The Mistletoe-Swallow should be called the Australian Flower-Pecker, for it is our one representative of a large genus, best developed in the Indian Region.
Placed at present in Family 141 with the little Mistletoe-Bird are the Diamond-Birds of Australia, the plumage of our common kind of which is "so variegated and beautiful as to render description impossible."
The Diamond-Birds are restricted to Australia. Though they are found mainly in high tree-tops, whence they prettily and continuously call "wit-e-chu" and "wit-loo," some usually nest in a bank of earth. The bank of a dam, the side of a creek, and the earth suspended on the roots of a fallen tree are favorite places. Some people find the continuous, musical note annoying, and have named the Diamond-Bird the Headache-Bird. Others find it entertaining, and syllabize it as "Sweet Dick," or "Sleep, Baby."
Three of these birds are recognized by a small, bright spot on the side of the wing. In one this spot is said to be red, in another it is orange, and in the third yellow. However, Gould said the young of the Red-tipped had the orange tip, and later investigation seems to be supporting his view, for the Orange-tipped is possibly not a different species, but only a phase of the Red-tipped. One of our bird observers, Mr. F. Wilson, has lately recorded finding the nest of a pair of Pardalotes, of which one was red-tipped and the other orange-tipped. The Yellow-tipped is said to be the commonest bird in Tasmania. These birds are plentifully spotted, "spotted like the pard," hence the name Pardalote, Panther-Bird, or Diamond-Bird.
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F. 135. PARIDAE (5), TITMICE, Tits, 206 sp.—5(5)A., 55(48)O., 88(78)P., 32(32)E., 34(28)Nc., 8(5)Nl.
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327[*] Whiteface, White-faced Titmouse (Squeaker), Aphelocephala (Xerophila) leucopsis, S.Q., N.S.W., V., S.A., C.A., W.A. (interior).
Stat. small flocks, c. plains 4