274 



Ramsay, Field Notes on the Painted Honey-eater. [,J'^'a",v 



Christmas eve, igicj, found me at the same place, and as the 

 camping ground was approached. I was delighted to find the 

 birds so numerous that, during that and the following week-end, 

 nine nests were discovered within an area of about half a mile 

 by a quarter. They were all built among the outer branches of 

 Casuarinas ; one actually overhanging the water. They varied in 

 height from I2 to 30 feet. Six of the nine held two young birds 

 each, two each contained two heavily-incubated eggs, and one 

 nest ' discovered when being built was later deserted, prol:)ably 

 owing to continued heavy rain. 



All the birds were exceedingly tame, and paid little attention 

 to anything but their particular duty at the time. This was 

 well instanced by the fact that, in an endeavour to obtain 

 some photographs, I sat for some hours within a measured six 

 feet of a nest containing two young birds, without causing the 

 parents any apparent misgiving. Unfortunately the conditions 

 were most unsuitable for the work, both as regards the weather 

 and the camera employed. Both parents fed the young continu- 

 ally, at intervals of five to ten minutes, with the exception of 

 about two hours at mid-day, during which only an occasional 

 visit was paid to the nest. 



The only food supplied was Mistletoe berries which appeared to 

 have the outer skin removed, leaving visible the sticky substance 

 surrounding the seed. 



Close observers will have noticed that the adult birds of several 

 genera will frequently devour the small sac excreted by their 

 young ; at this nest I occasionally saw the parent seize the excreta 

 from one young and immediately feed the other with it. The 

 berry, however, seemed to be in almost the same state as when 

 devoured, and probably the excessive excitement always exhibited 

 bv the young upon the parents' arrival caused the action before 

 the fleshy covering had been digested from the seed proper. 



The adult birds are most bright and showy, always on the 

 move, and continually calling to one another. They will fly long 

 distances direct from and to different feeding trees, or from feed- 

 ing trees to the nest, which makes nest-finding a much easier 

 matter than it would otherwise be, as the scanty structure of a 

 ' few interlaced rootlets is practically invisible among the at- 

 tenuated "leaves" of the Casuarinas. 



Both parents incubate, and the male feeds the female constantly, 

 though I did not observe the reverse to be the case. 



Nearly all the adults showed a black spot or two on the breast, 

 l)ut the breasts of some of the young that could fly were of a 

 l)cautiful snowy white. The backs of the juveniles were a fuscous 

 or dusky drab, and their bills had not attained the beautiful 

 pinkish-lilac of the bills of their parents. The eyes also had a 

 greyish tinge that was lacking in the adult specimens.* 



* A nice series of juvenile skins has been added to the " H. L. White 

 Collection," National Museum, Melbourne. 



