GOLDEN-BACKED HONEY-EATER. 
all this skin had faded to dull purple. The bright yellow on the rumps 
and napes of the birds was of the same shade.” 
Crossman in his list of Birds seen in and around Broome, North-western 
Australia, includes: “Golden-backed Honey-eater {Melithreptus Icetior). Seen 
on several occasions in the scrub country. It utters a somewhat loud note.” 
Hill records from Kimberley, North-west Australia : “Flocks of from 12 
to 18 birds passed the station on 4th to 28th November, flying south-west. 
From the latter date to 16th February, 1910, none was seen, but on 17th 
February and 30th June I frequently saw or heard them in some open forest, 
but they were generally in parties of two or three pairs, and showed no desire to 
commence nesting. The notes of this species are similar to those of M. brevirostris 
(Brown-headed Honey-eater) though stronger, and audible at a greater distance.” 
Macgillivray has written : “ First observed in the Gulf country, at Sedan, 
where specimens were secured on the 23rd October. d, testes enlarged; irides 
brown ; skin round the eye bright green, with a tinge of yellow ; bill black; 
legs brownish-yellow. Stomach contents, portions of flowers. On the 25th 
of the same month this species was noted feeding fully-fledged young. They 
were plentiful at this camp and at Cloncurry, where they were seen again feeding 
young birds on the 30th April. In another specimen, secured on the 
Leichhardt River, the soft parts were as follows: J; testes enlarged; irides 
dark brown, naked skin above eye greenislily-yellow, bill brownish-black; 
legs pale yellmvish-brown, feet lighter. Stomach contents, honey and 
insects.” Later he added: “A few Golden-backed Honey-eaters were seen 
on the Archer River.” 
Air. A. J. North wrote me many years ago : “ Melithreptus carpentariana 
Campbell is not a species. Specimens from same district have been compared 
by me with the co-type of M. Icetior. If it were necessary to separate any 
form it would be that from the North-west of Australia, which is of a richer 
golden-yellow; but on the other hand some specimens from the east are 
indistinguishable from the north-west birds.” 
This was overlooked as indicating the type-locality of M. Icetior as 
hereafter discussed. 
The confusion between M. gularis, Icetior and validirostris is still existent. 
Before Gould went to Australia he proposed a new genus Hcematops for three 
species, the w T ell-know T n Certhia lunulata Shaw and two new ones, II. validi¬ 
rostris and H. gularis. Simultaneously, but published a few months later, 
Swainson introduced tw T o new genera for the first Wo, the last being apparently 
unknown to him. It was almost immediately pointed out that Vieillot’s 
genus Melithreptus was based solely on the first named, so that Gould and 
Swainson’s names become synonymous, while the second Swainson’s genus 
VOL. XI. 
265 
