CINNYUIS. 205 



tlie feathfivs belireen the latter and the hare space on the sides of the throat dull grey, and onli/ a few 

 of the feathers on the sides of the neck tipped irith dull i/ellotv. Total h-ngtli U-S inches, wing 5-J.5, 

 tail .If 6, hill 0-S2, tarsus Vlo. 



Adult female— .S'ii/iiVm?- in plumage to the male. 



Distrihniion — Western Australia. 

 Al^HE Sombre Miner is an inhabitant of Soutli-western Australia. Gould, who described 

 -L this species, states that in this portion of the continent it represents the Myzantha 

 garrula of New South Wales. Although of a distinctly darker hue, in the general character 

 of its markings, Myzantha obscura is more closely allied to M. flavignla. The latter species 

 is also found in Western Australia. Collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum, Mr. George Masters procured fifteen specimens of M. obscura at Mongup, Salt River, 

 Western Australia, in i868-g. Specimens from this locality are slightly duller in colour than 

 an example sent me for examination and obtained by Mr. Edwin Ashby near Perth. 



A nest in the Australian Museum collection, taken by ;\Ir. Tom Carter, at Broome Hill, 

 South-western Australia, on the 3rd November, igo6, is a large open cup-shaped structure, 

 externally formed of thin twigs, and long plant stems, the inside being thickly lined with fine 

 dried grasses, with which is intermingled some reddish bark-fibre and Zamia w^ool. Externally 

 it averages six inches in diameter by three inches in depth, the inner cup measuring three inches 

 in diameter by two inches in depth. It was built about fifteen feet from the ground in a White 

 Gum sapling, and contained two eggs. Mr. Carter informs me that he had a set of three eggs 

 brought him that were taken at the end of January 1907. 



The eggs sent show that they vary in shape and colour as much as those of Myzantha flavigula. 

 One is rounded oval in form with a rich reddish-buff ground colour, over which is thickly 

 distributed dots, spots, and blotches of a darker shade of the ground colour, but particularly on 

 the thicker end, where a cap is formed. Length (A) 0-98 x 077 inches. The other is elongate- 

 oval in form tapering gently towards the smaller end, and of a pale salmon-red ground colour, 

 which is sparingly dotted, spotted and blotched with chestnut- and purplish-red, the markings 

 being larger and predominating on the thicker end. Length (A) i-o8 x 07 inches. 



Two eggs in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection, taken at Subiaco, near Perth, Western 

 Australia, in September 1897, are short ovals in form, the shell being smooth, close-grained and 

 almost lustreless. They are of a rich orange-buff with numerous spots and dots of dull chestnut 

 and purplish-red, the markings on one specimen being almost obsolete, and barely distinguishable 

 from the ground colour. Length (A) 1-03 x 079 inches; (B) 1-07 x 077 inches. The eggs 

 of this species cannot be distinguished from those of its close ally Myzantha flavigula. 



Young birds resemble the adults but have a pale brown wash on the upper parts, and there 

 is scarcely any indication of the dull yellow tips to the feathers on the sides of the neck. \\'ing, 

 47 inches. 



Family NECTARINIID.^. 



Oen-as CI3Sr2Sr"2"ISI3, Cuvier. 



Cinnyris frenata. 



SUX-HIRD. 

 Nectarinia frenata, S. Miill., Nat. Gesch. Land-en Volkeiik., p. 173 (1843). 

 J}fectarinia australis, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. T., p. -"iSl (186-5); id., Suppl. Bds. Austr , 



fob, pi. 45 (1869). 

 Cyrtostomus frenitus, Salvad., Orn. Pap. et Molucc , Pt. II, p. 265 (1881). 

 Cinnyris frena'a, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 85 (1884). 



