CRESTED BELL-BIRD. 
G. F. Hill wrote concerning the Ararat District, North-west Victoria : 
“ Usually found in the thickest scrubs. . . I have watched these birds 
with a view to finding out whether their rich notes are made by the male 
birds only, or partly hy the males and partly by the females, and I am 
satisfied that the latter is the case.” 
Macgillivray has written : “ The Oreoica is a plump, sprightly little bird, 
and looks his best, I think, when hopping along the ground with erect crest 
in search of insects and seed.” 
Wilson noted: “ These quaint birds were met with frequently in all 
the country (Victorian Mallee) traversed, and their curious caterpillar 
decorated nests often seen. Where a nest was placed in a tea-tree bush, 
there were invariably found the remains of three or four previous nests.” 
Chisholm has recorded: “I chanced upon two nestlings squatting in 
a nest on a bushy stump. They were altogether uncanny-looking objects. 
Though almost fully fledged, the tops of their heads and a patch right down 
their respective backs were quite free of feathers, and instead of the usual 
wide-eyed stare of inquiry the visitor gets from most young birds, the eves 
were tightly closed. Both babes, in fact, might have been quite devoid of 
life; but when I touched them lightly there was a decided change of tactics. 
The eyes remain closed, but the necks were outstretched, the sprouting feathers 
on the foreheads starting, and the heads waved in exactly the threatening 
manner of the tails of processional caterpillars.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has sent me a good note : “The Crested Bell-Bird (Mid¬ 
west Aboriginal names Bokkun-bokkun and Panpan-pannella) occurs commonly 
all through the open country from the North-west Cape to the south-west, 
but is never seen in the heavy timbered country that prevails from 30 to 90 
miles from the coast in the south-west. In the Gascoyne and further north 
disti’icts, these birds occur down to the coast, because it is open country, which 
they prefer. About the Gascoyne, the breeding season commences in June 
if winter rains have fallen, and continues until September. The nests are 
made of small twigs and lined with grass. They are rather bulky for the 
size of the birds, and are built in any bush, a few feet from the ground, usually 
from 3 to 5 feet. The clutch of eggs is two or three. The earliest date at 
which eggs were found was June 11th, but the buds, like most small species 
in the mid-west, probably breed after rains at any time of the year. The 
male bird assists largely in incubation, and, if disturbed from the nest, often 
hops about in the vicinity, uttering its peculiar song to which the Gascoyne 
and N.W. Cape natives attribute bad luck. In the beautiful, bright calm 
winter mornings the songs of these birds can be heard on every side and often 
call down maledictions from travellers and teamsters, wiio wish to locate the 
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