644 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
that the larger Wattle-bird is found nowhere out of Tasmania. 
There is just a possibility that we may have missed it on Flinders— 
a large and scrubby island. 
This Wattle-bird has a remarkable voice, which has been com- 
pared to that of a Blue Mountain Lorrikeet with a cold in its 
throat. 
Mr. A. E. Brent writes: ‘On the Barren Plains, at the Great 
Lake, these birds build in hundreds; the trees are merely low 
bushes. I had ten days’ nesting there in December, 1885 or 1886, 
and took several nests containing four eggs, also saw many 
containing four young birds.” 
The Wattle-birds are excelient eating, this species weighing 
5¢ or 6 oz. each. 
Breeding months, August to December. 
ACANTHOCHEZRA MELLIVORA, Latham. 
“ Brush Wattle-bird.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 56. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 264. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Gould, Bds. of Austr. (1848) ; 
also Hdbk., vol. i, p. 542 (1865). North, Cat. Nest and Eggs, 
Austn. Mus., p. 216 (1889). 
Geographical Distribution.—North (?) and South Queensland, 
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. 
Nest.—Somewhat small, flat, in instances fairly built; com- 
posed of fine dead twigs ; centre lined with small quantity of soft 
brownish strings of bark or other fibrous material ; generally built 
in a closely-forked branch of bush or tree. Dimensions over 
all of a well-built nest 4-5 inches by 4 inches in depth; egg 
cavity 3 inches across by 2 inches deep. 
Eggs.—Clutch, 1-2, in Tasmania occasionally 3; long or oval 
in form, slightly compressed towards one end; texture, fine ; 
surface, slightly glossy; colour, pinkish-buff or salmon-tint, moder- 
ately blotched and spotted with reddish-brown or chestnut and 
dull purplish-grey, the markings being more numerous about the 
apex. Dimensions of single examples—(1) 1:16 x ‘74; (2) 1:12 
Xho, 
A pair from Tasmania are much darker and richer in the ground 
colour, and with markings larger and bolder. (1) 1:1 x ‘78; (2) 
1:07, x “78. 
Observations.—All round the eastern coast and in some portions 
of Tasmania, wherever the Banksias flourish there will be heard 
the harsh, guttural notes of the Brush Wattle. In such places as 
the shores of Lake King, Gippsland, and the park-like land near 
