338 THE JAVANESE SUN-BIRD AND THE DICTUM. 



breast, being rather wide in the centre and narrowing rapidly toward 

 the sides of the neck. Below this blue band runs a broad belt of rich 

 carmine, and immediately below the carmine is a third narrow band of 

 l)rio-ht golden yellow. From the sides of the breast proceed several 

 .small feathery plumes of the same golden hue. The remainder of 

 the abdomen is grayish brown, and the upper tail-coverts are violet- 

 ,purple. 



The female is rather less in dimensions than her mate, and is very 

 sober in her attire, wearing a suit of uniform olive-brown, darker upon 

 the wings and tail, and very pale behind. The total length of this 

 species is rather more than four and a half inches. 



The Javanese Sun-bird is a native of the country from which it 

 derives its name. It is a very pretty little creature, although its colors 

 are not so resplendent as in several of the species. The upper parts of 

 the body are shining steely-purple, and the under surface is olive-yellow. 

 The throat is chestnut, and a bright violet streak runs from the angle 

 of the mouth to the breast. 



The beautiful little Dictum, although very common throughout the 

 whole of Australia, and a remarkably interesting bird, was, when 

 Mr. Gould wrote his animated description, so little known among 

 the colonists that there was no popular name for the bright little 

 creature. 



This tiny bird is fond of inhabiting the extreme summits of the tall- 

 est trees, and habitually dwells at so great an elevation that its minute 

 form is hardly perceptible, and not even the bright scarlet hue of the 

 throat and breast can betray its position to the unaccustomed eye of a 

 passenger below. 



The flight of the Dic?eum is very quick and darting, and it makes 

 more use of its wings and less of its feet than any of the insect-hunting 

 birds. The nest is remarkably pretty, being woven as it were out of 

 white cotton cloth, and suspended from a branch as if the twigs had 

 been pushed through its substance, and is of a peculiar purse like shape. 

 The material of which it is woven is the soft cottony down which is 

 found in the seed-vessels of many plants. The eggs are four or five in 

 number, and their color is a dull grayish white, profusely covered with 

 minute speckles of brown. 



The head, back, and upper parts of the adult male are deep black, 

 with a beautiful steely-blue gloss, the sides are brownish gray, and the 

 throat, breast, and under tail-coverts are a bright glaring scarlet. The 

 abdomen is snowy white, with the exception of a tolerably large black 

 patch on its centre. The female is more sombre in her apparel, the 

 head and back being of a dull sooty black, and the steel-blue reflection 

 only appearing on the upper surface of the wings and tail. The throat 

 and centre of the abdomen are buff", the sides are pale grayish brown, 



