[Case 77. ] 
{Case 77.] 
126 BIRD GALLERY. 
Family XXV. Dicmipm. FrLower-Peckers. 
These small birds are allied to the Sun-birds, but are distinguished 
by having a much shorter bill which is serrated along the edges of both 
mandibles. 
They range from India and the Indo-Malayan countries, through New 
Guinea to Australia, and a few representatives are found on the West 
Coast of Africa. The plumage is generally brilliant in the males, plainer 
in the females. In their habits and choice of food they resemble the 
Sun-birds. The species of Diceum build beautiful purse-shaped nests 
suspended from a slender branch. They are either made entirely 
from the cotton-like substance which fills the seed-vessels of many 
plants (2288), or have an outer coating of moss and lichen (2289-90). 
The more Tit-like Australian species of Pardalotus (2292), which have 
a stouter bill, breed in holes in trees, walls, or banks, and construct a 
round nest of roots, grass and feathers. 
Family XX VI. Necrariniuip#. SuN-BIRDs. 
In their brilliant metallic plumage and outward appearance the 
Sun-birds bear a strong superficial resemblance to the 7rochilide, and 
are often mistaken for them. A notable case is that of Cinnyris osea 
(2305), a species inhabiting Palestine, and known to the English 
residents as the “ Jericho Humming-Bird.” The numerous species are 
confined to the Old World and range from Africa and Southern Asia to 
New Guinea and Australia. The bill is long, curved and slender, finely 
serrated at the extremity ; the tongue, extensile and tubular like that 
of the Woodpeckers and Humming-Birds; and the sexes are generally 
very different from one another in coloration, except in Arachnothera 
(2307). Sun-birds resemble the Tits and White-eyes in their habits, 
generally hunting for insects among the trees and bushes in pairs or 
small bands. With their long tongue they extract the nectar from 
flowers while clinging to the stems, for they are unable to poise them- 
selves in the air after the manner of Humming-Birds. The elaborate 
nest is either hung from the end of a branch, as in the case of Attho- 
pyga magnifica (2809), or attached to the underside of a leaf, as in 
Eudrepanis pulcherrima (2810). The eggs are two in number and 
invariably spotted. 
The nest of the Spider-hunter (Arachnothera robusta) (2801) sewn to 
the under side of a broad leaf, displays a different type of structure. 
Family XX VII. Drepanipip#. Hawaiian Honey-Suckers. 
This small but interesting family includes a number of curious forms 
peculiar to the hill forests of the Sandwich Islands. Some, such as the 
