NESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



355 



On eacli downward motion a tremulously plaintive note is uttered. I 

 wa-s convinced by the actions of several pairs of birds that they were 

 breeding in the vicinity ; but my pci-severancc. whidi extended over 

 several days, failed to discover a nest, although Gilbert told us 

 their nests were usually placed in most conspicuous situations. One he 

 found in Western Australia was in a fork at the top of a small scnibby 

 bush, not sheltered even by a bough or leaf, while a second one was on 

 the dead branch of a fallen tree, in a .similarly expo.sed situation. 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett informed Dr. Ramsay that he had found 

 the Black Honeyeater plentiful near Mossgiel, New South Wales, 

 feeding among the Sandal-woofl (Myirporiiin) trees. Mr. Bennett 



succeeded in finding a nest with two eggs, but no data, are given. 



During the progiess of the unfortunate Calvert Exploration, 1896, 

 it is recorded that on the '2nd October the explorer, Mr. C P. 

 Wells, shortly before he peri.shed in the " lurid wa.ste lands, pent in 

 silence thick with hot and thirsty sighs," found a nest of the Black 

 Honeyeater, which fluslied from a tea-tree ( ^frlaIl iini ) bush as ho 

 passed. The nest and its single egg were left at the abandoned depot 

 in the desert. 



Breeding months, September or October to December. 



294. — Mv/.oMKi,A PECTORALis, Gould. — (343) 



BANDED HONEYEATER. 



Fii;ure. -Gould ; Birds of Australia, fo!., vol. iv., pi 65. 



Re/erence.--Ca.t. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix., p. 138. 



Previous Description of Eggs. — Le Souef : Ibis. p. j6i (1899). 



Geographical Distrihutinn. — ^North-west Australia, Northern Ten-i- 

 tory, and Queensland. 



Xext. — Cup-shaped ; exceedingly small and slender ; composed of 

 shreds of bark and cobwebs ; lined with fine portions of gi-ass, and 

 suspended in a thin fork of a branchlet. Dimensions over all, IJ to 2 

 inches by \\ inches in depth; egg cavity, \l inches across by 1 inch 

 deep. 



Ef/ff.i. — Clutch, two probably ; in shape somewhat sharply pointed at 

 one end ; texture very fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour, buffy- 

 white, of a darker shade on the apex, where there is a band of faint 

 vinaceous markings. Dimensions in inches : '66 x •48. Most resemble 

 those of Black Honeyeater (Af. nigra). 



Ohfervations. — Tlie descriptions above are taken from the type 

 specimens of a nest and egg in Mr. D. Le Souef's collection. They 

 were collected by Mr. E. Olive in the Port Darwin district, 24th Decem- 

 ber, 1898. The nest was suspended in a slender fork at the extremity 

 of a branch of an ironwood tree. Two other nests have since been 

 taken -one in January and the other in April. 



