THE HONEYSUCKER. 73 



T^ery tame you can get near enough to appreciate his 

 beauty. His Uttle oUve-green mate, who keeps only 

 the yellow vest of all her husband's brilUant attire, 

 is usually with him, and together they merrily take 

 their meals, of insects with sweet sauce, from the 

 flowers, flirting their wings up a,nd down as they hop 

 about. For, unlike the true humming-birds of the 

 New World, with which they are so often confounded, 

 the Honeysuckers or Sun-birds do not feed on the 

 wing, unless quite exceptionally, but skip from twig to 

 twig like other little birds. At the same time they 

 are strong and bold flyers for such tiny creatures, 

 and, although they have the bounding flight common 

 to most small fry in feathers, will fearlessly mount 

 high in the air and go off for a distant p6int as 

 readily as a mynah or a crow. Like other honey- 

 feeding birds, they are remarkable for courage ; I 

 have heard of one which was long kept successfully 

 in an aviary, and asserted his authority therein over 

 a number of inmates larger than himself. And I 

 myself have seen a weakly bird, which had been 

 seizftd by a Broyra Shrike (Lanius cristatus), defend 

 himself bravely against his rufiianly adversary, though 

 whether he escaped altogether I cannot say. 



It is very probable that the reason for the courage 

 and activity of honey-feeders Ues in their mode of 

 Jife ; they must be very active to obtain a sufi&cient 



