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Mr. G. A. Heumann ;



fruit. They will last years in an aviary, and they become delight¬

fully tame, especially when reared up out of the nest. As soon as I

enter my aviary they will fly on my head and shoulders. Of all the

Honeysucker tribe this one I would always keep; they are charming

and affectionate pets.


Ptilotis leucotis : White-eared or White-whiskered Honey-

sucker. This is another of our favourites, though harder to keep

alive than the Spine-bill. They are essentially Bush-birds living on

the nectar and insects of the bush flowers. The bottle-brush tree they

are very fond of, and I noticed them also visiting the warratahs when

they are just about to open. They are very cunning birds and hard to

get on to the lime-stick, which is best set near their bathing place, for

they love the water and will bathe numbers of times a day. It is a

proud and handsome bird, the head and back greyish-black, throat

black, chest and abdomen black and white striped, the cheeks pure

white and fan-shaped. The wings are greyish-green at the base,

becoming yellow towards the end ; a really lovely bird. Once used

to the aviary they are quite at home, and live a long time.


Ptilotis chrysotis : Yellow-tufted Honey-eater. This is doubt¬

less a fine bird ; yellowish green with a yellow crown and yellow

tufts as whiskers. They are terrors on soft fruit. When the per¬

simmons are ripe in my garden the tree is often more laden with

Yellow Tufts than persimmons. They build in low bushes a nice

compact nest, often close to the main road, and generally so that

every boy can see it; yet they thrive and are always plentiful. In

the aviary they are spiteful to small birds, sometimes taking the

young' out of the nests or whizzing past a smaller bird and lashing it

with the wing. All the same, to an aviary with larger birds they

are an acquisition. I have mine with Parrots, and there they have

been for years now


Melithreptus atricavillus : Black-cap. General appearance

yellowish green with white band across the neck, head black,

abdomen white, bare rim round the eyes, metallic-brick-carmine-red,

it is an indefinable colour. This bird is more like a soft-bill than a

Honeysucker,—a small dainty creature without defined song', but

always calling to each other. They readily descend to a decoy.

They make tiny nests in turpentine trees, but in my flight they built



