THE HONEY-EATEES 369 



These birds hover before the open flowers, and extract with 

 their long tongue the honey and small insects, the brilliant 

 plumage shining in the sun. The nests are pensile, attached to 

 and hidden by branches of foliage, and have a side entrance. 

 They are composed of the epidermal hairs that grow on the 

 palm stems, rather loosel>' woven together and lined with cotton 

 and bark fibre. The eggs pearshaped, greenish-grey with obscure 

 dirty brown mottlings over the whole surface. Dimensions .75 

 X .5 inch. 



Family Meliphagidce. Honey-eaters. 



Bill always with a prominent culmen, and broadened out at 

 the base, curved, almost always with a slight notch, maxilla 

 serrated. Nostrils basal, situated in a large unossified groove. 

 Tongue protractile, bifid, each half broken up into numerous 

 stiff horny fibres, so as to form a brush. The plumage generally 

 inclines to green and yellow ; a shade of blue is found on the 

 head of Entomijza, and red and black are the dominant colours 

 in Myzomela. Parts of the head are bare as in Tropidorhynchus 

 and Philemon. Wattles are frequently met with on the ears, 

 cheeks and throat, as in AcmithochcBra. 



Most of the genera are endemic in Australia, others are 

 spread over Austro-Malaysia and Polynesia. One, Promerops, 

 occurs in isolation in South Africa. 



Dr. Gadow divides the family into three sub-families. 



Myzometinae. — Small birds of the size of a Sparrow. Bill 



longer than the rest of the head ; very slender and 



much curved. Sexes mostly very different in 



coloration. Myzomela, Acanthorhynchus. 



Zosteropinae. — Bill not longer than rest of head. A 



ring of short white feathers around the eye. Sexes 



nearly alike in coloration. (Zosterops), Meliphaga, Plectrorrhamphus. 



Meliphaginae. — All the other genera. 



The Honey-eaters are among the most characteristic birds, 

 of our bush, and are to be met with in all parts of the Continent. 

 Their shapely rather slender bodies are well adapted to the 

 restless life which they lead amongst the branches of the shrubs 

 and trees. In the search for the most attractive flower clusters, 

 the flight is often broken into little zig-zags and many a curve, 

 and on alighting they creep and twine amongst the branches, 



2-A 



