ANTHOCH^RA MELLIVORA. 



(Brush Wattle Bird.) 



All the upper surface, darlc brown, each feather marked with a fine line of white down the centre ; primaries, chestnut brown on the inner 

 webs for three parts of their length from the base; outer webs and remainder of the inner webs, brown, tipped with white ; secondaries, 

 wings, and tail coverts, greyish brown, tipped with white ; tail, brown, tinged with olive, and all the feathers tipped with white ; feathers of 

 the throat and chest, blackish brown at the base, and white at the tip ; feathers of the under surface, brown, with a broad conspicuous mark 

 of white down the centre ; bill, black ; irides, grey ; feet, vinous brown. 



Length, 11| inches ; wing, 5^ ; tail, 5i ; bill, li ; tarsus, l-p- 



This very common species is found in all the south-eastern portions of Australia, and also in Tasmania. Its northern range 

 would appear to be about 27° latitude. Further to the south, it is much more numerous, inhabiting all the country round the coast from 

 Queensland to South Australia, preferring those situations where the leptospermums and banksias abound, from the flowers of which it 

 principally extracts its food, consisting of pollen, honey, and the small insects found upon them. It is much more sparingly dispersed over 

 the interior, but its range to the westward is as yet undetermined. It is a courageous bird, attacking with the utmost pertinacity all 

 feathered intruders upon the tree where it is feeding. Its voice is harsh and peculiar, the native name Groo-gwar-ruck being applied in 

 imitation of the sound, which somewhat resembles the act of vomiting. The breeding season is from September to December. The nest is 

 small, generaUy placed in the fork of a tree at no great distance from the ground, and formed of iine twigs lined with fibrous roots. Eggs, 

 two or three, salmon color, much blotched at the large end, and sparingly over the rest of the surface with chestnut brown ; size, 13 by 9 

 lines. 



ANTHOOH^RA CARUNOULATA. 



(Wattled Honey Eater.) 



Ceowis' of the head, a line running from the base of the bill beneath the eye, and the ear coverts, blackish brown ; space under the eye, 

 silvery white, bounded behind by an oblong naked flesh-colored spot, below which is a short pendulous wattle of a pinky blood red color; back 

 of the neck and all the upper surface, greyish brown, each feather striped with white down the centre ; upper tail coverts, greyish brown, 

 broadly margined with grey ; primaries and secondaries, deep blackish brown, the former slightly and the latter broadly edged with grey ; 

 all the primaries tipped with white ; two middle tail feathers, greyish brown, the remainder, deep blackish brown, the whole largely tipped 

 with white ; throat, breast, and flanks, grey, the centre of each feather being lighter ; middle of the abdomen, yellow ; irides, bright reddish 

 hazel ; legs, brownish flesh color. 



Length, ] 4f inches ; wing, 6| ; tail, 7 ; bill, li ; tarsus, If, * 



This species, like the former, ranges from the southern parts of Queensland round the east and south coasts, but is also found 

 in Western Australia, though not in Tasmania. Like the former it collects its food from the flowers of trees, principally those of the 

 angophora and eucalypti. Its note is also harsh and disagreeable, and its disposition equally pugnacious. A single specimen shot this year 

 (1866) by Mr. Waller, is the only one he has ever seen in the neighborhood of Brisbane, but serves to prove that it ranges further to the 

 north than was formerly supposed. It breeds in September and October. The nest is usually placed on the horizontal branch of an apple 

 tree (angophora), being round, rather large, formed of small sticks, and lined with fine grass. Eggs (two or three), 1 inch 3 lines long, by 

 10| lines broad ; color, reddish bufl", marked with chestnut, brown, and blackish grey, principally at the larger end. 



