106 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



Family Meliphagidae. 

 Bill rather long and usually curved. Tongue protractile, 

 furnished at the tip with a bunch of stiff fibres. Tarsi rather 

 short, scutellated; the scutellae sometimes fused together. 



Key to tlte Genera. 



1. Tufts of white feathers on the throat. Prostheiuadera. 

 Tufts of white feathers behind the ears. Pogonornis. 



No tufts of white feathers. 2 



2. White feathers round the eye. Zosterops. 

 No white feathers round the eye. Anthornis. 



Key to the suh-families. 

 First primary nearly as long as the second. Zosteropinae 



First primary one half of the second. Meliphaginje. 



Geniis Zosterops. 

 Bill nearly straight, as long as the head. First primary very 

 short, the second long, the tip of the wing formed by the third 

 and fourth. Tail emarginate. A ring of white feathers round 

 the eye. Africa, India, Malay Archipelago, Polynesia, Australia, 

 and New Zealand. 



The White-eye. — Tau-hou. 



Zosterops caerulescens. 

 Slimmer plumage — Head and over tail bright olive; back dark grey; 

 throat yellow; abdomen white, the flanks light chestnut. Winter 

 plumage — Chin and throat light grey. Eye reddish brown. Length of 

 tho wing, 2.3 in.; of tarsus, 0.6in. Egg — Pale blue; length, 0.7 in. Both 

 islands, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands, Campbell Islands, and 

 Australia. 



The white-eye is an Australian colonist. It first came to New 

 Zealand about the year 1856, and it liked this country so well 

 that it has stopped with us ever since, increasing rapidly in 

 numbers. It is both welcome and unwelcome; that is to say, 

 it does harm and good. By feeding on the American blight, 

 which attacks apple-trees, it has made its presence very beneficial. 

 In recognition of its efforts in this direction, it has been awarded 

 the title of "blight-bird." But, when the fruit is ripe, it undoes 

 a great deal of the good it has eff'ected, by making depredations 

 on the cherries and plums. 



