Part 70

The most characteristic family of birds of the Australian region is the Honey-eaters. Flowering eucalypts and other myrtaceous plants, with their honey-bearing flowers and usually inedible fruits, are the characteristic Australian trees; so are these birds, depending so largely on the honey of these brilliant flowers and the insects which visit them, the characteristic Australian birds. The Honey-eaters form a very large family, and are found throughout the Australian region as far as New Zealand and away to the Sandwich Islands, which, zoologically, belong to Australia. Strange it is that only one species should have spread to the west across Wallace's line to the island of Bali. These birds are provided with a brush tongue, which is used in brushing up honey from the flowers. They have usually a long, slender, curved bill, suitable for exploring flowers. Their feet are well developed and strong, for they are used while hanging in all sorts of positions as the flowers are explored. No less than eighty-eight Honey-eaters are found in Australia, but they are often restricted to very limited areas, so that no district would contain many kinds of these birds. Many are well known, though not by the name Honey-eater. Who does not know the harsh note of the Wattle-Bird (Wattled Honey-eater)? Again, who does not often meet the Noisy Miner (Garrulous Honey-eater), a bird that makes such a fuss when a snake appears that he is sometimes called the Snake-Bird? Is there a city boy who does not know the Greenie (White-plumed Honey-eater)? Some of the Honey-eaters are amongst the most beautiful of birds.

The Regent (Warty-faced) Honey-eater is a glory, and is often figured in British books as one of the world's beautiful birds.

The Helmeted Honey-eater is very rare, and is probably confined to the deep forests of Gippsland. It is one of the most splendid of Honey-eaters.

That active city-dweller, the Greenie, is found in almost every large eucalypt that happens to be in flower. It is pugnacious. As it busily brushes honey from the flowers, or catches an insect on the wing, the white ear plume can be seen. Otherwise, it has not conspicuous colors. Its lively call of "chick-oo-wee" adds something to life for the busy city toiler.

Now come the Miners. The Noisy Miner is known to nearly everyone. It is a common visitor to school grounds at lunch time, and is a noisy bird that is little loved by sportsmen, for it persists in alarming all game within reach. A second Miner is famous as the Bell-Bird, better Bell-Miner. The tinkling notes, "like silver bells from a distant shrine," must be heard in a deep fern gully to be appreciated fully. The green birds are seldom seen. Kendall has immortalized this bird in his beautiful poem, "Bell-Birds."

The Wattle-Bird is known to all. It is a pugnacious bird, and has a rough, disagreeable note. It has a small wattle of naked red flesh hanging at the side of the neck, hence the name. The bold, pugnacious Brush Wattle-Bird is not so well known, though its notes are even more remarkable. Both birds to-day are common in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens on the flowering plants in the "Australian" section.

The Spiny-cheeked Honey-eater is said to be a rare bird, but there is probably not a park about Melbourne but has some of these at present, as well as all through the winter. It is somewhat similar in build and habits to the Wattle-Birds, but is an elegant and attractive bird, with many peculiar notes.

The Blue-eye (Blue-faced Honey-eater) is a conspicuous bird in country districts. He is noisy, and is handsomely attired. His nesting habits are peculiar, for he often builds in the deserted nest of a Babbler.

The remarkable Friar-Bird has a naked, dark-blue head, and is an "impudent and daring" bird, that does not hesitate to steal fruit. Its loud call has been variously interpreted as "Four o'clock," "Pimlico," or "Tobacco-box." This bird has a hump on its long curved bill. The Yellow-throated Friar-Bird, when young, has yellow on the end of the throat feathers, and has no hump on the bill. It is a summer visitor to Southern Australia.

The well-known Ground-Lark, or Australian Pipit, is the Australian representative of the cosmopolitan family (147) of Pipits. Even New Zealand has its representative of this family. The Wagtails of Britain and North America belong to this family, whereas the so-called Australian Wagtail is a flycatcher. Like the other members of its family, our Ground-Lark, or Pipit, sometimes sings beautifully as it soars.

The Skylark of Britain comes in the next family (the Alaudidae), which is almost cosmopolitan. This beautiful songster, singing at Heaven's gate, pours forth a flood of melody. The man who has these delightful songsters on open land near his home is indeed fortunate. Australia has its representative of this family--the Bush-Lark, a bird so remarkably like the Australian Pipit in external appearance that it is well-nigh impossible to distinguish them in the field. The Bush-Lark, however, is "shorter, plumper, and has a stouter bill." It further has a peculiar, greatly undulating flight. It mounts up, then sinks, then mounts, and so on alternately, "singing all the time very melodiously, but with a weaker strain than that favorite bird" (the British Skylark).

Four introduced Finches have succeeded in establishing themselves in Southern Australia. The Greenfinch is spreading, though slowly. A specimen was recently sent in from Horsham, in Western Victoria. The Goldfinch, "one of the prettiest birds in Britain," is spreading rapidly. It is often to be seen on thistles, for it destroys their seeds.

The Tree-Sparrow is rare as yet, but the House-Sparrow is already a serious pest, though probably he has not been valued highly enough as a weed destroyer. However, it was a pity early colonists did not take notice of Gould's protests and warnings, for possibly the greatest harm introduced birds do is the displacing of native birds.

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F. 144. MELIPHAGIDAE (88), HONEY-EATERS, Honey-Suckers (-Birds), 251 sp.--250(250)A., 1(1)O.

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=342* White-naped Honey-eater= (Lunulated), Blackcap, Melithreptus atricapillus, S.Q., N.S.W., V., S.A., Kent Group.

Stat. v.c. timber 5.5

Upper yellowish-olive; quills brown; head, hind-neck black; narrow white band on nape; under white; naked patch about eye orange-scarlet; f., sim.; young no black cap. Tame. Honey, pollen, insects. Peevish, half-whistling note.

=343 Black-chinned Honey-eater= (Black-throated), M. gularis, E.A., S.A., W.A.

Stat. r. timber 6.7

Upper olive-yellow; head, nape black; whitish band on nape joins white band up to eye; sides of throat white, centre blackish; chest grayish; sides creamy; centre-abdomen white; naked skin about eye turquoise-blue; f., sim. Honey, insects, seeds. Sweet song.

=344 Brown-headed Honey-eater= (Short-billed), M. brevirostris, E.A., S.A., W.A.

Stat. r. timber 5.7

Greenish-olive upper; quills brown; head, nape dark-brown; whitish band on nape continued as brownish-white band on head; under creamy; bare skin about eye greenish-blue in winter, dull yellow (delicate flesh-tint) in summer; f., sim. Honey, insects. Rough, rattle-like note.

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=345* Striped Honey-eater= (Lanceolated), Plectoramphus lanceolatus, E.A., S.A., W.A. (inland).