DUSKY HONEY-EATER. 
of tail uniform glossy dark brown. Eyes dark brown, bill black, feet and legs grey- 
blue. Total length 125 mm. ; culmen 17, wing 69, tail 53, tarsus 19. Figured. 
Collected at Cairns, North Queensland, in July, 1908, and is the type of Myzomela 
obscuru harterti. 
Adult female from the same locality similar to the adult male. 
Adult male. General colour both on the upper and under-surface dull dusky-brown, 
somewhat paler and inclining to bufiy-white on the under-surface of the flight- 
quills. Eyes brown, feet and tarsi leaden-blue, bill black. Total length 143 mm. ; 
culmen 18, wing 72, tail 55, tarsus 19. Figured. Collected on Melville Island, 
Northern Territory, on the 17tli of October, 1911, and is the type of Myzomela 
obscura apsleyi. In some specimens a red tinge shows on the fore-head. 
Adult female from the same locality, similar to the adult male. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface dusky-brown with greyish edges to the 
outer webs of the flight-quills, the inner webs of which are blackish with pale margins 
on the basal portions; tail glossy dark brown; under-surface smoke-brown, 
becoming paler and inclining to fawn-buff on the lower flanks, thighs, under tail- 
coverts, axillaries, and under wing-coverts ; lower aspect of tail greyish-brown. 
Eyes brown, feet slate-colour, bill black. Total length 115 mm. ; culmen 15, 
wing 60, tail 45, tarsus 18. Figured. Collected on Skull Creek. Cape York, 
North Queensland, on the 7th of December, 1912. 
Adult male from the same locality similar to the adult female. 
Eggs. Two eggs usually form the clutch. A pair taken at Cooktovfai, North Queensland, 
on the 23rd of October, 1893, is of a white ground-colour, possessing a very pale 
tinge of pink, minutely spotted with reddish-brown, chestnut, and purplish-grey, 
the markings being confined chiefly to the larger end of each egg. Swollen ovals 
in shape ; surface of shell smooth and slightly glossy. 15-16 mm. by 12. 
Nest. Small, frail, cup-shaped structure, composed chiefly of rootlets, thin grasses, and 
sometimes hair. Generally suspended from near the extremity of a long leafy 
branch of a tree or bush. Dimensions over all: nearly 3 inches across by 2 inches 
deep. Egg cavity about 11 inches across by nearly 11 inches in depth. 
Breeding-months. September to December. 
Gilbert apparently discovered this species, as Gould wrote: “This species 
is a native of the northern parts of Australia. At Port Essington, where 
my specimens were procured, it is only to be met with in quiet, secluded and 
thickly wooded districts, adjacent to small streams of water ; its favourite 
tree appears to be the Grevillia, from the blossoms of which it obtains great 
quantities of honey and insects. The shy and retiring disposition of this 
species renders the acquisition of specimens very difficult: ‘ At no time during 
my stay,’ remarks Gilbert, ‘ did I succeed in getting sight of more than a 
solitary individual at a time, and I believe it to be a rare bird in all parts of 
the Cobourg Peninsula.’ This bird differs so much in colour from all the 
other species, yet discovered that it is readily distinguished from all of them. 
The sexes present no external marks of distinction except that the female is 
somewhat smaller than the male.” 
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