PTILOTIS FRENATA , Ramsay.
Bridled Honey-eater.
Ptilotis frenata, Ramsay, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 603.
J u s t ify in g the remarks which I have made on Ptilotis Jlaoostriata, the present species is another of the
recent additions to the family Meliphagidae in the Australian continent. I give the following extract from
Mr. Ramsay’s article, as it comprises all that is at present known respecting the species :— .
“ Of this new species, for which I beg to propose the name of P . frenata, on account of the markings at
the base of the bill and round the face, some few individuals were obtained, frequenting the Eucalypti
while in blossom, near the margin o f a swamp in the Cardwell district.
“ The birds were shot by my (then) collector, Mr. Broadbent, who is already well known as an
enthusiastic and careful taxidermist. To Mr. Broadbent’s researches my collection is also indebted for the
first specimen o f Eopsaltria inornata, nov. sp.
“ Description.—Whole o f the upper surface dull brown ; head, lores, and nape of neck blackish brown,
the feathers having indistinct lunulate markings and a gloss o f olive in certain lights; a semi-bare space
below the eye has a few minute buffy white feathers ; behind the eye a semilunar patch o f white feathers
tipped with black, which, extending in a narrow line, almost encircles that organ. Eye-lashes black ; ear-
coverts black; above them, immediately behind the eye, is a small tuft o f bright wax-yellow feathers joining a
large triangular patch o f light greyish brown feathers on the side of the neck, which has the upper portion
o f it, nearest the ear-coverts, tinged with olive; a narrow indistinct line o f yellow on either side bounding the
ear-coverts below, extending obliquely to the lower part o f the chin, where, meeting in an angle, they form
an indistinct yellow patch on the throat. Chiu and remainder o f the under surface dull brown, slightly
darker in tint on the breast and sides of the neck, lighter on the céntre o f the abdomen and under tail-
coverts; across the chest are indistinct wavy lines o f a darker tint, on the flanks indistinct lanceolate
markings o f the same tint. Under surface o f the shoulders, inner margins of tertiaries, secondaries, and
the basal portions of inner margins o f the primaries light buff. The outer webs o f the spurious wing-
feathers, the tertiaries, and secondaries, with some of the primaries, are on the upper surface tinged with
olive. Bill black, with the basal portion (except the culmen) yellow. The gape, with a narrow fleshy
appendage, yellow. Feet and tarsi dark brown.
“ Total length 8 ‘5 inches; bill from angle o f mouth 1-05 inch, from feathers at the nostrils 0-65, from
forehead 1-05, height at nostrils 0 2, breadth 0 2 ; wing from flexure 4 05 ; tail 3 6 ; tarsus 0 35.
“ Hob. Rockingham Bay.
“ Sexes alike in plumage. One specimen, said to be a male, is considerably smaller in all its
measurements, which are as follows :—Total length 7'5 inches ; wing 3*65 ; tail 3 ‘25 ; bill from angle of
the mouth 0 ‘95, from feathers at nostrils 0 6 inch,..from forehead 0 ‘9, height at nostril 0'2, breadth 0*2.
My figures represent the species o f the size of life.