110 



.MELIPllAinD.f;. 



measures: — Length (A) 0-92 x o-66 inches; (B) 0-9 x 0-65 inches. A set taken by Mr. Frank 

 Hislop, at Wyalla, Bloomtield River, iiieasirres: — Length (A) o-Sg x 0-65 inches; (B) o-SS x 

 0-65 inches. 



September and the five following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. 

 Mr. Boyd supplied me with the following information respecting a nest he had under close 

 observation from the time it was started until the young ones left the nest. It was built upon 

 the frond of a fern, eighteen inches from the ground, growing in a fernery attached to Mr. Boyd's 

 house, and opposite his office, to which people were constantly coming through the day, a piano 

 also that was in frequent use by the children, being within fifteen feet of the nest. During the 

 period of incubation, the female sat steadily, and did not attempt to fly when looked at by one 

 only a few feet away, the nest being so deep that only the bill and tail of the bird were visible. 

 This bird was quite tame, and used to fly to and fro through the dining-room where a number 

 of people were seated at dinner. ' Tiie nest was commenced on the 7th December, 1893, and 

 contained three eggs on the 1 5th'^ instant ; two young ones were hatched on the 2Sth instant, 

 and a third next day; the period of incubation being fourteen days. The young birds left the 

 nest on the 12th January. 



Ptilotis gracilis. 



LESSEK YELLOW SPOT HONEY-EATER. 

 Ptilotis gracilis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1SG6, p. 217; Sharpe, Rep. Voy. H.M.S. "Alert," p. 19 



(1884); Salvad., Ann. ]Mus. Civ. Gen. Vol. 29., p. 502 (1889); Nortli, Proc. Linn. Soc. 



N.S.W., 2nd Ser, Vol. L\"., p. 40 (1894). 

 Plilotis aiialoya, (part) .Salvad, Orn. Pap. et Molucc. Vol. II., p. 327 (I8t*4); Gadovv, Cat. Bds. 



Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 22 (1884). 

 Adult malic. — Lil.-i- tl(c mlnlt rnali' of Ptilotis notata, Gould, Iml simillrr uikI harimj a 

 compariitiri'l !/ hirijir hill. In nlji,r rt'ijects it differ.-' in haviny the cheeks, (nid. iJn imihr surface Jufhter 

 <,„<l of a „inrc ,j;.<ln,ct ,/rPI/ish shndr. ihr hhtcl'ish irnsh f<, the f.-oth.rs hetire,,, the rllr ,n,d the ,H,stril, 

 ,ni,l at the h.ise ,,f the enr-cuTerts \s dulhr ni c,,h,nr ,ii,<l less jemm,, meed, <n,d the e,ir-j,hi,„es are of a 

 much paler ijellair. Total leaylh. '>-5 iiiches, leiay .'■.'', tail '■■!'>, hill CiilS, tarsits 0-7. 

 Adult VEMALE— Similar in. plu)uai/e I,, the nude I, at smallrr. ^Viaij 2-7 iaehes. 

 Distribution. — Xorthern Queensland, Northern Territory of South Australia. 

 g|\N the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"''- Dr. Gadow followed Count Salvadorit 

 -L in placing the name of the present species, as a synonym of Ptilotis analoga, Reichenbach. 

 Ptilotis gracilis described by Gould from a single specimen obtained at Cape York, was as I 

 pointed out in the "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales" in 1894,.]: a 

 decidedly smaller race of P. analoga, of which there were similar specimens in the Macleay 

 Museum, procured at Cardwell. At that time I was not aware that Dr. R. B. Sharpe, in his 

 Report of the "Voyage of H.M.S. 'Alert,'"? differed from Dr. Gadow, and recognised the two 

 Australian forms P. notata and P. gracilis. Nor that Count Salvadori had reinstated P. gracilis'] 

 as a good species on the authority of a male collected by Dr. Loria at Port Darwin on the 9th 

 May, 1889. It is the only occasion I have ever known this species to be received from the 

 Northern Territory of South Australia ; the genus Ptilotis as a rule in the many large collections 



* Gadow. Cat. Bds. Brit Mus , Vol. IX., p. 227 (1S84). 



t Orn. Pap. et Molucc, VoL IT, p. 327 (1881). 



J Proc. Linn. Soc. N S. Wales, 2nd ser., Vol. IX,, p. 40, {1894). 



§ Rep. Voy. H.M.S. "Alert," p. 19 (1884). 



II Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen , Vol. 29., p, 502 (1889 ) 



