FIELD-WREN. 
saltbush and grass near the camel depot, and morning and evening enlivened 
our camp with their songs, as, perched on some elevated spot, one would pour 
forth its daily carol. Several nests were found during August, two of them 
being discovered lying on small patches of bare ground, in such exposed positions 
as to convey the idea that they had been cast away by some passing oologist. 
Mr. Charles F. Wells found another beneath the shelter of a low salt bush. 
All the eggs taken were of the usual colour and character.” Apparently this 
refers to a yet unnamed subspecies. 
WTien Mr. Tom Carter sent the Point Cloates bird to A. J. Campbell the 
latter described it as C. ruhiginosus on account of its rufous colouring, lacking 
* the white tips to the tail and the whitish line over the eye. Succeeding notes 
give the further history of this series. 
Mr. Tom Carter’s notes read : “ The Rustv-red Field- Wren (North-west 
aboriginal name Nee-Antee ) is common in low scrub, spinifex, etc., about Point 
Cloates and the North-west Cape, but was never noted inland, nor about 
Carnarvon (200 miles south of Point Cloates). It has a rather loud cheerful 
song, uttered from the top of a low bush, but the birds are shy and keep much 
under cover of low scrub and other vegetation of the coast sandhills. This 
species appears to breed at any season after rainfalls, as eggs were observed 
about Point Cloates in various months of the year. The nest is dome-shaped 
with side entrance near the top, built mostly of dry grass and lined with some 
feathers. It is usually built under shelter of a low bush, or in a tuft of coarse 
grass. The clutch of eggs is usually three. June 21, 1902 : Three fresh 
eggs. July 10, 1900 : Fledged young.” 
In the Ibis, 1921, he added: “ Rustv-red Field- Wren were seen at Maud’s 
Landing, and specimens obtained during the last week of August, 1911; also at 
Maud’s Landing and Point Cloates at the same time in 1913, and in early July 
in 1916, when a breeding male was obtained on 7th July at Point Cloates. These 
birds breed immediately after anjr heavy rainfall, irrespective of the season.” 
In the Ibis, 1917, he had written a fine account about two other subspecies 
named and which is here transcribed : 
“ Calamanihus carnpestris hartogi Carter. The Dirk Hartog Field- W r ren 
was plentiful on the island, and is quite distinct from the Calamanihus occurring 
on the Peron. The habits and song are the same as those of C. rubiginosus 
which occurs further north. The birds are mostly found in fairly open scrub, 
and were not seen in the dense dark growths of the large wattle brushes. The 
pleasant song is almost invariably uttered when the bird is perched on the 
topmost twig of a bush, a dead twig seeming to be chosen by preference, and 
both sexes are often seen in this position. Upon any alarm, as at the approach 
of someone, the birds dive down into the bush, and either run or hop very 
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