INSESSORES. 511 



Sp. 312. PTILOTIS AURICOMIS. 



Yellow-tufted Honey-eater. 



Muscicapa auricomis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xlix. 



mystacea, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. li. 



nova-hollandi(E, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 478. 



Mustachoe Honey-eater, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 221 ? 

 Yellow-tufted Flycatcher, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 215. 

 Certhia auriculata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 236. 

 UHeorotaire a oreilles jaunes, Vieill. Ois. dor., torn. ii. p. 123. pi. 85. 

 Tufted-eared Honey-eater, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 197. 

 Meliphaga auricomis, Swains. Zool. 111., vol. i. pi. 43. 

 Philemon erythrotis, Vieill. 2" edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn, 

 xxvii. p. 429. 



Ptilotis auricomis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., voL iv. pi. 37. 



The Yellow-tufted Honey-eater is abundant in New South 

 Wales, inhabiting at one season or other every portion of the 

 country ; the brushes near the coast, the flowering trees of 

 the plains, and those of the sides and crowns of the hills 

 towards the interior being alike tenanted by it. It is an 

 active, animated species, flitting with a darting flight from tree 

 to tree ; and threading the most thickly-leaved branches with 

 a variety of sprightly actions. 



I never succeeded in finding the nest of this species, 

 but E. P. Ramsay, Esq., has contributed an interesting account 

 of its nidification to the ' Ibis ' for 1864, from which I extract 

 the following passages : — 



"The Yellow-tufted Honey-eater is perhaps one of the 

 most beautiful birds of New South Wales ; nor are its eggs 

 less beautiful than the bird itself. It evinces a preference 

 for the more open underwood of young Eucalyptus and 

 Wattle-trees {Acacia decurrens), which are plentiful near 

 Dobroyde, Enfield, and Parramatta, rather than for the dense 

 scrub-land near the coast. I have met with it as far as 

 Manar, between Braid wood and Goulburn. Like most of its 



