THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
building I have often had them come and perch upon the horse I am riding 
quite irrespective of me sitting in the saddle, and try to pull hair out of the 
horse for nesting material. The first nest I found of this species was discovered 
in a strange way. I was out collecting and saw' one of these birds fly low 
over my head with its bill full of fur ; in a few moments it returned, and then 
shortly afterwards came back with more fur; being anxious to see where it 
obtained the material I follov r ed it up and discovered it clinging to the back 
of a Native Bear, ‘ Phascolarctus cinereus ,’ and picking fur out of it. I then 
followed the bird to its nest, but next time I visited it, the Honey-eater had 
deserted it owing to a Pallid Cuckoo having deposited an egg in it, evidently 
before it was quite completed. They are extremely close sitters, in some 
cases it is ahnost an impossibility to make a sitting bird leave its nest; 
for instance, on September 17th, 1917, I found a pair of these birds building 
a nest at the extreme end of a long thin branch, projecting from the main 
stem of an iron-bark sapling and about twenty feet from the ground. Upon 
visiting it on the 24th I saw no bird near the nest, so after waiting some little 
time I climbed the tree, and with the aid of a mirror I saw' it contained an 
egg of a Pallid Cuckoo ; this I scooped as I urns quite satisfied the rightful 
owners had deserted the nest. Upon visiting the nest again on the 29th with 
Mr. A. F. Basset Hull of Sydney who was on a visit here, we found the Honey- 
eater sitting. I again climbed the tree, and although I could reach to within 
about five feet of the nest, nothing w'ould induce the sitting bird to flush. 
I obtained a stick and actually lifted her (I presume it was the female) right 
out of the nest, but almost immediately she was back in the nest, and tucking 
her head beneath her body', right down into the egg chamber. Nothing I 
could do w'ould shift her, so I then cut off the branch with my pocket knife, 
holding it the wliile. This w'as too much for the poor little bird, for when 
I was just about to put my hand on her, she slid off her three fresh eggs, but 
even then she turned and made an attempt to get back into the nest.” 
Mr. F. E. How r e has written : ’‘In the timber about the open and hilly 
country near Melbourne they are often noticed and usually in flocks of from 
six to ten birds. As they flit from tree to tree they are seen to have an 
undulating flight and when on the wring utter a grating note. It no doubt 
nests in the district as I once saAv well-fledged young being fed. On one 
occasion at Ringwood I saw a bird pulling hair from the back of a cow as 
lining for a nest that I couldn’t find.” 
Mr. L. G. Chandler also w'rote : “At Frankston on April 5th a small flock 
of birds w'ere noticed feeding on insects on the gum leaves. They kept up 
a continual din with their high pitched note, that is repeated quickly in 
repetition. During a trip to the You Yangs on August 31 st, I observed they 
276 
