TAIIADISEID^. SI) 5 



protrusile tongue, furnished with a tuft or pencil of fibres, by 

 means of which they extract the honey and pollsn of flowers. 

 The bill is various, short, somewhat conic, and notched in some, 

 long, slender and curved in others ; the wings are of moderate 

 length, with the first three quills graduated, or the 3rd and 4:tli 

 equal ; tail usually moderate ; the tarsus short, and outer toe 

 much syndactyle, and the hind toe large. They feed on soft fruit 

 and insects, as well as upon the nectar of flowers; visually build 

 somewhat neat nests in bushes, or often suspended from twins, and 

 generally lay two eggs. They are not clothed in rich plumage; 

 chiefly various shades of green, yellow and black, and are occasion- 

 ally ornamented by various tufts and wattles, 



The Honey-eaters resemble the ordinary dentirostral birds, such 

 as Thrushes, in their anatomy. They probably unite with the 

 Nectarinidm through the Jfi/zomela;, which have the Avings more 

 rounded than the others, and perhaps also with the Birds of 

 Paradise by means of Sericulus. The Orioles and Phi/llor?iis are 

 placed among the MelHphagida by some systeraatists, and certainly 

 they bear some resemblance to those birds (which may be that of 

 affinity) both in appearance and habits, but for reasons connected 

 with the geographic distribution of the Melliphaf/ida, I prefer 

 keeping these birds of Africa and India apart among the Thruslies. 

 Zosterops, too, is classed by many in this family ; but its geographic 

 distribution over Africa and India, as well as the oceanic province, 

 equally forbids its being placed here. 



The Paradiseid^, or Birds of Paradise, have been variously 

 placed by systematists. Cuvier, relying chiefly on the thick 

 conical beak of some, with the nostrils clothed with short plumes, 

 placed them in the Conirosti-es, not far from the Crows (but at 

 the same time next to his tribe of Tenuirostres): and in this he 

 has been followed by many others. Swainson, with a truer intui- 

 tion of their aflinities, placed them in the present tribe; and 

 taking their rich gorgeous plumage, wonderfully developed shoul- 

 der-tufts and uropygials, and their habits as far as known, I think 

 there can be little doubt that this is their true place. With 

 regard to the birds belonging to this family, I nearly agree with 

 Bonaparte in one of his later writings, and ^^ ould include in it the 



