THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Gould wrote of M. validirostris : “ This bird, the largest species of the 
genus yet discovered, is a native of Tasmania, and so universally is it 
distributed over that island that scarcely any part is without its presence. 
The crowns of the highest mountains as well as the lowlands, if clothed with 
Eucalpyti, are equally enlivened by it. Like all the other members of the 
genus, it frequents the small leafy and flowering branches ; it differs, however, 
from its congeners in one remarkable character, that of alighting upon, and 
clinging to, the surface of the boles of the trees in search of insects. I never 
saw it run up and down the trunk, but merely fly to such parts as instinct 
led it to select as the probable abode of insects. . . The song consists of 
a couple of notes, and is not remarkable for its melody.” 
Mr. Frank Littler has -written me: “ Somewhat unevenly distributed 
over the island of Tasmania. In some districts I have found it fairly plentiful, 
while in others it was absent, though the districts as far as I could judge were 
well suited for it. The class of country mostly favoured by tiffs species is 
heavily timbered tracts, the trees most eucalyptus. Although country with 
an abundance of heavy undergrowth is often resorted to, it is not as a rule 
greatly favoured by this species. The diet consists principally of insects 
which are mostly procured from under the bark and among the leaves and 
blossoms. Honey is not despised as it may often be seen probing the corollas 
of the eucalypt blossoms.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor has sent me a note : “ I have seen these birds in various 
places in Tasmania, also on King Island and Flinders Island in Bass Straits; 
they love the tall tree-tops and can hardly be distinguished amongst the 
leaves and thick foliage, but they at times descend to the lower bushy trees; 
while on Flinders Island during Nov. 1912 I noted them in the tall Van Diemen’s 
Land blue gums and secured several specimens. I met with it at Mount 
Arthur in the north and Mt. Wellington in the south of Tasmania.” 
Captain S. A. White has written me : “ This bird is to be met with in 
almost all the thick forest country of Tasmania. It prefers the bush to the 
open country. The writer met with the bird on Flinders Island where it 
was nesting. The nest was placed in the thick young shoots of a big gum, 
it was of the usual cup-sliape and was composed of strips of bark lined with 
rootlets and dry grass and contained three young. I watched this pair of 
birds for some time and it was remarkable how they hung to the stems of the 
big trees pulling off the bark in search of insects, their movements being so 
much like those of Climacteris. The bird has a loud note and is quarrelsome, 
being very much like M. gularis .” 
A. G. Campbell writing of the Birds of King Island included this species: 
“ Tiffs powerfully built bird is ever on the move, in parties of five or six, 
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