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plumage, "'if species, calle.l ly the Australians 

 tin- Killeman or Itille bird (Mr/iji/mi/u <>r I'ttlun* 

 JMII-HI/I.II-US), is said to lie tin- most gWVWMMijr- 

 plumaged of till known birds; the female is more 

 soi a bee in dress. Aaotber species ( Mi/zmif/ni 

 nn-fininji/iri/s) is culled the Hell- bird, because its 

 \oice reseaiUes the tinkling of distant sheep-bell*. 



New Holland Honey-eater (Melipliar/u Nocct Ho /andice). 



To tbis family is referred the Parson-bird or Tni 

 (Proatln iiiniliTii NovceZeelanriice),& bird larger than 

 a blackbird, and of a bluish or greenish-black 

 colour, with white streaks on the back of the neck, 

 a white spot on each wing, and two tufts of snow- 

 white downy curly feathers ornamenting the sides 

 of the throat. Unlike most of the Meliphagidre it 

 is a bird of fine song. It has also great powers as a 

 mocking-bird, readily learns to speak many words, 

 and becomes very familiar in domestication. 



Honey-guide, INDICATOR, or MOROC, a genus 

 of birds (Indicator) formerly classed as cuckoos, 

 and to an extent partaking < if their habits, but now 

 ranked as a. small separate family ( Indicatoridae), 

 iicrhaps most nearly allied to the woodpeckers and 

 barbets. Of eleven species known eight are 

 peculiar to Africa. They are all birds of similar 

 coloration, being generally of a dull gray tinged 

 with yellow or olive ; they vary considerably in 

 size, the larger species measuring about 8 inches in 

 length, the smaller not exceeding four inches. 

 They have acquired their name from their habit of 

 guiding men to honey, a curious instinct prompting 

 them to hop from tree to tree before the traveller 

 \vhose notice they have succeeded in attracting by 

 fluttering and uttering a peculiar cry, and to lead to 

 a place where a bees' nest may be found. The cry 

 is said to change in character on reaching the 

 locality of the nest. 



Honey Loenst Tree(Gleditschia triacanthos) 

 also known as the SWEET LOCUST and BLACK 

 LOCUST, and in Britain as the THREE-THORNED 

 ACACIA a lofty and l>eautiful tree of the natural 

 order Leguminoso 1 , sub-order Cjesalpinieue, a native 

 of the valleys of the Alleghanies and of the basin 

 of the Mississippi. It is not found wild on the 

 Atlantic coast or North America, although often 

 planted for ornament in the vicinity of habitations, 

 fhe flowers which are small, greenish, and in 

 spikes have, when perfect, six stamens and one 

 pistil, but are very generally unisexual. The leaves 

 are twice pinnate, without terminal leaflets, the 

 numerous small leaflets giving a peculiar graceful 

 ness to the foliage, which is ofa light shining green. 

 The tree is furnished with numerous sharp triple 

 spines. The pods are long, flat, pendulous, often 

 twisted ; the seeds large, brown, and enveloped 

 in a pulp-, which, when the pod is ripe, is very 

 sweet. Si'^'tr has been made from it, and when 

 fermented .t yields an intoxicating beverage in 

 use H.MIOIIJ. the American Indians. The honey 



locust attains a height of 70 or 80 feet. Tree* of 

 large H!/ are to lie Keen in HOIIIU part* of Britain. 

 The wood resemble** that of the Locuut Tree (q. v.), 

 or False Acacia (liobinia jmeudacacia), but i more 

 coarse grained. 



Honey-KtOlie, or MKI.UTK, a mineral of re- 

 markable characters and coiii|K>sitioa, found in 

 connection with brown coal (generally accompanied 

 by sulphur) in several places in (iermany. It 

 occurs in square octahedrons, looks like a hones 

 yellow resin, and may be cut with a knife. It in 

 a mellate of alumina, consisting of mellitic acid, 

 alumina, and water. 



Honeysuckle ( Lonicera, or, according to some 

 botanists, <.'/>/ (/<>! nun, which others make a sub- 

 genus of Lonicera), a genus of plants of the natural 

 order Caprifoliacea-. They are shrubs, often twin- 

 ing, and have the flowers two or more together in 

 axillary heads. The calyx is short and 5- toothed ; 

 the corolla tubular-funnel shaped, 5-cleft, generally 

 two-lipped ; the fruit a 2- or 3-celled l>erry, con- 

 taining one or very few seeds. The Common 

 Honeysuckle, or Woodbine (L. Periclymenum), is 

 very abundant in woods and thickets in most parts 

 of Britain. On account of its beautiful cream- 

 coloured whorls of flowers, and their delicious 

 fragrance, it is often planted in shrubberies and 

 trained against walls. It is said to be the ' twisted 

 eglantine ' of Milton. The phenomena observed in 

 its growth have been adduced in proof of a per- 

 ceptive power in plants; the branches shooting out 

 till they become unable to bear their own weight ; 

 and then, on their meeting with any other branch, 

 twining around it, from right to left ; but if they 

 meet only with one another, twining in different 

 directions, one to the right, and another to the left. 

 Very similar to this is the Perfoliate Honeysuckle 



Perfoliate Honeysuckle ( Lonidra caprifolium ). 

 a, flower ; b, fruit. 



( L. caprifolium ), with paler whorls of flowers, and 

 remarkable for having the upper leaves united so 

 that an opposite pair form one leaf, through the 

 middle of which the stem passes. This peculiarity 

 is confined to the flower-bearing shoote, and does 

 not occur on the young runners; it is also most 

 perfect nearest the flower. This species is a native 

 of the south of Europe, but is now naturalised in 

 many parts of Britain, and much planted, as, 

 although less powerfully fragrant than the Common 

 Honeysuckle, it flowers earlier. There are numer- 

 ous other species, natives of Europe, Siberia, ami 

 North America. The Fly Honeysuckle (L. Xylos- 

 f i'ii in) is an erect shrub', a native of Europe and 

 Asia, scarcely indigenous in Britain, but common 

 in shrubberies. Its branches are not unfrequently 

 used in some parts of Europe for tubes of tobacco- 

 pipes ; and it is said to make good hedges in dry 



