rLOWER-PECKEES 
The flower-peckers include the smallest of our local birds 
and all the members of the family are in fact midgets. 
They have a much shorter and usually straighter beak thai) 
the sunbirds to which they are allied. 
In some species the sexes differ in plumage and in these 
cases the males are extremely handsome birdsj often displaying 
brilliant red or orange in their plumage. In other kinds the 
sexes are alike and here we find that both are clad in an in- 
conspicuous livery in which dull green plays a prominent part- 
Flo wer-pe eke rs are resident birds with us and probably 
so everywhere where they are found. Their food consists of 
insects and seeds, 
One observer irt Sumatra thinks that the scarlet-backed 
flower-pecker feeds entirely on the seeds of Loranthus and 
Viscum. 
The nests of these birds are wonderful little structures of 
exquisite workmanship and in the large majority of cases, in all 
otir common species at least, the eggs are white. 
The tops of tall flowering trees are the places where flower- 
peckers are usually found and this is one reason why the birds 
are not seen so frequently as their numerical status would 
appear to justify. Sometimes, by no means rarely in fact^ they 
descend to the lower bushes and on these occasions, if one is 
quickj these beautiful little birds may be caught with a butterfly 
Nine species are known from the Malay Peninsula of 
which the two dealt with below are common in Singapore. 
[229] 
