SPOTTED PARDALOTE OR WHITTITUKE 321 
has crown, wings, and tail black, spotted with white ; 
white stripe over eye, rump rufous, upper tail coverts 
crimson, throat and chest bright yellow. The female 
is less brightly coloured. 
This species may, briefly, be known at once from 
the Striated Pardalote by having rounded spots on 
top of its head where the Striated Pardalote has 
longitudinal streaks. I have found it possible in the 
field to get quite close enough to these little birds 
when feeding in low bushy eucalypts to note this 
difference. A more obvious difference lies in the 
note, the Spotted Pardalote having a low, clear 
two-noted whistle, while the Striated Pardalote has 
a three-noted call which the names Wadelock (New 
South Wales) and Whittituke (Victoria) are meant 
to represent, and also a rather harsh-sounding trill. 
The Striated Pardalote is also the larger bird of the 
two. 
The Spotted Pardalote feeds, for preference, in 
quite low bushes ; the Striated, while frequenting 
all kinds of eucalyptus trees, has a special liking for 
the topmost boughs. In the field I find that the 
surest way of ascertaining the whereabouts of, and 
differentiating between, these two species is by 
listening for the note. 
The Pardalotes are short-tailed, and have small 
rounded wings which they work very rapidly in 
flight, having something of the stumpy appearance 
of a giant flying beetle. 
Spotted Pardalotes abound on the lower slopes of 
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