THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 19 



by Dr. G. J. Hinde, F.R.S. By Mr. G. A. Kear Hand.— Rare 

 Australian birds' eggs, viz., two examples of Flinders Cuckoo, 

 Eudynamis fiindersii, found in the nests of Allied Oriole and 

 Sordid Friar-bird, from North Queensland ; type egg of Yellow- 

 backed Honey-eater, Melithreptus loetior, from North-west 

 Australia ; two examples of Yellow Honey-eater, Ptilotis Jlava, 

 from North Queensland ; type egg of Black-throated Coachwhip- 

 bird, Psophodes niyrogularis ; Black Honey-eater, Myzomela 

 nigra ; Banded Honey-eater, M. pectoralis ; Magnificent Rifle- 

 bird, Graspedophora magnified; type egg of Chlamydodera 

 guttata ; G. nuchalis ; G. orientalis ; and G. maculata. By Mr. G. 

 E. Shepherd. — Rare birds' eggs from New South Wales : 

 Nankeen Heron, Grey Struthidea, Black-cheeked Falcon, and 

 Regent-bird. By Mr. F. P. Spry. — Tertiary fossils from sewer 

 excavations, corner Barkly and High-streets, St. Kilda ; recent 

 shell and driftwood from sewerage excavation, Power-street, near 

 Kavanagh-street, South Melbourne. 



After the usual conversazione the meeting terminated. 



SOME ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



By Robert Hall, 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 1 2th February, 1900.) 



During the last few months some ornithological facts have come 

 under my notice which seem worth placing on record. Though 

 they relate principally to the genus Pardalotus, they can be more 

 conveniently referred to under separate headings : — i. Pardalotus 

 affinis, Gould, synonymous with P. assimilis, Ramsay. 2. Field 

 Notes on a Phase of Pardalotus assimilis, Ramsay. 3. A 

 Tree-building Pardalote as Foster-Parent to a Cuckoo. 4. Ad- 

 ditional Information on the Plumage of Malurus cyaneus, Ellis. 



1. Pardalotus affinis, Gould, synonymous with P. 

 assimilis, Ramsay. 



In the British Museum Catalogue the keys to the species read 

 as follows : — 



" P. assimilis, Ramsay (sub.-sp. of P. ornatus, Temm.) — 

 Head streaked with white ; third and fourth primaries edged 

 with white ; tips of primary coverts scarlet, crimson, orange, 

 or yellow. 



" P. affinis, Gould. — Head streaked with white ; third primary 

 only edged with white ; tips of primary coverts always yellow." 



The key to P. assimilis is modified not only by the original 

 described by Dr. Ramsay, but by Dr. Sharpe, of the British 

 Museum. Dr. Ramsay in his " Tabular List of all the Australian 

 Birds at Present Known" (P.L.S. N.S.W., ii., 1877, p. 180), also 

 published separately, 1888, p. 4, writes in a footnoted' Tips of 



