INSESSORES. 543 



Sp. 333. ANELLOBIA LUNULATA, Gould. 



LUNULATED WaTTLE-BIRD. 



Anthocliara lunulata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 153. 



Anellobia lunulata, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 120. 



Melichara lunulata, Reich. Haub. der Spec. Orn., p. 132. 



Djung-gung, Aborigines of the lowland, and 



Tur-dal-l, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia. 



Little Wattle-bird, Colonists of Swan River. 



Anthochsera lumilata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv. pi. 57. 



This species is very nearly allied to the Anthochara melli- 

 vora, but differs from that bird in the greater length of its 

 bill, in the entire absence of the striae down the head and the 

 back of the neck, and in the possession of a lunulate mark of 

 white on either side of the neck. Its natural habitat is 

 Western Australia, where it generally frequents the Banksias 

 bordering rivers and lakes, and in fact all situations similar to 

 those resorted to by its near ally : it is to be found in every 

 part of the colony, but appears to be more abundant in the 

 neighbourhood of Swan River than elsewhere. In its habits it 

 is very solitary and shy, and is moreover very pugnacious, 

 attacking every bird, both large and small, that approaches 

 its domicile. 



Its flight is rapid and uneven, and its general note is a dis- 

 cordant cackling sound of the most disagreeable description. 



" A remarkable circumstance," says Gilbert, " connected 

 with the incubation of this bird is, that it appears to lay but 

 a single egg, and to have no regular time of breeding, its nest 

 being found in abundance from August to November. It is 

 rather small in size, and is deposited in the fork of a perpen- 

 dicular growing branch : the tree most generally chosen is 

 that called by the colonists of Swan River the stink-wood, but 

 it has been found in the parasitic clump of a Banksia, and also 

 in a small scrubby brush two or three feet from the ground ; 

 but it is more frequently constructed at a height of at least 



