HONEY-EATER. 199 



59.— CARDINAL HONEY-EATER,— Pl. lxxi.— Fig. 2. 



Certhia Cardinalis, Ind.Orn.\. 299. Gm. Lin.l 472. 



» — Australasia, Zool. Misc. No. 2. pl. 11 ? 



■ rubra, Gm. Lin. i. 419. 



Heoro-taire ecarlate, Ois. dor. ii. S8. pl. 54. 



Kuyametra, Ois. dor. ii. 88. pl. 58. 



Cardinal Creeper, Gen. Syn. ii. 733. pl. 33. f. 2. Male. Shaw's Zool. viii. 252. pl. 34. 



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



Scarlet Creeper, Gen. Syn. ii. 740. Female. 



SIZE of our Creeper ; length three inches and a quarter. Bill 

 half an inch long, curved, black, with a whitish base ; tongue long, 

 extensile, and ciliated for half the length ; between the bill and eye 

 a streak of black, encircling the eyelids ; irides reddish chestnut ; 

 head, neck, and breast crimson ; down the middle of the back, a 

 stripe of the same to the rump, where it grows wider, and forms the 

 coverts of the tail ; the rest of the body black ; wings and tail black; 

 the last even at the end, and the wings reach to about the middle of 

 it ; legs lead-colour. 



In the female, the bill is about half an inch long ; general colour 

 of the plumage scarlet, except the wings and tail, which are black ; 

 lower belly and vent white. In some birds the quills are very pale, 

 and the belly dusky brown ; and in one specimen a streak of black 

 passed through the eye. 



Inhabits the cultivated parts of the Island of Tanna, and there 

 called Kuyametra ; is said to live by sucking the nectar of flowers, 

 and is not common. 



