NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



401 



warning, crash went the tree by the root, and all — the two naturalists, 

 tree, bii'd, nest, and eggs — went headlong into the stream beneath. 

 Alas ! I tho\ight, farewell to the eggs of Ptihitis cassidi.r. So ncai* and 

 yet so far! But imagine our ;istonishnient when, after dragging our- 

 selves out of the water, and removing some of the fallen debris, we find 

 nest and eggs intact — thanks to the poor l)ird, that bravely stuck to 

 its home till ovcrvvlu'lined by the falling foliage. The eggs, in which 

 incubation had just coninicncid, were beautiful specimens, and are now 

 in my cabinet. Mr. Hat ton and Mr. Gillespie found a second nest that 

 day, the eggs of which were much incubated. The third nest was 

 discovered by two field naturalists the following season, near the s<a.me 

 locality, also in a hazel, overhanging the stream ; while the fourth nest 

 I found 9th October, 1886, by the same creek, but nearer Lilydale. By 

 bending the bush or small tree, thi.s nest wiis reached from the ground. 

 Tlie cg^ — a pair — were perfectly fresh, and now adoni the collection 

 at the National Museum, Melbourne. 



Breeding months are most likely from September to December. 



336. — Ptilotis rR.\TiTi.\, Gould. — (313) 



WATTLE-CHEEKED HONEYEATER. 



Figure. — Gould; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 38. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit, Mus., vol. ix., p. 243. 



Previous Description oj Eggs. — Campbell; Victorian Naturalist, vol. xvi., 

 p. Ill {1899). 



aeiic/rnphirnl Dutrihutinn. — Northern Territory {V). Victoria, South 

 and West Australia. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped ; fairly well built of very fine shreds of bark, felted 

 or matted together with an abundance of spiders' webs and torn cocoons, 

 imparting to the structure a whitish appearance externally ; lined inside 

 with fine grass and a few feathers ; usually suspended by the rim, at 

 a height vaiying from three feet to six feet from the ground, in creeper 

 in mallee (Eiicali/ptusJ scrub. Dimensions over all, 2J inches by 2| 

 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 2 inches across by 2 inches deep. 



Egffs. — Clutch, two ; in the type set one is almost elliptical in form, 

 the other a roimdish-oval ; texture of shell, fine ; surface glossy ; colour, 

 white, sparingly and finely-spotted with rufous or reddish-brown and 

 faint purplish brown, the markings being more numerous about the 

 apex. Dimensions in inches (elliptical): •84 x -6, ; (roundish): "79 x 

 •64. These eggs are among the lightest coloured of Ptilotes eggs. 



Ohxervatiniia. — -The beautiful Wattle-cheeked Honeyeater has been 

 chiefly found in the southern parts of Australia, where it seems to love 

 the timber of the drier coimtry, such as mallee tracts. 

 26 



