PARDALOTUS. 



231 



Pardalotus melanocephalus. 



BLACK-HEADED DIAMOND-BIRD. 



Pardalotus melanocephalus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 149 ; id., Bds. Aust,, fol., Vol. II., pi 40 



(1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 165 (1865); Sharps Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. 



X., p. 60 (1885). 



Adult UAL^.-General colour above ashy-brown .liyhfly tiurdunfh olive; rmnp and upper tail - 



coverts huffy-brown, brighter on Ike former; upper toimj-coverts and quills black, the basal portion of 



the third 'to the seventh primaries, except a narrow margin on the inner web close to the shajt white, 



the secondaries edged with white around the tips, which extends als. /.. the apical portion of the 



outer webs of the innermost; tips of primary-coverts crimson; tail hind, the lateral Jeathers with a 

 .pot of white at the end of the inner web, these spots becominy larger towards the outermost Jeathers mi 

 either side; lores, forehead, croxcn, and sides of the head Mack; a broad streak extends from the nostril 

 on to the sides of the nape, th. nnferiur portion being orange-yelloto, and that above and behind the eye 

 white- cheeks and sides. f throat whitish; chin, centre <f throat and fore neck bright yellow; centre 

 of the breast and abdomen white separated from the .Ides <f the breast, which are pale buff y-br own, 

 by a line of yellow; fanks and under taU-coverts pale huff. Total length S-5 inches, wxng 2-35, 

 tail 1-S, bill 0-28, tarsus (1-7. 



Adult FEMALK-Ni'»u7«;- in plumage to the male. 

 Distribution— Queensland, Northern New South Wales. 

 ^C5X VER nearly the whole of the coastal and contiguous districts of Eastern Queensland and 

 KU North-eastern New South Wales the present species is generally distributed in favourable 

 situations. Specimens obtained by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant at Double Island, 

 near Cairns, North-eastern Queensland, are slightly smaller and have the rump, upper tail-coverts, 

 and flanksof a richer buff, and the centre of the breast and abdomen of a purer white than 

 spechnens procured in the Clarence River District, New South Wales. The wing-measurement 

 of adult males from the former locality being 3-35 inches, and of the latter 3-5 mches. 



In habits Pardalotus mdanocephalus resembles P.pundatus, resorting to trees principally to obtain 

 its food which consists entirely of msects, and nesting at the end of a tunnel made in the ground. 

 It was common during my visit to the Clarence River in November 1898, Mr. George Savidge 

 drawin- my attention to it nesting in a bank on the roadside close to South Grafton. Several 

 of its nests with eggs were dug out during my stay at Copmanhurst. The breedmg season is as 

 a rule much earlier, Mr. Savidge having taken eggs in May, June, and July. At Duannga, 

 Queensland, the late Mr. George Barnard informed me that this species was breeding in July 

 and August, 1888, the coldest months of the year, the thermometer in the early morning being 

 frequently down below 20'. 



From Copmanhurst, Mr. George Savidge sends me the following notes:-- Pavdalotus 

 mdanocephalus, is as you know, common in the Upper Clarence River District. It breeds nearly 

 all the year round, I have observed it burrowing in March and April and have taken eggs in 

 December, but the middle of July seems to be the height of their breeding season. These birds 

 usually form burrows about eighteen inches in length in banks, making their nests, which are 

 crenerally dome-shaped but sometimes open at the top, principally of narrow strips of bark and 

 bark fibre." Writing in June 1907, Mr. Savidge remarks:-" I took eggs from a nest oiPardalotus 

 mdanocephalus this year formed at the end of a burrow in the earth of an uprooted tree. Close to 

 it side by side, in a similar position, was the nesting place of Halycon mackayi." 



The nest is built of fine strips and shreds of bark intermingled with fine dried grasses, and 

 is constructed in an enlarged chamber at the end of a tunnel, from eighteen inches to two feet in 



