INSESSORES. 585 



many species of the Melipha(/id(B. Its note, whicli is a sharp 

 shrill cry, prolonged for about ten seconds, may be represented 

 by ' Tsee-tsee-fsee-tss-ss-ss-ss.' The male appears to be of a 

 pugnacious disposition, as I have more than once seen it drive 

 away and pursue a visitor to the same tree ; perhaps, how- 

 ever, this disposition is only exhibited during the breeding- 

 season. I found its nest on several occasions, as will be seen 

 by the following extracts from my note-book : — 



"Nov. 29, 1849. — Cape York. Found two nests of Necta- 

 rinia to-day : one on the margin of a scrub, the other in a 

 clearing. The nests were pensile, and in both cases were 

 attached to the twig of a prickly bush : one, measuring seven 

 inches in length, was of an elongated shape, with a rather 

 large opening on one side close to the top ; it was composed 

 of shreds of Melaleuca bark, a few leaves, various fibrous 

 substances, rejectamenta of caterpillars, &c., and lined with 

 the silky cotton of the Bombax Australis. The other, which 

 was similar in structure, contained a young bird, and an egg 

 with a chick almost ready for hatching. The female was seen 

 approaching with a mouthful of flies to feed the young. The 

 egg was pear-shaped, generally and equally mottled with ob- 

 scure dirty brown on a greenish-grey ground. 



"Dec. 4th. — Mount Ernest, Torres Straits. A nest of 

 Nectar inia found to-day differs from those seen at Cape York 

 in having over the entrance a projecting fringe-like hood 

 composed of the panicles of a delicate grass-hke plant. It 

 contained two young birds, and I saw the mother visit them 

 twice with an interval of ten minutes between ; she glanced 

 past like an arrow, perched on the nest at once, clinging to 

 the lower side of the entrance, and looked round very 

 watchfully for a few seconds before feeding the young, after 

 which she disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived." 



Mr. Ramsay, in his "List of Birds received from Port 

 Denison, Queensland," published in the 'Ibis' for 18G5, 

 says : — 



