206 



NECTARINIID.E. 



Adult male — General colour above olive-yellow, Klnilitlii lirii/li/rrnii llir iippi'r taU-cm-erln: h'xxi'v 

 winy-coverts like the hack, the median and greater coverts uml ([nilh limii-n, rxtmntjl i/ munjini'il u-illi 

 dull olive-yelloiv ; tail feathers black, nil Iml tlip antral pun- tijijiril n-ith irh'itr. mnrr hiviiiUi ,,,i tlir 

 outermost one on either side; forehead, rnncn and si(/i's nt'flir l,,iid ,.Hrr-ii,Hnir a-ith a sliiiht icnsli of 

 broimi; a narrow line extending over and behind the ei/i-. and mml/irr ,,ii,' beneath tlie eye and the 

 ear-coverts briyht yellotv: chin, throat and fore neck dark iiiifallic-lilii,\ j,iirjilish-blue i7i the centre; 

 remainder of the under siorface and imthr I ail-coverts deep yellow, the feathers on the sides of the 

 upper breast orange-yellow; bill lAaek ; li-gs and feet black. Total length ^S inches, iving 2-2, tail 

 1-Jf, bill n 8, tarsus 0-55. 



Adult female — Z);//;';>./;v,»( fhr mah- In hacin.g th- fhroal nndfn;' nn:k uniform de'-j, yellon- 

 with thi- rnnnindrr of the nndrr j„ni.-<: thr chin sliijhlhi pain- yiUoir. and no ontnije-yelknv f-athrr.^ on 

 tiie .sidi's ift/ie npper breast. 



Distribution — The coastal districts of Eastern Queensland. 



ONLY a single representative of the large Family Nectariniida; occurs in Australia. The 

 present species is widely distributed, being found in the Celebes, and various islands 

 of the Moluccas, Aru, Admiralty, Solomon, and Torres Strait groups, also in New Guinea 

 and some of the contiguous islands. The members of the Chevert Expedition obtained 

 specimens on Palm, Sue, Warrior, and Albany Islands; and on the mainland of Australia, 

 at Cape York and Cape Granville. During the \'oyage of M.IM.S. "Alert" specimens were 

 procured on Prince of Wales Island and on Thursday Island. In Australia its recorded range 

 e.xtends from Cape York, throughout the coastal districts to Port Denison, and is represented 

 in the Australian Museum by examples from both of these localities, also from the 

 neighbourhood of Cardwell and Cairns. I have also received its eggs from Cooktown, and the 

 Bloomfield, and Herbert River Districts. The late Mr. George Barnard informed me that his 

 son Mr. W. B. Barnard, found a nest of this species, just ready for eggs, near Rockhampton 

 early in October 1890, and that he procured the female. This is the farthest point south I have 

 known the Sun-bird to be found. 



Respecting the nesting habits of this species I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Boyd who kindly 

 supplied me with the following interesting notes from time to time during many years' residence 

 on Ripple Creek Plantation, Herbert River, North-eastern Queensland: — "On the 30th December 

 i8go, I took a nest of the Sun-bird with two fresh eggs. It was built under the eaves of a grass 

 "humpy," close to the door and was founded on a piece of iibre used for tying on thatch, and in 

 consequence of this being short the birds have not formed the usual long tail below the nest. On 

 the 1 2th October, 1892, I found another nest built on a root hanging through a depending bank 

 which contained two young. On the 4th .August, 1894, a Sun-bird began building on a piece of 

 rope hanging from a rafter in the verandah of my brother's house and on the 6th Septemiber, 1894, 

 the nest contained young birds. My own pair, although 1 have hung out most tempting pieces 

 of rope, refuse to utilize any of them as a nesting site. 1 watched these birds pick out insects from 

 the cracks of the verandah floor when they have a brood to maintain. On the 27th October, 

 1894, I found a nest built on a \ine in scrub; it contained two eggs. The pair of Sun-birds 

 that frequented my brother's house ha\e now, February 1895, bred three times in the verandah, 

 twice in the same place, pulling down and replacing the bottom part of the nest on the second 



occasion. 



"Another pair built at my brother's house, and have now, 15th March, 1895, 3'oung 

 nearly ready to fly. The nest is fixed on the rope suspending the canvas bag in which butter, 

 etc., is put to cool, hanging in the covered way from the kitchen to the house. People must 

 pass within three feet of it at least one hundred times a day, and tlie piano is only a few yards 

 off. On the 12th April, 1895, I saw that a young Sun-bird, bred here, had taken on its first 

 moult, consisting of a black band down the throat, the feathers on each side being very pale 



