BY W. F. BLAKELY. ^ 



Pachycephalus rufiventris, Rufus-breastecl Whistler. 



Pardalotus xanthopygms, Golden-rumped Diamond Bird. 



Passer domestica, Common Sparrow. 



Platycerciis eximius, Rosella. 



Ptilotis leucotis, White-eared Honey-eater. 



Ptilotis sonora, Singing Honey-Eater. 



Strepera versicolor, Grey Bel] Magpie. 



Sturnus vulgaris, Starling. 



Tropidorhynchus corniculatus, Leather-head. 



Zosterops coerulescens, White-ej'e. 



Birds Observed Feeding on the Nectar. 



Nearly all the flowers of the Australian species of Loranthiis and Phrygilwn- 

 Ihits contain much nectar, and therefore are sought after by many honey-eating 

 birds. On examination, many of the flowers in the field will be found with 

 small punctures at the base and sometimes in the swollen part near the at- 

 tachment of the filaments. The flower tube of Loranthiis vitellinns, Phrygilan- 

 thus eucalyptifoUus, and P. celastroides is sometimes filled for more than half 

 its length with nectar. 



I watched the Spinebill, Acanthorhyncha tenuirostris. No. 348 (Leach, op. 

 cit.) and the Tawny-crowned Honey-eater GliciphUa m.elanops {fulvifrons), No. 

 349, and the Yellow-Rumped Pardalote, Pardalotus xanthopygius. No. 341, 

 piercing the base of the flowers with their sharp bill, or thrusting it between 

 the clefts of the ripe buds, or down the centre of the flower. Other birds noted 

 by me feeding upon the flowers between Plornsby and Pymble, near Sydney, 

 were the Sanguineus Honey-eater, Mysomela sanguinelentas. No. 346; Singing 

 Honey-Eater, Ptilotis sonora. No. 356; and the White-bearded Honey-eater, 

 Meliornis novae-hollwndiae. These birds also feed upon small insects at the 

 same time, thus demonstrating that they do not depend upon the parasites for 

 their food supply. 



Mr. 0. H. Sargent (Ann. Bot., xxxii., 1918, 216) states that he saw 

 Zosterops Gouldi and other honey-eaters sipping nectar from the flowers of 

 Loranthiis linophyllus Fenzl in the York district. Western Australia. 



Fungi Found Upon the Mistletoes. 



The Loranthaceae, like other gToups of plants, are not immune from the 

 ravages of microscopic fungi which attack the leaves and fruits, and also the 

 wood of some species. In the Port Jackson district a number of Loranthus, 

 Notothixos and Phrygilanthus are infested with Fungi, which in many cases 

 appear on the viscin surrounding the seed. 



As far as I am aware, Mr. D. McAlpine was the flrst to draw attention 

 to the Fungi upon Loranthus in Australia. In These Proceedings (xxviii., 1903, 

 96) he recorded Cerospora Loranthi D. McAlp. on the living leaves of Loranthus 

 pendulus Sieb. at Daudenong Creek, Victoria. Mr. W. Pearse, of Jerry's 

 Plains, writing to the "Sydney Morning Herald," 19th September, 1905, in- 

 timated that a disease killed out all the mistletoes attacking the Kurrajongs. 

 Mr. R. T. Keys, of Muswellbrook, in a letter to the same paper dated 10th 

 October, 1905, also stated that "a disease had spread over hundreds of miles 

 of country killing out the mistletoes." It appears that no investigations were 

 carried out to ascertain the cause of the Mistletoes dying out in these localities, 

 nor to ascertain the nature of the disease. 



