RUFOUS TREECREEPER. 
to the feathers ; breast, sides of breast, flanks, and abdomen chestnut-rufous, 
somewhat paler on the middle of the abdomen; under tail-coverts paler than the 
abdomen with twin black spots on the white shafts ; axillaries, under wing-coverts, 
and base of flight-quills cinnamon-rufous, remainder of quill-lining dark hair-brown ; 
lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface but paler. Eyes hazel, feet and legs 
greyish-flesh, bill purple-flesh, gape orange. Collected at Broome Hill, South-west 
Australia, on tho 4tli of November, 1910. 
E ( Jl7 s - Two to three for a sitting, and vary in shape from rather round to rounded ovals. 
A clutch of three eggs taken at Wilson's Inlet, Western Australia, on the 22nd of 
December, 1909, is of a pinkisli-buff ground-colour, well spotted, blotched, and 
speckled all over with markings of reddish-brown and dull purple. Very rounded 
in form ; surface of shell smooth and slightly glossy. 22 mm. by 18. * 
Nest. Placed in hollow spout or trunk of a tree, and consists of fur, soft and broken 
up bark, and fine grasses. 
Breeding-months. September to December. 
Apparently this species was discovered by Gilbert, as Gould’s notes read: 
“ It is a common bird at Swan River, where Gilbert states it is most abundant 
in the gum forests abounding with the white ant; it ascends the smooth bark 
of the Eucalypti, and traverses round the larger branches with the greatest 
facility, feeding, like the other members of the genus, upon insects of various 
kinds; but it is frequently to be seen on the ground, searching for ants and 
their larvae, and in this situation presents a most grotesque appearance, from 
its waddling gait. Its note is a single piercing cry, uttered more rapidly and 
loudly when the bird is disturbed, and having a very singular and stri kin g 
effect amidst the silence and solitude of the forest.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has written me : “ In your ‘ Reference List,’ 1912, the 
Rufous Treecreeper is given as ranging through West Australia (inland). 
Mr. Shortridge found this species at Laverton, six hundred miles inland from 
Geraldston, where he says it was rare, and that Cl. superciliosa also occurred 
there. Mr. Milligan found this species common about the Wongan Hills, 
hut does not note it as having been seen about Yandanooka, so perhaps its 
northern range may be put down as a little north of the Moore River, or about 
Lat. 30° S. These birds are very common in the Broome Hill district, and 
have been seen at Kellerberin. They are rather late breeders, the nesting 
season being September and October about Broome Hill. Sometimes the 
nests are difficult to reach from being far down a hollow spout, but are often 
■within five or eight feet of the ground. On the edge of a frequented track 
between my house and the sheep drafting yards, there was a hollow spout 
only four feet from the ground, in a small York gum tree, in which I saw eggs 
in three different years. The eggs in the nest were only one foot from the 
entrance to hole. The nesting material is almost entirely of dry grass, some¬ 
times leaves off jam or gum trees are used as a foundation. Clutch of eggs 
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