branches, until at last, literally seizing each other by the throat, and thus powerless to fly, they whirl round and fall upon the ground. In these battles the combatants seem blind and deaf to every danger, and risk their lives in their endeavours to vent their fury. As soon as the battle with the beak and claws is concluded, the musical strife is renewed, to be again terminated by a fresh onslaught of the furious and implacable little rivals. The breeding time of these birds may be described as one uninterrupted series of contests, for every male in the neighbourhood thinks it his duty to worry and rival his neighbour. The eggs, five or six in number, have very fragile shells of a delicate blueish-green colour, varied with pale reddish-brown markings, and blackish-brown spots of various sizes and shapes. The female sits for about a fortnight, and is relieved by her mate during such time as she requires to go in search of food. The nestlings are fed by both parents exclusively upon insects, and require to be supplied with nourishment for some time after leaving the nest; when first hatched they have a peculiar kind of cry, but soon employ the same call as the old birds. These latter have scarcely parted from one brood than they commence preparations for a second, seeking another place for a nest, and building again, but with less care than before, the female laying only from three to four eggs. With the rearing of this second brood the duties of incubation are for the year at an end.