.VESTS A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BINDS. 343 



umber. Dimensions in inches of two clutches: A (1) -66 x -45, 

 (2) -65 X -46 ; B (1) 64 x 45, (2) 6 x -45. (Plate 13.) 



Ubsrrralions. — Of this intertropical and truly beautiful genus we 

 possess a single species in the figure of the Australian Sun Bird, which 

 has a somewhat rcstrict<?d range, as far as the mainland is concerned, 

 along the coastal region of Northern Queensland. It is also found in 

 New Guinea and in other islands beyond. 



1 saw Sun Birds flying about the private gardens of Townsville, 

 and shall never forget how pretty they appeared, in plumage of olivc- 

 grccn and c;uiary-yellow, with a throat of shining steel-blue intensified 

 into flashing brilliancy at eerUain angles of sunlight like the iridescent 

 feathers of a Humming Bird, when seen clinging to the whitish wax-like 

 flowers of the papaw-tree and probing each with their long slender 

 bills. We also found these bii-ds investigating the red flowers of the 

 mangroves upon the islands, where we obtained several skins. We 

 proved that the female is destitute of the brilliant markings upon the 

 throat. Tlie bird's full length is only about foiu inches, including its 

 bill, which is nearly an inch long. 



The exquisite little creatures are indeed well named " Sun " Birds, 

 because at noon, when the tropical sun is vertical in the heavens, they 

 fly about seemingly in ecsUisies of delight uttering their peculiar 

 " tsec-tsee " song. 



Mac-gillivray, who first found the nest of the Sun Bird, furnished 

 Gould with the following extracts from his note book : — " November 

 29th, 1849, Cape York. Foimd two nests of Nertarinia to-day, one 

 ou the margin of the scrab, the other in a clearing. The nests were 

 pensile, and in both cases were attached to the twigs of a prickly bush, 

 — one, measuring seven inches in length, was of an elongated 

 shape, vrith i-ather a large opening on one side close to the top ; it was 

 composed of shreds of melaleuca bark, a few dry leaves, various fibrous 

 substances, rejectamenta of caterpillars, &c., and lined with the silky 

 cotton of the Bom'mr auiffralis. The other, which was similar in 

 structure, contained a young bird and an egg with a chick almost ready 

 for hatcliing. The female was seen approaching with a mouthful of 

 flics to feed the young. Tlie egg was pear-shaped, generally and equally 

 mottled with obscure dirty brown on a greenish-grey ground. " 



" December 4th. Moiuit Ernest, Toitcs Strait. A nest of Nectarinia 

 found to-day differs from those seen at Cape York in having over 

 the entrance a projecting fringe-like hood composed of the panicles of 

 a delicate grass-like plant. It contained two young birds, and I saw 

 the mother visit them twice with an intci-val of ten minutes between ; 

 she glanced past like an aiTow, perched on the nest at once, clinging 

 to the lower side of the entrance, and looking round very watchfully 

 for a few seconds before feeding the young, after which she disappeared 

 as suddenly as she had anived." 



In the "Ibis'' (1S65), Dr. Ramsay described a similar nest collected 

 by Mr. Rainbird in the Port Dcnison district, the southern limit of the 

 Sun Bird; Mr. Rainbird had, however, to leave before the eggs were 

 laid. 



