APPENDIX. 1079 



305. — Melithrkptis l^tior. 

 GULDEN -BACKED HONEYEAIER. 



Mr. A. J. North, who described a single egg of this bcavUilul 

 Houeyealer, from Ml-. G. A. Keartland s coUectiou, states : * — " Duiiiig 

 the first week of Febiiiary, 189'J, JVlr. E. J. Harris took an egg 

 of this species fx-oin a small cup-shaped uest, built in the drooping Icatj' 

 twigs of a bauliinia, about ten feet from the ground, aud close to the 

 junction of the Fitzi-oy and Margaret Rivers, North-west Australia. 

 It is oval in form, gently tapering towards the smaller end, and is of a 

 pale, lleshy-bull ground-colom-, wliicli gi-adually passes into a warm 

 rLddish-bulY on the larger end, whert; there ai-e spots and blotches of a 

 slightly darker hue, inteniiiugled with underlymg markings of faint 

 pui-phsh-buff, the suiiace of the shell bemg smooth aud slightly glossy. 

 ijength, -86 x -61 inches. Tliis egg resembles some of the dehcately- 

 coloured varieties of those of Ptilntis anricomis." 



312. GlYCPHILA SUBOCULARIS 



LEAST HONEYEATER. 



According to Mr. D. Le Souef, whose collector, Mr. R. Hislop, found 

 two nests of this small Honeyeater — one 14th June, and the other 

 3rd October (1899), on the Cape York Peninsula — the fust found uest 

 " was suspended from a forked branch of a melaleuca, about twenty feet 

 from the groimd. It is hghtly consti-ucted of fine shreds of bark, luto- 

 woven with very thin white pieces of so-called paper ( 31e!aUucaJ bark, 

 aud has a small quantity of cobweb on the outside, which helps to fasten 

 it to the branch. It is lined with a white flully substance, and measures ; 

 external diameter, 2^ inches; internal, 1^- inches; external depth, 2^ 

 inches ; internal, 2 inches. The two eggs of the clutch vary both in size 

 and coloiu", one being pm-e white, with a few faint specks roimd the larger 

 end, the other being very delicate redchsh-pink, with a faint zone of 

 reddish markings round the larger end. Dimensions in inches ; 

 (1) '66 X -5, (2) -63 X -46. ' Mr. Le Souef has dtsci-ibed the eggs of this 

 bird in the " Ibis," p. 458 (1900). 



361. — Entomyza albipennis. 

 WHITE-QUILLED HONEYEATER. 



Mr. D. Le Souef has described the nest and eggs of this fine northcin 

 species in the "Victorian Naturalist,'' vol. xvi., p. 101 (1899). He has 

 since received a splendid series of eggs, collected in the forest country 

 on Cape York Peninsula. The eggs are only abovit half the size of 

 those of the Blue-faced Honeyeater, and vary in shape from elliptical 

 to more pointed .specimens. A typical pair is fine in te.xture, slightly 

 glossy, and a beautiful pinkish-buff, blotched chiefly about the larger end 

 with rich reddish-brown and dull purple. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) ri X -83, (2) 1-1 X -8. There are sometimes three eggs to a clutch. 



Chief laying months are October and November. 



• " Victorian Naturalist,'' vol. .\\i , p I2 (1S99). 



