MELIORNIS. 



65 



Meliornis sericea. 



WHITE-CHEEKED HOXEY-EATEK. 



Jfeliphaga sericea, Gould, Proo. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 144; ii/., BJs. Austr , fol, Vol. IV^,, pi. 25 



(1848). 

 Meliornis sericea, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. I., p. 490 (ISG.i); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. 



Vol. IX., p 254 (1884). 



Adult male — Like the ailuit male o/Mkliounis nov.e-holl.wdi.e, Latham, />?«< liaviny a white 

 superciliary stripe extending from the sides of the forehoail — wliere it is very icide — on to the nape, 

 and a conspicuous Jan-shaped tuft (if' white plumes, covimencing on the cheeks, spreading out and 

 concealing the feathers at the side of the throat and neck; chin and centre of the throat black: tips of 

 the inner icehs of the lateral tail feathers indistinctly margined with tchile; bill black; legs and feet 

 dusky-grey ; iris blackish-browm. Total length in thefiesli 7 inches, wing 3, tail 2'S, bill O'S, tarsus OS. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the adult male but slightly smaller. 



Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales. 



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WHITE-CHKElvKD HONEY- EATER. 



LTHOUGH the range of theWhite- 

 :heeked Honey-eater extends 

 over most of the coastal districts of Eastern 

 Australia, New South Wales is the strong- 

 hold of this species. In general appearance 

 it resembles Meliornis noiue-hollandim, and is 

 often found frequenting the same situations 

 but is far more local in habits. Near 

 Sydney it is very common in the swampy 

 undergrowth between Manly and Newport, 

 and on the shores of Narrabeen Lagoon 

 giving preference for those localities where 

 ferns and cycads flourish, overrun in parts 

 with a tangled undergrowth of climbing 

 plants, sheltered above by wide-spreading 

 Eucalypti. Xt Roseville, Middle Harbour, Thornleigh and Hornsby it frequents the forest 

 lands with a thick scrubby undergrowth of stunted Banksias and Eucalypti. It is common also 

 about the Hawkesbury Ri\er, George's River, and Cook's River, its presence being an almost 

 certain indication that water is near at hand. While at Copmanhurst on the Upper Clarence 

 River, Mr. George Savidge showed me a skin of this species also its nest and eggs that he had 

 obtained in that district. In some specimens the white superciliary stripe is connected with 

 a broad band of w hite-tipped feathers on the forehead. Specimens from Cairns and Cardwell 

 in North-eastern Queensland, are smaller than examples obtained near Sydney, averaging 6 

 inches in length and the wing measurement 2-6 inches. 



Gould states that it is a remarkably shy species, and that he had much difficulty in getting 

 within gunshot of it. This is the reverse of my experience, for as a rule when disturbed, it 

 generally perches near the end of a dead lower lateral branch of a lofty tree, or flies from shrub 

 to shrub, and I could always obtain as many specimens as were required. That it is unsuspicious 

 in habits is further evidenced by the fact that among a number of specimens received in the flesh 

 at the Australian Aluseum, the result of a day's shooting with two guns, nineteen of the birds 

 belonged to this species. In a gully near Middle Harbour I watched these birds bathe in a 



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