124 



MELIPHA<;ID,E. 



frenata appears in numbers during winter, principally on the hill-sides where it frequents the 

 forest trees on the edge of the scrub; I have never seen it in summer. Honey -eaters and many 

 other species are usually far more plentiful about Hambledon in winter than in summer. It may 

 be that numbers of birds come down from the table-land in winter to get away from the cold of that 

 region and return to breed." 



The wing-measurement of adult specimens in the Australian ^Museum collection varies from 

 3"85 to 4'2 inches. 



Relative to this species farther north, Mr. P'rank Hislop writes me: — "The Bridled Honey- 

 eater is found in the Bloomfield River District about the tops of the high mountain ranges. I 

 have never seen it in the scrubs or in the low lying country near the coast." Mr. Bertie Hislop 

 who was resident for some time near Cooktown, informed me that he never met with this species 

 in the scrubs of the Endeavour River. 



A nest in the Australian 

 Museum collection, obtained by 

 the late Mr. W. S. Day at Boar 

 Pocket, near Cairns, on the 28th 

 November, 1 89 1 , and here figured, 

 is a cup-shaped structure, out- 

 wardly composed of long pliant 

 stems of a climbing plant and 

 portions of soft reddish-brown 

 stems of a small fern ; inside it is 

 neatly lined with a white wiry- 

 looking vegetable fibre, forming 

 a strong contrast to the reddish- 

 brown hue of the exterior ; it 

 measures externally four inches 

 and a half in diameter by two 

 inches and six-tenths in height, 

 the inner cup measuring two 

 inches and a half in diameter by 

 one inch and six-tenths in depth. This nest which contained two partially incubated eggs, and 

 from which the parents were procured, was placed about three feet from the ground, on a mass 

 of creepers growing over a small shrub. It is built of stronger materials than is generally used 

 by the species of this genus. 



The eggs from the above nest are oval in form, tapering gently to the smaller end, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth and almost lustreless. They are dull white, with minute dots and 

 rounded markings of purplish-black and purplish-grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath 

 the surface of the shell. As usual, the markings predominate on the thicker ends, where in 

 places they are confluent forming there small irregular zones ; over the remainder of the shell they 

 are larger and more sparingly dispersed in one specimen, on the other they are evenly distributed. 

 Length (A) 0-93 x 0-65 inches; (6)0-95 '^ o'^j inches. These eggs are unlike those of typical 

 specimens of the genus Plilotis, and approach nearer in colour and disposition of their markings 

 to those of Certhiouyx variegatiis and A rtamus sordidus. 



XESr AND F.Gr;S OF THE BRIDLED IIOSEVEATER. 



