SANGUINEOUS HONEY-EATER. 
also blackish-brown; fore-neck and breast grey with a slight appearance of black 
on the former and a tinge of yellow on the latter; abdomen, sides of body, and 
under tail-coverts whitish-grey more or less tinged with sulphur-yellow ; axillaries, 
under wing-coverts, and inner margins of flight-quills below, white, remainder of 
quill-lining hair-brown; lower aspect of tail also hair-brown; eyes and feet 
brown; bill black. Collected at Cooktown, North Queensland, on the 16th of 
May, 1900. 
Immature. General colour of the upper-surface smoke-brown including the ontire top 
of the head, sides of face, sides of neck, hind-neck, and upper back, somewhat darker 
on the last and inclining to dark chestnut on the lower back, rump, and upper 
tail-coverts; upper wing-coverts pale brown margined with buff ; flight-quills 
greyish-brown narrowly fringed with olive on the outer webs and white on the 
iimer ones ; tail hair-brown ; chin and fore part of cheeks faintly tinged with pale 
red; throat and breast greyish-olive, becoming paler and inclining to greyish- 
white ; under tail-coverts pale buff ; axillaries, under wing-coverts, and margins 
of flight-quills below, white, remainder of quill-lining hair-brown; lower aspect 
of tail similar to its upper-surface. Collected at Beach Mount, Inkerman, North 
Queensland, in May, 1907. 
Male juvenile. Crown of head and nape mouse-brown, inclining to chestnut on the fore¬ 
head ; mantle, back, rump, upper tail-coverts and outer aspect of wings dark smoke- 
brown ; flight-quills blackish with olive-green margins on the outer webs and 
white on the iimer ones ; tail dark brown margined with chestnut-brown towards 
the base; chin, throat and cheeks cinnamon; hind-face like the crown of the 
head ; fore-neck and chest pale grey tinged with cinnamon ; lower breast, abdomen, 
and sides of body grey ; flanks and under tail-coverts pale buff ; axillaries, under 
wing-coverts, and inner margins of flight-quills below white; remainder of quill¬ 
lining blackish-brown; lower aspect of tail similar but somewhat paler; eyes 
hazel; bill dark yellowish-brown ; feet greenish-grey, soles yellow. Collected at 
Mt. Elliot, Townsville, North Queensland, on the 5th of December, 1907. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A clutch of three taken at South Grafton, 
Clarence River, New South Wales, on the 11t h of November, 1894, is of a white ground¬ 
colour, possessing the very faintest trace of a warm or pinkish tinge; spotted 
and speckled with dull chestnut, reddish-brown, and purplish-grey, forming 
well defined zones at the larger end of each egg. Rather roundish in shape, surface 
of shell smooth and rather glossy. 15-16 mm. by 12. Cooktown eggs taken 
on the 2nd of November, 1897, measure 14 mm. by 11. 
Nest. Is a small cup-shaped structure, composed of thin strips of bark and small roots, 
and usually very sparingly lined with a little very fine grass, or a few rootlets,’ 
and sometimes horsehair. Usually suspended from the small forked horizontal 
twigs of a drooping branch of a bushy tree, a Eucalyptus being frequently resorted 
to for the purpose. The nest though very small is sometimes placed as high as 
40 feet or more up from the ground. The dimensions over all are : 2 inches across 
by about U inches in depth, and the egg cavity is H inches across by nearly 1 inch 
in depth. 
Breeding-months. October to December or January. 
Figured in the Lambert and Watling drawings several times, probably on 
account of its attractive coloration, this species received three different names 
by Latham; the descriptions were not recognised until Gray, Strickland and 
Gould examined the drawings in 1843. 
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