Birds of Celebes: Nectariniidae. 
461 
The species, as a whole, may be described as follows: 
Adult male. Upper surface and sides of head yellowish olive-green; superciliary and 
rictal stripe yellowish, quills dusky, edged with olive-gi’een ; tail black, the three 
outer feathers tipped with wliite, [about [1 — 10 mm broad in the outermost; chin, 
throat and chest metallic purpHsh blue-black; remaining under parts dark yellow, 
axillaries brighter; under wing-coverts straw-yellow (Passim, New Gluinea, 
June 1873: Meyer — 0 275). 
Female. Like the male, but chin, throat and chest yellow like the other under parts (Core, 
Q : Meyer — Nr, 8486, and others). 
Young. Like the female, but washed with drab above, and paler yellow below (Manado tua, 
8. lY. 93, Nat. OolL: 0 12220). Bill and feet black. Iris drab {Q, New Britain: 
Eichards), brown (cf, IVIinahassa and S. Celebes: Platen k I and in Mus. Nehrk.), 
red (Celebes: Meyer h .% brown (N. Celebes, Guillem, ff 1). 
Measurements. Wing 49—58 mm, tail 31—44, bill 17-21, tarsus 12.5—15. 
Eggs. “The frmatus-eggs in my collection form 3 types, which deviate greatly from one 
another, a. From Batjan are of a grey-yellow ground, with spots differing httle from 
the ground-colour distributed equally over the entire egg. At the blunt end only a 
few black hair-hnes are to be found, b. From Batjan are of a grey-brown ground, 
with similar washed out spots, very isolated black streaks are also to be seen, 
c The eo'o's from Duke of York differ essentially from the others. They have indeed 
the same ground-colour-, but the black and black-brown spots are sharply marked and 
form a circlet at the large end. Measurements: 16—17 X 11.5—12 mm” (Nehrk., MS.). 
In Batjan the bird lays as many as 4 eggs. Two eggs from Aru (out of 
different nests Nr. 1529, 1531) apparently correspond with Nehrkorn’s type b, and 
call to mind the eggs of the Sedge Warbler, Aarocqjkalvs phmgmiUs. 
In North Australia the egg is pear-shaped, generally and equally mottled 
with obscure dirty brown on a greenish grey ground (Gould, Hb. B. Austr. 1865, I, 
5851 two at a sittiim greenish grey ground-colour, almost obscured by freckles and 
dashes of Hght brown (North, Nests & Eggs B. Austr. 1889, 232). 
Nest. Four nests of this species from Celebes in the Dresden Museum (Nrs. 125, 126, 127, 
128) are of an oval inverted shape, length 130—140 mm (not counting some pendulous 
stuff in one case which would add 00 mm to the length), breadth 50-60 mm, entrance 
by a hole in the upper half. One nest is attached to a hanging twig passing down 
through it like a backbone, a second is suspended from a hanging planLstalk, a thh-d 
fastened to an upright tliin plant- stalk bearing the dry seed-heads of a Composita 
or such like which are worked into the body of the nest. Externally a great variety 
of materials disorderly arranged are found - masses of the diy excrementa of 
spiders or caterpillars entangled in the web, strips of bark, dead leaves, cotton, 
feathers, plant-fibres, grasses, a fragment of sliirting; wel lined with cotton, feathers 
- chiefly white ones - and in one case with many black, hair-like fibres of the 
sugar palm (Arenga saccharifera). Two nests from Aru differ from those of Celebes 
in being much longer (170-200 mm), and Hghter m colour owing to the smaller 
amount of spiders’ excrementa and the external structiu-e chiefly being of grey strips 
of bark, leaf skeletons, cotton and grasses. No feathers - a strong feature in the 
Celebes ones — ai-e to be found in the limng or walls of these nests. One is sus- 
pended among thin roots; the origmal support of the otlier is gone. Li one a well 
formed hood over the opening is seen (Nr. 1529, 1531). One from Port Denison is of an oval 
fom, with a small hood over the opening Avhich is neai- the top; composed of fibrous 
