RUFOUS SONG-LARK. 
although not exclusively a terrestrial bird, it evinces a great partiality to open 
grassy plains here and there studded with trees, and spends much of its time 
on the ground, from which it makes perpendicular ascents to a great height 
in the air, and then descending to the tops of the highest trees, flies horizontally 
from one tree to another, singing all the time with the greatest volubility ; 
the female, which is not more than half the size of the male, remaining all the 
while on the ground, from which she is not easily aroused, and consequently 
not so often seen. It breeds in October, November and December, and 
generally rears two broods during the season. The female is said to frequently 
utter a sharp shriek during the night.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby has written me : “In this State (South Australia) this 
species is found in the more open timbered country but is never far away from 
the timber. Thirty years ago it was common in such situations in the suburbs 
of Adelaide, then for twenty years it nearly disappeared but now it is back 
in many of its old haunts, a few pairs now nesting each year at Blackwood. 
Its song is decidedly more pleasing than that of the Brown Songlark ; it sings 
on the wing as it slowly flaps from tree to tree ; in the month of September 
not only is its song one of the most attractive and constant sounds heard in 
its haunts, but the pauses are so brief that one wonders whether sufficient 
time is given to feeding.” 
Captain S. A. White’s notes read : “ This is one of the most beautiful 
songsters and puts in an appearance with us in the early spring and soon begins 
to sing, that is, the male bursts forth into a glorious melody as he flies from one 
tree to another ; this is while the nesting time is on, but after this the male 
keeps with the female on the ground and only flies into a tree when flushed 
and ceases to sing. The nest is placed in a depression in thu ground and is 
composed of dry grass and rootlets. They become very quiet and confiding 
if protected, and when the first tram line was laid through the reedbeds t)ne 
of these birds made a nest, laid its eggs and reared its young, right alongside 
one of the sleepers upon which the line was fastened, and the cars were pulled 
past the nest by horses not less than once an hour. It has a wide range extending 
into the interior during good seasons.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has sent me from Cobbora, New South Wales, this 
note : “ This species is also strictly migratory, appearing in vast numbers 
during favourable springs, departing again after the breeding season is finished, 
while other years not a single bird is to be seen. Frequenting open forests 
and ringbarked country, where there is plenty of long grass, logs, and fallen 
branches. Generally met with feeding upon the ground, when flushed it 
usually settles in a dead tree, upon a stump, or on fallen dead timber. It is a 
beautiful songster, the notes being very clear, musical and rich, usually uttered 
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