. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . eatedlyjerking its tail upwards. Frequently it will remain in this position for some time, leavingperhaps to secure some insect in the grass, and returning afterwards to the same orchards and gardens it becomes remarkably tame, and when one is engaged indigging will perch on some neighbouring post or limb only a few yards away, watchingintently for any unearthed grub, which it quickly darts upon and carries away to devourat leisure. The food of this species consists principally of insects and their larv*. I have a
. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . eatedlyjerking its tail upwards. Frequently it will remain in this position for some time, leavingperhaps to secure some insect in the grass, and returning afterwards to the same orchards and gardens it becomes remarkably tame, and when one is engaged indigging will perch on some neighbouring post or limb only a few yards away, watchingintently for any unearthed grub, which it quickly darts upon and carries away to devourat leisure. The food of this species consists principally of insects and their larv*. I have also seenit eat cold roast mutton fat. In the bright clear days at the latter end of winter and early spring, the piping butsomewhat monotonous call-note of the Yellow-breasted Robin may be heard, more especiallyin the early morning and again just about dusk; during the summer months it is remarkablysoft and low. Sometimes it also utters a low churp churp, when its nest is approached,resembling some of the notes of the introduced House Sparrow (Passer domesticiis).. YELLOW-BKEASTEI) ROBIN. EOPSALTRIA. 183 The nest is a round cup-shaped structure, outwardly formed of strips of bark and grasses,and lined inside with fibrous roots or the narrow thread-like leaves of the Casuanna, and hasgenerally two or three dried Eucalyptus leaves placed at the bottom. The rim and outside isornamented with pieces of lichen, and long pieces of bark attached by means of cobwebs hangperpendicularly round it like a heavy fringe. Some nests have only a few scales of bark onthe outside and are more highly decorated with lichens. An average nest measures externallythree inches in diameter by a depth of two inches and a half, and is built on a horizontalbranch or in the upright fork of a low tree. Near Sydney, tea-trees, gums, turpentines, andhoneysuckles are more often resorted to as nesting-sites, and sometimes it is placed on thetop of a large seed-cone of the latter tree. 1 have also seen it built ag
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