Page:The Emu volume 20.djvu/230

 with incubated eggs, but not a full complement, I generally examine the ground below, and have more than once found a Cuckoo's egg in this manner.

The greater number of nests were very low down—a height of one foot would be the average; but two nests were placed in the topmost branches of Hakea bushes, the highest being about three and a half feet from the ground. Mr. H. L. White is describing the eggs and nests. One fact relating to the latter rather surprised me. Vegetable down—i.e., small plumed seeds—was invariably used in the lining in preference to sheep's wool, which might have been easily procured close at hand. When the stems of Triodia had matured seed, and were drying off, this Wren often gave its nest a finishing touch by weaving the feathery heads around the entrance. It was often necessary to spend an hour waiting for a Wren to appear and own a nest where the full complement of eggs had not been laid. In one case the first arrivals were a party of Purple-backed Wren-Warblers (M. assimilis), comprising two nuptial males and three or four brown males or females. I was not to be taken in, and at length two brown-plumaged Pied Wrens (M. leucopterus) put in an appearance, one of which came up to the nest. I once or twice flushed the female from a nest containing young only a few hours old. I wailed about for a long time, wishing to learn if the male helped in feeding the offspring; but neither male nor female came to the nest whilst I remained near. I am inclined to the opinion that newly-hatched young require no food for the first 24 hours. I had the same experience with the local Emu-Wren (Stipiturus).

It is very easy to distinguish the brown-plumaged birds of M. leucopterus from those of M. assimilis. The latter possess hazel-brown beaks and are much more robust generally, apart from the wings and flanks being of a different tint. Call note and alarm note, too, are distinct.

The breeding season, in an average year, extends from June to the end of September. Many pairs rear two broods.

Malurus assimilis. Purple-backed Wren-Warbler.—Mr. Carter calls this the Western Blue-breasted Wren. Certainly, the feathers of the breast, if held in certain lights, are black shot with blue, but the true Western Blue-breasted Wrens are Malurus pulcherrimus and Malurus elegans. Viewed from any angle, the breast feathers of these two Wrens show a deep indigo tint. This Wren is found on Dirk Hartog. and more commonly on Peron Peninsula. It haunts very large Acacia or other well-grown bushes rather than the salt-bush country. Mr. Carter states that he has never heard this species uttering any song. It has a few brief rattling notes and a high-pitched alarm note, like that of the Grass-Wren (Amytornis textilis); but I agree with him that it is generally a very silent and unobtrusive bird, though this is not due to timidity. I found it nesting on Dirk Hartog Island.

Stipiturus malachurus hartogi. Dirk Hartog Emu-Wren. —I did not find this Emu-Wren so common as I expected after reading Mr. Carter's notes. Possibly I did not search far enough north. On my first visit to Dirk Hartog, October, 1918, I met with but one pair, and secured the female. I was naturally anxious to become acquainted with the male, as the local race seems to exhibit wellmarked differences from the coastal birds in the extreme south of Western Australia.

I found a nest containing two incubated eggs on 11th July, 1920,