NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 585 
I often watched the birds with merry chirrup chasing each 
other round the trees ; the noise of their wings as they flew past 
me made quite an audible sharp “ purrt, purrt, purrt ” sound. 
Breeding months probably include September to December. 
MELITHREPTUS LUNULATUS, Shaw. 
“ White-naped Honey-eater.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 72. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 204. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Gould, Bds. of Austr. (1848), 
also Hdbk., vol. i, p. 568 (1865). North, Cat. Nests and Eggs 
Austn. Mus., p. 227 (1889). 
Geographical Distribution.—South Queensland, N. 8. Wales, 
Victoria, South Australia, and Kent Group (Bass Straits). 
Nest.—Cup-shaped, small, but long or deep; composed of soft 
shreds of bark, matted outwardly with cotton-like substance, 
cocoons, portions of moss, grass, &c.; inside lined with mixture of 
soft vegetable matter such as rootlets, small leaves, &c., in other 
instances chiefly with soft reddish-coloured bark, and sometimes 
with fur or hair; usually situated at a good height from the ground, 
suspended in a swaying branch of a Eucalypt or among the top- 
most branches of a tall sapling. Dimensions over all 24 inches 
by 2-3 inches in depth; egg cavity 1} inches across by 14-1? inches 
deep. 
£ggs.—Clutch, 2-3 ; oval, compressed towards one end; texture 
fine ; faint trace of gloss on surface ; colour delicate or pale buff, 
marked chiefly round the apex with reddish-brown or chestnut and 
dull grey. Dimensions of a clutch in parts of an inch:-—(1) ‘76 
cols (2)-76. x “51; (2)n ieee 
Observations.—This species of Honey-eater is a delightful and 
familiar little creature, and its plaintive half-whistling, half-hissing 
note is well known when heard amongst the “forest rafters.” It 
is a pretty sight to see the birds clinging to and feeding amongst 
a cluster of flowering Loranthus (Mistletoe). 
The habitat of the Lunulated or White-naped Honey-eater is 
very extensive, extending from Southern Queensland round to 
South Australia. It is interesting to note that this Honey-eater 
was found on Kent Group, Bass Straits, by the expedition of the 
Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria, November, 1890. 
Within its usual boundaries the bird is fairly plentiful. I 
recollect there was something akin to an irruption of this bird 
once in the vicinity of Melbourne, notably in gardens at Windsor. 
It occurred about the season 1866, when I remember particularly 
the so-called Cape Wattles (but really a south-west Australian 
variety of Acacia or Albizzia, from whence it was introduced 
into Victoria by the late Baron von Miller) being crowded with 
