98 
muscicapid;e. 
departure again in March and April. Its arrival is at once made 
known by its soft and varied sti’ain of considerable melody. From 
its song (not that it resembles the notes of any other bird), and 
partly on account of its yellow breast it has gained the local name 
of the “ Native Canary ” Upon its arrival, it betakes itself to 
the smaller trees and saplings, and almost at once commences to 
build, selecting some strong twig among the innermost boughs of 
a bushy tree, to which it suspends its oblong dome shaped nest, 
the extremity of which terminates in a well formed tail of about 
three inches in length, which is extremely characteristic. The body 
of the nest is in length from six to eight inches, and four in breadth; 
it is composed of fine pieces of stringy bark and grasses closely 
interwoven and matted together with cobwebs, being lined with 
the silky down of the cotton-tree or with opossum fur; the 
entrance which is about two inches and a-half down the side, is 
one inch in diameter, and completely hidden from view in front 
by a neatly woven hood of one inch and a-half in length. The 
nests are often placed in trees infested with ants, which insects are 
often found on the nests themselves, but do not, as far as I am 
aware, cause the bird any anxiety. The eggs, which are laid from 
October to December, and sometimes even as late as January, are 
three in number. Their ground colour is of a delicate white, but 
almost hidden by numerous spots, dots, blotches and freckles of 
dull red ; in some the markings are thicker upon the larger end, 
where they form a well-defined zone or circular blotch ; others are 
minutely dotted. Upon the whole, both in shape and colour they 
closely resemble those of Malurus cyaneus, but maybe distinguished 
by being more thickly and strongly marked ; they are also slightly 
larger and more lengthened in form. 
This species shows a decided preference for the more open parts 
of the forest, with thickly foliaged trees and young saplings of 
Eucalyptus; its actions among the leaves, where it searches 
for insects, their larvse, etc., are very pleasing and graceful, 
stopping in its search every now and then to pour forth its curious 
and varied song, in which it will sometimes stop abruptly and fly 
off without finishing, as if something had startled it or suddenly 
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