GENUS MELITHREPTUS. 



rj^HIS purely Australian form is to be found in every part of Australia, including Tasmania. 



M E LIT II R E P T US G U L A R I 8 (Gould). 



BLA CK- THRO A TED HONE Y-EA TER. 



THE true home of this bird is South Australia, in all parts of which colony it is very plentiful. 

 It is also to be found, though not in such large numbers, in Victoria and New South Wales. 

 As it feeds almost entirely on insects and the pollen of flowers, it naturally frequents the leafy branches 

 of trees, particularly those with a great number of blossoms. 



Its cry is a harsh, unmusical sound, uttered as often by the female as by the male, while 

 perched on the topmost dead branch of a lofty tree. 



The crown of the head is black, an occipital band of white terminating at each eye : ear- 

 coverts and back of the neck, black ; back and rump, golden - olive ; wings and tail, brown ; throat, 

 greyish-white, with a central stripe of black ; under surface greyish-brown ; bill, black ; feet and tarsi, 

 brownish-orange. 



Total length, G inches ; bill, f inch ; wing, 3f inches ; tail, 2f inches ; tarsi, f inch. 

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



MELITHREPTUS VALDIROSTRIS (Gould). 



STRONG-BILLED II ONE Y-EA TER. 



rflASMANIA can claim to possess the largest species of the genus yet discovered, in the person of 

 J- the Strong-billed Honey-eater. It is remarkably abundant, frequenting every part of the island 

 where Eucalyptus trees flourish. 



The food consists principally of insects, which it obtains on the small leafy and flowering 

 branches, and also from the boles of the trees. It never runs up the trunk, but Hies to such portions 

 of it as it is led to by instinct. 



During the breeding season it lays three eggs, eleven lines long by eight lines broad, in a 

 round, cupola-shaped nest, constructed of coarse grass, and lined with blossoms of grasses and other 

 soft materials. 



