38 M \' Souihrc f f niicy-luUcr. 



and even this one is a past memory. The Zoo have possessed 

 quite a few Garrulous Honey-eaters (Mycaiitha garrula), and so 

 have ])rivate avicuhurists, l)ut I do not think any have possessed 

 Ai . ubscura ; of course, u])on this point 1 am open to correction. 



It is the Sombre, Dusky, or Obscure Miner of the 

 colonists, l)ut it is a Honey-Eater, and quite distinct from the 

 Indian Mynas. The former belons^' to the h'amily M cliphagidcc 

 and the latter to F . Sturnidcc. 



Gould states that this species inhabits Swan River and 

 the S W: portion of Australia g'enerally, wdierc it beautifully 

 represents the Garrulous Honey-eater of N.S. Wales. He 

 ciuotes Gilbert as follows: — ■ 



" It inha1)its every variety of wontlcd situation in all i)arts of the 

 ' colony, and is generally met with in small families. In flying, the wings 

 ''' move very rapidly, but the bird does not make progress in proportion to 

 " the apparent exertion ; at titnes when passing from tree to tree its flight 

 '' is graceful in the extreme. The stomach is small but tolerably muscular, 

 " and the food, which consists of coleopterous and other insects, seeds and 

 " berries, is procured both on the ground or among the branches. The 

 " nest is budt on an u]iright fork of the topmost branches of the smaller 

 'gum-trees, and is formed of small dried sticks lined with soft gras.ses 

 " and feathers. The eggs are of a rich orange-buff, obscurely spotted and 

 " blotched with a deeper tint, particularly at the larger end. The sexes 

 " offer but little difference in colour, but the female is somewhat smaller 

 " in all her measurements." 



The above is a terse description of the bird (almost a life 

 history) of this species in its native haunts, and I w-ill now 

 pioceed to describe this in captivity as exhibited to me by the 

 one individual, prefacing' this with a brief account as to how it 

 came irjtn my possession. 



'Twas on Saturday, May 2nd, 1908, that I w-ent to spend 

 n week-end with our member Mr. O. Millsum, then resident at 

 vSwindon; after leavin^q- my bag" at Swindon, we entrained for 

 Bath. At the station we were met by the late Col. (then Capt.) 

 Perreau, and together we wended our way to the Little Zoo, 

 tf, view the marvellous collection of Australian birds brought 

 over by Messrs. Payne »S: Wallis. Never have I, before or 

 since, seen such a collection of Australia's wnld creatures of the 

 air, and never will it pass from my memory — I see it all o'er 

 again as T write. 



But this is an account of the vSombre Honey-eater and T 



