BROWN-HEADED HONEY-EATER. 
and under wing-coverts similar; under-surface of flight-quills dark hair-brown 
margined with white ; lower aspect of tail greyish-white. Collected at Scott’s 
Creek, South Australia, on the 29th of January, 1898. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A clutch of two eggs taken at Somerville, Victoria, 
on the 18th of December, 1897, is of a pale reddish-buff ground-colour, spotted and 
speckled (chiefly at the larger end of each egg) with reddish-brown and purplish- 
grey. Rather rounded ovals in shape ; surface of shell smooth and slightly glossy. 
20 mm. by 14. 
Nest. A rather small cup-shaped structure, composed of thin strips of bark and grasses 
well matted together with cobwebs and spiders’ cocoons. Generally very warmly 
lined with fur or hair. Dimensions over all 2\ to nearly 3 inches across by 2i to 
nearly 3 inches in depth. Egg cavity almost 2 inches across by nearly 2 inches 
in depth. 
Breeding-months . September to end December. 
Melithreptus atricapiUus submagnirostris. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A clutch of two eggs taken at Ringwood South, 
Victoria, on the 19th of October, 1913, is of a pale reddish-buff ground-colour, 
spotted and finely speckled with reddish-brown, and purplish-grey. Slightly swollen 
ovals in shape ; surface of shell smooth and slightly glossy. 19 by 13 mm. 
Ned. Very similar to that of Melithreptus a. atricapiUus. The nest from which the latter 
clutch was taken is open cup-shaped, and beautifully constructed. Composed 
almost entirely of horsehair, white cowhair, and a few shreds of bark as a base. It 
was placed up 20 feet from the ground in the topmost twigs of a Eucalyptus 
sapling. 
Breeding-months. August to December. 
Gould in his “Handbook” admitted that he had been unfamiliar with this 
bird and that his attention was drawn to it by Dr. Bennett of Sydney and 
Mr. George French Angas, and upon investigation he found that he had 
specimens which he had classed as immature M. lunulatus ; but upon re¬ 
examination he was able to notice many differences, and concluded: “ Should 
it ultimately prove to be distinct, then it must bear the inappropriate name 
of Melithreptus brevirostris, as I find it is strictly identical with the type 
specimens of the bird so called by Vigors and Horsfield, formerly in the 
collection of the Linnean Society, and now in the British Museum.” 
When Vigors and Horsfield described their new species, they wrote: 
“ This bird is said to be common by Mr. Caley, and to be called Curufleer 
by the natives.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has written me from Cobbora, New South Wales: 
“ Some years not a bird to be seen, then again in other years they arrive in 
hundreds, and unless breeding, they travel about in flocks. They are one of 
the most curious and fearless of all the birds of this district. I find if I 
approach them quietly and then keep quite still, they will come all round 
within a few feet of me and examine me with the greatest curiosity. When 
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