WHITE-NAPED HONEYEATER. 
in South Australia, and especially along the Mount Lofty Ranges, where it is 
to be seen all the year round. I have often watched it at my place “ Glenburne,” 
at Stirling West near Mount Lofty, where it frequents the timbered country, 
clinging to the twigs and leaves as it searches out small insects and scale pests 
on the wood, for besides being honey-eaters this bird will eat insect life when 
the flowers become scarce in the winter time; it also feeds its young to a 
large extent on insects when they are fledgelings. I have also noted it along 
the Flinders Range further north in South Australia, and on Eyre’s and Yorke’s 
Peninsula. It breeds during August, September, October and November, 
starting in the early months during dry seasons and postponing its nesting 
habits should the season be late and damp. The birds have a habit of sitting 
close to their nests especially in winter weather; this prevents the eggs being 
shaken out by the sway of the hanging branches, as a gale would soon throw 
out the contents did the bird not stick to its duty.” 
Mr. F. E. Howe has sent me: “On the 1st of January, 1909, we were 
lunching in the shade of a sapling that grew in a gully near Ferntree Gully and 
were much interested in the movements of a pair of these pretty birds. Upon 
closer observation we discovered them feeding young in a tiny nest, that was 
fairly high up and suspended out on a horizontal bough. Both parents were 
engaged in this task and averaged a visit each four minutes. The naked 
space above the eye of the adult is red, but in the young is of a bluish-green. 
With perhaps the exception of Ptilotis chrysops this Honey-eater is about the 
liveliest.” 
Air. L. G. Chandler has written me: “This little acrobat is perhaps of 
all our Honey-eaters the most plentiful. At Melton in June, 1908,1 saw flocks 
that numbered many hundreds feeding on the flowering Eucalyptus. A 
Wattle-bird entering the tree caused a commotion and the smaller Honey- 
eaters were away in a noisy crowd only to return again in a few moments. 
I noticed large flocks at Frankston in April. At Olinda, Dandenong Ranges, the 
young are always found in plenty in the month of February accompanying 
the parents. The acrobatic performances of young and old are interesting 
as they appear to hang in any position, and may often be seen performing a 
half somersault to a lower limb. A nest noticed on New Year’s Day at The 
Basin, Dandenong Ranges, w r as placed about twenty-five feet from the ground 
in the leaves at the extremity of a limb in a Eucalyptus sapling. Ib contained 
young birds, and both sexes were noticed feeding the young. At Olinda 
numbers of the birds—young and mature—were seen bathing in the creek. 
They splashed on the surface while on the wing and seemed to enjoy the 
bath immensely.” 
Le Souef and Macpherson have written from Sydney, the type locality 
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