OF VICTORIA. 147 



SPOTTED PARDALOTE 



(Diamond-bird), 



Pardalotus puuctatiis, Teiiim, 



Pdr-da-ld'tus inivgh-ia tus. 

 Pardalolus, spotted like the panther ; 2^unctatus, Jotted. 



Pardalotus punctatus, Gould, " Birds of Australia," foL, vol. ii., 



pi. 35. 



Geographical Distribution.— Areas 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9. 



Key to the Species.— Head black, with round white spots; back 

 mottled ; loral spot white ; under tail coverts yellow ; rump 

 chestnut ; mandibles about eqvial, short and strong ; nasal 

 membranes concealed by plumes. 



The habitat of this thorough " Diamond-bird " in Victoria 

 is principally in the south and south-east, while a very close 

 ally, the Yellow-rumped Pardalote, occupies the Mallee 

 country. F. punctatus is a creek-loving bird, performing 

 that service along the banks in moist country that 

 P. xanthopygius does in the dry and P. ornatus in more 

 open and undulating country. This scheme of local dis- 

 tribution is not to apply in any forced way, as birds trespass 

 very much with a change of season. Both sexes take part 

 in excavating a blind tunnel in the creek bank for their 

 nest, and, like most perching birds, they show a thorough 

 enthusiasm in the work. To find where the species breeds 

 is a matter of close observation. It goes to and comes from 

 a hole in the ground that may be owned by any of a dozen 

 other small animals, so undecided are the signs that a bird 

 lives witliin. Tunnelling for a few inches on an upward 

 grade, and enlarging the end to place a dome-shaped nest 

 in it, is a creditable work for little ordinary birds. Finallj^, 

 to build in the dark the grass nest that belongs to them is 



