iVESTS AND ECGS Ol- AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



3"' 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, deep ; composed of flat, dead rushes or broad 

 grass, sometimes with strips of bark and a, few spiders' cocoons added ; 

 Uned inside with grass, finally with feathers and a downy vegetable 

 substance. In Western Australia the lining is chiefly composed of an 

 elastic ply of zainia (cycad) wool ; usually placed close to the giound 

 in the heart of a low bush in open heath-hke country. Average dimen- 

 sions over all. lA inches by 2J inches in depth; egg cavity, 2J inches 

 across by 1 ^ inches deep. 



J^HU^- — Clutch, two u.sually ; inclined to oval in form, and large com- 

 pared with the size of the parent ; texture of shell very fine ; surface 

 slightly glo.s»y ; colour, white, very sparingly and lightly spotted with 

 chestnut, the markings appearing more particularly about the apex, 

 riiniensions of a clutch in inches : (1) 'SS x -63, (2) '87 x -63. 

 (Plate 13.) 



Ohxervatinns. — This .active Honeveater has a habitat extending 

 across tlie southern portion of Australia, including Tasmania and some 

 of the islands in B<a.ss Strait. Both Gould and Dr. Ramsay show 

 South Queensland as a habitat of this species, but it is extremely doubt- 

 ful whether the bird is found there. It shows a preference for open, 

 heathy, or low scrubby localities, and is remarkably shy. 



As the name implies, this Honeyeater has a fulvous or tawny-coloured 

 forehead. Its coat is dark, while the under surface is light-coloured, 

 especially the throat, which is white. In the young the throat is 

 yellow, eves and bill brown, legs and feet greenish-grey; total length, 

 5|- inches; wing, 3 inches; tail. If inches; bill, f inch. 



Of all the Honeyeaters, I think this bird has the most rapid flight. 

 It frequently mounts liigh into the air, hence the trivial name of 

 " Skylark " applied io the bird by youths in the neighbourhood of 

 Albany (West Australia). 



Besides eating insects, it is commonly known in the King George's 

 Sound district that this Honeveater regales itself on the nectar of the 

 flaming bottle-biiish (CaUisteiium ) to such an extent that at certain 

 seasons the bird becomes intoxicated .and is easily caught beneath the 

 bushes, helpless. The same remark sometimes applies to the Long- 

 billed Honeyeater, or " Yellow Wing " as it is locally called. 



History repeats itself. Gould recorded regarding this Honeyeater : 

 " The site generally chosen for its nest, as observed at the Swan River, 

 is a, low bush or scnibby plant, in which it is often placed near the 

 ground." I had fiequently observed this bird in Victoria, and on the 

 adjacent islands in Bass Strait, without finding its ne.st, but 

 just forty-one years after Gould wrote his remarks. I was strolling over 

 the limestone ridges of the Lower Swan, when I flushed a T.awny- 

 crowned Honeyeater, and foimd my first nest of this wild species in 

 such a position as is exactlv described by Gould (/.''.. Gilbert). The 

 nest contained two eggs, partlv incub.at-cd. Date, 19th November, 

 1889. Tlie month previous, when in the Tor Bay district, near Albany, 

 a shepherd brought me a nest, also with two eggs. 



