THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Captain S. A. White has written me: “ This is a very numerous bird at 
times along the coastal belt. I have not observed it myself far inland, but 
have heard of it reaching as far north as Broken Hill. From January to March 
these birds are very plentiful in the orchards on the Adelaide plains and do 
some damage amongst soft fruits, mostly grapes, but I feel sure they do much 
more good. In years gone by they nested in numbers in the salt-water tea-tree 
and it was not uncommon to see two or three of their well shapen nests 
containing three or four bright blue eggs. Then cry is a short, mournful one, 
and often uttered upon the wing. This bird shifts to some distance according 
to food supplies. They visit the coastal sand-hills in the autumn in search 
of the ripe currants when that native bush is hi full fruit, and often remain 
well into the winter when the last of the fruit has dropped off ; they are also 
fond of other berries. Their food consists of insects, fruit and many native 
berries and fruits : it is wonderful what large berries this little bird can swallow. 
I am quite sure that Z. 1. halmaturina is not a good subspecies, for I have a 
very large series of birds and have many taken on the mainland with much deeper- 
coloured flanks than any I have seen on Kangaroo Island. Z. 1. chlorocephalus. 
I found this bird plentiful on North-west Island and Tryon Island of the 
Capricorn Group. It is a sweet songster and I often sat and listened to its 
song amidst the dense tropical vegetation. They were nesting on the Islands 
during our visits ; insects and small berries seemed to constitute their food, 
the myaporum berry being much sought after.” 
Mr. L. G. Chandler’s notes read : “ These little birds are common 
throughout the State of Victoria. They are great pests in the orchard when 
the fruit is ripening and are so tame it is difficult to scare them away. They 
certainly must do an enormous amount of good by destroying noxious insects 
during the remainder of the year and in this way return good for evil. The 
young are fed on a varied diet of insects and fruit, and I have often watched 
the parent birds feeding their young on the green, unripe berries of the mid 
current bush, which seems a strange diet.” 
Air. Thos. P. Austin has sent me from Cobbora, New South Wales: “ Small 
flocks arrive here towards the end of the summer, when the grapes are ripe, 
but it is a very rare thing to see them in this district at any other time. I 
saw a pair in September, 1915, perched together like love-birds in a small tree 
growing on a scrubby rocky hill, this being the only time I have seen them in 
such country. In the Geelong district, Victoria, and about Sydney, they are 
very common, and a great pest in the orchards and vineyards, attacking all 
kinds of soft fruit. They are particularly fond of pears; starting with a small 
hole they work their way inside, until there is nothing but the skin and core 
left. When a boy I have often watched them enter, then quietly walked up 
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