NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 647 
Nearer home, on the Upper Werribee, November, 1890, with 
the Messrs. Brittlebank, I found two more Spinies’ nests, as we 
called them. One was most charmingly situated in a wreath of 
feathery seeding Clematis that adorned a bushy Acacia, the other 
being situated in a shapely Native Cherry-tree (Hxocarpus). Dates, 
8th and 11th respectively. 
The Messrs. Brittlebank have found the nests of the Spiny- 
cheeked Honey-eater in the following trees and shrubs, namely : 
Bursaria, Leptospermum, Dodonzea, Casuarina, Exocarpus, and in 
another tree that grows by the river bank which they forgot the 
botanical name of ; also in Clematis and Loranthus. 
Breeding months, end of September or beginning of October to 
December. 
ENToMYZA CYANOTIS, Latham. 
‘“ Blue-faced Honey-eater.” 
Fiaure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol. iv, pl. 68. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 268. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs —Gould, Bds. of Australia 
(1848) ; also Hdbk., vol. i, p. 562 (1865). North, Cat. Nests 
and Eggs, Austn. Mus., p. 223 (1889). 
Geographical Distribution.—Queensland, New South Wales, 
Victoria, and South Australia. 
_ Nest.—Cup-shaped, round, neat ; composed of strips of bark, in 
some instances with grass ; usually placed in a depression on the 
top or side of the deserted large-domed stick nest of the Chatterer or 
Pomatostomus temporalis. In some instances the nest is suspended 
in the ordinary Honey-eater-like fashion in the branchlets of a 
tree, and is substantially constructed of coarse strips of bark ; 
lined inside with fine, reddish-brown (inner) bark, and a small 
quantity of grass. Dimensions over all of the latter kind of nest, 
about 6 inches by 4 inches in depth ; egg cavity, about 3} inches 
across by 2 inches deep. 
Eggs.—Clutch 2, rarely 3; oval, compressed towards one end ; 
texture, fine ; surface, slightly glossy ; colour, pinkish-buff or 
delicate salmon-tint, boldly blotched and spotted about the apex 
with rich chestnut-brown and dull purple. Exactly resemble 
those of the Wattle-bird (Acanthochera carunculata), and with the 
exception that the markings are usually less numerous, more 
confined to the larger end. Dimensions in inches of clutches— 
Taken in Victoria (1), 1°32 x -9; (2) 1:23 x -9. Taken in Riverina 
(1), 1°29 x °86 5 (2) 1-24 x -85. 5 
Observations.—This large and splendid Honey-eater enjoys a 
goodly range, chiefly throughout the eastern half of Australia, 
and especially along the rivers of the interior. 
It may be considered an inland species, and in Victoria it does 
not pass the Dividing Range—the southern limit of its habitat. 
