558 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Sp. 344. MYZOMELA, NIGRA, Gould. 



Black Honey-eater. 



Myzomela nigra, Gould in Birds of Australia, part ii. cancelled. 

 Dwer-da-ngok-ngun-nin, Aborigines of the mountain districts 

 Western Australia. 



Myzomela nigra, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 66. 



This most active little bird is peculiar to the interior of 

 Australia, over which it has an extensive range. Gilbert 

 found it at Swan River, and I met with it on the plains near 

 the Namoi ; here it was always on the Myalls {Acacia pen- 

 dula), while in Western Australia it generally evinced a pre- 

 ference for the sapling gums. Although it has the feathered 

 tongue and sometimes partakes of the sweets of the flowers, 

 it feeds almost exclusively on insects, which it procures both 

 on the blossoms and among the thickly-foliaged branches. 

 The male frequently pours forth a feeble plaintive note, 

 perched upon some elevated dead branch, where he sits with 

 his neck stretched out and without any apparent motion, 

 except the swelling of the throat and the movement of the bill. 



The flight of this bird is remarkably quick, and performed 

 with sudden zigzag starts. 



The female differs remarkably from the male in the colouring 

 of the plumage, and, as is the case with many other birds, is 

 much more difficult to detect than the male, which is always 

 more animated, and frequently betrays his presence by his song. 



Gilbert was more fortunate than myself in finding the nest 

 of this little bird, and has furnished the following notes 

 respecting its incubation : — 



" This species constructs a neat cup- shaped nest, formed of 

 dried grasses. I found two, both of which were built in the 

 most conspicuous situations ; one in a fork at the top of a 

 small scrubby bush, unsheltered by even a bough or, a leaf; 



the other was on the dead branch of a fallen tree, in a similar 

 exposed situation, and quite unprotected from wet or heat. 



