Chapter III: Part 3

At the time I described this new species of _Meliphaga_ in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” I was not aware that M. Temminck had applied the term _mystacalis_ to another species of Honey-eater, or I should have selected a different appellation; as however M. Temminck’s bird belongs to a distinct section of this great family, any alteration would rather tend to produce confusion than otherwise.

The _Meliphaga mystacalis_ is a native of Western Australia, in which country it beautifully represents the _Meliphaga sericea_ of New South Wales. It is abundant in the vicinity of Perth and Fremantle, and is sparingly dispersed over many other districts of the Swan River colony; according to Mr. Gilbert it is remarkably shy, and only found in the most secluded places in the bush, or on the summits of the limestone hills running parallel with the beach; it generally feeds on the topmost branches of the _Banksiæ_, and is very pugnacious, defending its young from intruders with the most determined courage.

Its note is a loud chirp, which is often rapidly repeated six or seven times in succession; but while rising on the wing, it emits a song very much resembling that of the Tree Lark of Europe.

Its flight, which is very varied, is occasionally characterized by a great degree of rapidity: during the season of incubation it frequently rises above its nest in a perpendicular direction, and having attained a considerable height, suddenly closes its wings, and descends abruptly until it reaches the top of the scrub, when the wings are again expanded, and it flies horizontally for a few yards, perches, and then utters its peculiar sharp, chirping note; it also often hovers over small trees, and captures insects after the manner of the Flycatchers.

It is a very early breeder, young birds ready to leave the nest having been found on the 8th of August; it has also been met with breeding as late as November; it doubtless therefore produces more than one brood in the course of the season. The nest is generally built near the top of a small, weak, thinly-branched bush, of about two or three feet in height, situated in a plantation of seedling mahogany or other _Eucalypti_; it is formed of small dried sticks, grass, and narrow strips of soft bark, and is usually lined with _Zamia_ wool; but in those parts of the country where that plant is not found, the soft buds of flowers, or the hairy, flowering part of grasses, form the lining material, and in the neighbourhood of sheep-walks, wool collected from the scrub. The eggs are usually two in number, but frequently only a single one is laid and hatched. They are nine lines long by seven lines broad, and are usually of a dull reddish buff, spotted very distinctly with chestnut and reddish brown, interspersed with obscure dashes of purplish grey; but they appear to differ considerably in colour and form; I have seen one variety in which the ground colour was nearly white and destitute of markings, except at the larger end, where it was clouded with dull reddish brown.

The stomach is small and muscular, and the food consists of small coleoptera and other insects.

The sexes are only distinguishable by the smaller size of the female.

Head, chin and throat black; over the eye a narrow line of white; ears covered by a conspicuous tuft of white feathers, which are closely set and terminate in a point towards the back; upper surface brownish black, the feathers edged with white; under surface white, with a broad stripe of black down the centre of each feather; wings and tail blackish brown, conspicuously margined with bright yellow; irides brown; bill black; feet blackish brown.

The figures are of the natural size, and represent the bird on a species of _Banksia_, one of a tribe of trees on which it is most frequently found.

MELIPHAGA AUSTRALASIANA: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MELIPHAGA AUSTRALASIANA, _Vig. & Horsf._
Tasmanian Honey-eater.

_L’Heorotaire noir et blanc_, Vieill. Ois. Dor., t. ii. pl. 55, p. 89.

_Certhia Australasiana_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 226.

_Meliphaga Australasiana_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 313.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 326.

_White-browed Honey-eater?_ Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 172.

_Meliphaga inornata_, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part. V. 1837, p.
152.—Ibid., Syn. of Birds of Australia, Part IV. female.

This little Honey-eater is abundantly dispersed over every part of Van Diemen’s Land, to which country, in all probability, the species is restricted, though there is another in South Australia and New South Wales so nearly resembling it, as to render this supposition doubtful, and a further acquaintance with the continental bird is necessary to determine whether it is a mere variety or a distinct species. The chief difference consists in its being smaller in size, and less brilliantly marked on the wing.

The _Meliphaga Australasiana_ is one of the few species that enlivens with their presence the almost impenetrable forests that cover a great portion of Van Diemen’s Land, giving preference to such parts as are clothed with a thick brush of dwarf shrubby trees growing beneath the more lofty gums. The extreme silence of these solitudes is agreeably broken by the loud shrill and liquid notes which are poured forth in quick succession by numbers of this bird in various parts of the wood. It also resorts to the thick beds of the _Epacris impressa_, whose red and white heath-like flowers bespangle the sides of the more open hills: the blossoms of this beautiful plant afford it an abundant supply of food, which it seeks so intently as to admit of a sufficiently close approach to enable one to observe its actions without disturbing it; while thus occupied it may be seen clinging to the stems in every possible attitude, inserting its slender brush-like tongue up the tube of every floret with amazing rapidity. Independently of honey it feeds on insects of various kinds, particularly those of the orders _Diptera_ and _Hymenoptera_. When disturbed it flits off with a quick darting flight, settling again at the distance of a few yards among the thickest tufts of the _Epacris_, or shrouds itself from observation among the foliage of the sapling gums.

It is extremely abundant on the hills at the foot of Mount Wellington, and it may also be observed at most seasons among the thick beds of _Epacris_ growing on the north side of the Derwent, between Kangaroo Point and Clarence Plains. I also observed it in every similar situation on the banks of the Tamar, at the other extremity of the island. The breeding-season is September and the four following months, during which period each pair of birds rear two or three broods; and it is a curious fact, that at the first laying only two eggs are found in each nest, while in the height of the summer, when insect food is far more abundant, they almost invariably lay three: the cause of which is either that the birds are more vigorous as the season advances, or that Nature has wisely ordained that the number of young should bear a relative proportion to the amount of food to be procured for their support.

The nest is always placed on a low shrub within a foot or two of the ground; it is of a round, open form, and is outwardly constructed of the inner rind of the stringy bark gum-tree, generally lined with fine grasses.

Unlike every other member of the restricted genus _Meliphaga_ that I have had opportunities of observing, the sexes are distinguished by a different style of colouring, a circumstance which led me to characterize the female as a distinct species under the name of _Meliphaga inornata_, an error which my visit to the country enables me now to rectify.

The male has a black stripe passing from the base of the bill through the eye, and a lunar-shaped mark down each side the breast, nearly meeting in the centre, black; a narrow stripe above the eye and one behind the lunar marks on the breast white; all the upper surface dusky black; wings blackish brown, the primaries and secondaries margined externally, particularly at their base, with golden yellow; tail-feathers brownish black, fringed with golden yellow at the base, the two lateral feathers having a long oval spot of white on their inner webs at the tip; throat and chest white, with a streak of brown down the middle of each feather; centre of the abdomen white; flanks and under tail-coverts sooty grey; irides red; bill and feet black.

The female is of a nearly uniform dusky brown above and beneath; is destitute of the white stripe over the eye and the white spots on the lateral tail-feathers; has only a faint tinge of the golden yellow on the wings and tail; the black and white marks on the throat not very apparent; the throat pale brownish grey instead of white, and the irides brown.

The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size on the _Epacris impressa_.

GLYCIPHILA FULVIFRONS: _Swains._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

GLYCIPHILA FULVIFRONS, _Swains._
Fulvous-fronted Honey-eater.

_Meliphaga fulvifrons_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
317.—Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 22.

_Glyciphila fulvifrons_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 326.—G.
R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 319.

_Philedon rubrifrons_, Less. Voy. de la Coq.

_Wy-ro-̏dju-dong_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.

_White-throated Honey-sucker_, Colonists of Swan River.

This species would appear to be distributed over the whole of the southern portion of the Australian continent, since it is to be found in New South Wales, South Australia and at Swan River, where it is particularly abundant on the limestone hills near the beach around Fremantle; it is also an inhabitant of Van Diemen’s Land, and all the islands in Bass’s Straits. I have never observed it in collections from the northern coast of Australia, whence I infer that it is confined to those portions of the country mentioned above. In Van Diemen’s Land it is by far the most abundant on the north side of the island, while in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town it is rarely, if ever, seen.

Independently of a slight difference in structure, the habits of this bird differ sufficiently from those of the true _Meliphagi_ to fully justify its separation into a distinct genus. In the first place it affects very different localities, preferring to dwell among the trees that crown the low stony ridges, rather than those growing on the lower lands or the brushes; its flight is also very rapid, and, which is rather remarkable for the smaller Honey-eaters, it mounts high in the air, and flies off to a distance with an extremely rapid horizontal and even motion. It is an exceedingly active bird among the branches, clinging about and around the flowers of the _Eucalypti_ in search of food in every variety of graceful position.

The site generally chosen for its nest, as observed at Swan River, is some low bush or scrubby plant, in which it is often placed so near the ground as almost to touch; it is of a deep cup-shaped and compact form, constructed of dried grasses, and frequently lined with Zamia wool, or buds of the Banksia cones; sometimes, however, sheep’s wool is employed to impart warmth and softness; the materials in fact depend entirely upon the nature of those that the locality may furnish, while in the form of the nest little or no variation occurs. The eggs are large for the size of the bird, and are often much lengthened in figure; sometimes they are quite white without the least trace of spots, but they are generally blotched with large marks of chestnut-red; occasionally this colour is very faint, and spread over the surface of the shell as if stained with it; in other instances the marks are very bold and decided, forming a strong contrast to the whiteness of the other part of the surface: the medium length of the eggs is ten lines and a half, and breadth seven lines; they are usually two in number, but the bird very frequently lays and hatches only one. The breeding-season lasts from August to February.

The song is rather remarkable, being commenced with a single note slowly drawn out, and followed by a quick repetition of a double note, repeated six or eight times in succession; it is mostly uttered when the bird is perched on the topmost branch of a tree.

Its food consists of the pollen of flowers and insects.

The sexes present the usual difference in size, the female being somewhat less than her mate; but in the colour and disposition of the markings they are alike. The young, of which an accurate figure is given in the accompanying Plate, has all the upper surface dark brown streaked with buffy white, and is entirely destitute of the fulvous colouring of the forehead and the lunulate markings on the sides of the chest; the throat, moreover, is of a dull wax-yellow, the chest mottled dark brown and buffy white, and the primaries edged with a dull wax-yellow.

Forehead and under surface of the wing fulvous or tawny; over each eye a narrow line of white; a line of brownish black commences at the base of the bill, surrounds the eye, passes down the sides of the neck and chest, and nearly meets on the breast; behind the ear-coverts a narrow stripe of buffy white, separated from the line over the eye by a small patch of black; centre of the back dark brown, with a stripe of ashy brown down the centre of each feather; the remainder of the upper surface and flanks ashy brown; throat and abdomen white; wings and tail dark brown, the wing-coverts and primaries margined with olive; irides brown; hill blackish brown; legs and feet greenish grey.

The figures are those of a male, a female, and a young bird of the natural size, on one of the Banksias of Van Diemen’s Land.

GLYCIPHILA ALBIFRONS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

GLYCIPHILA ALBIFRONS, _Gould_.
White-fronted Honey-eater.

_Glyciphila albifrons_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
160.

_Goȍl-be-g̏ool-burn_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.

_Black-throated Honey-sucker_, Colonists of Swan River.

I first observed this fine new species of _Glyciphila_ in the great Murray scrub of South Australia, where I succeeded in killing several specimens of both sexes; it is also an inhabitant of the York and other inland districts of Western Australia, and Captain Sturt obtained an example during one of his overland journeys from Sydney to Adelaide: we may consequently infer that, like many others, it is a species peculiar to the interior, where it probably supplies the place of the Fulvous-fronted Honey-eater, so abundantly dispersed along the line of coast.

In its disposition the present bird is remarkably shy, a trait common, it would seem, to all the members of the genus. All those I observed were busily engaged in collecting their insect and saccharine food from the flowers of a species of dwarf _Eucalyptus_, during which their actions much resembled those of the restricted genus _Meliphaga_; but they appeared if possible to hang and cling beneath the branches with even greater facility.

Its flight much resembles that of its near ally, being short, performed in sudden starts, and all times unsteady.

Its note is a double one, rapidly repeated, and much resembles the double call of the _Pardalotus striatus_, but is much louder and more distinct.

The breeding-season lasts from August to February. The nests observed were constructed in the fork of a small dead branch in an exposed situation, and without the slightest shelter; they were very similar to that of _Meliphaga longirostris_, but more shallow and less neatly formed. The eggs also closely resembled those of that bird; the ground colour being delicate buff, clouded with reddish buff at the larger end, and distinctly spotted with chestnut-red and purplish grey, thickly disposed at the larger end, but very sparingly over the rest of the surface; the eggs are nine and a half lines long by seven lines broad.

The sexes present no difference in colour or markings, but as usual the female is much less in size.

Forehead, lores, a narrow ring round the eye, and a narrow line running from the angle of the lower mandible white; crown of the head black, each feather slightly margined with white; ear-coverts silvery blackish grey, behind which an irregular line of white; all the upper surface brown, irregularly margined with white, producing a mottled appearance; wings and tail brown, the primaries margined externally with yellowish green; chin and throat brownish black, the former minutely speckled with white; under surface of the wing buff; chest and abdomen white, striped with blackish brown on the flanks; irides dark brown; naked skin round the eyes dark brownish black in front, arterial blood-red behind; bill black; legs and feet greenish grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

GLYCIPHILA FASCIATA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

GLYCIPHILA FASCIATA, _Gould_.
Fasciated Honey-eater.

_Glyciphila fasciata_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., October 11, 1842.

All the specimens hitherto collected of this new species have been obtained from the Cobourg Peninsula, in the neighbourhood of Port Essington, where, according to Mr. Gilbert, it is far from being common, for in his notes he says, “I only once observed it near the settlement, and once again met with it on the neck of the peninsula near the main land. Its favourite haunts appeared to be the upper branches of the _Melaleucæ_, from the blossoms of which it collects its food. In both instances I observed small families of about twelve in number. Its note is a sharp shrill piping call, very rapidly repeated.”

The fasciated markings of the under surface, by which this species is at once distinguished from every other member of the genus to which it is at present assigned, and the circumstance of its moving about in small parties, would seem to indicate the propriety of its separation; as, however, it is precisely of the same structure, and agrees with them in the colouring of the upper surface, I have preferred retaining it in the present genus.

Its food consists of insects generally, the pollen, and occasionally the buds of flowers.

Crown of the head brownish black, with a small crescent of white at the extremity of each feather; feathers of the back very dark brown, margined with buffy brown; rump tinged with rufous; wings and tail dark brown, fringed with light brown; sides of the face, throat and under surface white; from the angle of the mouth down the side of the neck a narrow stripe of brownish black; chest crossed by a number of semicircular brownish black fasciæ; flanks and under tail-coverts buff, the former with a stripe of brownish black down the centre; irides reddish brown; bill greenish grey; feet aurora-red.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

GLYCIPHILA OCULARIS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

GLYCIPHILA OCULARIS, _Gould_.
Brown Honey-eater.

_Glyciphila? ocularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 154;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

——? _subocularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 154; and
in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV., female or young male.

_Jȉn-jo-gour_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.

_Brown Honey-sucker_ of the Colonists.

Not one of the numerous species of Honey-eaters inhabiting Australia appears to enjoy a more universal range than the _Glyciphila ocularis_; I have received specimens from every portion of the country yet visited; and if it does not also inhabit New Guinea and Timor, its place is there supplied by species so very nearly allied to it, that they are not readily distinguishable from each other.

It inhabits every variety of situation: I met with it in abundance on Baker’s Island at the mouth of the Hunter, and on the banks of the Namoi in the interior of New South Wales; and Mr. Gilbert records that he found it to be equally numerous at Swan River and at Port Essington: in each and all of these various localities it was observed feeding alike on the topmost branches of the tallest gums, as well as in the low trees.

In its actions and manners it displays the usual activity of the Honey-eaters generally, creeping and clinging among the branches with the greatest ease, and particularly affecting those most laden with blossoms, into which it inserts its brush-like tongue to procure the sweet pollen: like the other species of the group, it also feeds with avidity upon all kinds of small insects.

Its powers of song are very great, the most frequently repeated note being remarkably shrill, rich, clear and distinct in tone, and the others forming an agreeable melody. While the female is sitting upon her eggs, the male sings all day long with scarcely any intermission.

Its flight merely consists of short flits from tree to tree.

The situations chosen for the site of the nest are various, but in nearly every instance contiguous to water and frequently overhanging it; the most favourite position appears to be the side of a tea-tree, the bark of which is hanging down in tatters; it is also often seen suspended in the most conspicuous manner from the drooping branches of the stink-wood; and in one instance Mr. Gilbert found it attached to two slender fibrous roots, hanging from beneath a bank over a pool of water. The nest is generally formed of soft strips of paper bark or dried grasses, matted together with small spiders’ cocoons or vegetable fibres, and so closely resembles the branch upon which it is placed, as to render it very difficult of detection; it is usually lined with fine grasses, zamia wool, the soft part of the cones of the _Banksiæ_, delicate white buds of flowers, or sheep’s wool collected from the bushes of the sheep-runs.

September, October and November constitute the breeding-season. The eggs, which are two in number, vary considerably in their colouring, some being pure white without a trace of spots or markings, others having a zone round the larger end formed of freckled markings of light reddish brown; others again are thinly sprinkled with this colour over the whole of their surface, and one or two procured at Swan River were bespeckled with numerous fine freckles of bluish grey; the average length of a number of eggs was eight lines by six lines in breadth.

Crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings and tail dark olive-brown, passing into yellowish brown on the rump and bases of the tail-feathers; primaries and secondaries margined with wax-yellow; immediately behind the eye a very small patch of glossy brownish yellow feathers, the anterior portion of which is silvery; throat and chest greyish brown; abdomen and under tail-coverts olive-grey; irides light red; bill dark brown; legs and feet bluish grey; tarsi tinged with green.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

PTILOTIS CHRYSOTIS.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS CHRYSOTIS.
Yellow-eared Honey-eater.

_Certhia chrysotis_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., p. xxxviii. No. 16.

_Yellow-eared Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 195. No. 54.

_Meliphaga chrysotis_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pi. v.—Vig. and
Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 314.—Gould in Syn. Birds
of Australia, Part I.

_Spot-eared Creeper_, Shaw, Zool., vol. viii. p. 244.

The Yellow-eared Honey-eater is very common in New South Wales, where it inhabits the thick brushes near the sea, breeding and dwelling therein all the year round. I found it especially abundant in all parts of the river Hunter, as well as in the cedar brushes of the Liverpool and other ranges of hills. No examples of this bird came under my notice in South Australia, and I do not believe that it extends so far to the westward; neither does it occur at Port Essington, in which district a different character of country and of vegetation prevails. Mr. Bynoe procured a single specimen on the north coast, but did not note the precise locality. In its habits and disposition it assimilates very closely to the _Ptilotis flavigula_ of Van Diemen’s Land. It prefers low shrubby trees to those of a larger growth, frequently descending to the ground among the underwood in search of insects. No one species of the genus is more bold and fearless of man; I have often been permitted to approach within a few yards of it while threading the dense brushes without causing it the least alarm. Like the rest of its genus, this species feeds on insects, the pollen of flowers, and occasionally fruits and berries. The flowering creeper upon which the bird is figured (together with many similar plants), growing in the utmost luxuriance on the sides of rivers, and attracting a corresponding amount of insect life, is often visited by the _Ptilotis chrysotis_, which may be observed busily engaged in search of its prey, heedless of the proximity of a human intruder in its sequestered haunts. It is not celebrated for the richness or liquidity of its notes or for the volubility of its song, but its presence, when not visible among the foliage, is always to be detected by its loud ringing whistling note, which is continually poured forth during the months of spring and summer.

The sexes are alike in colour, but the female presents the same disparity of size that is observable between the sexes of the other species of the genus; the young at an early age assume the plumage of the adults, but the colour is not so rich or decided.

I found a nest of this species in a gully under the Liverpool range; it was placed in the thickest part of one of the creeping plants which overhung a small pool of water; like that of the rest of the genus, it was cup-shaped in form, suspended by the brim, and very neatly made of sticks and lined with very fine twigs; the eggs are two in number, of a pearly white spotted with purplish brown, the spots forming a zone at the large end; they are eleven and a half lines long by eight lines broad.

Upper surface olive-green; under surface the same colour but paler; behind the ears an oval spot of fine yellow; region of the eyes blackish; below the eye a narrow stripe of yellow; bill black at the tip, yellow at the base; legs purplish flesh-colour; irides dark lead-colour; gape white.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

PTILOTIS SONORUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS SONORUS, _Gould_.
Singing Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis sonorus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 160.

_Dȍo-rum-dȍo-rum_, Aborigines of the lowland, and

_Gool-b̏o-ort_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.

_Larger Honey-sucker_, Colonists of Swan River.

I have abundant evidence that the range of this species extends across the entire continent of Australia from east to west; I found it very numerous on the Namoi and other portions of the interior of New South Wales, and equally plentiful in a part of the country of a similar character to the northward of Adelaide, and it is also one of the commonest birds of the colony of Swan River. It does not, I believe, extend very far north, at least no examples have as yet been sent from the northern parts of the country. Moderately-sized trees, particularly _Casuarinæ_ and _Banksiæ_, thinly scattered over grassy plains and the crowns and sides of low hills, are its usual coverts, and I have never found it in the brushes which form so peculiar a feature in New South Wales, and which are the ordinary abode of several other species of the genus. In Western Australia it enters the gardens and commits considerable havoc among the fruit-trees, particularly figs, the seeds of which appear to be its most favourite food. It also feeds upon insects, which are principally sought for among the branches; but it frequently descends and seeks for them and small seeds on the ground, when it hops around the boles and beneath the branches of the trees in a most lively manner.

As its name implies, it possesses the power of singing, and for an Australian bird, and particularly a Honey-eater, in no ordinary degree; its notes being so full, clear and loud as to be heard at a considerable distance, and very much resembling those of the Missel Thrush (_Turdus viscivorus_). In South Australia I heard it in full song in the midst of winter, when it was one of the shiest birds of the country, and I find that in the memoranda made at the time I have described its notes as full, loud and ringing.

It is exceedingly pugnacious in disposition, often fighting severe battles with the Wattle-Birds (_Anthochæræ_), and other species even larger than those.

Its flight is undulating and tolerably rapid.

The breeding-season commences in August and terminates in December. The nest is a frail, round, cup-shaped structure, the materials of which vary in different situations; those observed by me in New South Wales being composed of fine dried stalks of annuals thinly lined with fibrous roots woven together with spiders’ webs, and suspended by the rim to two or three fine twigs near the centre of the tree; on the other hand, those observed by Mr. Gilbert in Western Australia were formed of green grasses, which become white and wiry when dry, matted together with the hair of kangaroos or opossums, lined with fine grasses and the down of flowers, and placed in a thick scrubby bush at about three feet from the ground.

The eggs are usually two, but occasionally three in number, of a light yellowish buff, thickly freckled with small indistinct reddish brown marks; or of a nearly uniform fleshy buff without spots or markings, but of a deeper tint at the larger end; their medium length is eleven lines, and breadth eight lines.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface greyish olive; wings and tail brown, margined on their external webs with greenish yellow; lores, space around the eye and broad line down the sides of the neck black; ear-coverts pale yellow, behind which is an obscure spot of greyish white; throat and under surface pale yellowish grey striated with light brown; irides dark brown; bill black; legs and feet greenish grey.

The female is like the male in colour, but smaller in all her dimensions.

The Plate represents the two sexes and a nest of the natural size on a branch of a _Casuarina_.

PTILOTIS VERSICOLOR: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS VERSICOLOR, _Gould_.
Varied Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis versicolor_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 136.

This fine species, which is a native of the northern portion of Australia, is only known to me from a specimen contained in a collection from that part of the country. That its whole habits and economy will hereafter be found to assimilate most closely to those of the _Ptilotis sonorus_ is certain, as it is most intimately allied to that species, but may be readily distinguished from it by its larger size, its much longer and stouter bill, by the more contrasted character of its markings, and the sulphur or wax-yellow colour which pervades the breast and upper surface. It is one of the finest species yet discovered of the genus to which it belongs, and is at present so rare, that my own specimen is probably the only one that has been brought to Europe.

All the upper surface brownish olive, tinged with yellowish olive on the margins of the feathers; outer webs of the primaries and tail wax-yellow; inner webs brown; under surface of the wing and tail yellowish buff; stripe over the eye to the back of the neck black; ear-coverts dark grey; below the ear-coverts a stripe of bright yellow; throat and under surface yellow, becoming paler as it approaches the vent, each feather with a stripe of brown down the centre.

The Plate represents the bird in two positions of the natural size.

PTILOTIS FLAVIGULA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS FLAVIGULA, _Gould_.
Yellow-throated Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis flavigula_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VI. p. 24;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

This fine and conspicuous species of _Ptilotis_ is abundant in all the ravines round Hobart Town, and is very generally dispersed over the whole of Van Diemen’s Land, to which island I believe it to be exclusively confined, for I neither observed it myself nor have I met with any example in the numerous collections I have received from South Australia and New South Wales. It is very animated and sprightly in its disposition, extremely quick in its actions, elegant in its form, and graceful in all its movements; but as its colouring assimilates in a remarkable degree with that of the leaves of the trees it frequents, it is somewhat difficult of detection. When engaged in searching for food it frequently expands its wings and tail, creeps and clings among the branches in a variety of beautiful attitudes, and often suspends itself to the extreme ends of the outermost twigs; it occasionally perches on the dead branches of the highest trees, but is mostly to be met with in the dense thickets. It flies in an undulating manner like a Woodpecker, but this power is rarely exercised.

Its note is a full, loud, powerful and melodious call.

The stomach is muscular, but of a very small size, and the food consists of bees, wasps and other Hymenoptera, to which are added Coleoptera of various kinds, and the pollen of flowers.

It is a very early breeder, as proved by my finding a nest containing two young birds covered with black down and about two days old, on the 28th of September.

The nest of this species, which is generally placed in a low bush, differs very considerably from those of all the other Honey-eaters with which I am acquainted, particularly in the character of the material forming the lining; it is the largest and warmest of the whole, and is usually formed of ribbons of stringy bark, mixed with grass and the cocoons of spiders; towards the cavity it is more neatly built, and is lined internally with opossum or kangaroo fur; in some instances the hair-like material at the base of the large leafstalks of the tree-fern is employed for the lining, and in others there is merely a flooring of wiry grasses and fine twigs. The eggs, which are either two or three in number, are of the most delicate fleshy buff, rather strongly but thinly spotted with small, roundish, prominent dots of chestnut-red, intermingled with which are a few indistinct dots of purplish grey; their average length is eleven lines, and breadth eight lines.

The only external difference in the sexes is the smaller size of the female, which is nearly a third less than that of the male.

Lores and cheeks black; crown of the head, ear-coverts, breast and under surface dark grey, with silvery reflexions; a few of the ear-coverts tipped with yellow; chin and upper part of the throat rich gamboge-yellow; all the upper surface, wings and tail rich yellowish olive, brightest on the margins of the quill- and tail-feathers; inner webs of the primaries and secondaries dark brown; under surface of the shoulder and wing gamboge-yellow; abdomen and flanks washed with olive; bill black; interior of the bill, throat and tongue rich orange; irides wood-brown; legs and feet brownish lead-colour.

The young birds assume the adult colouring from the time they leave the nest.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

PTILOTIS LEUCOTIS.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS LEUCOTIS.
White-eared Honey-eater.

_Turdus leucotis_, Lath. Ind. Orn., p. xliv. No. 26.

_White-eared Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 186. No. 41.

_White-eared Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., vol. ii. p. 373.

_Meliphaga leucotis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
314.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. xxxv. fig.
2.—Temm. Man., part i. p. lxxxvii.—Temm. Pl. Col. 435.—Gould
in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

The White-eared Honey-eater enjoys a very wide range of habitat; I found it in abundance in the belts of the Murray and other parts of South Australia, and in the brushes near the coast as well as in the open forests of _Eucalypti_ in New South Wales; it is very common in the Bargo brush on the road to Argyle, and Mr. Gilbert mentions that he shot a specimen near York in the interior of Western Australia, but it is there so rare that he believed the individual he procured was the only one that had been seen. It is as much an inhabitant of the mountainous as of the lowland parts of the country, and is always engaged in creeping and clinging about among the leafy branches of the _Eucalypti_, particularly those of a low or stunted growth, such as the thick forests of sapling and dwarf gum-trees growing on Kangaroo Island, one among the other localities in which it abounds.

Its note is loud, and very much resembles that of the _Ptilotis penicillata_. The stomach is small and membranous, and the food consists of insects of various kinds.

I did not succeed in discovering the nest.

The plumage of the upper surface harmonizes beautifully with the tint of the green leaves, among which it is always disporting.

The sexes are alike in their markings, but they differ considerably in size, the male being much less than her mate.

Upper surface and abdomen yellowish olive; crown of the head grey, streaked longitudinally with black; throat and chest black; ear-feathers pure silvery white; tips of the tail-feathers yellowish white; bill black; irides greenish grey, with a narrow ring of pale wood-brown; legs and feet leaden greenish grey.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

PTILOTIS AURICOMIS: _Swains._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

PTILOTIS AURICOMIS.
Yellow-tufted Honey-eater.

_Yellow-tufted Flycatcher_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p.
215.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 172.

_Certhia auriculata_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 236.

_Muscicapa mystacea_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. li.?

_Mustachoe Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 221?—Ib.
Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 177?

_Muscicapa auricomis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xlix.—Steph. Cont. of
Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 354.

_L’Heorotaire à oreilles jaunes_, Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. ii. p. 123.
pl. 85.

_Tufted-eared Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 197.

_Meliphaga auricomis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
313.—Swains. Zool. Ill., vol. i. pl. 43.

By the list of synonyms given above, it will be seen that much doubt existed in the minds of the earlier writers on ornithology as to the place this bird should occupy in the natural system; the question was finally decided by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield assigning it to its true station among the _Meliphagidæ_.

It is certainly one of the most beautiful as well as one of the oldest known species of the genus _Ptilotis_,—a genus, so far as is yet known, peculiar to Australia and New Guinea, the natural habitat of whose members is the evergreen _Eucalypti_, _Acaciæ_, &c.; and it is extremely interesting to observe how closely the plumage of the various groups of birds assimilates in colour to that of the flowers and leaves of the trees which they inhabit. I have often watched various species of this group among the leavey and flowering branches, busily engaged in gathering honey and insects, when the assimilation of the general tint of their plumage to the leaves, and their beautiful ornamental ear-coverts to the flowers, was very remarkable.

The Yellow-tufted Honey-eater is abundant in New South Wales, inhabiting at one season or other every portion of the country; the brushes near the coast, the flowering trees of the plains, and those of the sides and crowns of the highest hills towards the interior being alike tenanted by it. It is an active, animated species, flitting with a darting flight from tree to tree; threading the most thickly-leaved branches with a variety of sprightly actions; clinging beneath as well as traversing the upper side of the branch, for performing which its structure is beautifully adapted.

I never succeeded in finding the nest of this species, although, from its being very abundant on the Liverpool range at the period of the breeding-season, I can venture to state this to be one of the parts of the country in which it breeds, and that it evinces a decided partiality to mountain districts, and hence during great droughts suffers considerably from want of water; a fact I witnessed many times during my visit to the mountains during the great drought of 1839: all the gulleys and water-courses were then exhausted, and the natural beds of the rivers were as dry as the most arid plains; and the deep clefts and fissures in the rocks were the only resource for those animals of the forest to whom water was essential to their existence. To these natural basins this bird resorted in flocks of countless numbers, arriving in a famishing state, not only in the morning and evening but at all hours of the day, dashing down to drink quite regardless of my presence, although seated within two yards of them.

The female of this species, as is the case with others of the genus, is smaller than her mate, but exhibits no difference whatever in the colouring of her plumage.

Crown of the head olive-yellow; throat bright yellow; a black line commences at the base of the bill, surrounds the eye, and extends over the ear-coverts; behind the ear springs a lengthened tuft of rich yellow feathers; upper surface, wings and tail dark brown, with a tinge of olive; primaries and tail-feathers margined with olive-yellow; chest and under surface brownish yellow; bill black; irides reddish brown; feet blackish brown.

The Plate represents a male and a female on a branch of the _Tecoma Australis_, of the natural size.

PTILOTIS CRATITIUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

PTILOTIS CRATITIUS, _Gould_.
Wattle-cheeked Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis cratitius_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 160.

I first met with this new species of Honey-eater on the 26th of June, 1839, on the ranges near the Upper Torrens in South Australia: it appeared to be a most pugnacious bird, driving every other species from the tree upon which it was feeding. I afterwards met with it on Kangaroo Island and in the Belts of the Murray. In all these situations it evinced a decided preference for the _Eucalypti_, among the smaller branches and flowers of which it was busily engaged in extracting pollen and honey from the flower-cups. The trees in the Belts of the Murray and on Kangaroo Island are of a dwarf character, while those of the Upper Torrens are very lofty; yet each appeared to be equally resorted to.

I have never seen this bird from any other parts of Australia than those I have mentioned; further research may, however, enable us to assign to it a much greater range of habitat. It is very closely allied to the _Ptilotis auricomis_, but may at all times be distinguished from that, as well as from every other known species of the group, by the lengthened wattle, of a beautiful lilac-colour, which stretches from the corner of the mouth and extends down the sides of the cheeks; after death, this wattle, which is but slightly pendulous, becomes dry and discoloured, so as to be scarcely distinguishable.

Of its nidification no information could be obtained.

The sexes are nearly alike in plumage, and both have the fleshy appendage on the cheeks, but the female is somewhat smaller than her mate.

Crown of the head grey; all the upper surface olive-green; wings and tail brown, margined with greenish yellow; lores, a large space surrounding the eye and the ear-coverts black, below which is a narrow line of bright yellow; from the gape, down each side of the throat for five-eighths of an inch, a naked fleshy appendage, free at the lower end, of a beautiful lilac-colour and very conspicuous in the living bird; anterior to this is a tuft of bright yellow feathers; throat and under surface olive-yellow; irides and eyelash black; bill black; feet blackish brown tinged with olive.

The Plate represents a male and a female on a branch of the beautiful _Prostanthera lasianthos_, of the natural size.

PTILOTIS ORNATUS: _Gould_.

_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

PTILOTIS ORNATUS, _Gould_.
Graceful Ptilotis.

_Ptilotis ornatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VI., 1838, p.
24.—Ibid., Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

The first notice of this species of Honey-eater may be found in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1838,” as quoted above. The specimen there characterized was the only one I had then seen, and formed part of the fine collection of Fort Pitt at Chatham. It was received from Western Australia, where the species appears to be plentiful, being common at Swan River, and in all probability over the whole of the present unknown country between that place and the River Murray in South Australia, as I found it inhabiting the extensive belts of dwarf _Eucalypti_ and other singular shrub-like trees which border the lower part of that river, and this may possibly be the extreme limit of its range in that direction. It was a source of much gratification to myself to have unexpectedly found this elegant little bird in the rich arboretum, which had already supplied me with so many novelties, both animal and vegetable: among the latter I found the plant figured in the accompanying Plate (_Pittosporum salicifolium_, R. Brown), not as one to which the bird gives preference, but upon which it was occasionally seen; the _Eucalypti_ being the trees to which the birds of this genus more especially resort, among whose thick leafy branches and blossoms they may at all times be observed actively engaged in searching for insects, upon which, and the pollen and saccharine juices of the flowers, they almost solely subsist. In the Belts of the Murray it was confined to trees of a dwarf growth, while in the country in the neighbourhood of Swan River I am informed it is seen on the topmost branches of the gum- and mahogany-trees, clinging and flitting about the blossoms, not unfrequently descending to the ground, and hopping about beneath the branches and near the boles of the larger trees, doubtless in search of insects.

It has rather a loud ringing and not unpleasing song, which is constantly poured forth.

The nest is generally suspended from a horizontal forked branch, frequently in an exposed situation, and is of a neat, small, open, cup-shaped form, composed of fine vegetable fibres and grasses matted together with spiders’ webs, and sometimes wool. The eggs are either two or three in number, of a deep salmon colour, becoming paler at the smaller end and minutely freckled with reddish brown, particularly at the larger end; they are nine lines long by seven broad.

The female differs from the male in being somewhat less in size, and those I collected had the nostrils, eyelash and basal portion of the bill orange instead of black, as in the male; still I am not fully satisfied that this orange colouring may not indicate immaturity, and that the fully adult female may not have these, as in her mate.

Crown of the head, external edge of the wings, rump and tail-feathers olive; back olive-brown; all the under surface greyish white, each feather having a longitudinal mark of brown down the centre; under tail-coverts lighter; on each side of the neck a lengthened tuft of rich yellow feathers; eye black, surrounded in the male by a narrow black eyelash except for a third of the space, behind which is yellow; feet purplish brown; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size.

PTILOTIS PLUMULUS: _Gould_.

_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

PTILOTIS PLUMULUS, _Gould_.
Plumed Ptilotis.

_Ptilotis plumulus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., November 10, 1840.

The double tuft of black and yellow feathers situated on the sides of the neck suggested the name of _plumulus_ for this species, whose range of habitat appears to be confined to the western portions of Australia, specimens never having been seen in any of the numerous collections from the southern or from the north-west coast: had it advanced so far to the eastward as the Belts of the Murray, in all probability I should have discovered it, while investigating that region. In size it is rather less than _Ptilotis ornatus_, and, independently of the accessory black tuft on the sides of the neck, the breast is of a more delicate and paler colour, with the feathers much more faintly marked with brown down the centre. All the specimens I have were collected in the district of York, about 60 miles eastward of Swan River, where it inhabits the white-gum forests, resorting to the tops of the highest trees, and is seldom to be seen on the ground. Its note is much varied, consisting of a loud shrill shake, somewhat resembling the sportman’s pea-whistle, continued without intermission for a great length of time. When disturbed it flits among the branches with a quick darting flight; while at other times, like the Miners (genus _Myzantha_), it soars from tree to tree with the most graceful and easy movement.

Its small, elegant, cup-shaped nest is suspended from a slender horizontal branch, frequently so close to the ground as to be reached by the hand; it is formed of dried grasses lined with soft cotton-like buds of flowers. The breeding-season continues from October to January; the eggs being two in number, ten lines long by seven lines broad, of a pale salmon colour, with a zone of a deeper tint at the larger end, and the whole freckled with minute spots of a still darker hue. The stomach is diminutive and slightly muscular, the food consisting of insects and honey.

The sexes appear to present no difference in the colour of their plumage; but the female, as is the case with the other members of the genus, is considerably smaller than her mate.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface bright olive-yellow, approaching to grey on the back; lores black; ear-coverts, throat and under surface pale yellowish grey, faintly striated with a darker tint; behind the ear two tufts, the upper of which is narrow and black; the lower, which is more spread over the sides of the neck, of a beautiful yellow; primaries and tail-feathers brown, margined with bright olive-yellow; irides very dark reddish brown; bill black; legs and feet apple-green.

The figures are male and female of the natural size, on one of the Acacias of Western Australia.

PTILOTIS FLAVESCENS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS FLAVESCENS, _Gould_.
Yellow-tinted Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis flavescens_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 144.

The only example of this new species that I have seen is from the north coast of Australia, where it was procured and subsequently presented to me by my friend Benjamin Bynoe, Esq., late of Her Majesty’s Surveying Ship the Beagle. It differs from all the other members of its genus in the uniform yellow colouring of its plumage, for which reason I have assigned to it the specific appellation of _flavescens_,—a term indicative of the colouring by which it may be readily distinguished from its congeners.

I regret to say that nothing whatever is at present known of its habits or economy.

Head and all the under surface delicate citron-yellow, the yellow prevailing over the head; immediately under the ear-coverts a spot of blackish brown, posterior to which is a spot of bright yellow; the remainder of the plumage olive-grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

PTILOTIS FLAVA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PTILOTIS FLAVA, _Gould_.
Yellow Honey-eater.

_Ptilotis flava_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 136.