236 Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall un 



58. CiNNVRis cHALYBKA. (Lcsser Double-collared Sun- 

 bird.) 



This is tiie commonest of our Sun-birds, and, like the 

 others, it is most abundant towards the close of the dry 

 season, when the yet leafless kafirbooms [Erythrina) are 

 ablaze with their scarlet flowers, which seem to afford a 

 special attraction to these birds. It is a familiar and fearless 

 species, and capable of singing very sweetly. The nests, 

 though often suspended, are more frequently supported by 

 twigs. 



59. CiNNYRis OLivACEA. (OHve Sun-bird.) 



This seems to be racher scarce, but may have been over- 

 looked among the females of its gaudier relatives. Apart 

 from a solitary female in my collection, I have observed only 

 a pair, which were feeding on the flowers of a Eucalyptus 

 in the town and allowed an approach within a few yards. 

 My specimen measured 4 inches from the tip of the tail to 

 the base of the beak, the latter being 10 lines in length. 



60. CiNNYRis GUTTURALis. (Scarlet-chestcd Sun-bird.) 

 This fine bird is not nearly so plentiful as C. chalybea and 



C kirki, and seems to absent itself from about January to 

 June, though perhaps it may be that the male loses his fine 

 plumage during this period. The nest is generally sup- 

 ported by small twigs 10 or 15 feet from the ground, and is 

 somewhat untidy in appearance, being almost identical with 

 that of C. chalybea ; it is domed and porched, and is com- 

 posed of grass-fibres intermixed with down and a few dead 

 leaves, the whole being bound together with spiders'-web, 

 and the inside lined with fine grass and down. The eggs 

 (19x14 mm.) are two in number, of a pale olive ground- 

 colour, spotted, streaked, and pencilled with dark vandyke- 

 brown and with large pale underlying splashes and blotches, 

 some of the markings being collected in an irregular 

 zone round the larger end, and occasionally a good deal 

 suflfused. I do not recollect hearing this species sing, but 

 it utters a very loud chirp, often with almost monotonous 

 iteration. 



