places among the foliage to sport in higher regions, this beautiful species in these aerial flights displays its 
ereatest beauty, while soaring above, in a variety of easy positions, with white-tipped tail widely spread. 
Another very extraordinary and singular habit of the bird ts that of clustering like bees on the dead branch 
of a tree, as represented in the Plate. This feature was not seen by me, but by my assistant Mr. Gilbert 
during his residence at Swan River ; and I have here given his account in his own words :—* The greatest 
peculiarity in the habits of this bird is its manner of suspending itself in perfect clusters, like a swarm of 
bees, a few birds suspending themselves on the underside of a dead branch, while others of the flock attach 
themselves one to the other, in such numbers that they have been observed nearly of the size of a bushel 
measure,” 
It was very numerous in the town of Perth until about the middle of April, when I missed it suddenly ; 
nor did I observe it again until near the end of May, when I saw it in countless numbers flying in company 
with the common Swallows and Martens over a lake about ten miles north of the town ; so numerous, in 
fact, were they, that they darkened the water as they flew over It. 
Its voice greatly resembles that of the common Swallow in character, but is much more harsh. 
The stomach is muscular and capacious ; and the food consists of insects generally. 
The season of incubation is from September to December. ‘The situation of the nest is much varied : I 
have seen one placed in a thickly foliaged bough near the ground, while others were in a naked fork, on the 
side of the bole of a tree, in a niche formed by a portion of the bark having been separated from the trunk, 
&ec. The nest is rather shallow, of a rounded form, about five inches in diameter, and composed of fine 
twigs veatly lined with fibrous roots. I observed that the nests found in Van Diemen’s Land were larger, 
more compact, and more neatly formed than those on the continent of Australia; and one which was shown 
me by Mr. Justice Montague on his picturesque estate at Kangaroo Point, near Hobart ‘Town, was placed 
at the extremity of a small leafy branch, as represented in the Plate. 
The eggs are generally four in number; they differ much in the disposition of their markings ; their 
ground-colour is dull white, spotted and dashed with dark umber-brown ; in some a second series of greyish 
spots appear as if beneath the surface of the shell; their medium length is eleven lines, and breadth eight 
lines, 
Head, neck, and the whole of the body fuliginous grey; wings dark bluish black, the external edges of 
the second, third, and fourth primaries white; tail bluish black, all the feathers except the two middle ones 
largely tipped with white ; irides dark brown; bill blue with a black tip; feet nearly lead-colour. 
The sexes are alike in the colouring of their plumage, and are only to be distinguished by the female 
being somewhat smaller in size. 
The young have an irregular stripe of dirty white down the centre of each feather of the upper surface, 
and are mottled with the same on the under surface. 
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size. 
