BROWN-BACKED HONEY-EATER. 
Adult male. General colour of the upper-surface fawn-brown, with dark spots to the 
feathers on the top of the head and nape and pale margins to some of the upper 
wing-coverts; wings and tail dark brown with pale edgings to the feathers ; lores 
blackish; feathers in front and below the eye whitish ; a narrow dark moustacial 
streak; ear-coverts and sides of neck like the hind-neck ; chin and throat whitish 
slightly tinged with yellow, somewhat darker and inclining to grey on the breast; 
abdomen, sides of body, and under tail-coverts white; axillaries and under 
wing-coverts buffy-white ; under-surface of flight-quills hair-brown; lower 
aspect of tail similar. Eyes reddish-brown, feet and bill light brown. Wing 66. 
Collected at Cape York, North Queensland, on the 23rd of July, 1898. 
Immature. “ The feathers on the back of immature birds have an ochreous-rufous wash 
which is more pronounced on the rump and upper tail-coverts, the upper wing- 
coverts and quills have ochreous-rufous margins which are more distinct on their 
outer webs, and the fore-neck and sides of the breast are longitudinally streaked 
with brown.” /North.) 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch. A clutch of three taken near Cairns, North 
Queensland, on the 1st of December, 1893, is of a white ground-colour, finely spotted 
and speckled (chiefly at the larger end of each egg) with dark brown and almost black 
markings, and measure 17-18 by 12-13 mm. Long ovals in shape ; surface of 
shell smooth and rather glossy. 
Nest. A domed structure, with a hooded side entrance, and suspended from a small 
twig in a bush usually within 4 to 8 feet from the ground. Composed of fine strips 
and pieces of paper-bark, lightly bound with cobweb and cocoon silk; lined with 
soft pieces of paper-bark ( Melaleuca). Dimensions over all: — length 7 inches, 
diameter 3 inches ; entrance (almost concealed by overhanging hood), lj inches 
diameter; egg chamber If inches diameter ; 2 inches deep from edge of entrance. 
Breeding-months. August to April. 
Ramsay, who first discovered this species in Australia, has written: 
“ This species, although possessing nothing in its sombre plumage to recommend 
it, is certainly very interesting on account of its peculiarly shaped nest, being 
the only one of the Australian Meliphagince that I have met with which 
constructs a dome-shaped nest. The nests were invariably placed among 
the drooping branches of a species of Acacia, always overhanging some creek 
or running water. All the nests I found were so situated, and my young 
friend, Master J. Sheridan of Cardwell, who has paid considerable attention 
to objects of natural history, assures me that he has never found them other¬ 
wise. . . Their note is a sharp, shrill, monotonous cry, oft repeated at 
intervals.” 
Macgillivray’s note in connection with this bird deals chiefly with the 
parentage of the Cuckoo’s eggs found in its nest: ‘‘A common Honey-eater 
at Cape York, where it is mostly found in the mangrove and tea-tree swamps, 
and in these it breeds freely from November until April. It is also of interest 
as it is usually the chosen foster parent of a Cuckoo, presumably the local 
variety of the Brush Cuckoo. The Cuckoo eggs found in this Honey-eater’s 
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