MELIOHNIS. 191 



" Starlings " as they are called in those parts), and this bulk of 

 brown nests was forming quite a new feature in the landscape. 

 The eggs are three or four in number, variable in form, some 

 roundish, others elongate, of a greenish-white colour, with bright 

 reddish-brown spots and dots, more numerous towards the larger 

 end. Length (A) M x 0-78 inch ; (B) 0-99 x 0-79 inch ; (C) 

 1-1 X 0-75 inch." {Ramswy, P.Z.8., 1875, p. 594.) 



Hah. Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port 

 Denison, South Coast New Guinea. {Ramsay.) 



Family MELIPHAGID^. 



Genus MELIOENIS, G. R. Gray. 



i.-^ MELIORNIS NOV^-HOLLANDI^, Latham. 



New Holland Honey-eater. 

 Gould, Handbh. Bds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 296, p. 486. 



This showy and attractive bird is the most common species of the 

 genus in New South Wales and Victoria ; it is very abundant in 

 the scrubby undergrowth and stunted Banksiasinthe neighbourhood 

 of Botany and La Perouse in the former colony ; it is also found 

 in our public parks and gardens both in Sydney and Melbourne, 

 where it may be seen extracting the nectar from various flowers, 

 with its brush-like tongue so well adapted for the purpose. 



A nest of this species now before me, in the Australian 

 Museum Collection, is rather roughly but compactly formed on the 

 exterior with fine twigs, strips of bark and grasses, neatly lined 

 on the inside, which is cup-shaped, with dried portions of the soft 

 Flannel Fewer, Actinotus helianthtcs, and downy tufts of the 

 Banksia cones. Exterior measurement four inches in diameter 

 by two inches and a-half in depth, cavity two inches and a-quarter 

 in diameter by one inch and a-half in depth. The position of the 

 nest varies with the locality in which it is built, sometimes being 



