THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Australia generally. It is a common species through most of the south-west, 
south of the Irwin River (Lat. 29° S.), but is not found in the dense jarrah 
and red gum forests of the extreme south-west comer. These birds prefer 
lightly timbered country such as occurs along the Great Southern Railway, 
and are mostly found feeding in white gum trees. They were not observed 
near Albany nor wit Inn about forty miles north of there, where white gum 
begins to take the place of jarrah and red gums. They are common about 
Kellerberin. They are the commonest Honey-eaters in the neighbourhood 
of Broome Hill, and their loud cheerful notes are heard everywhere. They 
much resemble Ptilotis carteri in their active prying habits. The nests are 
small and frail, made of grass loosely put together, and sometimes a little 
sheep’s wool is worked in. They are suspended from the extremities of pendant 
branches of wliite gum and other trees, often at some elevation above the 
ground, 12 or 15 feet, or more. The usual clutch of eggs is two, I do not 
recollect ever finding three. The breeding season is late, from October to 
end of December. Nov. 15/06. Two fresh eggs. Dec. 23/06. Two fresh 
eggs.” 
Whitlock later wrote from West Australia: “ This bird first appeared in 
the white gums a few miles to the north of Mt. Barker. In the Stirling Ranges 
it frequented the white gums, and, despite the fact of some thousands of acres 
having been ringbarked around Solomon’s Well, the species still clings to the 
locality. It is a late breeder, and it was not until I had found half a dozen 
nests of the previous year that I got one with eggs. This was suspended 
from the foliage of a Melaleuca at a height of about ten feet. All the nests I 
found were very neatly woven of green grass stems, but little else being used 
in their construction. The eggs are very dark coloured—the shell of a 
brownish tint—sparsely dotted with chocolate or purplish spots. I observed 
individuals pairing as late as the beginning of November.” 
Elliott’s notes from Dumbleyung, West Australia, read: “ This is one 
of the commonest birds in tins district; it is to be found in timber and scrub 
country alike. Were it as large as a Magpie it might well be termed the 
bush bully.’ Of all the feathered inhabitants of our scrubs, this bird, in my 
opinion, is the most pugnacious. You will see perhaps two or three picking 
at the flowers of a small salmon gum, in company with some more of the 
same tribe, and instantly a battle royal follows for possession of the tree. 
Many times I have seen the bird fearlessly tackle a Purple-crowned Lorikeet 
(Glossopsitta porphyrocephala) though usually, in this case, the sharp and 
strong beak of the Lorikeet has driven the smaller bird from some favoured 
bunch of blossom. The Honey-eater is always ready for fight, and the 
appearance of any other species is the signal for a set-to. Of all the birds 
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