NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 635 
scrub ; usually placed near the top of a small, weak, thinly- 
branched bush of about 2 or 3 feet in height, in a scrub of sapling 
Eucalypts, &e. (Gilbert-Gould). Dimensions over all, 3 inches by 
3 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 2 inches across by 1} inch deep. 
~ Eggs.—Clutch, 2 usually; moderately lengthened in form ; 
texture of shell fine; surface without gloss; colour, pale buff, 
darker on the apex, around which is a belt of fine spots of reddish- 
chestnut intermingled with purplish-grey ones, spots also appear 
here and there over the shell. Dimensions of a clutch in parts of 
an.inch: (1) 84x ‘6; (2) °78 x °59. 
Observations.—The Moustached Honey-eater is an inhabitant of 
Western Australia, where, as Gould states, it beautifully repre- 
sents the White-cheeked Honey-eater of the eastern coast. 
The Moustached Honey-eater is fairly abundant in the scrubs 
about Perth Waters, and especially on the scrubby limestone hills 
in the vicinity of Fremantle. In both these localities I observed 
the birds which were remarkably shy compared with their Long- 
billed brethren of the Cape Leeuwin forests. I also discovered a 
nest building but did not obtain the eggs. The nest was con- 
structed of Melaleuca (Ti-tree) bark, rimmed with fine dead twigs 
and lined with soft portions of Banksia cones (two varieties) and 
other soft seeds. However, eggs taken by a young local acquaint- 
ance the following season (8 Oct., 1890) reached me safely. 
Gilbert found this species an early breeder, young birds ready 
to leave the nest having been seen on the 8th August. The time 
when I observed the nest building was towards the end of Novem- 
ber. Therefore, we may infer that the breeding season is from 
the end of June or the beginning of July to December. 
MANORHINA MELANOPHRYS, Latham. 
‘“* Bell Minah.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 80. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 259. 
Previous Discriptions of Eggs.—Campbell, Southern Science 
Record (1883). North, Cat. Nests and Eggs, Austn. Mus., p. 231 
(1889). 
Geographicai Distribution.—South Queensland (Highfield), New 
South Wales, and Victoria. 
Nest.—Cup-shaped, round, neat, but somewhat frail; composed 
of fine twigs partially covered outwardly with fine shreds of bark 
and cocoons, but sometimes entirely covered with moss and 
cocoons, occasionally ornamented round the rim with broad soft 
leaves ; inside lined sparingly with rootlets and fine twigs, and on 
the bottom with downy seeds; usually fastened by the rim as if 
sewn by spider’s web to the horizontal twigs of a bush or small 
