THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
on the wing. Both sexes attend to the wants of the young ones, but before 
the site of the nest has been chosen and while building operations are in 
progress both birds are very noisy and thus help to betray the whereabouts 
of the nesting tunnel. Both sexes assist in the task of excavation, but I have 
only seen one bird carrying rootlets to the nest. The young when a few weeks 
from the nest have a pretty trill-like call unlike any note given by the adult 
bird. The young are hatched naked and blind, the body delicate pink, wings 
and feet pale cream and gape sulphur-yellow.” 
Mr. E. J. Christian has sent me : “ P. assimilis leaves South Victoria 
for the winter, but stays here (North Victoria) all the year. Every water¬ 
course which has its clump of red gum has its pair of birds. The well-known 
cry ‘ Wilton, Wilton ’ can be incessantly heard, in fact, it gets monotonous. 
It is an extremely active little bird and hops along from twig to twig and 
bough to bough searching for food. They are very hard to notice and I have 
often stood beneath a tree trying to find where the noise came from and after 
some time have found the bird quite near my head. They are very trustful 
and I have had them within a couple of feet of my hand. They seem to eat 
many insects and larvae which they find on the bark of the trees. I have 
often been amused at the way they pick at everything and dodge in and out 
of every hole.” 
Mr. Tom Tregellas has written : “As a destroyer of insect pests Pardalotes 
are invaluable, fluttering in and out, amongst, under and over the bushes, 
scanning every nook and comer in search of food. Much is taken whilst 
fluttering at the end of a bough with rapidly moving wings and body poised, 
their little beady eyes prying everywhere. This peculiar habit is entertaining 
to watch. They seem able to poise the body in any position, and while thus 
poised the head and neck are twisted to all points and the undersides of the 
leaves scanned as well as the tops. The food they partake of is almost shunned 
by other birds, consisting of aphis and all lands of blight and fungus growths 
which work incalculable harm. P. assimilis has never a dread of man and 
while nesting is absolutely fearless, going and coming even when one is sitting 
alongside the nesting burrow. I have frequently caught the bird under such 
conditions, which showed so little concern at its capture that it never even 
tried to escape, and when released hopped on to the nearest twig and began 
to preen its feathers. The other variety, ornatus, common in our district, 
varies so little in its nesting and other habits that the one description does 
for both species. During the nesting season they are wont to sit on the top¬ 
most twigs of the tallest trees, expanding and contracting their small rounded 
wings in a very methodical manner, uttering the while those peculiar notes 
that give the bird the name of ‘ Wittoo ’ or ‘ Witlow.’ I found that assimilis 
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