4IO ■ ^^£STS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



344. — Ptilotis unicoloe, Gould. — (322) 



WHITE-GAPED HONEYEATER. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol , vol iv , pi. 46. 



Reference — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix , p. 249. 



Previous Descriptions 0/ Eggs —Ca.mphe\l: Victorian Naturalist (1886) 

 also Proc. Austn. Assoc, vol. vii., p. 629 (1898). 



Geographical Disfribufiun. — North-west Aiistra.lia, Northern Terri- 

 tory aad North Queensland ; also New Guinea. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped ; composed of strips of light brownish-coloured 

 bark, matted with yellowish or golden cocoons of spiders ; inside lined 

 with a good ply of exceedingly fine grass, with a few fine casuarina needles 

 on the bottom ; usually suspended to a forked twig in the topmost 

 branches of a leafy (small, or moderately-sized) tree near a stream. 

 Dimensions over all, 3 to 4 inches bj' 2j inches in depth ; egg cavity, 

 2 to 2^ inches across by 2 inches deep. 



Eyys. — Clutch, two ; stout oval in shape ; texture fine ; surface, 

 faint trace of gloss ; colour, warm or delicate pinkish-white, with large 

 blotches and spots of light>chestnut or pinkish-red and purple, the 

 markings being fairly distributed, but more inclined to congregate 

 round the upper quarter. Most resemble those of the Yellow Honey- 

 eater (P. flava) type. Dimensions in inches of a pair: (1) '88 x '65, 

 (2) -86 X -64. 



Ohservations. — This modest-coloiu'ed Honeyeatcr is a denizen of the 

 noi:thern part of Austraha. Gilbert discovered it in the Port Dai-win 

 district. The situations in which it was usually observed were those 

 adjacent to swampy thickets, where it was seen generally in pairs, and 

 exceedingly livelj'. 



I have found the White-gaped Honeyeater as far south as Townsville, 

 where I took birds, nests and eggs at Stuart Creek. The day following 

 the discover}' of the Yellow Honeyeater's nest (22nd September, 1885), 

 I discovered this other, which was also new. The nest was suspended 

 by the rim to a forked twig of a thickly foliaged tree, and contained two 

 eggs perfectly fresh. Previously I had found a nest in the upper forked 

 branches of a similar tree. This nest contained a pair of fully-fledged 

 young, for which the parents were very solicitous, and gave me a good 

 opportunity of identifying the species. 



There are in the collection of Mr. Dudley Le Souef a nest and eggs 

 of this Honeyeater taken in the Port Darwin district, 6th Januarv, 

 1899. 



Breeding months, probably from August to February. 



