NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



403 



E(/ff.^. — Clutch, two usually ; inclined to be lengthened and oval in 

 form ; texture fine ; .siu-fa*:o glossy ; colour jiale flesh-tint or light pinkish- 

 bufl, sjxiringly marked with a few indistinct reddish spots in the fonn 

 of a belt round the apex. Most resemble those of P. Konorn. Dimen- 

 sions of a clutch in inches : (1) '88 x -6, (2) -85 x 58 ; an odd example ; 

 •89 X -68. 



Ohtervntiiuix. — In a small parcel of skins collected by Mr. Tom Carter 

 in the vicinity of the North-west Cape, about 1890, I received one skin 

 of this Honcyeater, but I did not pay much attention to it at the time, 

 taking it to be a variety of the Singing lloneyeater ; but on comparison 

 it will be observed that l-enrtlatuli is the smaller and more brightly 

 coloured bird. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland found the same kind of bird in Central Aus- 

 tralia during the Horn Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1895, and 

 Mr. A. J. North, who was entrusted to examine all the skins collected 

 by the expedition, recognised a specific difference in the Honeyeater 

 and dedicated it to Mr. Keartland, a compliment richly deserved for 

 his enthusiasm as a field ornithologist. 



In 1896 Mr. Keartland again met his namesake in some scattered 

 mallee near the tropical line in Western Australia, during the unfor- 

 tunate expedition promoted by Mr. Calvert. 



338. — Ptilotis penicillata, Gould. — (318) 



WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATER. 



Piguri — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 43. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix., p. 244. 



Previous Dcuriplions of Eggs. — Campbell : Southern Science Record 



(1883); North : Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 205, pi. I2, fig. 15 (1889); 



Campbell ; Proc. Austn. Assoc, vol. vii., p. 624 (1898J. 



Geographical Distribution. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South and West (?) AustraUa. 



NeH. — Cup-shaped, small, sides slightly swollen ; constructed of grass 

 matt«d with spiders' web and cottony substances, sometimes with 

 greenish-coloured cocoons ; inside lined with cottony material and long 

 horse-hair ; usually situated well out of reach, suspended to the pendu- 

 lous branch of a eucalypt, not unfreqviently near or overhanging water, 

 but occasionally placed low in a melaleuca, acacia, &c. Dimensions over 

 all, 2 to 2A inches by 2 to 2i inches in depth ; egg cavity, 2\ inches 

 across by li inches deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two to three ; nearly true oval in form ; texture 

 fine ; surface very slightly glo.ssy ; colour, delicate pinkish- white, 



