S8 MATESHIP WITH BIRDS 



locality for nesting purposes; but from March to 

 July they live in actual fact the idyllic life of which 

 "my dainty Ariel" sang: 



Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, 



Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. 



Here, again, is evidence of the thoughtfulness of 

 Mother Nature for her children. For is it not in 

 the Winter months that the great body of the 

 eucalypts are in blossom? And when the supply of 

 nectar eases off in the Spring-time are there not 

 many insects upon which baby Honey-Birds may be 

 fed? For answer, watch the insectivorous Cuckoos 

 in search of hosts for their intruding eggs how 

 they patronise the Honey-Birds. 



The case of the Lorikeets, those dapper, nectar- 

 loving Parrots which are more or less familiar to 

 dwellers in every Australian State, is somewhat dif- 

 ferent. Their period of nesting, in Southern Aus- 

 tralia, at all events, is later than that of the Honey- 

 birds proper, and it would appear that Spring 

 sometimes means to them a shortage of food. At 

 that period I have seen Lorikeets feasting with 

 obvious satisfaction among the introduced poplars 

 and pine trees (P. insignus). By the same token, 

 they are the fastest and most confirmed travellers 

 of all the Honey-Birds. As a general rule the main 

 body of the Musk, Little, and Purple-crowned Lori- 

 keets winter together in the big gums of the 

 Southern States, but in an unfavorable season the 

 first two species may call on Queensland, leaving 

 only their congener with the purple crown to remain 

 faithful to the South. Conversely, the gorgeous 

 Rainbow (Blue Mountain) Lorikeet often leaves 



