THE LUNULATED IIONEY-EATER. 219 



parts of the country, the materials necessarily differ. In New 

 South Wales, the external shell of the nest is formed of very 

 fine dry stalks, not thicker than twine, while the lining is com- 

 posed of fibrous roots, matted together with spiders' webs. It is 

 fastened by the rim to the twigs, and as a few of the slender 

 twigs occasionally are interwoven into the nest, it hangs quite 

 securely. In Western Australia, the nest is made of grasses, 

 which, although green when first woven, become white and dry 

 in a short time. The grass is mingled with the hair of the 

 Kangaroo and the fur of some phalangist, vulgarly called 

 opossum, which serve to mat the grass together and to make it 

 impervious to the wind and rain ; and the interior is neatly lined 

 with grasses and vegetable down. 



Theke are many Honey-Eaters in Australia, all of which are 

 easily known by the hairy tuft at the end of the long tongue, 

 which is used for licking the sweet juices out of flowers. The 

 entomological reader may perhaps remember that the tongue 

 of the hive bee is constructed on precisely the same principle, 

 being long, slender, mobile, and fringed with hair at its top. 



Many of them construct nests which may fairly be reckoned 

 among the pensile, and one of the prettiest among tlie number is 

 that which is built by the Lunulated Honey-Eatee {Melithreptes 

 lunulatus). The bird is easily recognised by the white crescentic 

 mark which runs round the back of the neck, the horns pointing 

 upwards towards the opening of the mouth, and forming a 

 striking contrast with the black hue of the head and neck. 



The nest of this bird is very like that of the Singing Honey- 

 Eater, but is mostly suspended to the thinnest twigs which grow 

 at the summit of the enormous Eucalypti-trees. Owing to the 

 great height at which it is placed, and the leaves which surround 

 it, none but an experienced eye can detect it. The walls of the 

 nest are ingeniously made of the inner rind or "liber" of the 

 stringy-bark and other gum-trees, a material which is not imlike 

 the " bass " with which all gardeners are so familiar. The hair 

 of various animals is mixed with the bark, and since sheep have 

 been introduced into Australia, the bird has always availed itself 

 copiously of their wool, finding that it can be worked well into 

 the nest, and serves to bind the materials firmly together. As 

 the nest is always hung by the rim to the twigs, strength of 



