88 FASSERES. 



flower-bearing branches with perfect ease and great rapidity, 

 searching for insects and the pollen of flowers ; they also frequent 

 orchards, to feed upon the fruit, amongst which they commit great 

 havoc. Sometimes they may be seen motionless upon the top- 

 most dead or bare boughs, uttering a loud whistling note, which 

 at once betrays their locality. 



White-throated Honey-Feedek {Melithrej>tus gidaris). 



The Lunated Honey-Feeder {Melithreptiislu7tatns),6x?X\ng\x\'&\iz^ from 

 the preceding honey-eaters by the possession of a stronger and more conical 

 bill, is abundant in many parts of the Austrahan continent. The nest of this 

 bird is usually attached to the slender twigs which grow at the top of the pro- 

 digious Eucalypti^ and at this great height it is only discernible to an expe- 

 rienced observer. The fabric is ingeniously constructed of the inner rind or 

 " liber" of the " stringy-bark," and other gum trees, a material resembling the 

 " bass " used by gardeners. The hair of various animals is mixed with the 

 bark ; and since sheep have been introduced into Australia, the bird has 

 availed itself of their wool, finding that it can be worked well into the side, 

 and seems to bind the walls firmly together. As the nest is always hung by 

 the rim to the twigs, strength of substance is an absolute necessity; so that 

 the toughness of fibre, and the felting property of the wool, make it a most 

 valuable addition to the building material employed. For the lining of the nest 

 the lunated honey-eater uses the fur of the phalanger, which has the advantage 

 of being very soft, very warm, of retaining its elasticity, and of nofadhering to 

 the claws of the inmates, as would be the case with wool. 



The typical form is the White-throated Honey-Feeder {Melithrepius 



