598 



NESTS AND EGGS OF .WSTRMIAN BIRDS ^ 



Nest. — Witliin a small hole of a branch or in the elbow of a limb 

 of a tree. 



Eggs. — Clutxjh, four ; roundish or round oval in form ; texture of 



shell fine ; suiiace without gloss ; colour, white, more or less stained 



by wood dust. Dimensions in inches of a pair : (1) -75 x -62, 

 (2) -73 X -64. 



Observations. — The chubby Little Lorikeet, the least of its tribe, is 

 just a Musk Lorikeet in miniature, and enjoys a similar range of 

 habitat. In addition to ravisliing for food the flowers of the various 

 eucalypts, it may often be scon threading, hanging sometimes head 

 downwards, the slender branches of the mistletoe, feeding either upon 

 the flower or fruit of that parasitical plant. 



The Little Lorikeet is apparently fond of the company of the Musk 

 Lorikeet, for I have observed mixed flocks flying. But I cannot svu-pass 

 Gould's experience, pictured thus : — " During one of my morning 

 rambles in the brushes of the Hunter, I came suddenly upon an 

 immense Eucdl gptus, which was at least two hundred feet high. The 

 blossoms of this noble tree had attracted hundreds of birds, lx)th 

 Parrots and Honey Suckers, and from a single branch I killed four 

 species of the former, viz., the Blue-bellied Lorikeet (T. novce-hoUandiceJ 

 Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (P. chlorohpidotus), Musk Lorikeet (G. con- 

 cinnusj, and the Little Lorikeet (G. jiuxi//ux)." Truly in this instance 

 it may be said that " Birds of a feather flock together." Gould suc- 

 ceeded in finding a nest of the Little Lorikeet, and on the 11th October, 

 1839, prociu-ed foiu' eggs from a hole in a small branch of a lofty 

 eucalypt growing on the flats at Yarrundi, on the Upper Hunter. 



A nest I observed by a creek near Bagshot, Bendigo district, 

 although comparatively low, was so awkwardly situated at the elbow of 

 a thick limb that the cunning little birds were allowed to hatch out their 

 eggs unmolested. 



I pcssess a parallel to Gould's picture, above quoted, from Dr. \V. 

 Macgillivray, 'Western District, Victoria. "Writing imder date 15tli 

 December, 1895, he says: — " On a trip twenty miles out, which I made 

 a month ago, I passed thi'ough a patch of blossoming giuns alive with 

 honey-eating birds, especially the Lorikeets, T. novce-huUandiw, G. con- 

 cinnus, G. pusillus, and N . discolor." 



Usual breeding season latter end of September to December or 

 January. 



FAMILY— CYCLOPSITTACID^^. 



470. -Cyclopsittacus coxeni, Gould. 

 RED-FACED LORILET. 



Figure. — Cloiild : liirds of .Australia, fi>l., siipp., pi. O5. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xx., p. 94. 



Geographical Distribution. — South Queensland and New Soulli 

 Wales. 



