ENTOMOPHILA. 



85 



Entomophila rufigularis. 



EED-THEOATED HONEY-EATER. 

 Enfomopliila ru/ogularis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 137 ; id., Bds, Austr., foL, Vol. IV., pi. 



52 (1848). 

 Conopophila rufigularis, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 533 (18G5). 

 Entomophila rufigularis, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 219 (1884). 



Adult male — ffeiieraZ colour above brown, tvings bro/ni, f he outer series of the greater wing- 

 coverts narroidy edged with yellow, the quills of a darker brou-ii than the hack and margined externally 

 with yellow decreasing in extent toivards the outermost primary oh either side, which has the outer 

 web entirely brown; tail feathers broivn, with paler margins around the tips and narrowly edged 

 externally tvith yejloiv; crown and sides of the head brown like the back; cheeks and sides of the throat 

 grey; chin and centre of the throat rust-red; fore neck and breast pah creamy-brown; centre of the 

 lower breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white with a faint creamy-brown tinge. Total length 4'8 

 inches, wing 2-S, tail 2'1, bill 0'42, tarsus 6. 



Adult female —Similar in plumage to tlm male. 



Z)is<ri6«/wn— North-western .\ustralia, Northern Territory of South Australia, North 

 Queensland. 



/"I^HE range of the Red-throated Honey-eater extends ri.i^ht across the northern portion of 

 J_ the Australian continent. I have specimens now before me collected by Mr. E. J. 

 Cairn, near Derby, and by Mr. G. A. Keartland near the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret 

 Rivers in North-western Australia, by Mr. Alex. Morton at Yam Creek, near Port Essington 

 in the Northern Territory of South .\ustralia, others from the Flinders River and the southern 

 shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, procured by the late Captain Armit and Mr. K. Broadbent, 

 and a specimen from Cairns on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, presented by Mr. A. F. 

 Smith who writes me : — "At Ingham on the Herbert River, I found a nest of Entomophila 

 rtifigulai'is on the 2ist December, igoi. The nest was suspended from the end of a leafy branch 

 of a small sapling, about live feet from the ground and fifty yards from a creek ; it contained a 

 set of three fresh eggs. I have always found this species in the near vicinity of water." 



Dr. W. iMacgillivray sends me the following note: — ''Entomophila ra/7i,'»/(;m is fairly common 

 at Cloncurry, in the Burke District, two hundred miles south from the Gulf of Carpentaria, 

 Queensland, and seems to feed mostly in the tea-trees along the creeks. The nest is usually 

 placed in a prickly acacia or otlier low bush at no great distance from the ground. They nest 

 in the wet season." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland who procured five specimens and also obtained many nests and sets of 

 eggs of this species, writes me as follows: — "Along the course of the Fitzroy and Margaret 

 Rivers in North-western Australia, I found Red-throated Honey-eaters very common during the 

 latter part of i8g6 and the early months of 1S97; generally they are scattered about singly or 

 in pairs. They drink frequently and are seldom very far from water. Whether searching for 

 insects among the long grass, or flitting from branch to branch in the small black fig trees, upon 

 the fruit of which they feed, they keep up an incessant chatter. If one pair intrude on the domain 

 of another a pitched battle ensues, I have also seen them attack Sordid Friar-birds and 

 drive them away. The same chattering note is continued at intervals during nest building 

 operations, at which time they seem quite regardless of the presence of man. On several 

 occasions building was continued while I stood only a few feet away from the structure on which 

 they were engaged. I'he nests are suspended by one side to the drooping leafy twigs of a 



