THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
made a careful search for it. I have only seen this species at one point on the 
Fitzroy, i.e., on the Kala Yeeda plains, which are on the south side and at 
the most southerly point of the river.” 
Dr. Burton Cleland has sent me a note : “Aug.-Oct. 1907. A very common 
Honey-eater amongst the eucalypts and tea-tree along the Strelley and Shaw 
Rivers. It resembles very closely P. penicillata, but is of a lighter yellow. 
In nearly all the specimens seen, a very distinct, blackish, pre-auricular tuft 
of feathers. In habits it is ahnost identical with P. penicillata, with the same 
way of flying and dodging amongst the trees, the same aggressiveness hi attacking 
other birds such as Orallina and Rhipidura. In this way, by the chattering of 
a number of these Honey-eaters, I was attracted to an Owl hidden in the leaves 
of a tree. The notes of these birds are identical with those of P. penicillata, 
from the usual one to an occasional clear liquid whistle. Occasionally, like 
that bird, a bird will be seen to mount into the air by a series of ladder-like 
rises, meanwhile uttering a peculiar liquid note and then suddenly diving 
down amongst the bushes. Middle of Aug. 1907. Nest with fledged young. 
Sept. 23rd, 1907. Nest with two fresh eggs.” 
From the Pilbarra Goldfield, Whitlock has recorded “ Ptilotis carteri. 
Native name ‘ Tui-dee’. This was the commonest Honey-eater of the whole 
district, but I never found it far from water. It is one of the most lively and 
vivacious of the Honey-eaters, and its song is incessant. I had one favourite 
flying camp on the upper Coogan, which I called my ‘ cajaput camp,’ from 
its being in a thicket of the latter trees. Here was a long, narrow pool of pure, 
delicious water, and here the Carter Honey-eater made its home. It was the 
first bird to call in the early morning and one of the last to retire to roost. 
The whole day long, except on particularly hot days, it was incessantly in 
motion. Usually in pahs, but very often parties of six or eight would meet on 
a small branch, and then the shrill whistling and chattering becomes a veritable 
babel of sound. It is a pugnacious species, and I have seen it fly at the heads 
of Doves, Magpie Larks, and the equally noisy Redbreasted Babblers. I found 
nine or ten nests of this beautiful Honey-eater. The favourite situation was 
in the mazes of a small-leaved climbing plant, each clump of which had to be 
examined to be successful. They were the usual neat but fragile structures 
of fine strips of cajaput bark, down, and spiders’ webs. The eggs are large, 
white in ground-colour, sparingly spotted with rust-red. As a rifle the spots 
are round, but occasionally dashes take the place of spots. The shells are 
very fragile, and it is a hopeless task blowing highly incubated eggs, as I found 
to my sorrow. In all but one instance two were the full complement of eggs. 
In this instance there were three, but the third egg presented distinctions from 
the other two.” 
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