SPOTTED PARDALOTE (DIAMOND-BIRD). 
spots at the tips ot the feathers, which are fringed with black, the buff spots become 
larger and richer in colour on the lower back and rump ; short upper tail-coverts 
cinnamon-rufous, becoming dark red on the long ones ; scapulars similar to the 
back but without the buff spots ; outer aspect of wing blackish with a white spot 
at the tip of each feather except on the bastard-wing and primary-coverts, which 
are uniform ; inner webs of flight-quills somewhat paler than the outer ones and 
margined with dull white ; lores and a line over the eye buffy-white ; sides of face, 
sides of neck, and cheeks dusky-grey ; chin, throat and fore-neck whitish-yellow 
similar to the centre of the breast and abdomen; sides of body and thighs 
ochreous; under tail-coverts canary-yellow ; axillaries and under wing-coverts 
white ; under-surface of flight-quills hair-brown fringed with white ; lower aspect 
of tail similar to its upper-surface. Eyes groy, bill black, feet fleshy. Total length 
94 mm. ; culrnen 6, wing 59, tail 30, tarsus 18. Figured. Collected at Ringwood, 
Victoria, on the 24th of July, 1909 (a pair with the male). 
Young female. Top of head dark brown with ochreous tips to the feathers which impart 
a spotted appearance; the hind-neck and upper back dusky-brown, the spots are 
more inclining to rufous and the feathers narrowly fringed with blackish; lower 
back, rump, and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-rufous ; wings black, the feathers 
everywhere tipped with white ; tail also black tipped with white, more broadly 
on the outermost feathers ; under-surface yellowish-white ; sides of body golden- 
buff ; under tail-coverts orange-yellow. Collected in Bass Straits. 
Nestling. Resembles the female. 
Pardalotus punctatus punctatus. 
Eggs. Three to six eggs form the clutch ; four usually, and five and six very rarely. A 
clutch of four taken at South Grafton, Clarence River, New South Wales, on the 
24th of November, 1892, is pure white. Rather round in shape ; surface of 
shell fine, smooth and glossy. 17-18 mm. by 14-15. 
Nest. A domed and covered over, and rather rounded structure, with entrance on the 
side, and placed in a hollowed-out chamber at the end of a narrow tunnel about 
one to three feet long, made by the birds into a bank, and frequently along the 
upright bank of a creek, dam, or road cutting. The tunnel leading to the nest 
generally slopes slightly upwards. The nest is made almost entirely of strips of 
very dry, soft bark, and a great quantity is used in its construction. It measures 
from 3f to 51 inches in diameter over all by 2 1 inches to 2f inches across inside. 
Breeding-months. July to end December. 
Pardalotus punctatus millitaris. 
Eggs. Four eggs usually form the clutch. A clutch of four eggs taken at Kirrama Range, 
Cardwell, North Queensland, on the 28th of October, 1916, is pure white. Swollen 
ovals in shape ; surface of shell fine, and very glossy. 15-16 mm. by 12. 
Nest. A small domed-shaped structure built of wirey grass and bark, and placed in a 
rounded and hollowed-out chamber at the end of a small tunnel in the back of a 
creek, and sometimes in the earth fastened to the roots of a fallen and uprooted 
tree. Nest closely resembles that of P. p. punctatus. 
Breeding-months. July to December. 
Pardalotus punctatus interjedus. 
Nest and eggs very similar to those of P. p. punctatus. A clutch of four eggs taken at the 
Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, on the 1st of January, 1909, measures :—A, 16 by 13 
mm. ; B, 16 by 13 mm. ; C, 16 by 13 mm ; D, 15 by 13 mm. 
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