Ni.srs AND LGUS Oi AUSiKALlAN JJIHDS. 427 



Ijorliuus of giivis, iiud oni; or I wo spiders grcuiiisli-colourcd cocoons. 

 Diiacusioiis over ;ill, abuul -1 uielics by 1 J, iiiciics in ihickosL part. 



jfc'(/(/«.- -Clutch, 011c usually; long oval or flliptically inclined; 

 Icxtiuu iiuc ; surface slightly glossy; colour, rich ur dark pinkish-bull 

 or salniou-tiut, marked and spotted, more numerously around the apex, 

 with rich reddish-brown and dull purphsh-grey. Dimensions in inches 

 ol' single examples; (1) M8 x S, {'!) MT x wi). (i'late 13.) 



(JbsiTvationii. — My hi'st liold-outiug m Western Australia was to 

 iliddletou Harbour, pcu't of King George's Sound. The locality was 

 simply a repetition of some parts of tlie shores of Port Pliillip — 

 slightly undulating sandy lidges sustaining banksias, acacias, (fee, 

 between the bcivch and tea-tree ( Alc/u/tiicaJ swamps at the back — but 

 the species of vegetation was changed, likewise some of the birds, 

 amongst which was the Lunulated Wattle Bird. It was the last day 

 of September, 1889, and I foimd three nests in different stages — one 

 building, one containing a beautiful egg, and the bird occupied with a 

 young one. All the nests were situated in thick, silky, or velvet bushes 

 ( Adcnanthtjs). The week following, in the same locality, I took 

 another nest with a fresh egg. Then on the west coast, towards the 

 end of November, 1 obtained two more nests, each containing a single 

 egg — one in the Karridale forest and the other at Coogec, near 

 Fremautle. Incubation had commenced in both these instances. 



The singular circumstances mentioned by Gilbert that the Little 

 Wattle Bird laid but one egg was proved in the five nests I found. 



359. — AcANTUooEiNYs KUFiGULAius, Gould. — (329) 



SPINY-CHEEKED HONEYEATER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, £ol., vol. iv., pi. 53. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ix., p. 265. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould: Birds of Australia (184S); 



also Handbook, vol. i., p. 535 (1S65) ; North : Austii. Mus. 



Cat., p. 213, pi. 12, fig. 10 (iSSg) ; Campbell : I'roc. Austn. 



Assoc, vol. vii., p. 646 (1S98). 



Geoyrayhicul Distribution. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South, West, and North-west Australia. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, strong, but thin, so thin that in some instances 

 the contents may be seen from beneath ; composed of long, round 

 pieces of greenish grass, interwoven or matted with spiders' web, some 

 with the addition of a few cocoons ; scantily lined on the inside bottom 

 with wool and such like material ; in some instances there is no particu- 

 lar lining; usually suspended by the rim in a bush — acacia, &c. — or 

 swaying branch of casuarina or other low tree, in open forest, 



