.VESTS AXD EGGS Of AU ST KALIAN lilKDS. 



375 



On the Fitzroy River, near Rockhampton, the bii'ds were so niuner- 

 oua that I had uo difficulty in one day (2ud October) in discovering 

 three of theii' small nests, which were suspended in thick melalcuca 

 hushes, each couUiiniug a pair of eggs. One set, however, was nearly 

 hatched. Subsequently, more inland at Cooniooboolaroo, 1 found the 

 nien-y little lloncyeater quite at home among the orange trees standmg 

 in tile gardtii, lining its nest with the soft substance gathered off the 

 bursting vine buds, &c. 



I was still more delighted a few seasons afterwards to find this 

 species on the opposite side of the Continent, and to heai' the familiar 

 merry songs along the shores of the Swan Waters. There I also found 

 a piiii" busily building a nest suspended to the dead, drooping twigs of 

 an acacia, tlie nest in this instance being lined with the woolly 

 substance gathered from the numerous zamia palms or cycads. 



Before I left the locaUty (23rd November, 1889) 1 took a pair of 

 eggs, which were of the characteristic light colour of those of the 

 eastern birds, and resembling those found in the days of yore by good 

 Gilbert. In one instance, in Western Australia, Gilbert found a nest 

 attached to the slender fibrous roots hanging beneath a bank over a 

 pool of water — surely a very imusual situation. 



Breeding months September to December. 



312. — Glycyphila subocul.\ris, Gould. — (305) 



LEAST HONEYEATER. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mas,, vol. ix., p. 214. 



Geographical Distribution. — North-west Australia, Northern Terri- 

 toiy and North Queensland. 



Nest and Eygs. — See Appendix. 



Observation.^. — With regard to the Least Honcyeatcr of the north- 

 ern coast, Gould appeared doubtfid whether it was really a good species. 

 First he united it with G. ocularis, then upon further examination 

 separated it again, remarldng that the G. suhocularis is a smaller bird 

 and of a more yellowish tint than G. ocularis, and consequently one of 

 the most diminutive (only 4J inches long) of the meliphagous birds. 



Mr. North is of opinion that ^uhociilari< is the youthful oculorix, 

 and pouits out that a yellow wash to some of the feathers of several 

 species of the MeUphnr/idoe is a certain indication of youth, and tliat 

 it is entirely lost when the birds have attained their full adult livery. 

 This may be more particillarly obsei-ved in PJii/emoii citreogularis, 

 P. sordidus, Myzomela pectoraHs, &c. 



Mr. Broadbent, the well-known collector, informs me tliat he has 

 shot suhoctihiris in company with ocularis on Sweer's Island, in the 

 Gulf of Carpentaria. 



