306 



PAS8ERES. BIRDS. NECTAKINir>.E. 



completed by adding other fragments of the same 

 materials. The hole is at one side, near the top, and 

 has a slight projecting roof or awning over it." Mr. 

 Layard describes the entrance to the nest in the same 

 way as above ; but Captain Tickell states that the open- 

 ing is at the bottom ; so that if he is correct in his 

 determination of the bird, it would seem that there 

 is a remarkable diversity in the practice of different 

 individuals of the same species. The female lays two 

 or three eggs, of a pale greenish-grey colour, with 

 minute dusky spots. 



LOTEN'S SUN-BIRD (Nectarinia Lotenia) has pre- 

 cisely the same habits, and builds its nest in the same 

 way, as the preceding species, from which it differs in 

 its larger size the length being about five inches and 

 a half and in its much longer and more curved bill, 

 which measures an inch in length. Its plumage is 

 glossed with green, and the lower parts, from the breast 

 backwards, are brown. 



THE BLUE-THROATED SUN-BIRD (Nectarinia zey- 

 lonica) is an abundant species in Bengal, and occurs 

 also in other parts of India, in Ceylon, and the Indian 

 islands. It measures about four inches in length, and 

 has the plumage of the upper parts olive, and that of 

 the lower surface yellow ; the throat, the front of the 

 neck, and the breast are of a brilliant violet-blue colour. 

 It has a weak, shrill song, compared, by Mr. Blyth, to 

 that of the British hedge-sparrow. The nest is sus- 

 pended, and has the entrance at the top. Mr. Blyth 

 describes a specimen in his possession as a beautiful 

 fabric. It was attached, nearly throughout its length, 

 to a small thorny twig, and was of an elongated pear 

 shape, composed of soft vegetable fibres, very neatly 

 interwoven with coarser strips of grass, leaves, and 

 fragments of bark on the outside. The inner lining was 

 composed of the softest fibres, which were carried over 

 the lower part of the entrance so as to fasten down its 

 rim, and over the entrance was a roof or canopy. The 

 Hindoos of the vicinity of Calcutta take these birds 

 with bird-lime, and after plucking out the wing pri- 

 maries to prevent their fluttering, tie them to a stick 

 and carry them about for sale. They will live for a 

 short time upon sugar and water, but Mr. Blyth found 

 that jam was a better food for them. 



THE ORANGE-BACKED SUN-BIRD (Dicceum trigono- 

 stigma). The preceding species, which we have referred 

 to the genus Nectarinia, have been divided by many 

 modern writers into several genera, of which, however, 

 the soundness seems rather doubtful. The genus 

 Dicceum, of which about twenty-four species are known, 

 inhabiting the countries from India to Australia, is dis- 

 tinguished by having the edges of the mandibles very 

 slightly denticulated, small basal nostrils, and a short, 

 square, or slightly-notched tail. 



The Orange-backed Sunbird is a small species, mea- 

 suring only about three inches in length. It is of a 

 bluish-grey colour, with the belly and a triangular 

 spot on the back orange-yellow. It is an inhabitant of 

 Tenasserim, Malacca, and Sumatra, and also extends 

 into Borneo, where it is not uncommon about Labuan. 

 Its habits are described as resembling those of the 

 English golden-crested wren ; it haunts low brush- 

 wood, continually emitting a low, shrill chirp, and is so 



fearless that it may be almost touched before it takes 

 to its wings. The Malays call it the " Spark bird." 

 and this name is said to be very appropriate, as, when 

 darting about the bushes, the cock-bird looks as bright 

 as a flash of fire. The nest is about the size of the egg 

 of a goose, which it also resembles in shape ; it is sus- 

 pended by the smaller end from the slender twig of a 

 tree, and is composed of moss, lined with some white 

 fibres and a few feathers. A young bird, taken from the 

 nest, was brought up by Mrs. Motley upon rice and 

 banana pulp. It became perfectly tame and fearless, 

 and would sit upon the finger without attempting to 

 flyaway; "and though its whole body, feathers and 

 all, might have been shut up in a walnut, it would peck 

 at a finger held towards it with great fierceness." 



THE CRIMSON-THROATED SUN-BIRD (Dicceum 

 hirundinaceum) is an abundant bird in Australia, 

 although from its minuteness it generally escapes the 

 notice of the colonists. The male has the whole upper 

 surface, including the wings and tail, black, glossed 

 with steel blue ; the throat and breast, and the under 

 tail-coverts, are scarlet, and the abdomen is white, with 

 a large black patch in the centre. The female is dull 

 black above, with the throat and abdomen pale buff, 

 and the under tail-coverts pale scarlet. The length of 

 the bird is about four inches. This bird is found 

 principally upon the she-oaks (Casuarince'), amongst the 

 upper branches of which it plays about, uttering its 

 pleasing song. It is especially partial to those trees 

 which bear upon their branches a misseltoe-like para- 

 site, of the genus Loranthus, upon the sweet and juicy 

 berries of which it delights to feed, as was discovered 

 by M. Jules Verreaux. It also feeds upon insects, and 

 according to Mr. Gould, these constitute its principal 

 nourishment. M. Verreaux indicates that it is by the 

 agency of this bird that the parasite above referred to 

 is transferred from one tree to another. The nest is a 

 beautiful little purse-like structure, with an opening on 

 one side ; it is suspended from the twig of a tree, and 

 composed of cotton-like fibres, obtained from the seed 

 vessels of plants. The eggs are three or four in num- 

 ber and dull white, with numerous brown spots scat- 

 tered over their surface. 



THE SCARLET CLOAK-BIRD (Drepanis coccinea) 

 belongs to a small genus with a greatly curved bill, 

 of which five species have been discovered in the 

 islands of the South Sea Archipelago. The present 

 species is about six inches long, and has the whole 

 plumage of a brilliant scarlet colour, with the exception 

 of the quills of the wings and tail, which are black. 

 This bird is abundant in the Sandwich Islands, where 

 its splendid scarlet feathers are employed in the fabrica- 

 tion of cloaks and other articles of dress, intended 

 especially for the use of the chiefs. Many specimens 

 of this manufacture are exhibited in the ethnological 

 collection of the British Museum. 



THE BRILLIANT HALF-BILL (Hemignathus lucidus) 

 is another species very nearly allied to the preceding, 

 and, like it, an inhabitant of the Sandwich Islands. It 

 is remarkable for the singular structure of its bill, which 

 is very long and much arched. In fact the bill does 

 not project in the ordinary manner from the forehead, 

 but rises from its base, so that the summit of the arch 



