Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/212

* HONEY-CBJEEPEK. HONEY-CREEPEK. A bird of the family C«-icl>iila'. a passerini- family of tropical and subtropical America, especially aluiiidanl in the West indies. They are small birds, four or five inches in lenjjth, but usually of very handsome plumage. The colors are frequently brilliant, blue beinj; especially common. The bill is very slender, sharp, anil often decirved. and the tongue is deeply bifid and ])eiiioiIlate. Tlic honey- creepers are very closely allieil to the .Vnicrican warblers, of the family Mniotiltida', so common throughout the United States. About forty spe- cies are known, one of which, the bananaiiuit. has occasionally strayed to Florida. They probe the corollas of flowers for the minute in- sects contained therein (not for the honey) and often hover befcjre them like hummingbirds, which some of them hardly exceed in size or fall below in brilliance. Consult: Gosse, Birds of Jamaica (London, 1847) ; id., .1 Xaturalist's So- journ in Jamaica (London, 1851). HONEYDEW. A term apjilied to the sweet- ish secretion which under certain conditions drips from the water-pores of the leaves of some trees. It is a form of 'bleeding' which appears only when an abundant supply of moisture (re- ducing evaporation) and a higli temperature per- mit the development of a considerable sap-pres- sure in the live cells. Some kinds of manna arc the dried honcydew- or the saccharine exudations of certain plants. Very generally this exuda- tion, as it dries, coats the surface of leaves and branches with a clammy film, to which every- thing brought by the atmosphere adheres, thus dosing the pores of the plant and impairing its health. The name honeydew is often applied to a saccharine secretion of certain insects, notably the plant-lice, the flea-lice (Psyllida>). certain scale-insects and white flies ( .Meyrodiihe) . and certain leaf-hoppers or tree-hoppers. Of the lat- ter, I'roronin {Oncometopia) unrinta secretes the most abundant supply, and is the cause of the phenomenon often described as 'weeping trees.' 'i'he honeydew secreted by all of these insects is frequently very abundant, giving the foliage and bark of trees a glistening appearance, and fre- quently attracting swarms of bees. ants, wasps, and other honey-loving insects. It is usually secreted from the anus, and with the tree-hoppers is ejected forcibly in a spray, or several small drops at frequent intervals, so that a tree in which they are very numerous appears to be 'weeping.' Honeydew affords a welcome nidus for the spores of certain of the smut-fungi, and an affected tree is likely soon to become black with smut. Thus an olive orchard in California or Southern Europe, the leaves of which turn black, will surely be found to be infested with a scale-insect (Lccanium olew) which secretes a. quantity of honeydew. Orange and lemon plantations sometimes suffer great injury from the abundance of honeydew: and it has been proved a cause of very great loss in the coffee plantations of Ceylon. See Aphid. HONEY-EATEB, or Honey-Sucker. A name sometimes given to some of the Oriental sun- birds (q.v. j, but also the common name of a large family of birds nearly allied to these and peculiar to Australia and the islands of that part of the world. This family, Meliphagid;c, of the order I'asseres, has a long curved sharp bill (see 184 HONEY-LOCUST. Plate of CREErEB.s), not so slender as in hum- roing-birds and sun-birds; the tongue terminates in a pencil of delicate filaments, the better to iidapt it for sucking honey from flowers, or juices from fruits. These are a part of the food of the honey-eaters, but they also devour insects in great numbers. They are birds of elegant form, and generally of gay plumage. Most of them have a long and broad tail. Thej- are vivacious anil active, and keep up a continual chattering. Some 200 species of this family are known, arranged in about •J.'> genera. Kxaniplcs are elsewiiere described under Bei.luihd; Bi.ooiiiunn; I'ar.so.n-Ribd; etc. Compare Floweb-Pecker, and see Cros.s-Fertii.izatiox. HONEY-GUIDE, Indic.mor, or MoROC. The poi)ular name of a family of birds ranked in the vicinity of the bart)ets (q.v.) and woodpeckers (q.v. I. but dill'ering from these families in char- acters which show a slight approach to cuckoos, and also, in some respects, to creepers. About a dozen species are known, mostly natives of Africa, and found in almost all parts of it, but one species occurs in India, r)ne in Malacca, and one in liorneo. They have acquired their name from guiding men to honey, a curious instinct prompting them to flutter near the traveler with frequent repetitions of a cry which resembles the syllable chcrr ; and it is said that if followed they almost always lead to a place where a bees' nest may be found. This story has been denounced as fabulous, but reliable observers vouch for its truthfulness. The birds are very fond of honey, and always reap a harvest after man has once opened up a bee-tree and taken what honey he wants. It is said that the Kafliis never fail to leave a generous meal for the bird which has guided them to the tree. The honey- guides are small birds of dull plumage and rathi r stout bill. They generally build pensile nests, and lay white eggs, but some species are said to lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, as the European cuckoo and the cowbird do. See flntc of 'I'kooon, Hnoi'OE, irrc. HONEY-LOCUST. Cledit/tchia triacanlhos, also known as sweet locust and black locust, and in (^rc;it liritain as three-thorned acacia. A lofty and beautiful tree of the natural order Legu- minosa', a native of the rich valleys from On- tario through the basin of the Mississippi. It is not found wild on the .Vthwitic coast of North America, although often planted for ornament in the vicinity of habitations. The flowers, which are small, greenish, and in spikes, usually have, when perfect, six stamens and one pistil, but are very generally unisexual. The leaves are twice pinnate, without terminal leaflets, and derive a peculiar gracefulness from the ntimerous small light-green shining leaflets. The tree is fur- nished with numerous sharp triple spines. The pods are long, flat, pendulous, often twisted ; the seeds large, brown, and enveloped in a pulp, which, when the pod is ripe, is very sweet. Sugar has been made from it, and when fer- mented it yields an intoxicating beverage, in use among the American Indians. The honey- locust attains a height of 70 or 80 feet. The wood resembles that of the .merican loctist-tree (see -Acacia), but is more coarse-grained. A variety is commrtn in which the trees are nearly without thorns. The honey-locust is valuable for windbreaks, hedges, and other plantations. A