SUN-BIRD. 
When Macgillivray collected birds during the survey of H.M.S.S. The 
Rattlesnake he sent the novelties home to Gould for use in his “ Supplement.” 
These proved to be of such importance that Gould gave an account of them 
before the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in 1850, 
at the same time publishing the species in the Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society of London. A report of the Association accoimt was published by 
Jardine hi his Contributions to Ornithology in 1850, while the Zoological Society's 
Proceedings did not appear until 1851. In the report Gould read Macgillivray’s 
letters and this sentence appears : “ At Port Molle I shot hi the brushes both 
Megapodius and Talegalla, also Chalcophaps chrysochlora, and a Macropygia, 
respecting which I am anxious to have your opinion; it appears to me to 
be smaller than M. phasianella. Here the Captain’s servant shot a small 
Nectarinia pectoralis, respecting which I gave you a note of its having been 
found by Captain Ince and myself to the northward.” Gould added: “ I 
have carefully examined the specimens of Macropygia, and find the differences 
too slight to admit of its being regarded as distinct.” The Macropygia was, 
however, smaller as Macgillivray stated, and is a distant subspecies which 
I named sixty years later. 
The Sun-Bird Gould described as a new species under the name Nectarinia 
australis, writing: “ Differs from N. freenata hi its larger size, in its straighter 
bill, and in the stripe of yellow over the eye being almost obsolete. It is the 
bird spoken of hi Mr. Macgillivray’s paper as N. pectoralis, which name cannot 
be retained, as it had been previously applied to another member of the genus.” 
Gould then recorded Macgillivray’s notes, writing: “ The Nectarinia 
australis offers a very close alliance to the N. freenata of the Celebes; it will 
be found, however, to differ from that species in its larger size, in the mark 
above the eye being less conspicuous, and in the straighter form of the bill. 
(Note.—Here Gould mentions that his comparison was with Celebesian birds, 
but New Guinea was the true locality for N. frenata .) For my first knowledge 
of this bird I am indebted to the researches of the late Commander Ince, 
R.N., who, while attached to H.M.S. Fly, paid considerable attention to the 
natural history of the northern parts of Australia. Since then many other 
specimens have been forwarded to me by Mr. Macgillivray and others. 
Mr. Macgillivray informed me that “this pretty Sun-Bird appears to be 
distributed along the whole of the north-east coast of Australia, the adjacent 
islands, and the whole of the islands in Torres Straits. Although thus generally 
distributed, it is nowhere numerous, seldom more than a pair being seen 
together. Its habits resemble those of the Ptilotes with which it often 
associates, but still more closely to those of Myzomela obscura; like those 
birds, it resorts to the flowering trees to feed upon the insects which frequent 
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