"This pretty bird," says Macgillivray, as quoted by Gould, "appears to be distributed along the whole coast of Australia, the adjacent islands, and the whole of the islands in Jones's Straits. Although thus generally distributed, it is nowhere numerous, seldom more than a pair being seen together. Its habits resemble those of the _Ptilotes_, with which it often associates, but still more closely those of the _Myzomela azura;_ like those birds, it resorts to the flowering trees, to feed upon the insects which frequent the blossoms, especially those of a species of _Sciodophyllum_. This singular tree, whose range on the north-eastern coast and that of the Australian Sun Bird appears to be the same, is furnished with enormous spike-like racemes of small scarlet flowers, which attract numbers of insects, and thus furnish an abundant supply of appropriate food. The Blossom Rifler is of a pugnacious disposition, as I have more than once seen; it drives away and pursues any visitor to the same tree. Perhaps this disposition is only exhibited during the breeding season. The nests we found at Cape York were pensile, and attached to the twig of a prickly bush; one, measuring seven inches in length, was of an elongated shape, with a rather large opening on one side, close to the top; it was composed of shreds of Melaleuca bark, a few leaves, various fibrous substances, rejectamenta of caterpillars, &c., and lined with the silky cotton of the _Bombyx Australis_. The eggs were pear-shaped, mottled with dirty brown, on a greenish grey ground. Another nest, found at Mount Ernest, Jones's Straits, differs from those seen in Cape York, in having over the entrance a projecting fringe-like hood, composed of the panicles of a delicate grass-like plant. It contained two young birds, and I saw the mother visit them twice in an interval of ten minutes. She glanced past like an arrow, perched at once on the nest, clinging to the lower side of the entrance, and looked round very watchfully for a few seconds before feeding the young, after which she disappeared as suddenly as she arrived." * * * * *