NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 581 
top of a small scrubby bush, not sheltered even by a bough or leaf, 
while a second one was on the dead branch of a fallen tree, ina | 
similarly exposed situation. 
Mr. Chas. French, junr., on learning of my desideratum, at once 
kindly placed a pair of eggs, together with a skin of one of the 
parents (the male), at my service. All were secured in the 
Wimmera district, 15th September, 1896. 
The late Mr. K. H. Bennett informed Dr. Ramsay that he had 
found the Black Honey-eater plentiful near Mossgiel, N.S.W., 
feeding among the Sandal-wood (Myoporum) trees. Mr. Bennett 
succeeded in finding a nest with two eggs, but no data are given. 
During the progress of the unfortunate Calvert Exploration Ex- 
pedition, 1896, it is recorded that on the 2nd October the deceased 
explorer, Mr. C. F. Wells, shortly before he perished in the “lurid 
waste-lands, pent in silence, thick with hot and thirsty sighs,” 
found a nest of the Black Honey-eater, which flushed from a Ti-tree 
(Melaleuca) bush as he passed. The nest and its single egg were 
left at the abandoned depot in the desert. 
Breeding months, September or October to December. 
MyzomMELA PECTORALIS, Gould. 
‘ Banded Honey-eater.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 65. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 138. 
Geographical Distribution.—North-west Australia, Northern 
Territory, and North Queensland. 
Nest and Eggs.— Unknown. 
Observations.—‘‘ The present interesting bird,” writes Gould, 
“was forwarded to me by Bynoe, as having been shot by him on the 
north coast, but to my regret it was unaccompanied by any infor- 
mation whatever respecting its habits.” Nor has any information 
regarding the species been obtained up to the present time except- 
ing Mr. G. A. Keartland’s north-west remarks made during the 
ill-fated Calvert Exploration Expedition, 1896-7. Hesays, “ At 
the well near our camp on the telegraph-line near the Fitzroy 
River these pretty little birds were occasionally seen and specimens 
obtained. They were also found in considerable numbers at Derby 
in May, where the blossom afforded them an abundant supply of 
food. Though the adult males are decidedly black and white, 
several of those shot appeared to be immature, and had old brown 
feathers dispersed through the black. I have reason to believe 
that the young birds of both sexes are plain dark-brown above and 
pale-brown or dirty-white beneath. What appeared to be adult 
females corresponded in plumage to the young ones. A deserted 
nest of this species bore a strong resemblance to that of M. nigra, 
but was lined with a few bits of horse-hair.” 
