^"'iS'"]\\OLSTEXHOLME. .Votes from llahroonr/a. 147 



and both producing: bip- blossoms of a scarlet colour — a good example 

 of protective coloration. Immature birds are sometimes seen with 

 very little scarlet on the back. The female, as in the case of the 

 Mistletce-Bird, has dull plumage and no song, but a chirp, and is 

 rarely seen unless near her nest. About here they often choose a 

 Turpentine tree (Syncarpia latirijolia) or a Sweet PiLtosporum {F. un- 

 dulatitm) for their nests, which are frequently built very low. 



Acanthorhynchns tenuircstris. Spinebill. — This lovely bird is the 

 best-known Honey-eater in the flower gardens. He likes the bright 

 blooms of summer time, and looks very pretty as he flits from plant 

 to plant and gracefully balances or hangs on a flower spike or hovers 

 beside it, while he culls the honey and little insects from the blossom- 

 depths with his long tongue. A pair, perhaps, is on the same stem 

 (the female is the one with duller plumage), and it bends over, may- 

 be to the ground, with their weight. Active and restless and fussy, 

 swift in flight, making a "Frip frup" sound with his rapidly-moving 

 wings as he speeds along, always in a hurry, even his calls — especi- 

 ally the clear whistle, a single note repeated, given "tempo accele- 

 rato" — suggest impatience. Not a finait eater, he is a genuine honey- 

 eater and flower-lover. He often nests in small She-oaks (Casiiarina). 



Meliphaga chrysops. Yellow-faced Honey-eater. — This bird, one 

 of the least attractive of the family to look at, is the most plentiful 

 in these parts, and can always be seen in the native trees or about 

 orchards and gardens. Inveterate orchard-robbers, they place a 

 high value on their services as insect destroyers, when helping them- 

 selves to their wages in the form of fniit. In company with the 

 Lewin or Yellow-eared Honey-eaters ( M. leicini ) and Silver-eyes 

 (Zosterops lateralis) they do great damage to summer fruits and to 

 apples and pears. These are all so greedy, when busy feeding on 

 the fruit, that one can approach and "stand within one or two feet 

 (literally) of them without being noticed. 



The Yellow-faced is the most tameable or least wild of the family — 

 the Soldier-Bird or Noisy Miner ( Myzantha garriila ) excepted. Some 

 come for cheese, almost taking it from our hands. A pair fed a 

 young Pallid Cuckoo (Cucuhts pallidus) four times their size, that 

 took up a position in the nearest peach tree for two days on a liberal 

 diet of cheese cnambs supplied by the household. They are almost 

 as omnivorous as Sparrows, often feeding with them at the scrap- 

 bucket on all kinds of refuse. One had a habit of coming into the 

 kitchen, and was often found on the floor picking up morsels. Here, 

 as elsewhere, they often nest in a bush or creeper quite close to a 

 building. Their note is rather pleasant, but short. 



Meliphaga lewini. Yellow-eared or Lewin Honey-eater. — This 



Honey-eater is common especially in autumn — a finer bird in evei'y 

 way than M. clirysops; of a dull darkish gi'een colour and with a large 

 yellow spot by the ear. It is a robber of the orchards when the fruit 

 is ripe, and, like the Oriole {Oriolns sagittatits) is veiy fond of figs. 

 It also feeds on large insects and spiders, for which it will dart in 

 under the verandah. These birds like thick leafy shrubs or trees 

 such as Lillypilly {Eugenia smitliii) or Sweet Pittosporuni {P.ioidu- 

 latum) for their nests, which are placed not high in the tree and 

 are fairly large and solid and beautifully lined bottom and sides — 

 often with soft, downy material obtained from the seed cases of 

 various plants. The old birds are veiy brave and pugnacious when 

 the young ones are in the nest. Their chief call is a prolonged 

 quavering note, rather musical and pretty. 



Meliphaga melanops. Yellow-tufted Honey-eater. — These are not 

 very plentiful, but companies are frequently seen — handsome bii'ds 

 with projecting eartufts of a rich golden-yellow and dull yellow 

 crown which sometimes appears to be ruffled. Their hoarse notes are 



