THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
part of the watcher will result in the finding of the nest. One evening I 
watched one of these birds filling its mouth with hairs from the back of a 
cow. A tug and a hop, a tug and a hop, and as soon as it had sufficient of 
this unpleasant tickling burden it flew off to a clump of tree-ferns. I followed 
it, and in a little time found the nest artfully concealed in the dead pendent 
fronds of a tree-fern. A visit paid to it a week afterwards found the bird 
sitting on two eggs.” 
Another item from Dove’s notes may be quoted: “ During the month 
of August, 1916, I had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. H. C. Thompson 
to a gum-tree hill which is used by several pairs of the Yellow-throats as a 
breeding ground. The bush thereabouts looked very beautiful with white 
clematis and blue Comesperma twining among the scrub, while maidenhair 
fern grew m profusion over the moist soil. The nests of the Honey-eaters 
were placed in large Lepidosperma tussocks, and were of the open cup pattern. 
A pair of adults fed their young on the ground close to us ; the latter were 
lately fledged, and had yellow throats and ear-tufts, were of a yellowish tint 
on the upper-surface, the head darker than in the adult, but a tuft or two 
of nesting down still remained there. The parents were in beautiful golden 
plumage. The female almost alighted on us when my friend took one of 
the youngsters in his hand, and the melodious call-notes of this species 
resounded through the grove.” 
A. G. Campbell, recording the species from King Island, wrote: 
“ Inhabits the dense scrubs. Its note and all its habits are similar to 
P. leucotis of the mainland.” Later he added: “ This, the only Tasmanian 
representative of the genus, appears to be the insular form of P. leucotis 
(White-eared Honey-eater). A comparison of specimens from King Island 
and Tasmania shows a heavier tarsus from the former locality.” 
When I prepared my « Reference List ” I noted the differences between 
the King Island and Tasmanian birds, and recognising that many of the 
specimens referred to “ Nouvelle Hollande ” had been collected on King 
Island concluded that this was one such, and designated King Island as the 
type locality of Vieillot’s M. flavicollis and thus preserved Gould’s name of 
flavigula for the mainland form. 
% 
I admitted these two subspecies in my 1913 “ List,” but placed them 
in the genus A esoptilotis, and have named since 
Nesoptilotis flavicollis flindersi. 
Differs from N. /. flavicollis (Vieillot) in having the yellow throat not so 
pronounced.” 
Flinders Island 
and the three subspecies may still be admitted. 
488 
