WHITE-NAPED HONEY-EATER. 
sides of body, under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, and inner-margins of flight- 
quills below ; remainder of quill-lining and lower aspect of tail dark hair-brown. 
Eyes brown, orbits bluish-white, bill dark horn, lower base pinkish, feet and legs 
dark brown. Collected at Wilson’s Inlet, South-west Australia, on the 19th of 
March, 1910. 
Nestling. Entire top of head, hind-neck, sides of neck, sides of face, back, and rump 
rust-brown; lesser upper wing-coverts dark rust-brown; bastard-wing and outer 
primary-coverts blackish-brown; median and greater series of wing-coverts and 
outer aspect of inner primary-coverts and flight-quills yellowish-green, inner webs 
of the last blackish, margined with white ; upper tail-coverts and tail also yellowish- 
green, somewhat darker on the latter ; an indicated line of white on the sides of the 
hinder-crown which extends round the hind-neck; lores black like the chin and 
a narrow moustachial streak; throat, breast, abdomen, sides of body, vent, and 
under tail-coverts white with a very slight tinge of sulphur-yellow ; axillaries, 
under wing-coverts and inner edges of quills below white, remainder of quill-lining 
hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail greyish-brown. Eyes deep brown, orbits whitish, 
feet pale brown, bill yellow with culrnen brown. Collected in the Stirling Ranges, 
West Australia, on the 18th of October, 1910. 
M elithreptus vinotinctus . 
The following is a description of the type-specimen of Melithreptus vinotinctus , 
which seems to be not quite adult: — 
General colour above olive-yellow, a little more golden-yellow on the rump 
and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts dusky ashy-brown, externally like the back, 
the greater series paler yellow at the tips; bastard-wing dusky-brown, with tiny 
whitish spots at the tips ; primary-coverts and primaries dusky-brown, externally 
edged with olive-yellow like the back, a little brighter on the outer aspect of the 
secondaries; tail-feathers dusky-brown, washed with olive-yellow on the outer- 
webs ; crown of head light earthy- or chocolate-brown with an intermediate spot 
of blackish ; base of fore-head, feathers round eye, and ear-coverts, black, continued 
into a collar encircling the neck, girdling a white collar which extends from the 
hinder part of the eye round the occiput; cheeks and under-surface of body, 
white, with a little dusky-blackish patch on the sides of the chest, extending upwards 
towards the black ear-coverts ; thighs pale ashy-brown ; mider tail-coverts and 
under wing-coverts white ; quills dull ashy-brown, whitish along the inner-w r eb. 
Total length 112 mm.; culrnen 12, wings 67, tail 45, tarsus 16. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A clutch of three taken at Homebush, near 
Sydney, New South Wales, on the 11th of September, 1892, is of a pale buff 
ground-colour, finely spotted and speckled, chiefly at the larger end of each egg, 
with reddish-browm and pale purplish-grey. Rather oval in shape, surface of shell 
smooth and slightly glossy. 18-19 mm. by 13. 
Nest. A small, open cup-shaped structure suspended in the drooping branch of a tree 
or bush, and often placed a considerable height from the ground. It is usually 
constructed of strips of bark well matted together with cobwebs and spiders’ cocoon 
bags, and lined with grass, rootlets, soft reddish-coloured bark, and sometimes fur. 
Dimensions over all about inches, and from 2 to 3 inches in depth. Egg cavity 
1| inches across by lj to nearly 2 inches deep. 
Breeding-months. July to November. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A pair taken at Perth, Western Australia, 
on the 2nd of November, 1899, is of a pale reddish-buff ground-colour, spotted 
chiefly at the larger end of each egg with reddish-brown and pale slate-coloured 
markings. Swollen ovals in shape, surface of shell smooth and slightly glossy. 
21 mm. by 15. 
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