MELIOKNIS. 
191 
“Starlings” as tliey are called in those parts), and this bulk of 
brown nests was forming quite a new feature in the landscape. 
The eggs are three or four in number, variable in form, some 
roundish, others elongate, of a greenish-white colour, with bright 
reddish-brown spots and dots, more numerous towards the larger 
end. Length (A) IT x 078 inch ; (B) 0-99 x 079 inch ; (C) 
IT x 075 inch.” ( Ramsay , P.Z.S ., 1875, p. 594.) 
Sab. Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port 
Denison, South Coast New Guinea. {Ramsay.) 
Family MELIPHAGIDiE. 
Genus MELIOKNIS, G. E. Gray. 
MELIORNIS NOViE-HOLLANDIiE, Latham. 
New Holland. Honey-eater. 
Gould, Ilandble. Eds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 296, p. 486. 
This showy and attractive bird is the most common species of the 
genus in New South Wales and Victoria ; it is very abundant in 
theserubby undergrowth and stunted Banksiasinthe neighbourhood 
of Botany and La Perouse in the former colony ; it is also found 
in our public parks and gardens both in Sydney and Melbourne, 
where it may be seen extracting the nectar from various flowers, 
with its brush-like tongue so well adapted for the purpose. 
A nest of this species now before me, in the Australian 
Museum Collection, is rather roughly but compactly formed on the 
exterior with fine twigs, strips of bark and grasses, neatly lined 
on the inside, which is cup-shaped, with dried portions of the soft 
Flannel Power, Actinotus helianthus, and downy tufts of the 
Banksia cones. Exterior measurement four inches in diameter 
by two inches and a-half in depth, cavity two inches and a-quarter 
in diameter by one inch and a-half in depth. The position of the 
nest varies with the locality in which it is built, sometimes being 
