THE ZEPYORNIS. 87 
we shall better understand the dimensions of a bird that 
measured sixteen feet in height. Sixteen feet is the 
average height of the adult giraffe, the females varying 
from thirteen to sixteen feet, and the males from fifteen 
to eighteen. 
It is impossible to say that there never was a bird as 
large as a giraffe, but all our present knowledge controverts 
such an idea. If, however, we keep in mind the com- 
parative dimensions of the apteryx and its egg, we must 
be prepared to find that the zpyornis, although necessarily 
a large bird, may not be larger than an ostrich, and need 
not be so large. — 
Thus, then, the comparative size of an egg is by no means 
an unimportant fact in natural history, and the comparison 
of two such birds as the apteryx and the cuckoo may at 
least save us from the danger of generalising too hastily. 
The second point in the history of the Cow-bird is its 
love for its young, which is quite equal to the affection that 
is manifested by the lapwing and other birds that endanger 
themselves in order to draw attention away from their off- 
spring, and directly opposed to the indifference towards the 
young which seems to actuate the ordinary cuckoo. 
In Australia there is a large group of rather pretty birds, 
popularly called Honey-eaters, because they feed largely on 
the sweet juices of many flowers, although the staple of 
their diet consists of insects. They seem indeed to occupy 
in Australia the position which is taken in America by the 
humming-birds, and by the sun birds of the Old World. 
To this group belong many familiar and interesting species, 
such as that which produces a sound like the tinkling of 
a bell, and is in consequence called the Bell-bird ; the dif- 
ferent species of Wattle Birds; the odd, bald-headed Friar 
Birds, and the splendidly decorated Poe Birds. 
