96 MELIPHAGID.E 



Myzomela obscura. 



DUSKY HONEY-EATEK. 

 J/i/zoinela obscura, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p, 136; id., Bds. Austr , fol., Vol. IV^., pi. 67 

 (1848); id., Haiidbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. I., p. 559 (1865): Silvad.. Orii. Pap. et Molucc, Pt. 

 II., p, 303 (1881); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. xMus. Vol. IX., p 143 (1884). 



Adult male. — General colour above and below, includimj the head, brown; the under jjart.t pah'r 

 ivitli a reddish or vinaceoiis tinge, ivhich is more pronounced on the hnver throat; the quills mid 

 tail feathers ivith a blackish-grey shade, the outer webs of the former loith narrow indistinct whitish 

 edges; bill black; legs and feet tjreyish-black. Total length 5 inches, wing 2-7, tail 2'1, hill 0'6, tarstis 0-7. 



Adult fe-MALK — Nh^ //'(»• iu /iliiumgi' ta thf ukiIi-. 



Distribution — Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, New Guinea, Aru Islands. 

 /T^HE range of this species extends from the Northern Territory of South Australia along 

 -L the eastern coast of Queensland, to the islands of Torres Strait, South-eastern New Guinea, 

 and the Aru Islands. Collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum Mr. Geo. 

 Masters procured specimens at Wide Bay, Queensland, in October 1867. Mr. J. A. Boyd found 

 it breeding at Ripple Creek, an affluent of the Herbert River in 1895. Specimens were obtained 

 at Cairns by Mr. K. Broadbent, Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant, and Mr. A. F. Smith. 

 Mr. Frank Hislop found it breeding in the Bloomfield River District, and Mr. George Masters 

 procured specimens at Cape York in 1873 during the \'oyage of the "Chevert." 



From examples obtained at Brock's Creek and other parts of the Northern Territory of 

 South Australia, Dr. E. Hartert has recently characterised a new subspecies under the name of 

 Myzomela obscura grisescens." The greyish shade to the feathers of this form is clearly visible in 

 specimens procured by Mr. A. Morton at Yam Creek, near Port Essington, where the typical 

 form of Myzomela obscura is found as described by Gould. The character of Dr. Hartert's 

 subspecies is, however, far more pronounced in a specimen sent for examination by Mr. Edwin 

 Ashby that was obtained at Port Keats, Hyland Bay, and not far distant from the border line of 

 North-western Australia. In a large series of specimens now before me, those from the eastern 

 coast of Queensland and the south-eastern portion of New Guinea, may be distinguished by their 

 dark brown plumage, while those from the Northern Territory of South Australia have the plumage 

 shaded with grey and apparently more so the nearer the specimens are obtained towards the 

 border of North-western .Australia. 



Mr. Frank Hislop writes me:--" In the Bloomfield River District, North-eastern Queensland, 

 Myzomela obscura is found both in the scrub and open forest lands. It feeds upon the nectar of 

 flowers, insects, and also on small spiders. The nest is generally built among the thick leaves 

 of dark foliaged trees, such as the ironwood, also in mango and orange trees in gardens. Two 

 eggs are laid for a sitting." 



\\'hile resident at Ripple Creek Plantation, Herbert River District, Mr. J. A. Boyd, for- 

 warded me a nest and set of two eggs of this species, accompanied by the following note: — 

 "Last week, on the 3rd November 1895, I took a nest and two fresh eggs oi Myzomela obscura. 

 The nest was built in an orange tree in the garden some six feet from the ground." 



The nest received from Mr. pjoyd is a small open cup-shaped structure, externally formed 

 of fine brown wiry rootlets and spiral plant tendrils, with a slight addition, particularly at the rim, 

 of cobwebs, the bottom of the nest inside being lined with \ery fine dried yellowish-brown grasses. 

 It measures externally two inches and a half in diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth, 



• Nov. Zool., Vol, XII., p. 235 (1905). 



