THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
rather a high-pitched, piping manner, or more slowly in a lower and more 
musical tone. The only other notes heard from these little birds are alarm 
notes, which are sharp and rather harsh, resembling the syllables ‘Chuck’ 
or Tcheck.’ One hears these when near a nest, or when young are concealed 
in the thick clumps of canegrass. . . . The female is not a close sitter, and 
only once did I flush her from her eggs. However it is almost impossible 
to walk quietly through the water or where the reeds are growing thickly. 
I was never able to detect a female in the act of building, and the males do 
nob appear to call in the immediate vicinity of the nest. When the young 
are in the nest, or hidden in the neighbouring reeds, both parents become 
very anxious, fluttering from clump to clump with harsh cries, or even sham- 
ming lameness, or a broken wing, where the peat is above water-level. In 
the nest the young are able to flatten themselves down in a remarkable way. 
One brood I was examining was so quiet and motionless that I was quite 
deceived, thinking they were all dead. -Megalurus striatus is a very jealous 
bird, and the greatest care is necessary to avoid disturbing an unfinished nest. 
One I found was just ready for eggs. I only gently felt to the bottom with 
one finger ; but this was quite enough to cause its desertion. A new nest 
was built in a neighbouring clump, the lining of feathers being removed from 
the nest I had disturbed and utilised in the new one. All this was accomplished 
and four eggs laid, within seven days. About the end of January the birds 
appear to leave the swamp, returning towards the end of June. The males 
may be heard calling the following month. To my thinking, Megalurus has 
some affinity with the Reed- Warblers ( Acrocephalus ). In the nature of its 
haunts and the situation and construction of its nest it has much in common 
with the latter. Also, there is a certain peculiarity about the flesh of both 
genera. It is remarkably soft, and has a peculiar smell. Megalurus is a 
delicate loose plumaged bird.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin, writing from Cobbora, New South Wales, states : 
“ Only once have I known the present species to visit this district ; during 
the spring of 1910 a pair of them arrived, took up their quarters, and bred 
at a large dam in front of my house. Many years ago I found them very 
numerous in all the reed-beds in the district of Geelong, Victoria, where their 
melancholy whistle, issuing from the rushes, could be heard at all times of 
the day. Of our smaller birds, I know of none with such a mournful note, 
and it always appears to be extremely so upon a still dull afternoon just as a 
heavy thunderstorm is approaching. It also has an alarm note which some- 
what resembles ‘ Chit, chit,’ uttered several times. It has a very feeble power 
of flight, and will sometimes not take wing until forced. The nests are open 
cupshaped structures, formed of pieces of dry aquatic plants, and dry grass, 
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