BABBLER. 
towards each other, rendering it apparently impossible for the bird to enter 
without breaking them, while egress, on the other hand, is very easy; the 
nest has a thick inner lining of the fine inner bark of trees and fine grasses. 
In traversing the pasture-lands at Camden, any part of the Upper Hunter 
district, and some portions of the Liverpool Plains, the attention of the traveller 
is often attracted by the large nest of this bird ; three or four are often to be 
seen on the same tree. The food consists of insects of various kinds.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has sent me the following account from Cobbora, 
New South Wales : “ One of the common birds of the district, and is to be 
met with almost everywhere, but having a preference for the more open forests 
rather than the thick scrubs. Known locally by such names as Chatterer, 
Pine Pigeon, Parson Bird, and Twelve Apostles, the origination of which all 
have some foundation. It is usually met with feeding upon the ground, in 
small flocks of from eight to a dozen. When disturbed they quickly fly on to 
the lower branches of the nearest tree, and hop from limb to limb, gradually 
getting higher and higher, until well up in the tree, chattering the while ; then 
one by one they fly off to a neighbouring tree, and go through exactly the 
same performance again. They obtain their food upon the ground, hopping 
about in all directions, and with their bill turn over every small bit of bark, 
stick, or horse and cow-dung, in fact everything they come across under 
which might be some insect. Their flight is very direct and rather rapid, 
with quick fluttering motions of the wings and tail outspread. It would be 
quite impossible to describe in words their peculiar notes, of which they have 
a fair variety, but their principal loud whistling song is most noticeable, of 
which I have taken particular notice for some years, and am now fully of the 
opinion that it is not uttered by only one bird. The way in which two or 
more of these birds will blend their song into exactly the same tune every 
time is very remarkable. There has been a flock of them about my house 
ever since I first came here fifteen years ago, and I have had splendid oppor- 
tunities of studying them in every way. Much mystery has existed with 
regard to their nesting-habits. I have often seen a dozen or more of their 
nests within an area of a hundred yards square ; they are usually placed low 
down, either at the extremity of a long horizontal branch, or a young upright 
pine tree or a sapling, a bulky dome-shaped structure, with a spoutlike entrance 
near the top, facing away from the tree, formed of sticks and twigs, the spout 
being constructed of extra long ones, with all the thin ends pointing outwards, 
and in some instances the entrance appears to be closed, lined with a thick 
bed of dry bark of a soft nature, dry broken-up horse and cow dung, finally 
finished with wool and fur if available. A whole flock co-operate in building 
a nest ; many are built at all times of the year, but a very small percentage 
VOL. IX. 
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