HONEY-EATER. 165 



10.— BLACK AND YELLOW HONEY-EATER. 



Merops Phrygius, Ind. Orn. Sup. xxxiv. New-Holland Birds, p. 13. pi. 4. 



Le Merle ecaille, Levail. Afr. iii. p. 70. No. 46. 



Philedon, Tern. Man. Ed. ii. Anal. p. lxxxvii. 



Warty-faced Honey-sucker, Lewin. pi. 14 



Embroidered Bee-Eater, Share's Zool. viii. 167. 



Black and yellow Bee-Eater, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. 154. 



SIZE of a Song Thrush ; length eight inches and a quarter. 

 Bill black ; tongue longer than the bill, and bristly at the end ; 

 general colour of the plumage black, but the feathers of the breast, 

 back, and belly are margined with golden yellow ; wing coverts 

 much the same, but the greater have the ends more or less of that 

 colour, as also the outer margins of the quills, though the ends are 

 for the most part tipped obliquely with black; from the bill a 

 greenish yellow streak runs through the eye, which is broader in the 

 middle, and in some specimens descends on the lower jaw ; the 

 feathers are very short, and intermixed with yellow warts, or oblong 

 excrescences; tail cuneiform, the two middle feathers black, fringed 

 at the ends with yellow ; the others wholly yellow ; vent the same ; 

 legs pale brown, but in some both bill and legs are dusky ; the 

 wings, when closed, reach about halfway on the tail. 



Inhabits New-Holland ; seen about Parametta in great numbers ; 

 frequently observed flying from one to the other of the Blue Gum 

 trees, being fond of the blossoms, from which it extracts the honey 

 with its tongue ; supposed to be migratory, as it is not met with 

 there at all seasons. 



It varies in respect to plumage considerably, having a greater or 

 less mixture of yellow, and that more or less deep in colour. 



