Honeyeaters 793 



As regards distribution the Honeyeaters are most abundant in Australia, whence 

 they range over the New Zealand, Austro-Malayan, and Polynesian regions, a single 

 species crossing the narrow strait (Wallace's line) between Lombock and Bali. 



Honeyeaters. The Meliphagida are divided into two subfamilies, in the 

 first of which (Myzomelince} the members are of small size and have a very 

 long, slender, and much-curved bill, the colors of the plumage being mainly 

 black and red with sometimes white or yellow below ; the sexes are usually very 

 unlike. The Blood Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta) of East Australia is 

 a handsome, lively little species, frequenting the thick brush of both the coasts 

 and the interior, where it gleans its food of insects and pollen from the fragrant 

 blossoms of various trees. It constructs a neat little cup-shaped nest of shreds 

 of bark, which is suspended in a bush or small tree; the two or three eggs are 

 pearly white blotched with chestnut and gray. Less than five inches long, the 

 male has the head, neck, breast, and back shining scarlet, the wings and tail 

 black, and the lower parts buff, while the female is a uniform light brown. 

 Quite different in appearance, but perhaps equally handsome, is the Black 

 Honeyeater (M. nigra) of Australia in general, but more especially the interior. 

 About the same size as the other, the male has the entire plumage dull black, 

 except the breast and abdomen, which are pure white, the female being blackish 

 brown above and dingy white below, the throat and neck being mottled with 

 blackish. This species has a quick zigzag flight, and the male is often seen 

 perched on some dead branch, from which he pours forth a feeble, plaintive 

 note. The frail cup-shaped nest is similar to that of its relative, but the eggs, 

 usually two in number, are yellowish buff in color. 



Australian Spine-bills. The only other genus in the subfamily comprises 

 a couple of Australian species known as Spine-bills (Acanthorhynchus] from their 

 very long, sharp-pointed, and greatly decurved bill. The Common Spine-bill 

 (.4. tenuirostris) has a rich though not gay plumage, being reddish brown above, 

 passing through olive-gray to bluish gray on the rump, the quills and six central 

 tail-feathers being black, while the crown is black with a greenish gloss, the 

 ear-coverts and a crescent on the sides of the neck and chest bronzy black, and 

 the cheeks and fore neck white, with a patch of dark brown in the center of the 

 throat, the remainder of the lower parts being reddish fawn-color; the length 

 is just under six inches. It is a rather shy little bird, unless approached when 

 busily engaged in feeding, and frequents flowering gardens as well as the dense 

 beds of Epacris and wild flowering shrubs and trees, darting hither and thither, 

 or now and again hovering like a Hummingbird before the bell-shaped blossoms 

 of the Abutilon, from the innermost recesses of which it extracts both honey 

 and insects. Its note, according to Gould, is a monotonous shriek, which 

 seems very loud for so small a bird, while Campbell speaks of its single high- 

 pitched note, which it may be heard repeating faster and faster as it flies from 

 flower to flower. 



The remainder of the family, comprising the subfamily Meliphagina, em- 

 brace a large number of very interesting birds, but lack of space precludes men- 

 tion of more than half a dozen. 



