68 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



Lkwin's Honey-eatei;. 



Lewin's Honey-eater (Plilotis leirini). 



Upper surface, olive-green ; a blackish streak from 

 forehead to beyond the eye, below which is a narrow 

 stripa of yellow almost joining a patch of bright yellow 

 behind the ear ; under surface, paler olive-green ; bill, 

 black at tip, yellow at base ; feet, purplish fjesh-colour ; 

 irides, dark lead-colour. Female similar, but smaller. 

 Hab., Queensland. New South Wales, and Victoria. 



Gould says of this species : — " Moderately-sized trees, 

 particularly (.'a-tuarinn and Banhnce, thinly scattered 

 over grassy plains and the crowns and sides of low hills, 

 are its usual places of resort. In Western Australia 

 it enters the gardens and commits considerable havoc 

 among the fruit trees, particularly figs, of the seeds of 

 which it appears to be fond. It also feeds upon insects, 

 which are principally sought for among the branches ; 

 but it frequently seeks for them and small seeds on 

 the ground, when it hops around the boles and beneatn 

 the branches of the trees in a most lively manner. 

 . " Its natural notes are full, clear, and loud, and may 

 bo heard at a considerable distance. In South Aus- 

 tralia I heard it in full song in the midst of winter, 

 when it was one of the shiest birds of the country. 



" It is exceedingly pugnacious in disposition, often 

 fighting with the Wattle Birds {Ant/wrhcrrrt), and other 

 species even larger than tbose. 



" The breeding season commences in August and ter- 

 minates in December. The nest is a frail, round, cup- 

 shaped structure, the materials of which vary in dif- 

 ferent situations ; those observed by me in New South 

 Wales being composed of fine dried stalks of annuals 

 thinly lined with fibrous roots woven together with 

 spiders' webs, and suspended by the rim to two or three 

 fine twigs near the centre of the tree; on the othet 

 hand, those observed by Gilbert in Western Australia 

 were formed of green grasses, which become white and 

 mry when dry, matted together with the hair of 

 kangaroos or opossums, lined with fine grasses and the 

 down of flowers, and placed in a thick scrubbj' bush 

 at about three feet from the ground. 



" The eggs are usually two. but occasionally three in 

 number, of a light yellowish buff, thickly freckled with 

 small, indistinct reddish-brown marks, or of a nearly 



uniform fleshy-buff, without spots 

 or markings, but of a deeper tint 

 at the larger end. Their medium 

 length is eleven lines, and breadth 

 eight lines." — " Handh. Birds 

 Austral.," Vol.T. p. 505. 



According to Campbell the nest 

 is " constructed chiefly cf strips of 

 hark (M dalevrn ^ etc.) and spiders' 

 cocoon.'i, generally outwardly, Iwau- 

 tifully covered. with mo.ss, lined in- 

 side with thick warm ply of a 

 downy or silky sub.slance. such as 

 thistledown or other soft seeds, 

 varying in colour — white, brown, 

 or yellowish — according to tho 

 locality or the species of plant 

 from which the seeds are gathered." 

 The eggs are described as " white, 

 very sparingly marked with spots 

 and dots of dark purplish-brown, 

 almost black, most of the markings 

 being on the apex or about the 

 upper quarter." — "Nests and Eggs 

 of Australian Birds," pp. 386-7. 



This species has been imported 



by Mr. Geo. Carrick (cf. Avicul- 



tural Magazine, 1st series. Vol. 



VI., p. 251), together with other 



Honey-eaters. He says : " I tried them all on pure 



honey, which they one and all took to greedily, refusing 



Yellow-tufted Honey-eater. 



