288 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



324. — Ptilotis frenata, Ramsay. 



BRIDLED HONEYEATER. 



F/g«ff.— Gould-Sharpe: Birds of New Guinea, vol. iii,, pi 49. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix., p. 231. 

 Previous Descriftion 0/ Eggs.— North: Records Australian Museum, 

 vol. ii. (1892). 



Geograjihical Distrihution. — North Queensland. 



Xest. — Cup-shaped ; composed of long pliant stems of a climbing plant 

 and portions of the soft reddish-brown stems of a small fern ; inside 

 neatly Uned with a white, wiry, vegetable fibre, forming a strong 

 contrast to the reddish-brown colour of the exterior. Dimensions over 

 all, 4-25 inches by 2-6 inches in depth ; egg cavity, '2-5 inches across 

 by 1-6 inches deep (North). 



Eggs. — Clutch, two ; oval in form, tapering gradually to the smaller 

 end, and are white, with minute dots and round markings of purplish- 

 black and brownish-grey, the latter coloiu- appearing a,s if beneath the 

 surface of the shell; as usual, the markings predominate on the thicker 

 end, where in places they become confluent and form an irregular 

 zone ; with the exception of these zones the markings on one of the 

 specimens are larger and more sparingly dispersed, in the other they 

 are unifonnly distrilsuted over the greater portion of the shell. 

 Dimensions in inches: (1) -93 x -65, (2) -95 x -65 (North). 



Observations. — Tliis veiy fine northern Honeyeater is only known to 

 exist in the Rockingham Bay district, chiefly in the ranges. It is found 

 as far north as the Bloomfield River. Mr. Kendall Broadbent, when 

 collecting for Dr. Ramsay, first found the species in the Cardwell 

 district, where a few individuals were obtained frequenting blossoming 

 eucalypts near the margin of a swamp. It only appears in summer, 

 aniving in the rainj' season. 



I think it was this species we found in Dalrymple's Gap, feasting 

 in numbers upon the heads of long, erect, flowering spikes, of a dark- 

 red colour, of the gi-aceful umbrella-tree (BrassaiaJ. 



Through the Recoi'ds of the Australian Museum wo learn that 

 the first recorded nest of the Bridled Honeyeater was found bv 

 Mr. W. S. Day, at Cairns, on the 28th November, 1891-. It was 

 placed in a mass of creepers growing over a small shrub at a height of 

 about three feet from the ground. Tlie nest was built of stronger 

 materials than is usual for the species, and unattached at the rim. 

 The eggs (two), which were partialh' incubated, wore also unUke those 

 typical of Ptilntex. approaching nearer in colour and the disposition of 

 their markings those of some members of the Wood Swallows (Artami ). 

 The parents were also procured. 



