Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/82

Rh "This extraordinary group," observes Mr. Vigors, "the existence of the much more considerable portion of which was unknown to the Swedish naturalist, for which there was consequently no place in his system, occupies a prominent and important situation in the ornithological department of nature. Chiefly confined to Australia, where they abound in every variety of form, and in an apparently inexhaustible multitude of species, they find a sufficient and never-failing support in the luxuriant vegetation of that country. There the fields are never without blossom, and some different species of plants, particularly the species of Eucalyptus, afford a constant succession of that food which is suited to the tubular and brush-like structure of the tongue in these birds. Their numbers and variety seem in consequence to be almost unlimited."

The Honey-eaters in some measure depart from the tenuirostral type, in the increased strength and stoutness of the beak; this organ is compressed, awl-shaped, and arched; with the tip distinctly notched. The feet are large and strong, the hinder toe much developed. The tongue is still capable of protrusion, but in a subordinate degree; it terminates in a brush of hairs.

These birds are found only in New Holland, and the adjacent islands, where they feed on the nectar and pollen of flowers, on insects, and on