THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Captain S. A. White has written me : “ The only place in which I have 
met with this bird in South Australia is the Myponga District, between 
thirty and forty miles south of Adelaide. There in the thickly timbered 
hills, dense masses of Leptospermum and other damp-loving vegetation grow 
in the wet gully flats and amidst this mass of undergrowth this strange 
little bird is to be met with, but it is so shy and timid that many who have 
lived in the district for a lifetime were not aware of its presence. It was 
only by means of keeping within cover and calling incessantly for quite a time 
that I was able to procure specimens. At the slightest sound they darted 
like mice to cover and could not be persuaded to show themselves on the 
outskirts of the cover again.” 
Parsons wrote of the Kangaroo Island form: “We found that at the 
time of our visit (October, 1919) these little birds were breeding, and most 
of the adult birds were accompanied by their brood of three young ones, 
with tails varying in length from about \ inch to almost full length. Our 
experience of the situation these birds prefer was contrary to expectations. 
We did not find any birds in the cool, damp gullies, but in every instance 
they were encountered on the tops of dry, inhospitable flat-topped hills, 
covered with a low growth of ‘ bull oak,’ 4 broombush ’ and ‘ grass-tree.’ ” 
Mr. L. G. Chandler has written me : “ These beautiful birds were once 
numerous around Bayswater and Croydon. With the exception of a pair 
at Croydon in October, 1908, I have not seen them in that locality for years. 
Bush fires, I think, helped to thin their numbers, for having such weak wing 
power they have little chance of escape. At Frankston they are plentiful, and 
being of a timid disposition and inhabiting as they do the dense, rank 
grassed lands, one is likely to under-estimate rather than over-estimate their 
numbers. Walking through a tangle of grass and scrub up to the shoulders 
one is attracted by a few weak notes a short distance away. Presently he 
may catch sight of a tiny form creeping through the bushes, and though 
the birds be squeaking all around him, not another glimpse can be obtained 
of them. The open bayonet-grass country presents a better opportunity 
for getting into closer contact with the birds. Any swampy locality — 
where the bayonet-grass grows — seems to find favour in their eyes as a feeding 
ground. At Frankston on April 22nd, 1908, I met with them on the side of 
a hill, where the vegetation consisted chiefly of stunted scrub, bayonet and 
other grasses with bunches of small saplings interspersed. They were 
feeding in company with the Blue Wrens and the two families seemed on 
friendly terms. It is a difficult matter to flush these birds, for they seem 
to trust almost entirely to their powers of running and hiding before taking 
flight. When they rise, they endeavour to fly side on and slightly to the 
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