My Sombre Honcy-Eatcr. 41 



flight was practically as graceful as theirs. He seemed to enjoy 

 th-: company of the other birds, remaining" on the best of terms 

 with them, yet, strange to say, though solitary he never made a 

 pal nor fraternised with any of them — at the same time he never 

 interfered with them in any way, nor they with him — several 

 broods of young birds, including a brood of Grey- winged 

 Ouzels, were successfully reared during this time, but he never 

 seemed even interested in the nesting operations of his fellow 

 captives, and, strange to say, I never saw him enter a nest-box. 



He was a " dandy " of the first water, taking a thorough 

 bath several times a day, and was always in a perfectly " spick 

 and span " condition. His method of taking a bath was similar 

 to that of the Pekin Robin — he would stand quite a while on the 

 edge of the bath considering the matter, then in he would 

 suddenly plunge and then nm through the bath, entirely under 

 water and he had to duck his head to accomplish this, and out 

 upon the other side, repeating this operation several times, then 

 on to a branch for quite a lengthy grooming up. 



He was not at all fastidious in his diet, taking liberally 

 ot the soft food, to which was added most days a liberal propor- 

 tion of boiled potato, and, when available, carrot also. As 

 part of his natural diet is the nectar of flowers, he was 

 also supplied with bread and milk, and took same with gusto. 

 Mealworms or any insect he delighted to have tossed in the air 

 and thoroughly enjoyed catching them so long as I cared to 

 keep on the game — needless to say I enjoyed the game also, so 

 thf. Obscure Honey-eater fared well. He was also very greedy 

 a^''ter fruit, no soft ripe variety came amiss — all the same he was 

 no special trouble to cater for, as all the above items were 

 included in the aviary " Bill of Fare." 



Honey-eaters, of which there are a g'ood number, are 

 delightful birds (some of the genera are more delicate and need 

 more warmth than does M. ohscura), make delightful cage or 

 aviary birds, but I expect it will be the Garrulous Honey-eater 

 that will come to hand ; however, save for slightly different 

 plumage, they are similar in habits and characteristics, and 

 require exactly the same treatment. 



My bird did not live his life with me, for the following 

 summer my aviaries had to be dismantled, owing to a change of 



