153 



PLKCTORHYSCHUS. 



Masters at Gayndah, on the Burnett River, and by Mr. K. Broadhent on the Darhn, Downs 

 Queensland, and numerous specimens procured on the Lachlan R.ver, and at Moolah Sta. on 

 by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, and by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and R. Grant at Bourke m Western 

 New South Wales. At West Narrabri I found this bird breeding freely m November 1896, and 

 obtained nests with fresh eggs, newly hatched young, and also procured fledgelings about sue 

 weeks old. In November 1897, i" company with Mr. J. A. Thorpe, the Tax.derm.s , spec.mens 

 were also obtained at Moree, but it was far less numerous ^^^^ ^^^^^-b";^.^"^"^' ^\' "^^ 

 with in pairs, frequenting chiefly the Eucalypti and the Bastard Myalls or " WhUe-woods ( Atalaya 

 hemiglla), and their cheerful notes were often heard in the trees in the garden and around the 

 house. While Mr. Thorpe was engaged in skinning, on several occasions these birds used to 

 come and drink at a tap, only a few feet away from where we were seated. 



Stomachs of the specimens obtained at Moree, contamed only the remains of msects, 

 principally small beetles. With a specu^en m the flesh, forwarded to the Trustees of the 

 Australian Museum by Mr. C. F. Bolton, in March 1S94. the following note was sent:- This 

 bird occurs in small flocks of three or four in the neighbourhood ot XX agga dunng Ma ch, 

 and is very destructive to grapes, picking a hole in each one but not eatmg any of U. Their 

 notes are very loud and resembles 'chirp, chirp, cherry, cherry.'" 



The late Mr K. H. Bennett, who collected the greater number of the specimens of the 

 Lanceolated Honey-eater in the Australian Museum collection, writes as follows :-" Plectoyhynchus 

 lanccoMus is widely distributed throughout the clumps of trees scattered over the plains, and m 

 thickly timbered country between the Lachlan and Darling Rivers in South-western New South 

 Wales. As a rule it is generally met with singly or in pairs, but I have on several occasioris 

 seen flocks numbering from ten to twelve individuals. Although I have had considerable 

 experience of this bird, I never yet knew of its feeding on the nectar of flowers, its food consisting 

 so far as my observations go, entirely of insects. The nest, a deep cup-shaped structure, is placed 

 at the extreme end of some drooping branch, frequently only a few feet from the ground No 

 bird defends its nest with greater pertinacity than the present species, hawks, crows, and even 

 man being attacked with the utmost fury. Meanwhile the bird keeps up a shrill whistling note 

 occasionally alights on some neighbouring branch, and moves its tail feathers up and down much 

 after the manner of the White-winged Chough {Corcoyax melanorhampus.) 



The nest is a deep cup-shaped structure, formed of thin dried grasses, coated externally 

 with plant down or wool, often so thickly with the latter material that the thin grasses forming 

 the inner walls are entirely hidden. An average nest measures externally four inches m diameter 

 by four inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring at the rim, which is often slightly 

 contracted three inches m diameter, and the depth three inches and a half. It is slung to 

 thin droopin- leafy twigs or branches, the structure usually not being flat at the rim but running 

 up into several pomts where it is fastened to the branches, giving it a festooned appearance. 

 One of the most beautiful nests I have seen of this species was received from Mr Charles 

 French lunr., and taken by Mr. Charles McLennan on Pine Plains Station m the W immera 

 District \'ictoria, in September 1902. It is of the usual deep cup-shaped form and constructed 

 ofihin dried grass stems, plant down and a few white feathers woven together, the lining 

 consisting principally of fine dried grass stems. Firmly worked into the upper portion of the 

 structure is a number of Emu tail-feathers, the ends of which would partially obscure the 

 bird while sitting, others stand out at nearly right angles over the rim or gracefully droop 

 down the sides. It is attached to the thin leafy twigs of a species of Eucalyptus and it contained 

 ecrgs in an advanced stage of incubation. At West Narrabri all the nests I found were built in 

 Sandal-wood trees or in "Belars" (Casuanna glauca), one of the latter of which is now mounted 

 with the birds, in the Group Collection. The nests were all placed in the terminal ends of 

 droopin- lateral branches, those in the "Belars" averaging about fifteen feet in height, and up 



Mm 



