130 
NATURE NOTES 
opposite, on the right hand side of the track is another of the 
same species, but which, wedged in as it is between a nut-bush 
and a golden russet tree, has not expanded to anything like the 
proportions of its neighbour. It is, however, quite as densely 
loaded with blossom in proportion to its size, and so also is a 
still smaller one about ten yards distant. These are the earliest 
shrubs in the garden, beginning to flower in July, that is in 
midwinter, long before the leaves appear, blooming right through 
August, one of our wettest and stormiest months, and now 
well on in September, are still radiant with countless tubular 
blossoms, mingled with the pleasing hue of the freshly-opened 
foliage. 
As we might expect, these large stores of easily-obtained 
nectar being offered at a season when that delectable compound 
is decidedly scarce, are very fascinating to the insect world : 
the hum of the early bee, and of such other winged workers as 
the warm spring sunshine has invigorated into action, may be 
heard from morn till dewy eve about our honey-scented currant. 
But it is the nectar-lovers of the bird-world which principally 
arrest our attention and to whom these early-flowering shrubs 
prove so irresistibly attractive. The honey-eaters flock in from 
the tracts of bush which almost surround our little home, and 
their graceful evolutions may be watched with ease from a 
Avindow or while standing just outside the door in close proximity 
to the big bush. 
The largest of these feathered friends to visit our garden for 
the sake of nectar is the yellow-throat {Ptilotis flavigula), about 
the size of a starling, and having the whole of the back, except 
the head, which is of a slaty tint, coloured a rather pleasing 
yellowish-green, quite a protective hue among the native foliage 
in which the bird usually lives. The under surface is of a light 
slate colour, becoming whitish towards the tail, which has the 
greenish tint of the back above, and beneath is of a light 
yellowish appearance ; upon the throat appears the large beauti- 
ful primrose patch from which both the specific and familiar 
appellations are derived. The hen-bird also has this mark well- 
developed, but she appears a good deal smaller than her fine 
bold mate, who frequently utters a loud full tchoog-tchoog- 
tchoog-tchoog, while among the blossoms, a note most liquid 
and musical, which is also heard to advantage in the evening 
after sunset, just as the birds are retiring to rest in the thick 
scrub. The note tchoog-tchoog is varied by an occasional loud 
stately trill, and by these two voices the bird may be easily 
dentified at a distance, even when hidden in the scrub. 
Of the honey-eater family, the next in size to our friend 
Ptilotis is the “Painter” [Meliornis aiistralasiana), which has a 
somewhat similar greenish hue over the back plumage, but in 
addition has on each wing a dash of golden yellow, which at 
once distinguishes him. On the throat is a whitish patch, down 
each side of which curves a black collar-mark, outside which is 
