THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
flying; flits along with a jerking motion, and is very tame. It is extremely 
common in South Australia, where I observed it in every part of the country 
I visited ; in New South Wales I found it in the interior beyond the ranges, 
and also on the bare ridges between Patrick’s Plains and the Liverpool Range. 
I did not meet with it in Tasmania. It evinces a decided preference for the 
open country or hills slightly covered with brush, where it can feed on the 
ground and fly to the low shrub-like trees when disturbed. I have also seen it 
busily engaged among the branches, apparently in search of insects, in the 
pursuit of which, like the other members of the genus, it displays unusual 
alertness and address.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby has written : “ In the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, 
in the upper parts of the ranges I found this a common bird. In South Australia 
the darker race, named from my specimens by Mr. North australis, in the Mount 
Lofty Ranges is almost confined to the zone of upper hills where the 
Stringy Bark ( Eucalyptus obliqua ) grows, the birds moving about in small 
flocks amongst the tree tops and in the bushes.” 
Mr. F. E. Howe’s notes from Victoria : “ Is also very numerous, but confines 
itself to the thick scrubs where it obtains its food mostly on the ground. Two 
nests placed low in the grass tussocks, another on a fallen branch and another 
placed flat on the ground in thick scrub were observed each with four eggs.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin’s notes from Cobbora, New South Wales, read: “ Only 
found in the thick scrubs in this district, usually met with feeding upon 
the ground in small flocks of from half a dozen to twenty birds ; when disturbed 
they take a very short flight, generally only of a few yards, either settling upon 
the ground again or in some low bush, seldom have I seen them more than ten 
feet from the ground. In life it can easily be mistaken for A. chrysorrhoa. 
Although I have often seen the latter just on the edge of the scrubs where the 
present species abounds, I have never noticed them actually associated, but 
A. pyrrhopygia is mostly observed with the Buff-rumped. The nests are rather 
roughly made, dome-shaped structures sometimes placed almost on the ground 
in a tussock of flowering grass bush, but more often between a piece of loose 
hanging bark and the trunk of a tree, or in a shallow hollow or a niche in a tree, 
and are composed of strips of soft dry bark, dry plant stems and grass, warmly 
lined with fur and feathers. The clutch is usually 3 or 4, and the principal 
breeding months are September and October.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor has sent me : 64 This little bird is found in South Australia 
but is not so plentiful as the Yellow-rumped Tit. I have noted it about Lake 
Albert and the Coorong in the south-east of South Australia. It was there 
in the tea tree and sheoak country, keeping to the boughs, but now and again 
settling on the ground to hop about in search of insect food.” 
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