THE FLOWER-EATBB AND ITS NEST. 131 



THE FLOWER-EATER AND ITS PRETTY NEST. 



A BIRD THAT IS SELDOM SEEN. 



Mr. Gould, in his Handbook to the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia, writes of the Australian flower-eater as fol- 

 lows : 



" By far the greater number of Australians are, I 

 believe, unacquainted with this beautiful little bird, 

 yet there is scarcely an 

 estate ha. either of the 

 colonies in which it 

 may not be found, either 

 as a permanent resident 

 or an occasional visitor. 

 Its natural disposition, 

 leading it to confine it- 

 self almost exclusively 

 to the topmost branches 

 of the loftiest trees, is 

 doubtless the cause of 

 its not being more gen- 

 erally known than it is, 

 not even its rich scarlet 

 breast attracting notice , , ,. ^ , , , 



^ Australian flower-eater and nest. 



at the distance from the 



ground at which it generally keeps ; and in obtaining 

 specimens I was more generally made aware of its 

 presence by its pretty warbling song than by its move- 



