BY ALFRED J. NORTH. 381 



horizontal twig. It is composed chiefly of cocoa-nut fibre, with 

 which is intermingled on the lower portion a few broad leaves, 

 skeletons of leaves, the outer covering from the stem of a banana, 

 the paper-like bark of a Melaleuca, and some egg-bags of spiders. 

 In the lining, which is composed entirely of cocoa-nut fibre, are 

 two feathers from the lower portion of the breast of P. 

 machayayia. and evidently detached from the female while 

 sitting. Externally it measures three inches and a quaHer in 

 diameter by four inches in depth ; internally, two inches and a 

 quarter in diameter by tw^o inches and a half in depth. Egss 

 two in number for a sitting, oval in form, of a pale fleshy-buff 

 ground colour sprinkled with numerous distinct but very minute 

 dots and freckles of chestnut-red, which are darker and more 

 thickly disposed on the larger end, where they are intermingled 

 with a few underlying markings of dull violet grey. The texture 

 of the shell is fine and its surface slightly glossy. Length, (A) 

 0-92 X 0-67 inch; (B) 0-9 x 0-67 inch. 

 Hab. — North-eastern Queensland. 



Myzomela erythrocephala, Gould. 



Red-headed Honey-eater. 



A nest taken on the 27th of September, 1897, is a very small 

 cup-shaped structure suspended Ijy the rim to a thin forked hori- 

 zontal twig. Outwardly it is formed of very fine strips of bark 

 and bark fibre, intermingled with a small quantity of cobweb, 

 and more especially where the rim of the nest is attached to the 

 fork, the inside being entirely lined with some very fine yellowish- 

 white vegetable fibre. Externally it measures two inches in 

 diameter by one inch and a half in depth; internally, one inch 

 and a half in diameter by one inch in depth. Eggs two in 

 number for a sitting, oval in form, pure white with freckles, 

 irregularly shaped spots and blotches of pale red, unevenly dis- 

 tributed towards the larger end, where in one specimen they 

 form an ill-defined zone. Length, (A) 0-64 x 0-45 inch ; (B) 

 61 X 0-46 inch. 



Hah. — ISTorthern Australia, New Guinea. 



