Vol 'i92 X 4 IV '] FLETCHER, Birds of the Steppes 
115 
looked up, and answered; the mate flew to the edge of nest; she flew 
away, and he slipped on in her place. I watched this change on seve¬ 
ral different mornings. First found the nest on 12th November by 
observing a bird carrying building material to the fork of. a small tree. 
Cinclosoma punctatum. Spotted Quail-Thrush (Ground-bird).— 
Heard them calling only once. Was shown a hillside where they used 
to nest. 
Calamanthus fuliginosus. Striated Field-wren.—Present around 
the lagoon and adjacent flats. 
Oreocincla lunulata. Australian Ground-Thrush.—Frequents the 
mossy tea tree scrubs. 
Epthianura albifrons. White-fronted Chat (Banded Tang).—An 
inhabitant of this district for the last few years only, so I was told. 
I saw one flock about the banks of The Shannon River, where St. 
Patrick’s Plains stretch to its borders. Some of these had fledged 
young with them. I found one nest with two eggs on which the 
female was sitting. The nest was built in a mossy fork, three feet 
high, on a stunted tea tree close to the Lagoon, 15th November, 1922. 
I understood my friends to say the Chats left the district in the 
winter. 
Megalurus gramineus. Little Grass-bird.—Heard them calling 
from the islands of the Lagoon. 
Geobasileus chrysorrhous. Yellow-tail Thornbill.—Present in small 
numbers. 
Acanthiza pusilla. Brown Thornbill.—Numerous. Nest in the 
Banksia and also in the low bushes of the pink berry (Cyathodes 
acerosa ). I found a last season’s nest of these birds, which was sus¬ 
pended from the top and reminded me of the nest of a Gerygone. The 
sides were quite free, nor was there any support to the bottom of the 
nest. Young had been reared in it. 
Sericornis humilis. Brown. Scrub-Wren.—A frequenter of the fallen 
timber. A pair, which owned a nest built in the mossy and rotten 
debris of a chock-and-log fence, were often to be seen enjoying a 
bathe in the pool mentioned before. Another pair reared their young 
in a blackberry vine near the house. From a window I watched them 
feeding the little ones on aphis. The older birds collected a mouthful 
from the shoots and then gave these to the fledglings in turn. The 
latter were sitting on a twig of ivy. Some years ago a pair of these 
shy birds actually made a nest in a hanging basket of Kenilworth ivy 
in the verandah and reared the young. On a previous visit I was 
shown the remains of the nest in the centre of the basket. 
Malurus cyaneus. Superb Blue-Wren.—Only a few pairs seen. One 
pair had a nest partly built in the rushes of a creek flowing into the 
Lagoon (12th November). 
Artamus cyanopterus. Dusky Wood-Swallow.—Migratory, reach¬ 
ing the district in October the year I was there, 1922. Commenced to 
nest, then snow fell, and the birds were missing for nearly a week, 
when they returned and continued their interrupted work. Preference 
is given by them to the more open stretches of country, known locally 
as marshes, generally covered with surface water in the winter and 
early spring. 
Colluricincla harmonica. Grey Shrike-Thrush.—Very plentiful. I 
am sorry to record that these jovial and friendly birds’are too fond 
of robbing the homes of their smaller brethren. One pair of rascals 
made their nest next door to a possum’s nest, splendidly concealed. 
Their three young were well grown when I found their nest. This 
pair were responsible for the destruction of many nests on the flat 
round about their home. I once watched them trying to find a Fan- 
tail’s nest. They had heard the smaller bird singing in its merry 
way about a Banksia tree, and were sure it had a nest. This time 
