HONEY-BIRDS. 635 



the Eucalypti, Banksice, nnd Melaleucw are to the flora. The economy of these 

 birds is so strictly adapted to those trees that the one appears essential to the other; 

 for what can be more plain than that the brush-like tongue is especially formed for 

 gathering the honey from the flower-caps of the Eucalypti, or that their diminutive 

 stomachs ai'e especially formed for this kind of food, and the peculiar insects which 

 constitute a portion of it?" A peculiarity of many species belonging to this family, 

 the MELii'iiAGiD.fi, is the presence of naked wattles at the mouth angles. 



Messrs. Layard, father and son, have recently contributed some interesting notes 

 to the biographies of several of these birds, as observed by them in the island of New 

 Caledonia. Of Gliciphila unduhtta they say : "This fine ' honey-sucker' is not at all 

 uncommon in the forest, frequenting in considerable numbers certain trees when in 

 flower ; when the blossoms disappear the birds disappear also, and you may seek in 

 vain for a single specimen in the place that a short time previously rang with their 

 clear whistle and flute-like notes. They hang or climb in every position to feed, 

 grasping the branches, or flowers themselves, with their strong curved claws. They 

 are very pugnacious, fighting amongst themselves, and with any other bird that 

 attempts to share with them their sweet repast of flower-nectar and small insects." 

 In regard to another honey-eater of the same island, Leptomyza aubrymia, they make 

 the very interesting remark that they found one specimen which "had the throat 

 covered with yellow pollen ; this we have also found on GUdphilm and Myzomela, 

 and we doubt not some of the large, lofty, flowering trees are fertilized by such agency, 

 as insects are very scarce here." 



One of the largest species of tlie family is the peculiar and well-known parson-bird 

 {Prosthemadera tiovce-seelctiidia'), from New Zealand, metallic black, with a curious 

 tuft of very long and filamentous white feathers, curled in upon each other, on each 

 side of the throat. Says Dr. Buller: "The early colonists named it the 'parson-bird' 

 in allusion to the ])eculiar tufts of white feathers that adorn its throat, and their 

 fancied resemblance to the clerical bands. To those who are familiar with the bird in 

 its native woods, this name is certainly appropriate, for when indulging in its strain 

 of wild notes, it dis]ilays these 'l)ands,' and gesticulates in a manner forcibly suggestive 

 of the declamatory style of preaching, or, as Dr. Thotnpson graphically expresses it, 

 " sitting on the branch of a tree, as a pro tempore pulpit, lie shakes his head, bending 

 to one side and then to another, as if he remarked to this one and to that one ; and 

 once and again, with pent-up vehemence contracting his muscles and drawing himself 

 together, his voice waxes loud in a manner to waken sleepers to their senses. Owing 

 to its excellent powers of mimicry, and the facility of rearing it in confinement, it is a 

 favorite cage-bird, both with the natives and the colonists. It will learn to articulate 

 sentences of several words with clearness, and to imitate the barking of a dog to 

 perfection." 



Here also belong some curious forms confined to the Sandwich Islands, among 

 which is the black, yellow-tufted honey-sucker {Moho nobilis). Mr. Titian R. Peale 

 has given the following account of the former use of the small yellow tufts of 

 these birds : — 



"The yellow tufts of costal feathers in this beautiful bird furnished the material 

 for the s])lendid and costly robes, capes, and 'leis' of the Ilawaiians in former 

 days. The bunches of feathers, called hidit, are still [1840] prepared and received 

 in payment of a poll-tax to the king; they are afterwards made up principally in 

 ' leis ' or head-bands worn by the ladies, and are beautiful but costly ornaments; but 



