MYZO.MULA. 



97 



the inner cup measuring one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. 

 Although thicker walled than average nests olMyzmida sanguinolcnta, it is formed of so very much 

 finer materials, that the eggs would be plainly visible to one standing underneath the nest. 



l~he e"-gs are two in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth 

 and slightly lustrous. They are almost pure white, dotted, spotted and largely blotched, par- 

 ticularly on the thicker end with pale red and very pale purplish-red, in some places one colour 

 partially overlying the other, with which are intermingled a few subsurface markings of pale 

 purplish-grey. Length (A) 0-67 x 0-52 inches; (B) o-68 x 0-5 inches. 



Myzomela nigra. 



BLACK HONEY-EATER. 

 Myzomela nigra, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV., pi. 66 (1848); Handbk. Bds. Austr , Vol. I., p. 

 558 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 138 (1881). 



Adult male — General colour above dark greyish-black; lesser and median upper wing-coverts 

 like the back, the greater coverts and quil/s dark brown with a blackish wash, ichich is more pronounced 

 on the innermost secondaries; tail feathers blackish-brown; head, neck and a central streik extending 

 down the breast dull black; remainder of the under surface white; under tail-coverts white, the basal 

 portion of some of the longer feathers with a narrow central streak of dark brown; '■bill black; legs 

 and feet black; iris dark brown" (Bennett). Total length 4-2 inches, wing 2-7, tail 1-6, bill 0-66, 

 tarsus 0'5o. 



Adult female — General colour above broivn; wings brown, the greater wing-coverts and inner- 

 most secondaries margined with dull rufous-brown ; tail-feathers dark brown narroivly edged with 

 whily-brown; head and hind neck brown, the latter with a slight ashy-shade; lores, feathers below the 

 eye and the ear-coverts broivn; all the under surface dull ivhite, slightly washed rvith brown on the 

 throat, fore neck and upper breait, where some of the feathers are centred with dark brown; under tail- 

 coverts white. 



Z)is<?-i6!/«io?i— Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia, Central Australia, 

 Western Australia, North-western .\ustralia. 



/T^HE present migratory species is widely distributed over the inland portions of the 

 -L Australian continent. Dr. W. Macgillivray forwarded me a skin for examination 

 obtained in the Cloncurry District, Queensland, together with the following note: — "Myzomela 

 nigra occurs in numbers during some years and may not be seen again at all for several years in 

 succession." Mr. K. H. Bennett obtained several of the specimens in the Australian Museum 

 collection, and made the following observations relative to them: — "Myzomela nigra is one of 

 the migratory species arriving in the neighbourhood of Mossgiel and the Lachlan River, 

 New South Wales, in the early part of August, and departing about the end of November or 

 early in December. It is extremely shy, but the nest is placed in the most exposed situation, 

 and frequently not more than a couple of feet from the ground. The eggs, two in number, 

 closely resemble in colour those of Saidoproda mota:illoidss. It breeds during the month of 

 October." There are also specimens in the Australian ^Museum collection obtained at Byrock 

 and Temora. This species is not found in the coastal districts of New South Wales, but is very 

 common during sonie years in the extreme western portions of the State. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland, who recorded this species from North-western Australia in 1898,* 

 sends me the following note: — " Myzomda nigra is occasionally seen in the dense mallee and tea- 



* Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A., Vol. XXII., p. 182 (1S9S). 



