610 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
Nest.—Cup-shaped, deep, with substantial walls ; constructed 
chiefly of strips of bark (Melaleuca, &c.), and spiders’ cocoons, 
generally outwardly beautifully covered with moss; lined inside 
with thick warm ply of a downy or silky substance, such as 
thistle down or other soft seeds, varying in colour—white, brown, 
or yellowish—according to the locality or the species of plant 
from which the seeds are gathered ; usually attached to the twigs 
of a thick bush or tree in scrub and forest country alike. Dimen- 
sions over all, 34-4 inches by 24-3 inches in depth; egg cavity, 
24-21 inches across by 14-1? inches deep. 
Lggs.—Clutch, 2-3, usually the former number ; nearly true 
oval in shape ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour 
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. Dimensions of a clutch in parts of an 
BTC IGG 0 Or x ol ae OL ae le 
Observations.—This fine Honey-eater is common to the forests 
and scrubs of Eastern Australia, chiefly in the coastal region. It 
is doubtful whether they are found at Cape York. I am not 
certain whether they frequent the Cape Otway forest, but I have 
observed the bird as far south as the Dandenongs, near Melbourne, . 
where I have often heard, as Gould describes it, the loud, ringing, 
whistling song of the bird. In Gippsland in the autumn I have 
observed Lewin’s or the Yellow-eared Honey-eater feeding in the 
forest clearings on the fruit of the so called Kangaroo-apple bush 
(Solanum ). 
The first nest I found of this species was in October, 1885. It 
was about 10 or 12 feet from the ground in scrub, near the Fitzroy 
River (Q.). The eggs, however, were addled, but there was no 
mistaking the identity of them and the nest, with its beautiful 
lining of white silky substance. 
The next nest that came under my observation was in the “ Big 
Scrub,” Richmond River (N.S.W.), where the birds are exceed- 
ingly numerous, and where I often admired their graceful actions 
while pirouetting in mid-air after insects. The nest, which con- 
tained two eggs, was brought to me by scrub-fallers, who reported 
that it originally contained three eggs (the number being usually 
a pair), and was taken in a thick bush, about 4 feet from the 
ground. The nest was constructed of moss and dead leaves, and 
was lined with grass and a thick warm ply of thistle-down. Date, 
18/11/91 
Gould describes a nest—the first recorded of this species—-he _ 
found prettily situated in a creeper which overhung a small pool of 
water in a gully under the Liverpool Range. 
According to the Australian Museum “ Descriptive Catalogue,” 
Dr. Ramsay, on the 29th December, 1871, took two eggs on the 
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