210 Whitlock, On the East Murchison. [..f April 



the shells. I carefully removed and packed them, and then broke off 

 the branch holding the nest. The latter was a frail affair, and lacked 

 neatness and finish in its architecture. The walls were very thin, the 

 eggs being plainly visible from below. An attempt had been made to 

 bend long horse-hairs into a circular form, with more or less success. 

 These were held in position by spiders' webs and cocoons, but long 

 ends had been left dangling about in a very unfinished manner. The 

 whole structure was sufficiently elastic, and was attached to the 

 branch of the tree with spiders' webs. The dimensions of the nest arc 

 as follows : — Long diameter, 2f inches ; short diameter, 2 inches ; 

 depth of cup, nearly i inch. The eggs were quite fresh, and the 

 descriptions are as follow : — At first glance resemble those of some 

 types of the Ephthiannrince. Shape swollen oval, texture of shell 

 being fine and slightly glossy ; colour white, moderately marked with 

 small rich reddish-brown spots, while some of dull purplish-grey, and 

 appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell, are mixed with the 

 other markings, but only at the larger ends of the eggs. Specimen a 

 is much more heavily marked than specimen b, and the spots are 

 larger. The markings on both eggs are confined chiefly to the larger 

 ends. Measurements in inches : — (a) 0.71 x 0.49 ; {b) 0.68 x 0.48. 



In the field this little bird looks almost uniform grey. A fully 

 fledged nestling, shot 24th October, has a tinge of greenish-yellow on 

 the throat, showing an affinity to Zosterops in this direction. 



Mistletoe-Bird (Diccsum hirundinaceum). — A few around Bore 

 Well, but nowhere common. 



Red-tipped Pardalote {Pardalottis ornatus). — Uncommon. 1 shot 

 specimens for identification in the scrub near Lake Violet, and met 

 with a few pairs in the gums around Milly Pool. In a hollow, 

 tennited trunk was a nest-hole, but the young had obviously flown, so 

 I did not climb up. 



Red-browed Pardalote (Pardalotus rubricatus). — A single speci- 

 men was procured at Bore Well. 



Black Honey-eater {Myzomela nigra). — Found in scattered pairs 

 throughout the district, but showing a preference for stony hill-sides. 

 I found several nests, and secured perfect clutches of eggs, eilso a pair 

 of nestlings. The female does all the work of nest-building. The male 

 perches near at hand on some conspicuous twig, where he utters his 

 monotonous call, with an occasional erratic flight around. When the 

 female arrives with building material he flutters down to the half- 

 finished nest — I suppose to show his appreciation. 



White-fronted Honey-eater (Glycyphila albifrons). — Very com- 

 mon at Bore Well and around Wiluna and Lake Violet. I found a 

 number of their neatly constructed nests. They were always placed 

 low down. Two I found were in the cavity formed by the snapping 

 in two of a dead mulga trunk. All these nests were lined with the 

 buff-coloured down of the plant known as Dicrastyles fidva. 



Black-and-white Honey-eater (Certhionyx variagatus). — A few 

 pairs around Lake Violet, but more common on the big spinifex plain 

 west of Bore Well. They arrived during the last week in July and 

 early part of August. Parties were still travelling throughout the 

 latter month. At Bore Well they fed, in company with the Wood- 

 Swallows, on the curious ground-flowering plant, Brachysema davies- 

 ioides, and the foreheads and crowns of several I shot were so thickly 



