GREEN-BACKED WHITE-EYE. 
family in note, food and habits. They are fairly plentiful in the south-western 
districts and I have found them breeding in the tea-trees near the coast in 
October and November. The usual clutch of eggs seems to be three, while 
at times they lay only two eggs. The nest is cup-shaped, composed of dry 
grass and rootlets; at times cobwebs are used, but this is not general. The 
position of the nest varies in height from the ground from 4 to 20 feet and is 
generally placed in the drooping bough of a tea-tree.” 
The recent excursion of Eastern Ornithologists into West Australia was 
most productive of good field results, and a note by Ashby I also quote in 
connection with the Z. lateralis puzzle. 
Captain S. A. White wrote : “ A very plentiful bird, especially along the 
sea-coast, where it was nesting amongst the tea-tree and low shrubs. Its call 
is a short, mournful one, like that of the other members of this family of birds. 
Its bright coloration is very noticeable. Several nests were seen containing 
eggs.” 
Alexander noted from Perth: “ Resident. Very plentiful, especially 
near the coast, and found also on Rottnest and Garden Islands and some of 
the smaller islands further south.” 
No subspecies of this bird were named until by error Grant described 
Zoster ops shortridgii, and I here reproduce Whitlock’s remarks: “ My 
researches near the south coast did not result hi anything of special interest, 
but I paid some attention to a newly described species of White-eye ( Zosterops 
shortridgii) Grant. The types were procured on Rabbit Island, King George’s 
Sound. The latter island is only a huge mass of granite, whose area is limited 
to a couple of hundred acres or thereabouts, and only sepai’ated from the 
mainland by a very narrow channel. It was out of the question, therefore, 
that such conditions, with the absence of isolation, could produce a local 
species. Z. shortridgii is said to differ from Z. gouldi in having the middle 
of the breast, as well as the belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, pale yellow, 
the sides and flanks greyer and only slightly washed with cinnamon. In 
Z. gouldi the thighs are always white. I found birds answering to this des¬ 
cription both to the north and to the west of Albany, and it may be noted 
that the cinnamon wash on the flanks in one or two I procured was absent. 
Again, I shot others with the latter characteristic very pronounced. I can 
only say at present, with certainty, that the birds with grey flanks and yellow 
thighs w r ere breeding birds. Possibly the other type may have been breeding 
too ; but I am rather inclined to think the differences are due to age, and are 
not of specific value.” 
In 1912 I considered Z. gouldi as the geographical representative of the 
eastern Z. lateralis and only alknved it subspecific rank. In 1913 I elevated 
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