l^A Whitlock, Birds on the Pilbarra Goldfield. [,sf Api-ii 



On the de Grey the favourite haunt was the patches of " wild fig " bushes, 

 and at Condon the mangroves where the creeks tailed out into the plains. 



Carter Honey-eater {Ptilotis cartcri)^ native name Tiii-dee. — This was 

 the commonest Honey-eater of the whole district, but I never found it far 

 from water. It is one of the most lively and vivacious of the Honey-eaters, 

 and its song is incessant. I had one favourite flying camp on the upper 

 Coongan, which 1 called my " cajaput camp," from its being in a thicket of 

 the latter trees. Here was a long, narrow pool of pure, delicious water, 

 and here the Carter Honey-eater made its home. It was the first bird to 

 call in the early morning and one of the last to retire to roost. The whole 

 day long, except on particularly hot days, it was incessantly in motion. 

 Usually in pairs, but very often parties of six or eight would meet on a small 

 branch, and then the shrill whistling and chattering became a veritable 

 babel of sound. It is a pugnacious species, and I have seen it fly at 

 the heads of Doves, Magpie-Larks, and the equally noisy Red-breasted 

 Babblers. 



I found nine or ten nests of this beautiful Honey-eater. The favourite 

 situation was in the mazes of a small-leaved climbing plant, each clump of 

 which had to be examined to be successful. They were the usual neat but 

 fragile structures of fine strips of cajaput bark, down, and spiders' webs. 

 The eggs are large, white in ground colour, sparingly spotted with rust-red. 

 As a rule the spots are round, but occasionally dashes take the place of 

 spots. The shells are very fragile, and it is a hopeless task blowing highly- 

 incubated eggs, as 1 found to my sorrow. In all but one instance two were 

 the full complement of eggs. In this instance there were three, but the third 

 ^gg presented distinctions from the other two. 



Keartland Honey-eater {Ptilotis keartlandi). — I first encountered 

 this species at Depot Creek, a locality about 65 miles from the coast. 

 I shot a single example from amongst a number of Carter Honey-eaters 

 in fairly thick scrub growing on the banks of the creek. It was not until 

 I was within a few miles of Marble Bar that I obtained another. 



Later on, when I began to do a little ornithological work amongst the 

 creeks near my camp, I frequently came across it, and secured further 

 examples. 



Unlike Ptilotis carteri, the present species seems rather to keep away 

 from water than to seek it. Possibly this may be due to the habits of special 

 food plants, which in their turn flourish best in drier situations. The 

 favourite haunt of this Honey-eater is the rocky and narrow gullies running 

 up to and amongst the ranges, and where Ptiht/s carter! does not penetrate. 

 It lives mostly in pairs, though I have often flushed five or six from some 

 favourite flowering bush. Like all members of the genus Ptilotis^ it is a 

 lively species, though it lacks the exuberant vivacity of P. cartcri. It is 

 equally as inquisitive as the latter, and will fly up to within a few feet of 

 the intruder provided he remains motionless. 



The notes are very variable, some of them musical, but others, again, 

 rather harsh. It can hardly be called a singer, its efforts in that direction 

 being far inferior to those of P. carteri ; but, on the other hand, in variety 

 of note or call it far exceeds the latter. It is an early breeder, and by the 

 middle of July I found a nest containing young a day or two old, and a 

 second nest with birds nearly ready to fly. These nests were nearly two 

 miles from permanent water, and at a considerable elevation above the valley 

 of the Coongan. 



In all I found about ten nests. In every case they were built low down, 

 and always either in some shrub or large plant growing in the bed of a creek 

 or on the bank close at hand. No concealment is aimed at. The favourite 

 site is a branch of the prickly, grey-green-leaved canjie bushes, the 

 materials of which the nest is constructed— fine strips of bark, spiders' webs, 

 and vegetable down— harmonizing wonderfully with the colour of the foliage. 



