129 



PTILOTIS. 



head Uk. 0. I>ack, but M a more pronounced yellou^ >oash, parlicularly on the forehead ; lores sides 

 of I kead and ear-coverts yello.o, the lo.er portion of the latter Uackisk fornnng a pronounced streak 



yellou,, remainder of the under surface and under tarJ-co.erts pale yellou. Total length ., o ^nches. 

 wing -1, tail ;?■-{., bill ()■■'>, tarsus 0-7.1. 



<•■ ■] ... :., iJniiiiiiii' id the mule but s/ii/htli/ Kriinllrr. 

 Adult female— .S'""'"' "' /'""""■'/' '" '" •' ■' 



Z)«..io«-North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Northern 



^^HE'vellow-tinted Honey-eater is widely distributed over the northern portions of the 

 T^ Au tta ian continent. The type was described by Gould ,n t839 from a stngle specimen 

 obtined by Mr. Benjamin Bynoeon the North-western coast of Austraha, durmg the stay there 

 of Her Majesty's Su veying-shtp "Beagle." There are specimens m the Austrahan Museum 

 c ife tio?i ocured by Mr. E. J. Cairn and the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower, near Derby, also 

 by ;;: G.'a. Keart,:nd. near L junction of the F.tzroy and Margaret ^^^^^^^ 

 Australia, and by the late Captain Armit, near Georgetown, Queensland. Dr^ K Ha rtert 

 also recently recorded it from George Creek in the Northern Territory of South Austraha. 



NEST OF THE YELLOW-TISTELI HONEY-EATER. 



Two nests received from Mr. G. A. Keartland are deep cup-shaped structures, outwardly 

 formed of bark fibre, plant down, and spiders' webs fimly woven together, the ins.de bemg thickly 

 lined with fine dried grasses. They are both of about the same average measurements and are 

 built at the junction of thin forked leafy branches oiBauhinia trees, at a height of six feet from the 

 ground. The nest here figured is two inches and a half in diameter by three inches in depth. 



The e-s are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. They are 

 of ali<^ht rrddish-buff ground colour, one specimen being much paler than the other and almost 

 of a fleshy-buff hue, which is spotted and dotted with chestnut and purplish-red; with the exception 

 of a few isolated dots, the markings being confined to a fairly well defined zone around the larger 

 end of each specimen. Length (A) 07 x 0-55 inches; (B) 07 x 0-57 inches. 



There is a slight variation in the colour of specimens, some having the upper parts paler, 

 others have the sides of the head and the throat of a much brighter yellow, particularly the latter. 

 The above description is taken from a richly plumaged male obtained by the late Mr. T. H. 

 Bowyer-Bower, at Derby, North-western Australia in 1886. 



• Nov. Zool , Vol. XII., p. 234 (1905). 



