MYZANTHA. 229 



Genus MYZANTHA, Vigors and Horsfield. 



^^ 3 MYZANTHA GARRULA, Latham. 



G-arruloTis Honey-eater. 

 Gould, Hwndhh. Bds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 353, p. 574. JXZT. -?. 



This bird is universally distributed over the open forest lands 

 of the eastern and southern portions of the continent of Australia, 

 and the whole of Tasmania. The nest is cup-shaped, outwardly 

 composed of long thin twigs, and lined inside with fibrous roots, 

 grasses, wool &c. ; one now before me measures exteriorly six 

 inches in diameter, by four inches and three-quarters in depth ; 

 internal diameter three inches and a-quarter by two inches and a 

 quarter in depth. It is usually placed in the thin upright forks 

 at the top of a small gum sapling, but not unfrequently in the 

 branch of a Eucalyptus thirty or forty feet from the ground. 

 The eggs are usually three in number for a sitting, and vary 

 both in their size and markings, I give descriptions of the 

 most usual varieties found. 



Var. A. Ground colour buflfy-white, thickly freckled and spotted 

 all over, but particularly towards the larger end with reddish-brown 

 and a few indistinct markings of pale lilac. Length (A) 1 '02 x 

 0-75 inch ; (B) 1-04 x 0-75 inch ; (0) 1-04 x 075 inch. Auat. 

 Mus. Coll. 



Var. B. Ground colour light saturnine-red, boldly blotched all 

 over with irregular shaped markings of deep reddish-chestnut 

 and pale bluish-grey. Length (A) 1-02 x 0-75 inch; (B) 1-04 x 

 0-75 inch. " Taken at Nanama near Yass, by Mr. James Ramsay, 

 October 1860. 



Var. 0. Ground colour buffy-white, nearly obscured by bran- 

 shaped markings of reddish-brown, which at the larger end form 

 an irregular shaped coalesced patch. Length (A) 1-13 x 0-8 inch ; 

 (B) 1-18 X 0-8 inch ; (C) M8 x 0-8 inch. Taken near Hastings, 

 October 1883. 



