134 THE LIVING ANIiMALS OF THE WORLD 



coast of gold-crests from the Continent " In autumn," writes Mr. Howard Saunders, " immense 

 flocks sometimes arrive on our east coast, extending quite across England and the Irish 

 Channel, and into Ireland. In 1882 the migration wave of this description, commencing on 

 August 6 and lasting for ninety-two days, reached from the Channel to the Faeroes; in 1883 

 the migration lasted eighty-two days; and again in 1884 for a period of eighty-seven days. . . . 

 On such occasions bushes in gardens on the coast are covered with birds as with a swarm of 

 bees; crowds flutter round the lanterns of lighthouses, and the rigging of fishing-smacks in 

 the North Sea is thronged with weary travellers. In April a return migration occurs." 



We pass now to the consideration of a few families of birds unknown in Biitain, but 

 interesting on account of the fact that they aft'ord us another set of instances of adaptation to 

 attain particular ends, so frequently to be met with in Nature. All the birds in question, 

 though probably not related, have peculiarly modified tongues, apparently specially designed 

 to aid in sucking up honey from flowers. 



The first group for consideration are the HoNEV-E.vi'ERS of New Zealand and Australia. 

 So great is the transformation which the tongue in 

 these birds has undergone, that it forms one of 

 the most elaborate organs of its kind, sur- 

 passing even that of the Humming-birds 

 A description of this organ without 

 the aid of anatomical terms and 

 diagrams would be useless. 

 Suffice it to say it is Ion 

 capable of being thrust 

 out of the miiuth, 

 and brush-like. 

 It is used to 

 thrust up 



i>/i«io 4r C. Rtid'i 



COAL-TITS 



TJiese birdi shozv the ivktie patch on the nape 'very diitinctly, 

 a common British bird, staying the -whole year round 



the tubes 



of hone}'- 



bcaring flowers, 



as well for the sake 



of the juice as for the 



insects gathered in such 



situations to feed on it. 



The best known of the 

 Honey-eaters is the PoE, or Parson- 

 BIRD, of New Zealand. Glossy blact in 

 colour, with vi\.id green and blue reflec- 

 tions, it is rendered still more attractive by a 

 pair of white tufts of feathers hanging from 

 the front upper part of the neck, whilst on the 

 back of the neck in the same region the feathers 

 and curled forwards. (Jthcr hone}'-eaters are the White-EVES, 



{WUhn-w, tf. E. 



are of a loose structure. Ion 

 SuN-BiRDS, and Flower-peckers. 



The White-eves, so called from a ring of white feathers around the eye, have a wide 

 distribution, being found in Australia, India, Africa, Madagascar, and Japan. Resides honey 

 they are very partial to fruit, particularly figs and grapes, and also capture insects on the wing, 

 after the fashion of fly-catchers. 



The SUX-BIRDS correspond in the Old World to the Humming-birds in the New, having, 

 like the latter, a metallic plumage, varied in its hues and wondrous in its beauty; but 

 they are not entirely dependent upon this lustre for their charm, fur much of their 

 splendour is gained from the non-metallic portion of the plumage, which is often \ividly 



