528 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



that had possessed themselves of one of the high trees that 

 had been left standing in the middle of the city, which tree, 

 during the whole period of my stay, they kept sole possession 

 of, sallying forth and beating off every bird that came near, 

 I met with it in great abundance among the brushes of New 

 South Wales, and also found it breeding in the low apple-tree 

 flats of the Upper Hunter. I have occasionally seen flocks of 

 from fifty to a hundred in number, passing from tree to tree 

 as if engaged in a partial migration from one part of the 

 country to another, or in search of a more abundant supply 

 of food. 



The nest, which is usually constructed on the overhanging 

 branch of a Eucalyptus, is round, cup-shaped, about five 

 inches in diameter, composed of fine grasses, and lined with a 

 little wool and hair. The eggs are two in number, of a deep 

 yellowish buff", marked all over with indistinct spots and irre- 

 gular blotches of chestnut-red and dull purplish grey, parti- 

 cularly at the larger end, where they frequently form a zone ; 

 they are eleven lines long by eight lines and a half broad. 



The stomachs of the specimens I killed and dissected on the 

 Hunter were entirely filled with liquid honey ; insects, how- 

 ever, doubtless form a considerable portion of their diet. 



The sexes are nearly alike in colouring, but the female is 

 much smaller than the male, and the young are destitute of 

 the warty excrescences on the face, that part being partially 

 clothed with feathers. 



Head, neck, upper part of the back, chin, and chest black ; 

 scapularies black, broadly margined with pale yellow ; lower 

 part of the back black, margined with yellowish white ; upper 

 tail-coverts like the scapularies ; wings black, the coverts 

 margined with yellow ; spurious wing yellow ; primaries 

 black, with an oblong stripe of yellow occupying the margin 

 of the outer and a portion of the inner web next the quill, 

 which is black ; secondaries black, broadly margined on the 

 outer web with yellow ; under surface black, with an arrow- 



