38 Wilson and Chandler, The Helmeted Honey-eater. rist'^"juiy 



Honey-eaters are gregarious ; two or three pairs inhabit each 

 locality, and usually all nest in an area of a few hundred square 

 yards. 



On one occasion when engaged making observations on the 

 Helmeted Honey-eaters, a native bear or koala, with a young 

 one on its back, was seen in the lower limbs of a big gum-tree. 

 The old bear, not liking the look of us, ascended to a thin limb 

 near the top of the tree. The young one set up a dismal 

 howling, and at once five Helmeted Honey-eaters hurried to the 

 scene and commenced darting round the marsupials and calling 

 out excitedly — a proceeding which they kept up till the baby 

 koala became quiet. 



During the breeding season these Honey-eaters keep almost 

 exclusively to an insectivorous diet ; only once, in the depth 

 of winter, have we seen them gathering nectar. Beetles, 

 flies, caterpillars, small spiders, &c., all form part of 

 the larder ; occasionally small moths are eaten. We 

 have been fortunate in finding nests containing young in 

 different stages, as follows : — One day old : Blind and naked, 

 the flesh being a peculiar shade of orange pink, gape 

 creamy-yellow, small white dots marking where wing and 

 tail quills would shortly appear. Six days old : Gape creamy- 

 yellow, irides pale brown. The quills on the top of the 

 head were not yet broken. A line of feathers down the 

 centre of the back dusky-greyish colour ; thighs were sparsely 

 covered at the base with long unbroken quills, others just 

 broken forming a dusky-greyish patch behind the shoulders ; 

 on each side of the rump a small clump of yellowish feathers. 

 Tail quills short and just breaking, the upper ones being black 

 and the lower yellow. The primaries and secondaries, pro- 

 truding about ^-inch, of a dusky-greyish colour, with faint olive- 

 green edgings. Lines of feathers starting from a patch under 

 the throat, and continuing down each side of the chest and 

 abdomen, of a rich sulphur-yellow colour. Legs and feet bluish- 

 grey. 



The favourite nesting site is a low bush growing from the 

 bank of a creek and hanging over the water. One nest was 

 observed in the centre of a dense patch of scrub, 80 yards from 

 the nearest water. Sometimes the nest is suspended near the 

 margin of a little billabong, and in nine cases out of ten it 

 is placed either in the common prickly tea-tree {Leptospcrviuvi 

 scoparium) or the bottle-brush \Callisteinon pityoides). Other 

 plants which are occasionally selected as nesting sites are the 

 native aster {Olearia {Aster) stellulata^ var. lyrata), the dog- 

 wood {Helichrysuin ferrugineuvi) the prickly acacia {Acacia 

 verticillata), and the native hop {Goodenia ovata). The nest 

 is usually placed at a height varying from 4 to 6 feet from 

 the ground or water as the case may be, but one or two 



