Page:The Emu volume 9.djvu/263

 the general tint of the plumage lacked the boldness and depth of these features in the latter. Again, A. apicalis is an animated, fussy species, always restless, and seldom silent. I resolved to keep an eye open for others. About a mile away, and in similar scrub, I came across a second pair, and, though it was early in the breeding season, I resolved to watch them, in the hope that they were building. After the exercise of much patience, I followed them to a sheltered spot in the scrub which they seemed loth to leave. There I spied a neat, dome-shaped nest, placed low down, without any concealment, in the tea-tree scrub. It looked remarkably substantial for an Acanthiza's nest. But there were the two birds, apparently anxious at my presence, and no other birds at hand except Tæniopygia castanotis, and, despite the large size of the nest, I was forced to the conclusion that this pair of Acanthizas were the real owners. However, I was completely taken in. The nest appeared to be completed, but it was not until more than a fortnight later it contained eggs. They were unmistakably those of Pyrrholæmus (Sericornis) brunnea.

I met with other pairs of this Acanthiza later on. It was not confined exclusively to the tea-tree scrub around Lake Violet, as I met with a single pair in some fairly thick country near the township of Wiluna, and again I found several pairs near Milly Pool. It is by no means a noisy or fussy bird, like so many of its congeners, but appears to be somewhat of a mimic. Near Wiluna I heard it utter the "Thrip-thrip" of A. robustirostris, but its most usual notes were an imitation of the call of the Narrow-billed Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcococcyx basalis). There is some evidence that the mimicry of these latter notes has its disadvantages, for on 8th October I found the real nest of this species in tea-tree scrub at Lake Violet, and it contained a young Cuckoo just ready to fly. I handled the latter bird, to the great agitation of the foster-parents, which actually flew in my face, brushing me with their wings. I even placed my hand over one of them. After such a display of courage I let the young Cuckoo go again, and contented myself with photographing the nest, despite the fact of its being much tumbled and disordered by its intruding tenant. At Milly Pool another pair were feeding a Bronze-Cuckoo, which I caught. All this rather suggests that the mimicking of the Cuckoo notes attracts the female Cuckoo to the vicinity of the Acanthiza's nest, and she takes the opportunity to foist her egg upon the lawful owners.

I found a second nest from which the young had flown, also near Milly Pool. This was very low down in a small salt-bush. The parents, with their brood, were near at hand. This nest, too, was much disordered, so that I cannot give a precise description of it. It was dome-shaped, with the entrance at the side but not so near the top as in the case of a Malurus nest. Outwardly it was constructed of soft strips of bark, wound round rather than interwoven. The interior was lined with finer bark, with a few feathers and flakes of rabbit fur. The Lake Violet nest was similar, but the remains of an old chaft-bag had been used in the lining, and a piece may be seen in the photograph hanging out of the entrance. (See illustration.)

(Acanthiza uropygialis).—A very common bird throughout the district, but rather avoiding the scrub immediately around Lake Violet. I found many nests containing from two to four eggs. With one exception all were in hollow stems of bushes, some of them remarkably small. The walls of the nests were thin, but the lining always profuse, consisting of fur, feathers, string, or any soft material to hand. Despite the situation of the nest, it is a true dome-shaped structure, with the entrance near the top. The species is double-brooded. The exceptionally placed nest alluded to above was built in a pipe of bark which had peeled off a dead mulga, but from which it was still suspended. I photographed this nest, as it is exceptionally substantial. (See illustration.) It was eventually torn from its position. There were fresh Emu tracks near by.