I08 Fletcher, Honey-eaters of Cleveland District, Tas. [anfo'ct 



Miner {Myzantha {Manorhina) <^arriila). — This part of Tasmania 

 appears to be one of tlie strongholds of this species, consequently 

 they are very numerous. In whatever direction a ramble is 

 taken, the jolly Miners are sure to be there, though very often 

 their persistent alarum cries create a strong dislike in the mind 

 of the observer to his grey-feathered watchers. In several parts 

 of this district were tracts of country so barren of bird-life that 

 I called them " Saharas.'' Strange that these should be the 

 chief nesting districts of the Magpie {Gymnorhina hyperleucus) 

 and the Miner. Generally, a nest of each bird was in the same 

 tree. 



Last season two Miners drove a pair of Yellow Wattle-Birds 

 from their partly-finished nest, padded it a little more, and 

 occupied it. The pair of eggs laid was remarkably long for 

 Miners'. 



For the last three winters a flock of 30 Miners came regularly 

 to the kitchen window for food. After a while the more venture- 

 some ones flew on to the table and took food there. Once three 

 perched on my sister's hand and ate the crumbs from her palm. 

 By August, however, the call of the wild life was too strong, and 

 all departed. 



Yellow Wattle-Bird {Acanthochcera inauris). Brusli Wattle- 

 Bird {Acanthochczra mellivora). — Both species of Wattle-Birds are 

 constant residents of our banksian tracts, though the latter is in 

 greater numbers. My experiences with them at Cleveland tend 

 to show that they are very local — that is, one pair will generally 

 be found in its favourite hunting-ground throughout the year. 

 When the banksia blooms were exhausted the flowers of the 

 white gum or stringy-bark were resorted to. In the cracks and 

 crevices of the black wattles they often obtained the tiny black 

 beetles, of which they seem very fond. 



During nesting season Hawks, Crows, and Butcher-Birds were 

 relentlessly chevied from the special group of trees. The loud 

 call of the Wattle-Birds made the finding of the nest an easy 

 matter, and even before the season commenced it was possible to 

 note the location where in all probability the home would be built. 



The winter and early spring of igio proved an exception to the 

 three former years. Both species of Acanthochcera suddenly left the 

 district, and did not return until the third week of October, when 

 their noisy voices made the forest lively again. As the year 1910 

 was, according to residents of Cleveland, the wettest for 26 years, 

 this would probably be the reason, particularly as the banksia 

 blooms failed. Nesting operations were therefore very late com- 

 pared to the previous year, the earliest record of which showed 

 Brush Wattle-Bird's nest with two eggs found on loth September. 

 One could not help noticing how untidily made were the nests 

 found last season. I suppose the late return of the birds to 

 their nesting haunts was the cause. I remember noticing three 

 nests during the third week of November last. So untidy and 

 neglected was their appearance that I mentally classed them as 



