NEOSITTA. 



53 



narroirhj edged ivith ivhila at ihe tips, the remainder tipped u-ith ivJiife, more largely towards the 

 outermost feathers; forehead, crown of tlie head and nape dusky-brown, the ear-coverts slightly darker; 

 chin, cheeks and upper throat white, passing into a dull white on the remainder of the under surface 

 some of the feathers, particularly on tlie sides of the breast, indistinctly streaked with brown down the 

 centre, the flanks slightly tinged with brown; under tail-coverts white, brown along the basal portion 

 of the shaft, and widening out into a broad blackish-browa subterminal cros-i-bar; bill brown, yellowish 

 at the base; legs and feet yellow ; iris very pale creamy-buff. Total length in the flesh 4-0 inches, 

 wing 31, tail IS, bill OS, tarsus 0-65. 



Adult female —Similar in plumage, but having the feathers on the head, and particularly the 

 lores, orbital region and ear-coverts, darker than in the male. 



Distribution— Q\xeex\s\a.nd, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. 



fT has been found that Swainson's well known name of SittcUa for this genus of birds was 

 preoccupied; in its stead therefore, Herr C. E. Helhnayr has substituted the generic 

 name of Neositia. 



The range of the present species extends from Southern Queensland, throughout the 

 greater portion of New South Wales into \'ictoria, and some parts of South Australia. 

 Nowhere is it more common than in the neighbourhood of Sydney where it is locally known as 

 the "Diamond" or "Little Woodpecker." Open forest lands studded with the larger kinds of 

 Eucalypti and Angophora are its favourite haunts, but at Ashfield and Canterbury I have found 

 it breeding in isolated trees close to the principal streets. It is a resident species, and is usually 

 met with during the autumn and winter months in small flocks numbering from five to eight, or 

 more individuals. It is an interesting sight to watch these industrious little birds running up 

 or down the trunks, or along the limbs of trees, stopping for a few moments to peer into any 

 crevice in which an insect may lurk, or valiantly tugging at a loosened piece of bark to secure 

 the larvse of some wood frequenting insect; if one remains quiet this they will often do, when an 

 onlooker is only a few feet away. While engaged in their search a short "chip chip" is uttered 

 also while passing from tree to tree when it is generally alternated with a succession of hurried 

 warbling notes. The rufous band through the quills which shows more conspicuously durmg 

 flight and the slender, finely pointed and slightly recurved bill will enable one to recognise this 

 useful and active little bird. The wing measurement of adult males varies from 3 to 3-2 inches. 

 The nest is usually a beautiful inverted cone-shaped structure with a cup-like cavity 

 at the top, the rim being sharp and thin. It is composed of thin scales and shreds ot bark, and 

 less frequently with the downy tufts of Banksia cones, held together with cobwebs, and ornamented 

 with small pieces of bark fastened longitudinally on the outside with cobwebs, giving it a shingled 

 appearance, and closely resembling the branch on which it is built, rendering it difficult of 

 detection ; inside it is neatly lined with bits of pale green lichen, and this material is sometimes 

 used as an outer decoration. As a rule the nest is built at the junction of an upright forked 

 branch, sometimes against a slightly leaning single stemmed branch, frequently a long dead one, 

 and well out of the way of bird-nesting boys. The length of the nest varies considerably 

 accordmg to the angle of the fork, in or against which, it is built. In a number of nests now 

 before me, those built in wide angled forks average externally two inches and three-quarters in 

 height, and those against acute angled forks four inches and a half. In external diameter they 

 all average two inches in diameter, at the rim, some nests being slightly broader in the centre, 

 and the cup-like cavity measures nearly one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch 

 and a half in depth. Eucalyptus and Angophora are the trees most often resorted to as nesting 

 sites, also Cnsuivincu and Acacias, the nests varying in height from fifteen to sixty feet from the 

 ground. 



The eggs are usually three, rarely four, in number for a sitting, oval or rounded oval m 

 form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless. When fresh, and just after being 



