NECTARINIA AUSTRALIS. 



(Australian Sun Bird.) 



Male— crown, face, shouldergi, and upper surface, olive green; throat and chest, dark metallic indigo blue; abdomen, bright yellow; wing 

 feathers and tail, blackish grey, the former edged with olive green, and all but the two central feathers of the latter tipped with white ; bill 

 and feet, black. Female — ^upper surface as in the male ; throat and all the under surface, bright yellows 



Length, 4 inches ; wing, 2i ; tail, 1|- ; bill, f ; tarsus, i. 



This is the only one of the extensive family to which it belongs at present known in Australia. Many species are found in 

 India, where they are popularly designated " Humming Birds." They are also extensively distributed throughout the Malayan Archipelago, 

 and in their beautiful and resplendent colors almost rival their representatives in the West Indies and South America ; their habits, too, are 

 very similar, as they feed chiefly on the nectar of flowers and the minute insects and spiders which are found upon them. The nest of the 

 Australian Sun Bird is an elongated domed structure with an opening close to the top, and is suspended from the twig of a bush or tree. 

 It is composed of shreds of melaleuca bark, leaves, and vegetable fibres, and lined with the silk of the bombax tree, which is common at Cape 

 York. The eggs are much pointed at the narrow end ; the color greenish grey, mottled with obscure marks of brown. It is very probable 

 that, w^hen the northern shores of Australia are better known, other species of these beautiful birds may be discovered. It has hitherto been 

 found from Cape York to Port Denison, in the colony of Queensland, and in the isles of Torres' Straits. 



