PARADISEID^. 395 



pTotrusile tongue, furmshed with a tuft or pencil of fibres, by 

 means of which they extract the honey and pollen of flowers. 

 The bill is various, short, somewhat conic, and notched in some, 

 long, slender and curved in others ; the wings are of moderate 

 length, with the first three quills graduated, or the 3rd and 4th 

 equal ; .tail usually moderate ; the tarsus short, and outer toe 

 much syndactyle, and the hind toe large. They feed on soft fruit 

 and insects, as well as upon the nectar of flowers ; usually build 

 somewhat neat nests in bushes, or often suspended from twi^is, and 

 generally lay two eggs. They are not clothed in rich plumage; 

 chiefly various shades of green, yellow and black, and are occasion- 

 ally ornamented by various tufts and wattles, 



The Honey-eaters resemble the ordinary dentirostral birds, such 

 as Thrushes, in their anatomy. They probably unite with the 

 NectarinidcB through the Myzomelce, which have the wings more 

 rounded than the others, and perhaps also with the Birds of 

 Paradise by means of Sericulus. The Orioles and Phyllornis are 

 placed among the Mdliphagid<B by some systematists, and certainly 

 they bear some resemblance to those birds (which may be that of 

 affinity) both in appearance and habits, but for reasons connected 

 with the geographic distribution of the Melliphagid(B, I prefer 

 keeping these birds of Africa and India apart among the Thrushes. 

 Zosterops, too, is classed by many in this family ; but its geographic 

 distribution over Africa and India, as well as the oceanic province, 

 equally forbids its being placed here. 



The PARADiSEiDiE, or Birds of Paradise, have been variously 

 placed by systematists. Cuvier, relying chiefly on the thick 

 conical beak ot some, with the nostrils clothed with short plumes, 

 placed them in the Conirostres, not far from the Crows (but at 

 the same time next to his tribe of Tenidrostres), and in this he 

 has been followed by many others. Swainson, with a truer intui- 

 tion of their affinities, placed them in the present tribe; and 

 taking their rich gorgeous plumage, wonderfully developed shoiil- 

 der-tufts and uropygials, and their habits as far as known, I think 

 there can be little doubt that this is their true place. With 

 regard to the birds belonging to this family, I nearly agree with 

 Bonaparte in one of his later writings, and ^yould include in it the 



