ZPIjJLTIE XII. 



GENUS MYZANTHA (Vig. and Horsf.) 



THIS genus, which is confined to Australia, resembles the Melithrepti in many points, but is much 

 more noisy and familiar. 



MYZANTHA GARRULA (Vig. and Horsf.) 

 GARRULOUS HONEY-EATER. 



IN the • Eucalyptus forests of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania this bird 

 may always be found, generally in companies of from four to ten. The specimens procured in 

 Tasmania are larger and more robust than those from the continent of Australia, but as the plumage is 

 precisely the same in both, they cannot be considered two distinct species. 



This is a very restless and noisy bird. It flies about from tree to tree, sometimes hanging from 

 the branches in every variety of peculiar attitudes, and all the time keeping up an incessant babbling, 

 which makes it very conspicuous. 



The nest, which is cup-shaped, is made of thin twigs with coarse grass interwoven, and is lined 

 with wool, hair, and feathers, and sometimes with soft strips of bark. The eggs are greyish-white, marked 

 with reddish-brown, and are thirteen lines long by nine and a half lines broad. 



The face is grey ; crown of the head, dull black ; ear coverts and a crescent-shaped mark inclining 

 upwards to the angle of the bill, glossy black ; all the upper surface, light greyish-brown ; tail, greyish- 

 brown, with dark brown shafts, and largely tipped with white ; chin, grey, a patch of dark brown down 

 the centre ; under surface, gre}^, the feathers of the breast with a narrow crescent-shaped mark of brown 

 near the tip of each ; irides, dark hazel ; bill and feet, yellowish-brown. 



The female is slightly smaller than the male, but otherwise there is no difference. 



Habitats : New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. 



MYZANTHA OBSCUEA (Gould). 



SOMBRE HONEY-EATER. 



rnHE MyzantJia Garrxda is represented in the south-western portion of Australia by the present species, 

 which closely resembles its congener in characteristics and habits. 



The stomach is small but muscular. The food, consisting of insects, seeds and berries, is obtained 

 both on the ground and on the trees, between which it flies very gracefully. 



