Atrichornis to-day pleased me very much, and it was my intention to carefully watch, and later on remove and thoroughly search this mass for No. 2 nest; I would then lose no opportunity of shooting the female. If No. 2 nest should be in one of these huge masses of débris, then the chances of finding it are very remote indeed, for to remove one of these large heaps of confused rubbish and trees is a big undertaking (see photos.)
I still continued to hunt day after day, and removed tons of débris, sometimes spending several hours at a time, following the male Atrichornis as he called and continued his wonderful mimicry. I walked to and fro over these heaps for days, with gun ready with extra small charges of dust shot, in case the female might possibly be in company with the male. I saw the male many times, but did not want him unless I ultimately failed to secure the female. When following him it is often very difficult to locate the sound on account of his ventriloquial powers. Sometimes he sounds quite close, whereas the bird is perhaps many yards away; again, the notes often appear to be overhead though they are actually issued on the ground.
The food of this Scrub-Bird consisted chiefly of snails' eggs, young tender-shelled scrub snails (Helix and Panda), worms, insects, and the larvæ and pupæ of various Carabidæ and other Coleoptera living in the masses of débris and under the damp leaves on the ground.
On 6th November I heard the male calling out at 11.15 a.m. in the mass of débris marked No. 2 in the accompanying plan, and 80 yards north-east of the spot where I had found the nest on 16th October. However, suddenly he became silent, and remained so until about noon, when he started, and frequently imitated the scolding and other notes of the Yellow-rumped Robin (Eopsaltria chrysorrhoa). White-fronted Scrub-Wren (Sericornis frontalis), and other species, and he gradually ran along through the pile of rubbish towards the western end, and I followed and saw him several times. Now, under the débris here, and close to a tall green iron wood tree[1] (Tarrietia, sp.) which was growing up through the rubbish, he made a scolding cry, for possibly he saw me; then he became silent, and later on went away unobserved to the eastern end of the heap, and, while he was calling out loudly there, I suddenly saw the female for a few seconds at the extreme western end of No. 2 mass of débris (see plan), and in the same place as the male had made the scolding cry just previously, and where I had seen the female also on 22nd October. This was encouraging, as I concluded that No. 2 nest was in this heap of rubbish or its immediate surroundings. When the female vanished under the débris she gave three faint and feeble whines or cries similar to those uttered by a very young domestic kitten; this was the first and only sound I ever heard her make.
The following day (7th November) I was about shortly after
- ↑ Not to be confused with the ironbark tree (Eucalyptus) of our forests.—S. W. J.
