127 



uniform fleshy.white, others are almost devoid of n.arkin.s. The set fr rn t e -st JusUes nbed 

 measures:-Length(A)o-95 x 07 inches; (B)o-y: x 0-7 .nches. '^ ^'^'^-'^''- ""■ '''■^'^'''l^^^^l 

 collectior,, taken by Mrs. N. Grave on King Island, u. Noven.ber, 1893. measures .-Length 

 (A) 0-87 X 0-68 inches; (B) o-S8 x o-68 inches. 



Mr. Malcolm Harrison writes me:-"The Yellow-throated Honey-eater is widely distributed 

 in Tasmania, I have seen it in the high Lake country, although not in the numbers which obtain 

 in the low lands, especially about Hobart, where it is very plentiful. The nests are forme o 

 twigs, strips of bark and spiders' cocoons, and lined with fur or hair-nearly always the latter 

 it wo;id appear where cattle are common. They are usually placed about a cpuple of feet from 

 the ground in a low shrub, the bird apparently having no liking for any particular specie 

 although I have found more nests in young "Box" shrubs (Bursana s^,..,; than in any other 

 occasionally they are attached to the fronds of the ordinary bracken fern. The eggs are two or 

 hree in number'for a sitting, and in my experience about Hobart, the latter is more common 

 Nesting operations are commenced early, but the three principal months are September, October, 

 and November. 



Mr R N. Atkinson writes me from Waratah, Mount Bischoff, Tasmania :---"P^;/o^.5 

 Aavi^ulans possesses a loud clear note resembling 'chock-chock-chock,' also a succession of low 

 runnin. notes. It usually builds its nest in a low shrub, I have found it at heights varying fron. 

 a few inches to eight feet from the ground. On more than one occasion I have noted an interval 

 of a fortnic^ht from the apparent completion of the nest until the first egg was laid. My uncle 

 the Rev H. D. Atkinson of Evandale, found a nest on 13th October, 1887, containing three eggs. 

 The nest was a deep cup-shaped structure, lined with wool and built in a low scrubby bush. 



Ptilotis flava. 



YELLOW UONEY-EATER. 

 J'UMs ;/«.,, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 136; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV pi 42 (1^48); 

 U., H.ndbk. Bds. Aust, Vol. I., p. 518 (186-5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Bnt. Mus, \ ol. IX., p 

 246 (1884). 

 Adult malr-^« ihe upper sur/ac. including the head, wings and tail olic.ydlow ; inner webs 

 of quills brown; the entire under surface, under toing and under tail-coverts dehcate cUrou-yMorc ; 

 in front of the eye a small dusky spot; ear-coverts and cheeks olive-yellow: a short Mnct streak 

 above and behind the eye and another below the lores extending obliquely across the cheeks yellow. 

 Total length H-7 inches, tving 3-5, tail S-3, bill 0-6, tarsus 0-9. 

 Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 

 Z)is<n6!(<io?i— North-eastern Queensland, 

 rr^mi Yellow Honey-eater is freely dispersed in some of the coastal districts of North- 

 i eastern Oueensland. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection 



obtamed by Mr. £ Spaldmg near Cardwell, and by Mr. J. Rainbird at Port Denison. Dr. 

 Ramsay r^n,^r\,s:-- Ptilotis flava, a very beautiful species and perhaps the most common bird 

 about Cardwell, is frequently seen clinging to the flowers of the bananas and plantains in 

 cultivations. When among the blossoms of the Acacia they are scarcely discernable, so closely 

 does their yellow plumage match the tint of the blossoms."" 



Dr Ramsayt has also included Cape York District, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, in the 

 range of this species. It is remarkable, however, that Pttlotis /<m^^oe^mDt^appear^nany 



' * Proc. ZooL Soc, 1875, p. 596 



t 'lab List Austr. Bds. p. 13 (1S8S). 



