THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 17 
Autumn breeding season: Although most of our birds 
confine themselves to the spring months for breeding there 
are a few that have a well-defined second breeding season in 
the autumn, the most prominent being the New Holland and 
white-checked honey-eaters, the tawny-crowned honey-eater, 
the red-rumped ground-wren (Hylacola) and the red-browed 
and chestnut-breasted finches. Nests of the honey-eaters 
mentioned may be found sporadically throughout the year, 
but the bulk of these birds breed in the early spring, and again 
towards the end of March and during April. This second 
breeding season seems to be decided by the flowering of the 
Banksias (B. marginata and B ericifolia). As soon as these 
shrubs are in full bloom, numbers of honey-eaters’ nests may 
be found. I have inspected several nests of the three species 
named during the last two weeks (March 20th), and also a 
number of nests of the red-browed finch. In many cases 
these nests had become sodden by rain, and had been deserted. 
by the owners. The nests and eggs of the white-checked and 
New Holland honey-eaters approximate closely, but Mr. E. 
H. Webb drew my attention some years ago to an infallible 
method of distinguishing them if the birds are not present, 
which I have never seen printed. The nests of both species 
are lined with the red velvety material from the Banksia 
cones, but, while the New Holland lines the sides of the nest, 
the white-checked species simply places a pad of lining ma- 
terial in the bottom. JI found a nest of the introduced Indian 
dove (Turtur suratensis) on the 6th of March, as this species 
also possesses autumnal breeding habits. 
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 
Tue Emu. January number. This is the official organ 
of the Australasian Ornithologists’ Union. The illustrations 
are excellent and the articles most informing. Those of our 
members interested in bird study should never omit to per- 
use this publication. 
The Selborne Magazine. January number. This is the 
organ of The Selborne Society and an English publication. 
It contains short notes on subjects of general interest to 
naturalists. 
The Victorian Naturalist, March number, contains an 
interesting illustrated article on ‘‘Victorian Vegetation in the 
Melbourne Botanic Gardens.”’ 
The Queensland Naturalist. December 1909 number con- 
tains the President’s address on C. R. Darwin and articles on 
