XESTS AAV EGGS OJ- AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



301 



The nest of the White-uaped iloucycatcr is uot only difficult to get 

 on account of tlic height at which it is usually built, but because the 

 clever little bird often swings it at the end of a slender bough. 

 Jiowevcr, 1 once found a beautiful nest suspended almost within reach 

 in the overhanging branch of black wattle (Acacia). 



Mr. C. C. Brittlebank tells me when he wishes to take one of these 

 nests in a difficidt position he always selects a windy day for tlie 

 pui-pose, then chops the bough containing the nest off. The poor bird 

 remains closely to its charge, supposing, no doubt, that the elements 

 are merely a trille more boisterous than usual. The coveted prize is 

 safe, and within reach, before the de;u' deluded bird reahses the position 

 of affairs, when it somewhat iuuriedly leaves its cosy nest and delicate 

 tlesh-tiuted eggs to the cause — well, let us say — of science. 



Gould found examples of the Wliitc-napcd Houeycater breethug m 

 a slate of plumage wliich he believed to be characteristic of youth. 

 It is just possible that Gould mistook M. brevirustrin for the yoimg of 

 .1/. luiiultilui. 



There are eggs of the Lunulated or White-napcd Honeyeater in the 

 Dobroyde collection, taken as early (in a double sense) ;vs June, 185'J, 

 and July, 1861, respectively. Mr. Brittlebank has taken them as late 

 as the 14th,* 18th, and 27th January respectively, therefore the 

 extreme limits of the breeding season may be stilted as from June to 

 January, the chief months being September to November. 



The PalUd Cuckoo is very partial to the nest of this httle Honey- 

 cater as a receptacle for its egg. 



299. — Melithreptus lunulatus (sub-species) chlokopsis, Gould. — (3,'>0) 

 WESTERN VVHITE-NAPED HONEYEATER. 



Fi^'ii/t— Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 73. 

 Pn-i'ious Descriptions of £gfs.— Gould: Birds ol Australia (1848); also 

 Handbook, vol. i., p. 571 [1865). 



Gtiigraijlucal Distrilmtioii. — West Australia. 



Nest. — Usually suspended from small branches near the top of gum- 

 trees (Eucalypti), where the fohage is thickest, which render's it 

 difficult to detect. A nest found by Gilbert in October was formed of 

 sheep's wool and small twigs; another found by him in November was 

 attached to a small myrtle-like tree in a tliick gum forest, not more than 

 three feet from the ground (Gould). 



J^iiy^ — Clutch, two to three ; deep reddish-buff, tliinly spotted, 

 though more thickly at the larger end, with dark reddish-browm, some 

 of the spots being indistinct, wliile others arc vciy conspicuous. 

 Dimensions 'J| lines (79 inch) by 6 Uncs (-5 inch) — (Gould). 



■ This nest was lined with white flowLTS, 



