SOUTH AND CENTRAL AUSTRALIA 183 



insects to be found it will get them. The whole 

 family is noted for its insect eating ways and ac- 

 cordingly it is always placed among the most 

 valuable of economic birds. K in map 77, is the tit- 

 warbler that keeps to the samphire scrub of St. 

 Vincent's Gulf; the vegetation, having had a con- 

 trolling influence, has made a race of it. 



VARIATION GROWS FROM EAST TO WEST 

 (Plate 3, Fig. 78) 



Birds are like the hills in so far as they are 

 always changing. Though time does work the 

 change both take a long while about it. 



The Brown-headed Honey-eater is in countless 

 numbers in the Victorian forests, and is fairly uni- 

 form in colour. Getting towards South Australia 

 it, at first, has a mallee change, then a, b, c, in map 

 78. Further west on the Nullabor Plain it becomes 

 the western species with a white mark, d. This 

 is quite an obscure honey-eater; difficult to know 

 except when on the wing. 



The Western White-eared Honey-eater, c, is 

 differentiated from A, and the Kangaroo Island "a" 

 is an island race of b, as c is a desert race of b. 



In the coastal scrubs of Victoria and Southern 

 New South Wales it is a common species. The 

 nest is made of the hair of kangaroo or cattle, with 

 grass inside. The eggs, excepting for a few spots, 

 are white, which is uncommon in this family. 



