'qe9 
THE GEELONG NATURALIST. eS 
21st October, 1884, I took another nest in the same locality. 
The tunnel extended for 22 or 23 inches, while the nest itself 
was about ten inches below the surface of the ground. 
Unlike the previous species, the Spotted, the Yellow- 
rumped Diamond Bird, commences its burrow on the flat 
surface of the ground under shelter of the mallee, instead 
of selecting a perpendicular or even inclined bank. 
The breeding months are chiefly September, October, 
and November. 
PARDALOTUS MELANOCEPHALUS (Gould.) 
BLACK-HEADED DIAMOND BIRD. 
FicuRE.— Gould: Bds. of Aust., fol. Vol. II, pl. 40. 
RErERENCE.— Cat. Bds., Brit. Mus., Vol. X, page 60. 
Previous DrscniPTÍoNS or EGcs.— 
Ramsay— Proc. Zool. Soc., page 584 (1875). 
Diggles—Companion Gould's Hdbk. 
Campbell — Southern Science Record (1883). 
North—Cat. Nests and Eggs, Aust. Mus., page 52 
(1889). 
GEOGRAPHICAL DisTRIBUTION.— Queensland and New 
South Wales. 
Nest.—Similar to that of P. punctatus. Constructed of 
bark and grasses and placed in a cavity at the end of a 
tunnel, usually excavated in a bank of a creek or waterhole 
or side of well. 
Eccs.—Clutch 3-4, usually the latter number; roundish 
inform. In some clutches the smaller ends of peculiar blunt 
shape; texture of shell fine, with trace of gloss on the surface. 
Dimensions in inches of full set taken near Townsville (Q.), 
19th September, 1885: (1) 0.64 x 0.53; (2) 0.65 x 0.53; (3) 
0.66 x 0.52 ; (4) 0.65 x 0.52. 
. OBSERVATIONS. — The Black-headed Diamond-Bird is 
another interesting bank burrower, ranging throughout the 
greater part of Eastern Australia. 
In Gould’s time it was uncertain whether this bird nidified 
in holes of trees or in the ground, and he left the matter to 
those persons favourably situated to ascertain. 
Dr. Ramsay was the first to settle the question in 1875. 
“The Black-headed Diamond-Bird is an early breeder. 
During my Queensland trip in 1885, I noted them burrowing 
as early as July. On the last day of that month we took from 
