NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BfRDS. 



445 



As has been remarked, it is traly wonderful liow the little builder 

 can eonstiiict so ronifortable a home at the termination of a hole where 

 all possible daylight is excluded. Both male and female assist in the 

 drilHng operations and eonstniction of the nest. Sometimes a previous 

 season's nest is renovated. 



With reference to the Spotted Pardaloto being an early breeder in 

 Victoria, a note from Mr. C. C. Brittlebank, dated 19th August, 1893. 

 ^ays ; " Male Diamond Bird collecting till liis bill is full of bark, which 

 he gives to his mate ; he then collects his own load and carries it to 

 the nest." Ten days afterwards Mr. Brittlebank found the prettv 

 birds still at work. 



Dr. Ramsay observes that the Spotted Pardalote sometimes chooses 

 for its nest a small hole in a log, a crevice in an old wall, a niche under 

 a shelving rock, etc. ; still he has never known it to breed in the hollow 

 branch of a tree, or take possession of the mud nests of the Fairy 

 Martin, as the Red-tipped (P. ornnfii.'i) and the Yellow-tipped fP. 

 nfftnis) Pardalotes sometimes do. 



The breeding season is included in the months from Julv to 

 December. 



372. — Pardalotcs XANTH0PYGIU8, McCoy. 



YELLOW-RUMPED PARDALOTE. 



Fissure. — Gould : Birds of .Australia, fol., supp., pi. 8. 



Referenre. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. x., p. 5q. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Southern Science Record 



(1885); North; Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 50 (iSSq) ; Campbell: 



Geelong Naturalist, vol. iv., p. sq (1805). 



Gengrn'phirnl Dixtrihnfinri . — New South Wales, Victoria, South and 

 West Australia. 



Neat. — A mouse-like hole, drilled into the flat, hard surface of the 

 ground in an oblique direction for about two feet. At the termination 

 is a cavity thickly walled with interwoven strings of soft bark. The 

 nest is perfectly round, with the side entrance opposite, and leading 

 directly out into the little tunnel. 



Efiga. — Clutch, four; roundish oval in shape; texture of shell fine; 

 coloiu", pure white vnth glossv surface. Dimensions in inches of a set : 

 (1) -eSx-Sl. (2) ■6x-52. (3) "-fix -,5. (4) -59 x -,5. 



Ohservatinns. — The Yellow-ramped Pardalote is even more beautiful 

 than the Spotted Pardalote, and, as its name suggests, its bright-yellow 

 rump and upper tail-covcrts are conspicuous. I imhesitatingly say 

 that this Pardalote is the most beautiful vet discovered. 



The Yellow-nnnped Pardalote is a denizen of the drier and almost 

 waterless tracts of the southern interior and Western Australia. Mv 



