150 RICHARDS - Bird l Watcher White-headed Stilt, Himantopus himantopus. Over 100 scat­ tered in several areas at Price. Banded Stilt, Cladorhynchus leucocephalus. At least 2,000 at Price. Very few were unbanded immatures. White-winged Black Tern, Chlidonias leucoptera. Three at Price, two in partial breeding plumage and one in non-breeding plumage. One or two in partial breeding plumage had the whole under wing completely black and large patches of black on the body and head. The other had some dark patches on the body and under wing. Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis. Many at Price in both breeding and immature plumage. Little Tern, Sterna albifrons. Ten at Price in breeding plumage. These birds were studied closely for some time for this is the westernmost record for southern Australia to date. It is felt that the value of the saltfields at Price as a Wader observation area is yet to be fully realised . Its potential is con­ siderable and access and facilities to observe from the car window are excellent. Having spent a day there Smith made the comment that "Price Saltworks may be the southern counterpart of the Cairns waterfront. It offers unexcelled field study opportunities to the Wader enthusiast and ornithologists generally". The Nesting of the Spotted Pardalote By BERYL RICHARDS, Mitcham, Victoria The Spotted Pardalote, Pardalotus punctatus, occurs in eucalypt forest and open woodland throughout eastern A ustralia, from southern Queensland to south-eastern South Australia, and in the south-west of Western A ustralia, also in Tasmania. Throughout this range it is quite common, but because of the small size and habit of feeding high in the outer foliage, observation is extremely difficult. However, at the nest observation becomes easy, as the nesting site is usually in a bank; in the earth clinging to the roots of some uprooted tree, or even in the ground itself. Plumage differences between the male and female enables the observer to easily ascertain the activities of each bird. At the Blackburn Lake Reserve, Blackburn, Victoria, on July 27, 1970, a male Spotted Pardalote was seen perched low in a Blackwood Wattle, Acacia mearnsii. This little gem of the tree­ tops remained on its perch for about 20 seconds calling softly, and slowly turning left or right. Early on the afternoon of September 7, once more I saw a male Spotted Pardalote perched in the same wattle, and again it seemed reluctant to leave. F rom a distance of some 30 feet I waited to see if the bird would return. Approximately 25 minutes later the Pardalote alighted in the wattle, stayed a few seconds, then disappeared at the base of a eucalypt seedling growing alongside June Nesting of Spotted Pardalote 151 1972 ] the path. Examination revealed a partially excavated tunnel already nine inches long. At approximately half-hourly intervals the male returned to the wattle, flew to the tunnel, remained two or three minutes then flew off. It was not until 4 p.m. that the female made a brief visit to the area. As this appeared to be a good opportunity to study the various phases of the nesting activities of this species, I made regular visits to the nest-site between September 7 and December 22, 1970, a period of almost 16 weeks. Observations were made usually every second day until the last eleven days, on each of which I made at least one visit. The time spent on each occasion varied between one and four hours. The nest-site was situated in the side of a low bank about 3 feet from a much used path at the eastern end of the Reserve, and approxi­ mately 50 feet from the edge of the water. The tunnel was being excavated at the base of the seedling eucalypt, which was sur­ rounded by rapidly growing grass. Excavation, which was carried out by both birds, continued until September 17, with the majority of the work being performed by the male. The pace of activity was leisurely. some days. espec­ ially when cold and squally. the birds would not be sighted. and at other times they would perch in the Blackwood Wattle some 16 feet from the nest-site, but make no attempt to approach the tunnel. Invariably, more work was performed in the morning than the afternoon. Both birds approached the nest area from an easterly direction, where there is a large stand of eucalypts of various species, some 100 yards away. When the birds arrived at the site they would perch in the wattle, then on mo~t occasions fly to a small offshoot of the eucalypt, hesitate momentarily and then enter the tunnel. On rare occasions the male would by-pass the wattle and fly to the end of a fallen branch. only 5 feet from where I was in the habit of sitting. A stick similar in size to the regularly used offshoot was inadvertently placed some 2 feet from the tunnel entrance, in a direct line with the perch in the wattle. The male on his next visit landed on the stick but appeared to be completely nonplussed. He investigated three other small holes in the immediate vicinity before locating his tunnel. On all subsequent visits the stick was by-passed. During the excavation period as a bird entered the tunnel, it was seen to kick out loose earth with its feet, eventually creating a small mound at the entrance. On most occasions when leaving the nest tunnel the birds flew to their perch in the wattle, where they wiped their beaks on the branch. and then flew off in an easterly direction. The female was seen once to be pecking at her feet, apparently cleaning them. A typical example of the movements of the birds during the excavation period occurred on September 11. Between 11 a.m. and 12.10 p.m. the male entered the tunnel six times and the !52 RICHARDS [ Bird Watcher female four times. Each bird remained m the nesting hole from two to six minutes. On September 19, when the tunnel was 14 inches long, nest lining had begun and continued until October 8, a period of 20 days. Nesting material was obtained from two trees, each approxi­ mately 60 feet from the nest, one a Long-leaf Box, Eucalyptus ROniocalyx, and the other a Silver-leaf Stringybark, E. cephalocarpa. This material was inner bark fibres taken from areas where the outer bark had been rubbed away, possibly through abrasion. Although the female made frequent visits to the nest, she was seen to carry in nesting material only on six occasions. The male appeared to do most of the gathering of the material, and the female actually placed it in position or, at least, supervised its placement. During the period October 9 to 14, the birds were frequently heard calling, but only once was a bird, the male, sighted in the vicinity of the nest. On October 15 incubation had begun. the duties being shared more or less equally by both birds. Neither bird was seen to remain in the nest for a period exceeding 30 minutes. The birds changed over both inside and outside the nest, and at times both birds remained together in the nest for as long as five minutes. T he nest would be left unattended for periods up to 15 minutes. On October 22 the nest had been completely destroyed by what appeared to be human agency. The eggs were gone and there was no sign of the birds. Several visits were paid to the area during the next few days. but it was not until October 30 that I discovered a new nest, which was situated 125 feet from the original one. This nest was located in a bank some 3 feet below a Jess fre­ quently used path. amongst an accumulation of ground litter, 20 feet from the water's edge. Whereas the first nest entrance was in a situation open to the sky. this one was sheltered by Weeping Willows, Salix baby!onica, that were growing on the edge of the water. It appeared that this was the same pair of Pardalotes that had been under constant observation for the past seven weeks. The following are my reasons for making this assumption. It is gener­ ally accepted that these birds are territorial during the nesting season and, as the new site was only 125 feet from the old one, it could be considered well within the territory. The birds always arrived at the nest area from an easterly direction and departed in the direction from which they had come; exactly as had been the case previously. They gathered inner bark from the same two trees in spite of the fact that there were other similar trees in the area. As at the previous nest, the male was fearless of my presence, while the female always showed considerable caution. Familiarity with their call s still enabled me to distinguish male from female without seeing the birds. During the observations at the first nest there was no ind ication of any other nesting birds in the area. 154 RICHARDS [ Bird Watcher On only one occasion from the start to the finish of my obser­ vations did I see another pardalote in the area; that bird, a male, paid a brief visit when both of the other birds were together in the first nest. On the day of finding the new nest, the birds were already carry­ ing in lining material and this continued until November 6. During the lining of the first nest, the birds appeared to adopt a casual attitude, but now there seemed to be a note of urgency, both birds were gathering bark and making more frequent trips to the nest.