LEAST HONEY-EATER. 
Adult female from the same locality similar, but always smaller. 
Adult male . Top of head and nape dusky-brown ; hind-neck, sides of neck, back, rump, 
upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and upper wing-coverts dark umber-brown ; flight- 
quills dark brown fringed with yellowish-green on the outer webs and whitish on the 
inner ones; tail bronze-brown fringed with yellowish-green on the outer webs of 
the feathers ; lores and eye-region black, minutely dotted with white on the hinder- 
portion ; cheeks, chin, throat, and breast greyish-brown ; abdomen, flanks, and 
under tail-coverts pale fawn-colour like the under wing-coverts ; axillaries and 
marginal under wing-coverts pale yellow, thighs rust-brown ; under-surface of flight- 
quills dark brown with pale margins ; lower aspect of tail pale greyish-brown. Eyes 
brown, feet and tarsus leaden-blue, bill black. Figured. Total length 140 mm. ; 
culrnen 14, wing 70, tail 54, tarsus 16. Collected on Melville Island, Northern 
Territory, on the 4th of June, 1912. (Bottom figure.) 
Adult female from the same locality similar, but always smaller. 
Adult female . General colour of the upper-surface pale fawn-brown tinged with olive, 
including the top of the head, hind-neck, sides of neck, scapulars, upper back, upper 
wing-coverts and innermost secondaries ; some of the median and greater coverts 
paler and inclining to white at the tips ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 
fawn-colour ; flight-quills dark brown fringed with yellowish-green on the outer 
webs and margined with white on the inner ones ; tail-feathers pale brown with 
whitish edgings at the tips and more or less tinged with bronze-green on the outer 
webs; space in front of the eye and ear-coverts rather darker than the top of the 
head; cheeks, chin, and throat pale buff ; breast very pale slate-grey tinged with 
yellow; abdomen yellowish-white, more or less tinged with grey on the flanks ; 
vent and under tail-coverts cream-white, thighs somewhat darker ; axillaries and 
under wing-coverts buffy-white tinged with yellow ; under-surface of flight-quills 
hair-brown with pale margins ; lower aspect of tail yellowish-brown with white 
shafts to the feathers. Eyes grey, feet slate-blue, bill black. Total length 109 mm. ; 
culrnen 13, wing 59, tail 48, tarsus 17. Figured. Collected at Cape York, North 
Queensland, on the 9th of December, 1912. (Top figure.) 
Adult male from the same locality similar, but always larger. 
Adult female. Top of head, hind-neck, sides of neck, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, 
scapulars, and upper wing-coverts fawn-colour ; flight-quills fawn-brown, tinged 
on the outer webs with yellow and margined on the inner ones with bufiy-white ; 
tail pale bronze-brown tinged with yellow ; chin, throat, and sides of face pale 
fawm-colour; ear-coverts rather darker than the sides of the neck ; breast pale 
fawn-colour slightly tinged with yellow, the yellow increasing on the abdomen, 
sides of the body, and under tail-coverts ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale 
lemon-yellow; under-surface of flight-quills pale brown with w T hitish margins ; 
lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface but paler and having white shafts 
to the feathers. Eyes brown, feet and bill dark brown. Total length 120 mm. ; 
culrnen 13, wing 62, tail 46, tarsus 16. Figured. Collected on Crawford Springs 
Station, Northern Territory (?), on the 4th of July, 1902, and is the type of rufescens. 
(Right hand figure.) 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface pale earth-brown, including the top 
of the head, back, wings, and tail; outer edges of flight-quills yellow, inner w^ebs 
dark brown with pale margins ; rump and upper tail-coverts inclining to pale 
rust-brown; tail-feathers somewhat paler at the tips ; feathers in front of the 
eye black ; the feathers round the eye blackish minutely dotted, with white ; under¬ 
surface delicate pale grey slightly tinged with pale fawn-colour, somewhat darker 
on the throat and fore-neck and paler on the abdomen, under tail-coverts, and 
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