344 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
to the altered conditions, and are as much at home 
among the flowers and shrubs of town gardens as 
ever they were in the bush. Particularly is the White- 
plumed Honeyeater partial to the blue-gum trees 
{Eucalyftus globulus) which one finds in some of the 
older gardens ; often one may see the Greenie from 
the top of one of these, on a summer evening, dart 
up into the air, apparently just for pure enjoyment, 
singing as he goes, and after undulating rises to a 
height of 30 feet or so, drop back into the tree-top. 
It is found throughout the district where the 
country is lightly timbered, but is perhaps nowhere 
more abundant than in the Eastern Park. Into the 
messmate forest west of Torquay it does not pene- 
trate, its place there being taken by the Yellow-faced 
and White-eared Honeyeaters. 
I have seen a nest with eggs as early as July 4th ; 
the ordinary breeding-season is August and Sep- 
tember. The nest is pensile, and is swung to the 
outer twigs of a leafy eucalyptus branch near the 
ground or among the drooping needles of a she-oak. 
Such are typical positions, but in the Park I have 
often noted the nest in low thick bushes, in which 
case it is more roughly and heavily built than when 
suspended from an overhanging bough. It is cup- 
shaped, built of fine grasses with some white exterior 
ornamentation of wool, cocoons, and the like ; and is 
lined with a little seed-down, fur, hair, or feathers. 
Usually one can see the eggs through the nest from 
below. They are two or three in number, and vary 
