THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Nest. Similar to that of P. p. punctatus. Cup-shaped and composed entirely of fine strips 
of bark and placed at the end of a tunnel in a bank. External diameter 3| inches, 
height 2\, internal 2\ by 2. 
Breeding-months. July to September. (March.) 
Pardalotus rubricatus pallidus. 
Nest and eggs very similar to those of P. rubricatus yorki. A clutch of three eggs taken 
at the Coongan River, Mid-west Australia, on the 17th of August, 1908, is pure 
white. Swollen to rounded ovals in shape ; shell fine but almost without gloss. 
18 by 13 mm. 
Nest. A domed-shaped or covered over structure, composed of strips of bark, and the 
cup neatly lined with grasses, and placed in a hollowed out and rounded chamber 
in the side of a bank, situated at the end of a small tunnel varying from 20 inches 
to 2 feet or more in length. 
Breeding-months. July to October. 
Although Gould described this species he knew nothing of its habits, 
and as late as 1865 could only write: “ When I published my plate and 
description in the folio edition, only a single specimen of this bird had been 
obtained, and I was unaware in what part, of Australia it had been obtained. 
I have, however, lately seen other specimens collected by Mr. Waterhouse 
during the overland expedition to the Victoria River under Mr. Stuart. 
Mr. White of Adelaide also informs me in a letter that he ‘ saw this bird in 
considerable numbers about the lat. 27° or 28°.’ ” 
Macgillivray, writing of the birds of the Barrier Range, said : “ McLennan 
dug out the burrow, in the side of a little watercourse, of a Pardalote (P. 
rubricatus) ; the nest contained three fresh eggs. The nest was cup-shaped, 
very compact, and constructed entirely of fine strips of bark. Its external 
diameter was 3£ inches and height 21 inches ; diameter of egg cavity 2\ inches, 
depth 2 inches. The note of' the male bird is quite unlike that of any other 
Pardalote with which I am acquainted, consisting as it does of a loud, mellow 
whistle, repeated five times in quick succession. It may be heard at a distance, 
and was more than once mistaken by us for the call-note of the Barnard 
Parrakeet.” 
Later Macgillivray noted : “ Numerous throughout the Gulf country, 
and on the Jardine River, on the Cape York Peninsula. When camped at 
Sedan several banks where they nested in company with P. uropygialis were 
examined. One contained five burrows of P. rubricatus and seven of P. 
uropygialis, another five of P. uropygialis, and three of P. rubricatus. Still 
another contained twenty-six burrows, eighteen being those of P. uropygialis 
and eight of P. rubricatus. The birds were at these burrows on the 10th 
February, but no completed clutches were found until the 25th March. On 
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