70 PASSERES. MELIPHAGAD^E. 



berries. They are usually of sombre colours, 

 black, or olive-brown, without any metallic lustre. 

 They are said to construct cup-shaped nests, in 

 the forks of small branches of shrubs, not far 

 removed from the ground. They are of a larger 

 size than most of the members of this Tribe ; 

 several species equal a thrush in dimensions, and 

 some are considerably larger. 



GENUS MELIPHAGA. (L.EWIN.) 



Of the typical genus of Honey-eaters the 

 characters are as follow : The beak is moderate 

 or comparatively short, and feeble ; the under 

 mandible is not thickened. The inner toe is 

 shorter than the outer one. The tail is rounded or 

 graduated. The tongue is cleft into two divisions, 

 and each part -terminates in a bundle of filaments. 

 This organ, though still essentially constructed 

 upon the type of that which we have described in 

 the Sun-birds and Humming-birds, is of a form 

 almost peculiar to the present group. It is not 

 nearly so extensile as in the Humming-birds, 

 being seldom more than half as long again as the 

 beak, nor are the branches of the tongue-bone (os 

 hyo'ides) carried beneath and behind the skull, as 

 in those birds. It seems to be constructed rather 

 for licking up honey, pollen, &c., with its brush- 

 like tips, than for sucking. Lewin, who, in his 

 " Birds of New Holland," drew and described 

 these species in their native regions, has figured 

 the tongue of the Warty-faced Honey-sucker, 

 (Meliphaga phrygia, LATH.), and describes the 

 bird as sometimes to be seen in great numbers, 

 constantly flying from tree to tree, particularly 



