on Birds of Neio South Wales I have caught and kept. 271


in the bamboo. Like most of my birds they will take a mealworm

out of my hand. Other fine Honeyeaters in my aviaries are the

Spiney-checked and the Blue-faced ones. They are both rather

large birds, the size of a Mexican Blue-Jay, and similar to it in

shape. Unfortunately the blue in the latter birds fades pale after

the first moult in captivity. One of my greatest pets in Honey-

eaters is the little tawny-crowned one —Gliciphila melanops. These

are plain little birds of ashy-brown, with a tawny crown and whitish

abdomen. They built their nest—a loose hanging structure of un¬

twisted rope fibre—on a branch of the tree in my aviary. I asked

ladies at the time to come into the flight without their hats, when

these little birds alighted on their heads immediately and tried to pull

the hair out for their nest. This led to many an amusing scene.


I have a number of other Honeyeaters, such as the “ Chick-

up,” the “ Singing ” Honeyeater, and others of less interest than

those mentioned previously. Perhaps the Blue-eyed Honeyeater

should be excepted and deserves special mention. Similar to the

“ Black-cap” generally, it is a trifle larger, and the ring round the

eyes is bluish-green ; a bright and lively bird. Its life in the aviary

is, however, always short; the reason for it is not at all clear to me,

as they are fed as the other Honeysuckers, which do well. Towards

Christmas they come to feed on the late wattle blooms and

abutilons, calling like the Black-caps to one another as they fly.

They are very shy birds and hard to catch.


My experience with Honeysuckers has been undoubtedly

encouraging. In the early days, when I first begun keeping them

and knew little how to treat them, I had many losses. There was no

one then who could advise me, as no one kept them ; and even now

I know of no fancier here who would take the trouble to look after

them carefully. Feeding them on honey, or honey diluted with

water, would send them surely into fits sooner or later. Condensed

milk would not do, and many other experiments I tried failed. The

result was always fits and death.*


Examining the tongue under the microscope, I found it



* Would not Mellin’s Food, Nestle’s and Honey do, a teaspoonful of each

to a large cup of hot water? Sun-birds thrive on this mixture, which can be

poured over sponge cake.—ED.



