MELIOENIS. 193 



composed of fine strips of bark, fibrous roots and grass, lined 

 inside with the soft downy tufts of the Banksia cones ; the rim 

 of the nest is thick and rounded. Exterior measurement four 

 inches in diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth, cavity 

 two inches and a-quarter in diameter by one inch and a-half in 

 depth ; rim about one inch in thickness. This nest, Mr. Masters 

 informs me was built in a Banksia close to the ground. Eggs two 

 or three in number for a sitting, of a pale bufi", minutely but 

 thickly freckled and spotted with chestnut and reddish-brown, in 

 some instances forming a well defined zone, in others the markings 

 are nearly obsolete and appear as if beneath the surface of the 

 shell. Dimensions of a set in the Australian Museum Collection, 

 taken October 1st 1868, length (A) 0-77 x 0-57 inch ; (B) 0-8 x 

 0-58 inch. 



The breeding season of this species commences in August and 

 lasts till the end of November, but early in October the greater 

 number of eggs were procured. 



Hah. Wide Bay District, New South Wales, West and South- 

 west Australia. [Bamsay.) 



i MELIORNIS SERIOEA, Gould. 



White-cheeked Honey-eater. 

 Gould, RandhTc. Bds. Amt., Vol. i., sp. 298, p. 490. 32: // 



This bird is found breeding in the neighbourhood of Sydney; a 

 nest of this species now before me, taken by Dr. Ramsay at 

 Dobroyde on the 18th of September 1864, is cup-shaped, outwardly 

 composed of fine twigs, strips of bark and coarse grasses, lined 

 inside with the nests of spiders, and the soft downy tufts of 

 Banksia cones ; exterior diameter three inches and a-half, depth 

 three inches, inside cavity two inches in diameter by one inch and 

 three-eighths in depth ; another nest in the Australian Museum 

 Collection is almost entirely composed of strips of bark, with a 

 lining of dried portions of the Flannel flower, Actinotus helianthus. 

 The nest is usually placed in the fork of a Banksia or Hakesv 



