The Diamond Bird is found throughout the whole of Southern Australia, from east to west, and is still numerously met with in Van Diemen's Land. Trees and bushes are its favourite resorts, and in search of these it ventures freely into the gardens of the settlers, where it speedily attracts attention by the activity it displays in gleaning its insect fare from the leaves and branches, and by the constant repetition of its very pleasing piping note, composed of two syllables, which have been freely translated by the German settlers into the words, "Wie tief, wie tief." The most striking peculiarity, however, in this beautiful little bird is the strange manner in which it builds, the nest being placed not in hollow trees, but in holes excavated by the brooding pairs in the ground, generally on the side of some steep declivity. These excavations form galleries, or passages, usually from two to three feet long, and at their mouth are just large enough to allow the bird to pass through, whilst the lower end is made much wider, for the reception of the nest, and so raised as to insure safety from the entrance of rain. The chamber for the accommodation of the young is of a round shape, about three inches in diameter, with an entrance hole in its side. This apartment is most beautifully formed of scraps from the bark of the gum-trees, woven together with a perfection of neatness that cannot fail to astonish all who see it, if they consider that the labour of its construction is carried on entirely in the dark; the Diamond Bird affording, in this respect, a very striking contrast to such other members of the feathered creation as build under similar circumstances, their nests being, almost without exception, a mere heap of materials thrown loosely and carelessly together, without the slightest attempt at shapeliness, or endeavour to arrange the heterogeneous mass. Gould was fortunate enough to discover a number of these nests, notwithstanding the care taken by the Diamond Birds to excavate only in such localities as are completely overgrown with plants or the roots of trees. The brood consists of four or five round, smooth-shelled eggs, of a pale reddish white. The female lays twice within the year. [Illustration: THE DIAMOND BIRD (_Pardalotus punctatus_).] * * * * *