THE AUSTRALIAN FLOWER-PECKER. 85 



particularly to those growing on the banks of creeks and rivers. It is also frequently to be seen 

 among the clusters of the beautiful parasitic Coranthus, which is very common on the Casuarince 

 in the neighbourhood of the Upper Hunter. Whether the bird is attracted to this mistletoe-like 

 plant for the purpose of feeding upon its sweet and juicy berries I could not ascertain ; its chief 



AUSTRALIAN FLOWER-PECKER, OR SWALLOW DICTUM. (After GouU.) 



food is insects, but in all probability it may occasionally vary its food. The Swallow Dicseum has 

 neither the actions of the Pardalotes nor of the Honey-eaters ; it differs from the former in its 

 quick, daring flight, and from the latter in its less prying, clinging, and creeping actions among 

 the leaves, &c. When perched on a branch it sits more upright, and is more Swallow-like in its 

 contour than either of the forms alluded to ; the structure of its nest and the mode of its nidification 

 are also very dissimilar. 



"Its song is a very animated and long-continued strain, but is uttered so inwardly that it 

 is almost necessary to stand beneath the tree upon which the bird is perched before its notes can 

 be heard. 

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