THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
blue. Total length 100 mm. ; culmen 8, wing 57, tail 38, tarsus 18. Collected 
at Point Torment, North-west Australia, on the 14th of January, 1911, and is the 
type of Z. 1. tribulationis . 
Adult male . General colour of the upper-surface greenish-yellow, including the top of the 
head, sides of face, hind-neck, sides of neck, back, upper tail-coverts, scapulars, 
and wings ; inner webs of flight-quills blackish-brown with whitish margins; tail 
pale hair-brown with a slight tinge of greenish-yellow r and dark obsolete cross¬ 
bars ; eye-ring whitish ; lores rather paler than the crown ; rictal-bristles blackish 
but only sparsely developed ; entire under-surface bright yellow including the 
throat, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, being slightly darker; under 
wing-coverts and margins of flight-quills below cream-white ; remainder of flight- 
quills and low r er aspect of tail pale hair-brow T n. Eyes chestnut; feet and bill lead- 
grey. Total length 117 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 58, tail 41, tarsus 18. Collected 
at Normanton, Gulf of Carpentaria, North Queensland, on the 22nd of April, 1914. 
Immature feinale. General colour of the upper-surface dull yellowish-olive, including 
the crow r n of the head, sides of face, sides of neck, liind-neck, back, scapulars, upper 
wing-coverts, and outer margins of flight-quills; inner webs of the last dark hair- 
brown with white margins ; tail pale hair-brown, the feathers narrowly margined 
with yellow; lores and fore-part of eye-ring blackish ; base of fore-head, chin, throat, 
breast, abdomen, sides of body, thighs and under tail-coverts pale yellow; under 
wing-coverts and inner margins of quills below r cream-white ; under-surface of 
fliglit-quills hair-brown; lower aspect of tail similar but paler. Eyes brown, bill 
and feet grey. Collected at Normanton, Gulf of Carpentaria, North Queensland, 
on the 11th of January, 1914. 
Eggs. A clutch of three eggs taken at Derby, North-west Australia, on the 17th of 
November, 1902, is of a very pale bluish-green. 16-17 mm. by 12-13. 
Nest. Usual cup-shaped construction. 
Breeding-months. Probably September to January. 
Gould introduced this new species into his folio Birds of Australia without 
prehminary description, waiting : “ ‘ I first met with it/ says Gilbert, ‘ in 
August, on Greenhill Island, Van Diemen’s Gulf, dwelling among the man¬ 
groves or the densest thickets. It is much more wild and solitary than 
Zosterops ccerulescens , and does not resort like that bird to the gardens and 
the neighbourhood of the houses of the settlers, its note is also very different, 
being a pretty canary-like song. When disturbed it usually left the thicket 
for the higher branches of the gum trees, where it was effectually hidden from 
view by the thick foliage. It was generally met with in small families of 
from three to seven or eight in number.’ ” 
Mr. J. P. Rogers wrote me : “ This is another mangrove bird, but at 
times it leaves the mangroves and goes out into the dry country, but I have 
never seen it more than half a mile from the salt bush. It is fairly common 
at Derby, and has been breeding lately (Feb. 1911) as I have seen several 
nests. 
“ Cooper’s Camp, Nov. 20tli, 1911. A few of these birds are seen 
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