18G 



MKLIPllAGID.E. 



coverts; ivinijs like the upper hack, hut with only a sliyht tinge of yellowish-olive, inner ivehs of quills 

 dnrk hroivn, outer primaries narrowly edged externally with ashy-white : tail feathers brown, washed 

 with yellowish-olive, except the two outermost feathers on either side; forehead, crown and sides of head 

 and upper portion of hind neck black; a broad band extending from the bare skin behind the eye 

 around the occiput pure white, the hinder portion distinctly washed with dull grey; chin and central 

 portion of upper throat black; cheeks white; lower throat and fore neck greyish-white, gradually 

 passing into a pale greyish-brown on the breast, and brown tinged with faint creamy-bxiff un the 

 abdomen, centre of the abdomen paler; under tail-coverts pale brown tvilh whitish margins; bill 

 black; legs and feet fleshy-brown, soles of feet ochreous; bare skin behind the eye pale greenish-blue; 

 iris reddish- brown. Total length in the flesh 6-2 inches, iving SS, tail 2-7, tarsus 0-73. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but slightly smaller. Wing 3-1 inches. 



Distribution — Tasmania; King Island, Bass Strait. 



a^HE Strong-billed Honey-eater is one of the largest species of the genus Melithirptiis, its 

 wing-measurement being equalled by M. Indior and slightly exceeded by M. gularis, of 

 the Australian continent. It is an inhabitant of Tasmania, and was also found on King Island 

 by members of the Field Naturalists' Club of \'ictoria, in November 1887. There are specimens 

 in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Mr. George Masters at Brown's River, 

 Tasmania in May, 1867, by Mr. K. Broadbent, at Georgetown near Launceston, and it has been 

 received in the flesh from ;Mr. E. D. Atkinson of Waratah, Mount Bischoff. In December, 

 1906, I obtained adults and full fledged young at the Cascades near Hobart. They were 

 frequenting low Acacias on the creek banks, and not the tall Eucalypts, like Mdithreptus 

 melanocephalns, found in the same locality. It appears to be a tame and sociable species. Sitting 

 quietly under a low tree I observed five of these birds in a row on a branch, two adults and three 

 young ones, and two on a branch lower down, picking and cleaning each others feathers. 



In his description of this species, Gould states the occipital band is white, while Dr. H. 

 Gadow in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"- describes it as pure white. In all 

 the adult specimens I have examined, the posterior and greater portion of the white occipital band 

 is conspicuously washed with dull grey. 



Dr. Lonsdale Holden writes me: — "I have met with Mdithreptus validirostris in the coastal 

 districts of both Northern and Southern Tasmania, but most likely it occurs throughout the 

 island where there is light timber. It haunts thickets on hill sides or in gullies, and is never 

 met alone, and has the restless noisy disposition common to most Honey-eaters. Although a 

 cheerful bold bird, often exploring the bark of a tree stem when close to you, I have never seen 

 it in a garden. The nest is a deep cup in form, and in my experience is chiefly constructed of 

 tea-tree bark. Those I have seen were in box-trees fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. I 

 have known of a nest on the ist of November with two eggs, and another with half fledged 

 young on the 3rd January. I have also seen this Honey-eater feeding full-grown young ones on 

 the gth November. The parents vigorously defend their young, and I have known other 

 adult birds of the same species to assist in the defence. Young birds differ from the adults in 

 having the band on the sides of the head and around the nape yellowish." 



Mr. Malcolm Harrison writes me:— "Notwithstanding the wide distribution over Tasmania 

 of Mdithreptus validirostris, and the numbers which may be seen in particular localities, the nests 

 are by no means easily found ; they are cup-shaped structures, mostly formed of bark and wool, 

 and are attached by the rim. Eucalypt saplings and young trees of Pomadcrris apdala are 

 favourite nesting sites, but I have noticed many nests in the Native Cherry (Exocarpus), and 

 when this is the case they are placed much nearer the ground, probably on account of the cover 

 being denser than it would be in a sapling at the same height. Three eggs are laid for a sitting. 



* Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 206 (1S84). 



