. The Emu . tree-fern nest was constructedoutwardly of strips of bark, dead fronds,rootlets, and a few bits of green moss, and well lined with a thickply of brownish fern-down and a few feathers, a little fur andthistle-down, the whole nest, of course, being globular in shape,with a side entrance. It was most artfully concealed, and con-tained a pair of typical eggs and an egg of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo(Cacomantis flabelh[ormis), all quite fresh. By the character ofthe eggs of the Scrub-Tit (almost white, with a few red speckleson the apex) the bird is clearly not a Sericornis. However
. The Emu . tree-fern nest was constructedoutwardly of strips of bark, dead fronds,rootlets, and a few bits of green moss, and well lined with a thickply of brownish fern-down and a few feathers, a little fur andthistle-down, the whole nest, of course, being globular in shape,with a side entrance. It was most artfully concealed, and con-tained a pair of typical eggs and an egg of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo(Cacomantis flabelh[ormis), all quite fresh. By the character ofthe eggs of the Scrub-Tit (almost white, with a few red speckleson the apex) the bird is clearly not a Sericornis. However, thebird itself resembles very much a Sericornis, only its bill is slightlycurved instead of being straight and perky. Honey-eaters are always attractive, but four if not five speciespeculiar to Tasmania (including some of the islands in Bass Strait)were of more than ordinary interest to the visiting members of * See page 179, this issue. + Now in the National Museum, Melbourne. The Emu, Vol. III. PLATE Scrub-Tit (Acanthornis magna) and Nest. FROM A PHOTO. BY A. J. CAMPBELL. V°igo11 1 Australasian Ornithologists Union. (6 6 the Aust. Foremost was the Strong-billed Honey-eater(Melitkreptus validirostris), an active bird with pronounced songand call-notes. Several clutches of fledglings were observed,perched in short scrub, the youngsters appearing very pretty,with flesh-coloured bills and yellow face-stripes, which ornamenta-tions disappear in the adults. One member of the Union, whokeeps successfully a Honey-eater aviary, cast longing eyes on asleek set sitting side by side on a low branch, where their parentsfed them incessantly. Ah, I shall bag these, said the Honey-eater man, and, sneaking up through the thick undergrowth,all but had his hand on the coveted prize when a discharge of a gundown the gully scattered the young Strong-bills instantly, like-wise, the hopes of the Honey-eater man. Another Melithreptus—M. melanocephalus (Black-headed Honey-eater)—usua
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirdspe, bookyear1901
