. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . or tussock in which they have sought refuge, for directly they have reachedcover with their low squeaking call note they rapidly thread their way through or aroundthe clumps, and congregate together again. Just prior to taking flight, one will frequentlyrun up to the top of one of the tallest rushes or grass stems in the clump, and immediatelyfly off accompanied by its companions. During the breeding season I have, as a rule, metwith the Emu Wren frequenting chiefly the stunted undergrowth on heath lands and sandywastes, and
. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . or tussock in which they have sought refuge, for directly they have reachedcover with their low squeaking call note they rapidly thread their way through or aroundthe clumps, and congregate together again. Just prior to taking flight, one will frequentlyrun up to the top of one of the tallest rushes or grass stems in the clump, and immediatelyfly off accompanied by its companions. During the breeding season I have, as a rule, metwith the Emu Wren frequenting chiefly the stunted undergrowth on heath lands and sandywastes, and sometimes far removed from water. In these situations, owing to their shortand rounded wings, and necessarily poor powers of flight, they are easily driven to take theshelter of any low bush, but it is most difficult to discover them in the place where they havesought refuge. I have never found the nest, but have had many exciting chases after youngbirds although \ery few captures, owing to the manner in which they can conceal themselvesin even the smallest EMU WREN. 244 SYLVIID*. A nest containing three fresh eggs, found by Mr. George Masters at King Georges Sound,Western Australia, on the 5th November, 1868, is a dome-shaped structure with a smallentrance near the top, formed externally of dried grasses, with which is intermingled egg bagsof spiders and their green silky coverings, the inside being lined entirely with fine dried measures externally five inches and a half in height by three inches in diameter, and acrossthe entrance one inch. Mr. Masters informs me it was built in a rigid-leaved shrub, abouteighteen inches from the ground. The eggs are usually three, sometimes four in number for a sitting, oval or thick ovals inform, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and almost lustreless. They are of a delicatewhite ground colour, which is more or less sprinkled with freckles, irregular shaped spots,and a few small blotches, varying in tint on different
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