712 The American Naturalist. [September, 
S. arfakiana is very similar in general appearance and color- 
ings. An obscure wing-bar may be traced on the brown wings. 
The head is darker than the back. The throat is ferruginous, 
the remaining under surface olivaceous. Length, 4.5 inches. 
The beautiful family of the Nectariniide (sun birds), with 
their slender forms, their curving bills and metallic plumage, 
is well represented in New Guinea, rather numerically by indi- 
viduals than by variety of species. Cinnyris aspasix, known 
also under an appalling number of synonyms, is black, green 
or blue, according to shading and locality, besides differing 
considerably in size. The green variety gives out a green gloss 
from the burnished surface of the back, while beneath the 
feathers are velvety black. Other reflections are to be observed 
in different lights. From the throat escape the loveliest blue 
tints. The larger form (C. auriceps), with its lovely golden- 
capped head, is a dark blue, and is found in several of the 
adjacent islands. C. proserpina, both small and large, is a 
black-shouldered form, throwing out green, blue and purple, 
according to the position of the beholder. All of these are of 
miniature size, and variants of the same general type. 
C. frenata, the Australian yellow-breasted sun bird, with 
brilliant blue tints on its throat, is abundant in southern New 
Guinea and elsewhere, as well as at Cape York, where Moseley 
saw it. This species is yellow below, yellowish-green above. The 
female lacks the blue throat, but has bright gold instead over 
the entire under parts, from tail to the bill. It breeds in No- 
vember and December, constructing a little purse of a nest with 
the covered entrance near the top. Within are laid the tiny 
eggs, colored dull green, and mottled with dusky spots. These 
repose on a soft bed of feathers and silky materials. In defense 
of his home, as indeed at almost all other times, the male is as 
belligerent as a humming-bird, attacking and putting to rout 
any vagrants loitering near. The total length of the bird is 
4.5 inches, of which the bill comprises nearly an inch, and the 
short, narrow tail about the same. The latter member is black, 
with much white in spots on the outer feathers. Bill and feet 
black. The great beauty of the male lies in the metallic blue 
throat. 
