THE WOMBAT. 6j 



Otway Forest the messmate tree is favoured. A ti-tree creek 

 is an excellent place to seek the nest in. Care must be taken 

 in examining a nest of this species, for the birds will desert it 

 on the slightest provocation. The eggs number generally 

 two. sometimes three, and show many variations of colour : 

 the commoner type closely resembles a small minah's egg in 

 its thick red speckles, while a rarer variety has the yellowish 

 ground colour and reddish-brown markings that distinguish 

 the eggs of the honey-eaters as a class. I have found the 

 bird breeding at Queenscliff Road, Anakie, Spring Creek, and 

 in the coastal ti-tree from Point Lonsdale to Airey's Inlet. 



Probably the least known member of the genus Ptilotis 

 that breeds hereabouts is the Singing Honey-eater (P. sonora 

 or vittata). Though found inland in other parts of the con- 

 tinent, with us it is rarely seen except in the belt of ti-tree 

 above mentioned, which lies on the landward side of the sand 

 hummocks ; and so the bird has been called, not inaptly, the 

 coast or sandhill honey-eater. So far as my own experience 

 goes, the bird does not justify its vernacular title by any 

 excess of melody. On the contrary it is a silent and shy bird 

 for the most part, and one just catches a glimpse of it now 

 and then on the top of some spray of ti-tree, whence next 

 moment it has disappeared. A good deal of patience is 

 necessary to discover the nest, and much scratching of coun- 

 tenance is frequently the sole result of a day's toil among the 

 interlacing ti-tree boughs. On November 29th, 1S90, 1 found a 

 nest of this species near Barwon Heads with two young ones. 

 On December 22nd of the same year I was fortunate enough 

 to take a nest containing three fresh eggs on the hummocks 

 at Airey's Inlet. Certainly the eggs, when found, repay a 

 little trouble in getting them. They are not unlike those of 

 the pallid cuckoo, save that there are no spots ; the colour is 

 a rich salmon pink, deepening in tint at the larger end. The 

 nest is of the common honey-eater type, and is built fairly 

 high up in a thick ti-tree ; it is hardly distinguishable in form 

 from that of the greenie, but is slightly larger. I noticed the 

 birds in March, 1891, at the Sheepwash on the lower Barwon. 

 They only leave the ti-tree of the coast in the winter, when 

 they come inland a little to feed on the gum blossom. A nest 

 taken at Spring Creek on October i7, 1891, contained three 

 eggs, which is probably the usual clutch. 



The Lunulated Honey-eater (Melithreptus lunulatus) is an 

 occasional visitor only to the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Geelong, when it makes its appearance in small flocks, but in 

 the forests it is common and breeds there towards the end of 

 the year. The bird may be known at once by its small, 

 bright green body, black head and white breast, while the red 

 patch over the eye will serve to distinguish it from other 

 members of the genus Melithreptus. The nest is a beautiful 



