370 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



colour, wai-rn-white, minutely spotted with reddish-brown or chestnut 

 and purplish-grey, the markings being more numerous about the upper 

 quarter. Dimensions of a iwii' in inches : (1) -98 x -GS. (2) -98 x -67 ; 

 of a larger-sized set: (1) 1-04 x -69, (2) 1-04 x -68, (3) 1-03 x -69. 

 Queensland specimens are usually the smallest. (Plate 13.) 



Ohservatinns. — The Lanceolate, or Striped Honeyeater, is a greyish 

 bird — dark above and lighter on the under surface — with lacad and 

 back of neck mottled black and white ; eves brown, bill and feet 

 bluish. Dimensions in inches: Length, 9 inches; bill, J inch; wing, 

 41 inches; tail, 4} inches; feet, 1 inch. 



This unique and interesting form of Honeyeater is strictly a denizen 

 of the interior provinces from Queensland to South Australia, where it 

 loves the pine ridges and open tracts of casuarina, acacia, &c. Tlie bird 

 is the possessor of a loud whistling note, and is usually found in pairs. 



On one occasion onlv did Gould discover the nest, which was sus- 

 pended from the extreme tip of a casiiarina branch overhanging a 

 stream. 



In 1880 I received from Mr. R. Macfarlane, then at Mallee Cliffs 

 station (New South Wales), a full set of four eggs of the Striped 

 Honeyeater. In September the following year Mr. A. J. North reports 

 he received from the Wimmera district, Victoria, a beautiful nest, 

 together with a set of eggs, while it is stated that the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett found this Honeyeater breeding plentifvilly in the neighbour- 

 hood of Ivanhoe and Mossgiel, in the interior of New South Wales. 



On the 9th October, 1893, Mr. C. Barnard found in Queensland 

 a nest of the Striped Honeveater with the unusually full complement 

 of five eggs. I have a note from an interior friend of an attractive nest 

 of the Striped Honeyeater he saw. It was suspended to the pendulous 

 branches of a myall (Acnrin). and decorated with long Emu feathers 

 loosely stuck on. which were flying in the breeze. 



Gould incidentally states that the circumstances of his having seen 

 fully-fledged young and eggs at the same time prove that these birds 

 rear at least two broods in the season. 



Breeding months August to December or Januarv. 



308. — -Glycyphila fulvifrons, Lewin. — (301) 

 FULVOUS-FRONTED HONEYEATER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv., pi. 28, 



Reference. — Cat, Birds Brit. Mus., vol., ix., p. 210. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould: Birds of Australia (1S48); also 

 Handbook, vol. i., p. 496 (1865) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat , p. 196, 

 pi. 13, fig. 6 (i88g) ; Campbell ; Proc. Austn. Assoc, vol. vii., 

 p. 595 (1898). 



Geographical Di^trihution. — South Queensland (?), New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South and West Australia, Tasmania, and Kent Group ; and 

 probably other islands in Bass Strait. 



