PLATE XXXVIII 



GENUS MI MET A (Vig. and Horsf.) 



OF this genus, which is closely allied to Oriolus, two species inhabit Australia, and others the islands 

 to the northward. 



MIMETA VIRIDIS (Vig. and Horsf.) 



NEW SOUTH WALES ORIOLE. 



"VTEW SOUTH WALES and part of Victoria appear to be the exclusive home of this species, which 

 -L-^l is there found in companies, from five to about twenty in number, generally in the neighbour- 

 hood of orchards or gardens containing Moreton Bay fig-trees, of the fruit of which it is very fond. It 

 also feeds on berries and insects, capturing the latter when on the wing. 



Its note is very melodious, and it also imitates many of the other birds of the forest. 



For information about the nidification we are greatly indebted to Dr. Ramsay, who has made 

 very complete and valuable notes on it. The nest, which is placed on a horizontal branch of a Eucalyptus 

 or Melaleuca (tea- tree), is composed of narrow strips of the bark of the stringy-bark tree, lined in the 

 inside with the leaves of the native oak, or with grass and hair. The eggs, which range from four to 

 two in number, are of a cream-colour, with spots of brown and also faint blotches of lilac distributed over 

 the surface. In length they are one inch and three lines, and in breadth ten or eleven lines. The 

 breeding season lasts from the beginning of October to the middle of January. 



The sexes scarcely differ in colouring, except that the male has the upper surface of a slightly 

 deeper tint than the female. 



The head and all the upper surface, greenish-olive ; wings and tail-feathers, olive-brown ; the 

 outer webs of the coverts and secondaries, grey, edged with white ; under surface, white, each feather 

 with a mark of black down the centre ; bill, flesh-red ; irides, scarlet ; legs and feet, olive-grey. 



Habitats : New South Wales and part of Victoria. 



MIMETA FLAVOCINCTA (Vig. and Horsf.) 

 CRESCENT-MARKED ORIOLE. 



ALL the specimens of this bird yet obtained were procured on the north coast of Australia, generally 

 in the mangrove swamps of that region. 



