THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Mr. F. E. Howe has written me : “ During the spring and summer months 
this form was plentiful at Bayswater, and on Dec. 5th Mr. T. H. Tregellas 
found a nest with one egg and one of the Pallid Cuckoo. This nest was found 
building on Nov. 24th. Messrs. Tregellas and Chandler inform me that they 
were often noticed in flocks of about twenty, spending most of their time in 
the tree tops or chasing one another with much bill-snapping. A young female 
about three weeks old was secured. It was slightly more than half the size 
of the adult and the warts were not yet visible on the face. The gizzard 
contained small insects and beetles. I first knew this species at Stawell 
when a boy and our name then for it was ‘ Clung,’ as that word sounded 
something like one of its notes. I have since met with it at Stawell, Parwon 
and Whittlesea, all in Victoria.” 
Mr. A. G. Campbell also wrote : “ About the month of September appears 
in all the gold-bearing hills of Central and Western Victoria to nest. In dry 
years it sometimes approaches nearer Melbourne, and birds have nested at 
Somerville on the Mornington Peninsula.” 
Messrs. Tregellas and Chandler later sent me fuller accounts of the 
incidents forwarded first by Mr. Howe, but with no additional matter of interest, 
so they need not be cited, though I have to thank them for their notes. 
G. F. Hill wrote regarding the Ararat district of Victoria : “ In 1906 
these birds arrived in flocks on 18th October, flying from the south, and eggs 
were taken on 25th and 30th November. Their arrival was later than usual, 
eggs being taken as early as 2nd October in previous years. The nests were 
built of rough pieces of stringy bark (eucalypt) and grass, fined with fine bark, 
grass, and sheep’s wool. They are invariably placed in the forks of stringy 
barks about 25 feet from the ground. Three eggs are generally laid.” 
H. L. White wrote from Belltrees, New South Wales, 28tli August, 1909: 
“ During the late winter Warty-faced Honey-eaters have been unusually 
plentiful in the locality; ever since March last they have been with us in 
thousands. While riding through the bush one hears their peculiar notes all 
day long. I have never previously known the white box (Eucalyptus Jiemiphloia) 
to flower so freely; this probably accounts for the presence of Honey-eaters 
in such numbers. Leatherheads or Friar Birds have also remained with us 
during the whole winter. The Warty-faced Honey-eaters are now breeding, 
the first nest (with eggs) being observed on the 16th August; it was built in a 
heap of rubbish left by a flood in the bed of the Hunter River. Several 
other nests have since been seen in Casuarina trees growing on the river 
banks.” 
When I prepared my “Reference List” in 1912 I separated as a subspecies 
Meliphaga plirygia trejellasi. 
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