490 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



sixteen feet in height. Sixteen feet is the average height of the 

 adult giraffe, the females varying from thirteen to sixteen feet, 

 and the males from fifteen to eighteen. 



It is impossible to say that there never was a bird as large as 

 a giraffe, but all our present knowledge controverts such an idea. 

 If, however, we keep in mind the comparative dimensions of the 

 apteryx and its egg, we must be prepared to find that the sepyor- 

 nis, although necessarily a large bird, may not be larger than an 

 ostrich, and need not be so large. 



Thus, then, the comparative size of an egg is by no means an 

 unimportant fact in natural history, and the comparison of two 

 such birds as the apteryx and the cuckoo may at least save us 

 from the danger of generalizing too hastily. 



The second point in the history of the Cow-bird is its love for 

 its young, which is quite equal to the affection that is manifested 

 by the lapwing and other birds that endanger themselves in or- 

 der to draw attention away from their offspring, and directly op- 

 posed to the indifference toward the young which seems to actu- 

 ate the ordinary cuckoo. 



In Australia there is a large group of rather pretty birds, pop- 

 ularly called Honey-eaters, because they feed largely on the sweet 

 juices of many flowers, although the staple of their diet consists 

 of insects. They seem, indeed, to occupy in Australia the posi- 

 tion which is taken in America by the humming-birds, and by 

 the sunbirds of the Old "World. To this group belong many fa- 

 miliar and interesting species, such as that which produces a 

 sound like the tinkling of a bell, and is, in consequence, called the 

 Bell Bird ; the different species of Wattle Birds ; the odd, bald- 

 headed Friar Birds, and the splendidly decorated Poe Birds. 



One species of it, which comes in the present section, is the 

 Blue-faced Honey-eater of New South Wales, called by the 

 natives Batikin (Enibmyza cyanotis). It is a pretty bird, the 

 plumage being marked boldly with black and white, and a patch 

 of bare skin round the eyes being bright azure. This peculiarity 

 has earned for the bird the specific title of cyanotis, or "blue- 

 eared." 



Like all the Honey-eaters, it is a most lively and interesting 

 bird, and to the careful observer affords an endless fund of amuse- 

 ment. It is never still, but traverses the branches with astonish- 

 ing celerity, skipping from one to another, probing every crevice 



