NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 625 
as early as 3rd July (1896), while at the camel depot on an 
unnamed creek several clutches of eggs were secured during the 
following month. 
The bird is common in Victoria, where it appears to be one of 
the few native birds that thrive, or, at all events, is not driven 
back by the advance of civilisation ; in fact, its numbers have 
rather increased in the parks and gardens in the vicinity of Mel- 
bourne. In our school-boy days we called the bird the ‘‘Greenie,” 
on account of its olive-green plumage. 
The White-plumed Honey-eater, like all the members of its genus, 
is an active little creature, and a trifle pugnacious. Single-handed, 
it easily knocks a sparrow on its back. Should a large bird or 
natural enemy appear this Honey-eater sets up a shrill, rapid, 
monotonous “‘ pee-pee pee ” alarm, which is immediately taken up 
by all the species in the neighbourhood. The Honey-eaters then 
congregate about where the intruder is perched, screech and scold 
it till it is fairly scared, and glad to depart. 
Gould describes the nest of this species, but not the eggs, except 
that they were three in number. He quoted from a South Aus- 
tralian correspondent, who wrote:—‘‘ The Ptilotis penicillata 
builds in the Acacias close to my house at Collingrove, near 
Angaston. I can sit at dinner and waich the young ones being 
fed. One female sat hatching close to the window, with the strong 
light of a moderator lamp shining on her at night.” 
A nest of the White-plumed Honey-eater containing a set of 
beautiful fleshy-white eggs, with pronounced spots of pinkish 
brown, are indeed, although common, amongst the most beautiful 
things of a collector’s cabinet. 
On the Murray I have found the eggs of the White-plumed 
Honey-eater almost white, and with very few markings. Still 
further afield, in Central Australia, Mr. G. A. Keartland, in the 
Report of the Horn Scientific Expedition, states he also took eggs 
of this species which were white, with faint spots. 
Only on one occasion have I found the large flesh-coloured egg 
of the Pallid Cuckoo (C. pallidus) in a nest of the White-plumed 
Honey-eater. 
The principal breeding months are September to December. 
However, the extreme limits of the season may be taken from 
June or July to February. 
PriLoTIS ORNATA, Gould. 
** Yellow-plumed Honey-eater.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 39. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 244. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Gould, Bds. of Austr. (1848) ; 
also, Hdbk., vol. i, p. 515 (1865). North, Cat. Nests and Eggs, 
Austn. Mus., p. 204 (1889). 
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