 
“ In the Kow Plains district (Victoria), in the spring of 1912, I found that the 
Scrub Robin was a fairly common bird, and from constant observation I was 
able to gather some interesting field notes. The favourite haunt of the bird is 
in the ‘ whipstick ’ mallee, where the turpentine bush flourishes and silver 
mulga, Melaleuca sp., etc., abound. This is one of the few mallee forms which 
shows little fear of man, as by imitating the call-notes one can decoy a bird to 
within a few feet of oneself. The principal calls resemble 4 Chip-pip-er-ee,’ 
‘ Chip-pip-ee ’ and ‘ Chip-peer-a-peet.’ These notes are varied and are some- 
times uttered in a low key ; the effect being ventriloquial, while another note, 
used largely as a call-note, is a long drawn out whistle ; and a note of alarm 
and distrust which sounds phonetically : 4 Charr-rrr-tuk-ertuk-ertuk-ertuk,’ 
the 4 tukertuk ’ portion being produced rapidly. The Scrub Robin is one of 
the last birds to begin calling in the morning ; the male will mount a favourite 
perch — in every case an exposed limb well above the scrub, often a dead Murray 
pine or acacia — and repeat its calls with slight variations for some time. 
Presently he gives the drawn-out sound several times as a signal for the female 
to join him; then, still uttering this call flies to the ground. Often the female 
does not appear until her mate has secured something edible, when an extra 
appeal on his part brings her from the nest or nesting site, answering softly as 
she approaches 4 Coo-yer, coo-yer.’ At times this drawn-out note is also used as 
a warning to the female. Both birds will now work the ground together, 
the male emitting at intervals some of the calls previously mentioned, and 
frequently feeding his mate. By following quickly and as silently as possible, 
one has the opportunity to follow the female to her nest. She is slightly smaller 
than her mate, but it takes several days of close observation to fix the difference 
in one’s mind when the birds are separated. In from ten to twenty minutes 
the birds begin to feed back to the starting point, and it is at this stage that the 
male bird proves himself a pastmaster in the art of decoying. Leaving his mate 
in a sheltered position, he suddenly flies across an open space for a distance, 
VOL. IX. 
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