YELLOW-PLUMED HONEY-EATER. 
which assemble at the common warning call on the appearance of a Hawk, 
none puts up a fiercer fight than P. ornata. Its notes are harsh, and, so far as 
I can learn, it has three distinct calls. These birds breed from September 
onwards, though they are somewhat irregular in habits. The nest, composed 
usually of dry grasses and devoid of lining, is somewhat shallow, considering 
the size of the eggs. It is placed usually in mallee suckers or some convenient 
bush from three to six feet above the ground, but I have seen it placed high 
up in trees. Two years ago I was attracted by two of these Honey-eaters 
repeatedly flying to a salmon gum stump ; the tree had been cut down, and 
the stump had sprouted. Much to my surprise, there was a nest containing 
a young Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcococcyx plagosus) which the Honey-eaters were 
assiduously feeding. When I made a second visit to the nest the Cuckoo 
had grown to such an extent that it was sitting on the rim, the nest being 
hardly visible. I went a third time, and found that the occupant had 
completely outgrown its quarters, and was sitting gripping a branch with one 
foot and the side of the nest with the other. When I returned the bird had 
flown. This was the first time, either here or in New South Wales, that I 
had found a Bronze Cuckoo in an open nest.” 
Gould described this bird from West Australia from the Swan River 
district, and Alexander has recently recorded that it is “ Resident. Plentiful 
in the tuart belt, chiefly frequenting the tops of the tall tuart trees.” Gould 
later met with it on the belts of the Murray, South Australia, but did not 
distinguish the forms. However, actual comparison enabled Campbell twenty 
years ago to write : “ I find the birds from Western Australia are larger and 
lighter in colour compared with those from Victoria,” but he also wrote “ the 
Murray belts where Gould procured his types.” This latter statement is 
incorrect as Gould described the species before he went to Australia from 
specimens sent him from the Swan River Settlement. 
When I prepared my “ Reference List ” in 1912 I separated 
Ptilotis ornata ornata (Gould). 
West Australia. 
Ptilotis ornata munna Mathews. 
“ Differs from P. o. ornata in its pallid coloration above, paler green on the 
head and especially paler below, almost white on the abdomen. Stirling 
Ranges, W.A.” 
West Australia (Stirling Ranges). 
Ptilotis ornata tailemi Mathews. 
“ Differs from P. o. ornata in its slightly less size and less green on the head, 
even paler than P. o. munna. Tailem Bend, South Australia. 
Victoria, South Australia. 
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