233 



PARDALOTUS. 



Immature males have the crimson tips to the primary-coverts smaller ar.d the feathers on 

 the crown of head dull black, some of them having ashy-brown t.ps. 



Pardalotus quadragintus. 



FORTY-SPOTTED DIAMOND-BIRD. 

 fi u P,.,^n Znol Soc 1837 D. 148; i-7., Bds. Austr, fol, Vol. II., pL 37 

 (1848); id, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 160 (1865); Sharps, Cat. Bds. Br.t. Mus., 

 Vol. X., p. 62 (1885). 

 Adult uxi^^-General colour above dull olive-green ,vith blackish margir^s to most of the feathers, 

 the apical portion of those on the head having s,uall blackish centres; upper tail-coverts oUve-y el ou. 

 the Lgestones iLing dull grey centres, narro^o blackish shaft lines and brighter ,«Z o. . p. 

 Usser wing-coverts like the back, the median and greater coverts black wUh a rounded spo ofwhUe at 

 the tip ■ quills blackish, all but the outermost primary u.-ith a spot of ,Mte at the tip of the outer u:eb 

 increasing in size tou^ards the innermost secondaries, most of the quills being narrowly edged externally 

 with oreyish-Mte, the outer u,eb of the first primary edged with white; tail feathers dusky-grey 

 blackish towards the tips which are edged with u^hite; lores, feathers above and below the eye and the 

 ear-coverts dull olive-yellow; all the under surface ashy->cldte with ^nd^st^nct dusky centres to the 

 feathers, the sides of the breast and abdomen washed roith olive-yellow; under ta^l-coverts yellow. 

 Total length SS inches, wing 2-25, tail IS, bill 0-25, tarsus 0-7. 

 Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 

 Distribution— Tasm^nm; King Island, Bass Strait. 

 r^LTHOUGH conspicuously marked on the wings the Forty-spotted Diamond-bird is 

 /\. otherwise the most uniformly plumaged species of the genus, from all members of which 

 it may also be distinguished by its comparatively small bill. The only place I observed this 

 species during a visit to Tasmania in December 1906, was at the Cascades near Hobart. There 

 are a number of specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Mr. George 

 Masters at the Ouse River and Mount Wellington, and by Mr. K. Broadbent at Badger Head. 

 Specimens were also procured by the members of the Field Naturalist's Club of Victoria on 

 King Island, in Bass Strait. 



Mr George K. Hinsby sends me the following note:-" Pavdalotus q,uuhagint„s inhabits 

 Eastern'and Southern Tasmania. It frequents only the Eucalyptus forests, not being found m 

 the large tracts of Myrtle or Pine of the South-west and West. I found it breeding in the hign 

 gums ( Eucalyptus viminalis) at the heads of the Scamander and George Rivers. It is usuaUy found 

 fn eums from one hundred to three hundred feet high and scrub of dififerent varieties beneath, 

 and it appears only to exist on the Eucalypts ; I have never seen it feeding on other varieties 

 of trees I took a nest on Bruni Island from a hollow spout of a White Gum, it was the 

 lowest 'l have seen and was about thirty feet from the ground. The nest is a dome-shaped 

 compact structure, made principally of the l^bre of Eucalyptus bark, and the eggs are white 

 and usually fonr in number. I observed this species at South Port, on D'Entrecasteaux 

 Channel, and wherever the Eucalyptus occurs in forest along the channel and Derwent River 

 to Glenora, in fact all over the country except in too open forests." 



The following information has been extracted from notes sent me by Mr. A. L. Butler of 

 ndb2.xV-"Payddotus quadragintus is difficult to locate, as it is very silent, and is usually searching 

 for food amongst the thick leaves of the Blue Gum, over thirty feet from the ground. The 

 nosition of the nest is in a hollow limb of a tree, about twenty-five to thirty-five feet from the 

 Ground and usually from eight to twelve inches from the opening. The nest is made of hne 



