OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA. 149 



STRIATED PARDALOTE 



(Striated Diamond -bird), 

 Pardalotns ornatus, Teinin. 



Par-<la-lohis or-no'-tufi. 



Pnrdalotus, spotted like the pardalis, pard ; ornatus, ornamented. 



Pardalotus striatus, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fol., vol. ii., pi. 38. 



Geographical Distribution. — Areas 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. 



Key to the Species. — Head streaked white on hinder crown and 

 occiput; all primaries edged with white, forming large wing patch ; 

 speculum red or yellow : strong, short bill, mandibles almost equal ; 

 nasal membranes concealed by plumes. 



The genus to which the Pardalote belongs is strictly 

 Australian, is composed of eight species, and ranges through- 

 out the continent. This particular species is practically 

 ubiquitous. It is not so much a " Diamond-bird " in appear- 

 ance as P. pimctatus or the Forty-spotted species of Tasmania, 

 but, being similar in structure and habits, it is placed in that 

 class. The genus is quite an insectivorous one, and all its 

 members breed in holes in the ground or in trees. It is 

 generally thought P. ornatus breeds in both places. On 

 this point further evidence is needed. This, I trust, will be 

 suppUed by some specially intelligent observer favourably 

 situated. 



Nest. — A drilled hole in the bank of a creek, or possibly a 

 tree hollow, at the end of which (say 18 inches from the 

 entrance) is a compact and rounded open nest of grasses, 

 sometimes almost domed. 



Eggs. — Four or five to a sitting ; white, rounded. Length, 

 0.65 inch ; breadth, 0.55 inch. 



