1618 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



the wing; but when descending to a lower station it adopts a different manner of 

 flight, elevating the tail almost to a right angle with the body, and scarcely moving 

 the wings at all. The male bird erects the tail and spreads the ear tufts when ex- 

 cited or alarmed; but the female habitually carries the tail perfectly erect, and the 

 wings drooping. The male utters at short intervals, and with startling energy, a 

 melodious whistling call of three notes; but at other times he produces a sharp, 

 clicking sound, like the striking of two quartz stones together, the sound having a 

 fancied resemblance to the word "stitch." The nest is a slight, shallow structure, 

 built of sprays and fibres, lined with fine grass and cow hair. The egg is yellowish 

 white, thickly spotted with pale rufous. The adult male has the head, neck, and 

 upper back velvety black; a tuft of snow-white feathers is present on both sides of 

 the head; the wings and tail are black; a band of rich canary yellow encircles the 

 back neck, and the under parts are light grayish brown. The female is plain 

 brown. 



The group of honey-sucking birds known as white-eyes (genus 

 Zosterops} have long been a bone of contention among ornithologists, 

 Dr. Gadow placing them among the honey eaters, Dr. Sclater with the sunbirds, 

 Mr. Wallace among the flower peckers, and Mr. Gates in the Crateropodidce , while 

 Professor Mivart makes them the type of a family by themselves. Under these cir- 

 cumstances we have placed them here, preferring to leave their family position open. 

 They are characterized by having the beak curved, slender, and pointed, and the 

 nostrils covered by a large membrane, while the eye is surrounded by a character- 

 istic circle of small white feathers. The tongue, according to Dr. Gadow, is pro- 

 tractile and bifid, with each half broken up into numerous stiff horny fibres, so as 

 to form a brush. The wing has ten primaries, but the first is very minute, and the 

 tail is short and quite square. Twelve species of white-eye are found in Madagas- 

 car and the Mascarene islands, which Canon Tristram divides into the green-backed 

 and gray-backed groups; while five inhabit India, and several Australia. Japan 

 also possesses a species, and several others occur in Africa. 



Taking as an example the green-backed white-eye (Z. gouldi) of Australia, we 

 find this bird is well known to settlers as being exceedingly partial to garden fruit. 

 Being particularly fond of figs and grapes, it consequently abounds in all the gard- 

 ens where those plants are cultivated, and it is as often to be seen and as numerous 

 as sparrows in England; besides feeding upon fruits, it catches flies while on the 

 wing, after the manner of the true flycatchers. Its note is a single plaintive one, 

 several times repeated, and its flight is irregular and of short duration. The breed- 

 ing season commences in August and ends in November; the nests during the 

 earlier part of the season invariably contain two eggs, but in those found in 

 October and November the number is increased to three, and rarely to four. The 

 nest is small, compact, and formed of dried wiry grasses, bound together with the 

 hairy tendrils of small plants and wool, the inside being lined with very minute 

 fibrous roots. The eggs are greenish blue, without spots or markings. In South 

 Australia the white-eye just described is replaced by a gray-backed species which 

 frequents gardens, building its nest and rearing its young in shrubs and rose trees 

 bordering the walks. This species makes a very neat nest, and its eggs are of a 



