on some Tasmanian birds' nests.



199



adapted to puzzle those inhabitants of tropical countries, such as

monkeys and tree-climbing snakes, which have an irrepressible

craving for eggs and nestlings. Except the nest of this species and

those of the Strong-billed Honey-eater ( Melithreptus validirostris)

and Black-headed Honey-eater ( M. melanocephalus), I know of no

other in Tasmania whose structure is truly pensile— i. e., sewed by

the rim to supports, otherwise swinging clear like a hammock.

The Spinebill Honey-eater ( Acanthorhynchus dubius ), however, will

occasionally adopt a similar form. In a scrub near Launceston

(Tas.) the nest of a pair of these elegant little Honey-eaters was

swung by the edge from slender twigs of tea-tree ( Melaleuca ), but

there was also a small twig at the back which gave some support,

and another ran horizontally beneath.


The two nests of the White-eye here briefly described were

found while I was living among the scrubs near Table Cape, North-

West Tasmania, (a) Swung by the rim from a very frail fork of

the Melaleuca or Swamp Tea-tree, the supports being barely one-

sixteenth of an inch in thickness, so that the total weight of nest,

young, and parent must be very slight. The opening of the little

cup was almost elliptical in form, the measurement of the egg cavity,

2| in. by If in., 2 in. deep, swelling out under the rim like an inflated

ladle, and with rounded bottom. The material was very fine shreds

of stringybark from the eucalyptus of that name (E. obliqua, L’Her),

with somewhat thicker strips underneath, the rim being sewed to

the twigs by threads of bark fibre and spider-web ; a few spider-

cocoons were stuck on the outside of the nest, and the lining was of

horsehair. The contents were three eggs, of a delicate blue tint.

( b) Bound to two very slender Melaleuca twigs in the same way

as (a), the ends of the twigs swinging quite freely ; nest rounder

at top and more open, not so deep ; measured 2J in. by 2 in. across

top outside, 1| in. inside; formed of coarse, dry grass, lined with

fine grass, a little green moss worked in, and many white spider-

cocoons stuck on outside ; bound to twigs with grass-blades and

spider-web. A very loose structure, not nearly so neat as the bark

cradle ; but both were so frail that they could be seen through at

almost any part. Neither had the slightest sign of any support

other than the very frail horizontal swinging twigs.



