422 



NESTS AND hGOS UI' AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Ohscrvatiiian. — I I'oimd this bud just as clamorous in tliu great western 

 territory as the common species is in the eastern parts. The voices 

 are ahiiost identical in the two species, hkewise the luimisUi-keable 

 struggUng fliglit and rapid motion of the wings when the bird is flying 

 from tree to tree. 



353. — Myzantha (Manokhina) flavigula, Gould. — (3oG) 

 YELLOW-THROATED MINER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv., pi. 79. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. in., p. 261. 



Previous Dacriplions of Eggs. — Uamsay : Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. 

 Wales, vol. vii., p. 52 (1S82); Campbell: Southern Science 

 Record (18S3), also Troc. Austn. Assoc, vol. vii., p. 641 

 (1S98) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat., pi. 12, fig. 4 (18S9). 



Geographical DUtrihutiun. — ^Australia in general. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped ; somewhat more compactly constructed than 

 that of the more familiar Miner (M. yarrula), and Like the other 

 species sometimes ornamented with spiders' cocoons; inside well-Uned 

 with soft, fibrous material, in some instances wool. Inside dimensions, 

 according to Dr. Ramsay, are 3 inches by 2| inches deep. 



Egys. — Clutch, three to four, occasionally five; oval or elhptically 

 incHned ; texture fine ; surface slightly glossy ; coloiu', rich salmon or 

 rich re<ldish-bufi', minutely and obscurely spotted with jreddish and 

 piu-plish-brown, especially at the larger end. Dimensions in inches of 

 odd examples: (1) 1-02 x -77, (2) 1-0 x -72. 



Observations. — This smaller species may be said to be the great 

 interior representative of the Myzantha.. But outlying or isolated 

 families of the Yellow-throated Miner are foimd in such localities as 

 Darhng Downs, Riverina, and the Lower Miuray district. It has not 

 the exceedingly noisy disposition of its larger cousins. 



Mr. Laii observed on the Darling Downs that the Yellow-throated 

 Miner built higher than the common variety usually did, wliile Dr. 

 Ramsay says in New South Wales the bird builds in trees and shitibs, 

 frequently near the ground. 



During the exploration of the North-west by the unforttmato 

 Calvert party, Yellow-tlu'oated Miners were freqtieutly seen, and 

 several shot between Lake Way and Separation Well. Isolated pairs 

 were also noted in the sandhills of the desert imtil nearing the Fitzroy 

 River. The late Mr. G. L. Jones, the youthful explorer — the first of 

 the two lost ones to succumb to the burning desert — took a clutch of 

 thre? eggs of this Miner dtiring August (1896) a short distance north 

 of Lake Augusta. 



