650 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
Observations —The white at the basal of portions of the quills 
of the wings at once serves to distinguish this fine bird from its 
southern ally. Little is known of its economy except an interest- 
ing paragraph or two from Gilbert’s observations in the Port 
Darwin district. 
PHILEMON CORNICULATUS, Latham. 
 Priar-bird.” 
Figure.—Gould, Bds. of Australia, fol., vol iv, pl. 58. 
Reference.—Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. ix, p. 271. 
Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Gould, Bds. of Austr. (1848) ; 
also Hdbk., vol. i, p. 547 (1865). North, Cat. Nests and Eggs, 
Austn. Mus., p. 217 (1889). 
Geographical Distribution.—Queensland, New South Wales, 
Victoria, and South Australia. 
Nest.—Large, open, deep, solidly built ; composed of strips of 
stringy-bark, Sometimes cocoons and string gathered near habita- 
tions are added : inside lined with a good supply of grass ; usually 
suspended or stitched, as it were, by the rim to the forked branch- 
lets of a pendulous limb of a EN y(t in forest or open forest 
country. Dimensions over all, 5—7 inches by 3—4 inches in depth ; 
egg cavity, 4-5} inches across ‘by 2-24 inches deep. 
Eggs. —Clutch, 3 usually, but sometimes 4— 5 ; oval, compressed 
towards one end ; texture, fine; surface without gloss : colour, pale 
salmon or yellowish-buff, indistinctly marked with dull-chestnut, 
and dull-purplish spots, especially round the apex. Dimensions 
in inches of a pair taken in Victoria, (1) 1:3 x ‘89; (2) 1:3 x °88. 
Of a Queensland pair, (1) 1:22 x -88; (2) 1:22 x 86. 
Observations.—This large, and remarkable Honey-eater,with its 
curious appearance and chattering calls, is not only well-known in 
collections, but likewise to all bush folk. It ranges over much of 
Australian forest and open country alike, west and north excepted. 
Gould regarded the Friar-bird as a summer visitant to the more 
southern limit of its range. Probably he was correct, and that its 
visits are regulated by seasons, and the blossoming of various 
Eucalypts. One season (about 1870) these birds were in great 
numbers in the district of Springvale, Victoria, and no doubt in 
other localities contiguous. The forest everywhere resounded with 
their vocality. We shot as many birds for the table as our bags 
could conveniently hold. If a bird were wounded we soon learnt 
to be careful of its bill and powerful claws. 
T shall always recollect my first Leather-head’s nest, which I 
took asa boy. On the 9th November, of the season mentioned, 
we found a nest building, or about ready for eggs, in a medium- 
sized tree near Fern-tree Gully, at the base of the Dandenongs. A 
fortnight afterwards we walked from what is now Armadale to the 
