106 



MKLIl'lIAGID.E. 



O-en-U-S :E=TII_|0TIS, S,rai7lS07L. 



Ptilotis lewini. 



LEWIN'S HONEY-EATER. 

 Ptilotis leivinii, Swains., Class. Birds, Vol. II., p. 320 (18.'37); Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aiistr., Vol I., 

 p. 503 (ISG5). 



Ptilotis chrysotis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 32 (1846). 

 Ptilotis lewini, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 229 (1884). 



Adult m.^vle — Gtnieral colour aboce dull olive-green ; ivings and tail brig/iter, iiiclining to olive- 

 yelloti; (he inner icebs of tin' qniUs and all but the central pair of tail feathers brown; head dull olive- 

 green, with a blackish-grey wash on the forehead: feathers between the nostril and those encircling the 

 eye and the fore part of the cheeks blackish; below the eye a short streak of small jiale yelloir feathers; 

 ear-coverts dark silky-steel-grey, folloived by a patch of feathers of a slightly brighter yellow than those 

 below the eye: throat and all the nnder surface olive-grey slightly tinged with green, wliich is more 

 distinct on the fore iieck and breast, most of the feathers hailing more or less conspicuous darker centres, 

 those on t/te centre of the breast and t/te abdomen having very dull oUve-yellon' margins : under tail- 

 coverts olire-grey with brown centres: thighs dull olive-green; outer series of tlie under wing-coverts 

 fulvous-yellow; bill black; gape straiv-wliite ; legsand feet light Jleshy-bro>un; iris bluish-grey. Total 

 length, in tJir flesh U inclies, wing .1/-',', tail ■!■!!, bill 0'7, tarsus 0-9'). 



Adult femalu; — Similar in plumage to the male but smaller. 



Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria. 



~|7«) EW'IN'S Honey-eater is freely dispersed in favourable situations throughout the eastern 

 ■ V portions of Queensland, New South Wales and X'ictoria. It gives decided preference 

 for the coastal brushes, and the contiguous mountain ranges, and unless associated with its young 

 is generally met with in isolated pairs. I found it numerous in the thick humid undergrowth of 

 the Strzelecki Ranges in South Gippsland, \'ictoria, also in somewhat similar country at the 

 head of Twofold Bay, near the southern border of New South Wales. It occurs throughout the 

 Illawarra District, and I ha\'e observed it on the Upper Clarence River. It is also found on 

 the Blue Mountains, but I have never seen a specimen from the open forest lands beyond the 

 western slopes of that range. Near Sydney it is more often met with, or its rapidly quavering 

 whistling notes heard, on the sides and beds of creeks overgrown with vine-covered Lilly-pilly, 

 Coachwood, and Black Wattle trees. It frequents chiefly the gullies on the highlands of the 

 Milson's Point Railway Line and Middle Harbour, also the more level country between Manly 

 and Narrabeen. 



Mr. Edwin Ashby forwarded me a specimen obtained by him at Drouin, N'ictoria, and also 

 sent me the following note: — "I found Ptilotis Icunni the most common bird in tlie Hlackall 

 Ranges, to the north of Brisbane, Queensland. The settlers there informed me that they came 

 in swarms amongst the fruit trees when the fruit was ripe and did much damage. They nest in 

 the orange trees." 



Stomachs of these birds examined contained the remains of insects and portions of various 

 wild fruits. I have watched these birds diligently searching the slightly roughened bark of a 

 small gum sapling for upwards of a quarter of an hour, exploring every branch and apparently 

 obtaining small insects in the crevices of the bark. I have also seen it pulling off the flowers of 

 a daphne in my garden. The fast diminishing cover for this and many other species, owing to 

 the land being cleared for building purposes, is rapidly driving many species once common in 

 the district farther afield. When procurable too, this species feeds largely upon all kinds of 

 cultivated soft-pulped fruits. At Roseville it attacks principally the summer fruits, but it is not 

 numerous enough in that locality to do any considerable damage. 



