Sun-birds 799 



colonized New Zealand, notwithstanding the 1200 miles of open water which 

 intervene. The call or alarm notes of the White-eyes are described as feeble 

 whistle-like or twittering sounds, often repeated, while during the nesting season, 

 and at other times as well, they have a lively and very pretty song. Their nests 

 are delicate little cup-shaped structures composed of vegetable fibers and cob- 

 webs and lined with fine grass stems, rootlets, hairs, etc. ; the eggs, usually but 

 two or three, are pale blue. 



Our illustration shows two species from Celebes (Z. intermedia and Z. atri- 

 frons) which may be taken as characteristic of the group. 



THE SUN-BIRDS 



(Family N ectariniidce) 



The Sun-birds constitute a fairly well marked family of exclusively Old World 

 birds, occurring mainly within the tropics, where, in a measure, they fill the 

 place taken in the New World by the Hummingbirds, approximating them in 

 size, in the brilliancy and metallic luster of their plumage, and to some extent 

 in habits, since they feed upon minute insects and the nectar of flowers. In- 

 deed in India some of them are called "Hummingbirds," but they do not hover 

 before a flower, except rarely, and then for only an instant, but secure the in- 

 sects and sweets as they cling to the blossoms. It is perhaps unnecessary to 

 add that they are not even remotely related to the true Hummingbirds, their 

 nearest of kin being the Honeyeaters and Flower-peckers. Slender and graceful 

 in form and active in motion, the Sun-birds have a long, cylindrical, and usually 

 decurved bill, both mandibles of which (except in one genus, Promerops) have 

 the terminal third of their edges finely serrated, a character which separates 

 them at once from all other passerine families except the Dicceidce, and from 

 these they are distinguished by the shape of the bill, this in the latter family 

 being short and triangular; all nasal and rictal bristles are wanting. The 

 tongue is long, protractile, and ends in a bifid tube (except in Promerops). The 

 wings of moderate size contain ten primaries, though the tenth (outermost) is 

 often minute, while the tail, which contains twelve feathers, varies from square 

 to graduated, in the latter case often with the central pair much prolonged 

 beyond the others. There are never crests, but the males are often ornamented 

 by brilliant pectoral tufts and long, downy feathers on the sides of the back. 

 The sexes are usually very different in plumage, the males showing bright, often 

 metallic, colors, while the females are ordinarily dull; the young resemble the 

 adult females. 



The Sun-birds are most abundant in the Ethiopian region, and thence by 

 way of Palestine, Persia, and Arabia, each of which supports a species, they 

 spread widely over the Indian and Indo-Malayan regions. They go about 

 singly, in pairs, or occasionally in small parties, and frequent gardens, planta- 

 tions, and open places as well as forests, especially when shrubs and other large 



