3/2 



X!lS7S AXD eggs OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Early in the season of 1896, on the heathy grounds near Chelten- 

 Iiam, Victoria, a pair of Fulvous-fronted Honeyeatcrs was observed 

 utteiing distressing cries over their nest in a bush about fifteen inches 

 from the ground. The cause of the disturbance was a snake, which 

 extracted one of the young from the nest and was about to swallow it. 

 The youthful collectors who were attracted to the spot by tlie birds' 

 calls had nothing to battle the snake with except the handle of a 

 butterfly net. With this they struck the reptile, which quickly made 

 its escape. 



In a communication to me Mr. G. K. Hinsby writes: — " Ee 

 Glycyphila fulvifrons, I note that Gould mentions it as only inhabiting 

 the northern parts of Tasmania. I obtained birds and eggs on the 

 extreme south end of Brimi Island, near Cloudy Bay Lagoon (Dec, 

 1884). The nest was cup-shaped, made of she-oak (Casuarina) needles, 

 hned with wool and cow's hair. I never saw a nest look so strange, 

 not a foot from the ground, in one of the stunted bottle-brush shrubs. 

 I saw the male bird perched on a dead branch of a small gum-tree, 

 poiuing forth its peculiar note. As I approached it flew, but I stopped 

 it before it had gone far, and the shot flushed the female from her 

 nest close by, which I found without difiiculty. The eggs (two) were 

 sliglitly incubated and were almost white, with a faint pinkish shade, 

 and spotted with a few pm-plish-black spots.'' 



Breeding months August to December or January, but nests witli 

 eggs have been observed dming May and July. 



309. — Glycyphila albifegns, Gould. — (302) 

 WHITE-FRONTED HONEYEATER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 29 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix.. p. 211. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould; Birds of Australia. (184S); also 



Handbook, vol. i., p. 49S (1865); North; Austn. Mus. Cat., 



P 197 (1889). 



Geographical Distrihution. — New South Wales, Victoria, South, 

 West, and North-west Australia. 



Negt. — Cup-sliaped ; composed of bark and chiefly old, greyish grass ; 

 lined inside, mostly on the bottom, with brownish, velvet-like particles 

 of vegetation resembling pieces of bnnksia seed cones ; usually situated 

 in a bush — casuarina, &c., occasionally in a spinifex tussock. Dimensions 

 over all, 2 J to 3 inches by 2| inches in depth; egg cavity, li to 1| 

 inches across by li inches deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two; oval in form, some examples more com- 

 pressed at the smaller end ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly 

 glossy ; colour, fleshy-pink, spotted and blotched about the apex with 

 rich reddish-brown or chestnut and dull-purple. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) -77 X -55, (2) -76 x -59. 



