Vol.jl.j M'Clymont, Tasmanian Birds at Hotne. 97' 



M elitJirepti {M. validirostris and M. DielanocepJialus), and on the 

 other side of the road a disused paddock, now overgrown with 

 leptospermum and prickly wattle, wherein the Ground-Bird 

 {Cinclosoma punctatuvi) dwells, and round the outskirts of which 

 the Striated Field-Wren {^Calamanthus fuliginosus) flits from 

 bush to bush. The New Holland {Meliornis novce-hollandice) and 

 the Crescent or Tasmanian Honey-eaters {M. mistralasiand) 

 frequent the banksias at the north-east corner of the paddock, 

 and the Spine-billed Honey-eater {Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) 

 assiduously visits the flowerets of Epacris inipressa, which grows 

 everywhere around. The two last-named Honey-eaters are as 

 much at home in the flower gardens of the residents as in the 

 open bush. There are no Noisy Miners {Manor/nna garruld) 

 in this thickly-wooded district Their absence might have been 

 anticipated, but the same cannot be said of the absence (unless 

 it has appeared recently) of the Fulvous-fronted Honey-eater 

 {Glycyphila fulvifrons), which is known on the right bank of the 

 Derwent, a few miles south of Hobart. The remaining Meli- 

 phagidae of the Peninsula are the Yellow-throated Honey-eater 

 {Ptilotis flavigidavis), the Yellow Wattle-Bird, and the Brush 

 Wattle-Bird {Acanthochcsra inauris and A. inellivord), and the 

 White-eye {Zostei'ops coerulesceiis). 



On the 19th and 20th days of June two companies of Crescent 

 Honey-eaters, consisting of about twelve birds in each, passed 

 along this road about four miles from Hobart. There had been 

 strong north-west gales, and a heavy fall of snow on Mt. 

 Wellington, and I think the cold must have induced the birds, 

 which are not usually gregarious, to leave the higher ground in 

 order to seek warmth and food. They uttered continuously a 

 low, plaintive note, very different from the harsh discords which 

 constitute their only song. Amongst them were birds with an 

 oblong black mark on each side of the throat — the vestiges, as it 

 were, of a pectoral collar ; whilst in others, the adult males, the 

 collar was interrupted by the white of the throat, which extended 

 down the breast, thus forming the two crescents from which the 

 bird has received one of its vernacular names. 



The order in which Passerine, Picarian, and Psittaceous birds 

 of migratory or nomadic habits arrive on the Peninsula is as 

 follows, so far as I have observed : — The Welcome Swallow 

 {Hirundo neoxend) is the first to arrive (23/9/91), and is followed 

 by the Swift Lorikeet {N anodes discolor), 1/ 10/92, and the Pallid 

 Cuckoo {Cucidus palltdiis), 2/ 10/91. The Blue-banded Grass- 

 Parrakeet {Neophema vemista) was observed once (5/ 10/91) ; this 

 may have been an accidental visit. The Wood-Swallow 

 {Artamus sordtdus), 23/11/90, and the Shining Flycatcher 

 {Myiagra nitida), 27/11/92, arrive later than the abovenamed 

 birds. The Bronze Cuckoo {C/m/cococcyx piagosus) was observed 

 once (December, 1889) ; this also may have been an accidental 

 visit. Cuckoo-Shrikes {Graiicaliis parvirostris) are sometimes 



