protrusible tongue with a brush-like tip, differing, it is believed,
in structure from that found in any other bird—Promerops
perhaps excepted—and capable of being formed into a suctorial
tube, by means of which honey is absorbed from the nectary
of flowers, though it would seem that insects attracted by the
honey furnish the chief nourishment of many species, while
others undoubtedly feed to a greater or less extent on fruits.
The Meliphagidae, as now considered, are for the most part
small birds, never exceeding the size of a missel thrush; and
they have been divided into more than 20 genera, containing
above 200 species, of which only a few can here be particularized.
Most of these species have a very confined range, being found
perhaps only on a single island or group of islands in the region,
but there are a few which are more widely distributed—such
as Glycyphila rufifrons, the white-throated[1] honey-eater, found
over the greater part of Australia and Tasmania. In plumage
they vary much. Most of the species of Ptilotis are characterized
by a tuft of white, or in others of yellow, feathers springing
from behind the ear. In the greater number of the genus
Myzomela[2] the males are recognizable by a gorgeous display
of crimson or scarlet, which has caused one species, M. sanguinolenta,
to be known as the soldier-bird to Australian colonists;
but in others no brilliant colour appears, and those of several
genera have no special ornamentation, while some have a
particularly plain appearance. One of the most curious forms
is Prosthemadera—the tui or parson-bird of New Zealand, so
called from the two tufts of white feathers which hang beneath
its chin in great contrast to its dark silky plumage, and suggest
a likeness to the bands worn by ministers of several religious
denominations when officiating.[3] The bell-bird of the same
island, Anthornis melanura—whose melody excited the admiration
of Cook the morning after he had anchored in Queen
Charlotte’s Sound—is another member of this family, and
unfortunately seems to be fast becoming extinct. But it would
be impossible here to enter much further into detail, though
the wattle-birds, Anthochaera, of Australia have at least to be
named. Mention, however, must be made of the friar-birds,
Tropidorhynchus, of which nearly a score of species, five of them
belonging to Australia, have been described. With their stout
bills, mostly surmounted by an excrescence, they seem to be
the most abnormal forms of the family, and most of them are
besides remarkable for the baldness of some part at least of their
head. They assemble in troops, sitting on dead trees, with a
loud call, and are very pugnacious, frequently driving away
hawks and crows. A. R. Wallace (Malay Archipelago, ii.
150–153) discovered the curious fact that two species of this
genus—T. bourensis and T. subcornutus—respectively inhabiting
the islands of Bouru and Ceram, were the object of natural
“mimicry” on the part of two species of oriole of the genus
Mimeta, M. bourouensis and M. forsteni, inhabiting the same
islands, so as to be on a superficial examination identical in
appearance—the honey-eater and the oriole of each island presenting
exactly the same tints—the black patch of bare skin
round the eyes of the former, for instance, being copied in the
latter by a patch of black feathers, and even the protuberance
on the beak of the Tropidorhynchus being imitated by a similar
enlargement of the beak of the Mimeta. The very reasonable
explanation which Wallace offers is that the pugnacity of the
former has led the smaller birds of prey to respect it, and it
is therefore an advantage for the latter, being weaker and less
courageous, to be mistaken for it. (A. N.)
HONEY-GUIDE, a bird so called from its habit of pointing
out to man and to the ratel (Mellivora capensis) the nests of
bees. Stories to this effect have been often told, and may be
found in the narratives of many African travellers, from Bruce
to Livingstone. But Layard says (B. South Africa, p. 242)
that the birds will not infrequently lead any one to a leopard
or a snake, and will follow a dog with vociferations, though its
noisy cry and antics unquestionably have in many cases the
effect signified by its English name. If not its first discoverer,
Sparrman, in 1777, was the first who described and figured this
bird, which he met with in the Cape Colony (Phil. Trans.,
lxvii. 42-47, pl. i.), giving it the name of Culculus indicator,
its zygodactylous feet with the toes placed in pairs—two before
and two behind—inducing the belief that it must be referred
to that genus. Vicillot in 1816 elevated it to the rank of a genus,
Indicator; but it was still considered to belong to the family
Cuculidae (its asserted parasitical habits lending force to that
belief) by all systematists except Blyth and Jerdon, until it
was shown by Blanford (Obs. Geol. and Zool. Abyssinia, pp.
308, 309) and Sclater (Ibis, 1870, pp. 176-180) that it was more
allied to the barbets, Capitonidae, and, in consequence, was then
made the type of a distinct family, Indicatoridae. In the meanwhile
other species had been discovered, some of them differing
sufficiently to warrant Sundevall’s foundation of a second genus,
Prodotiscus, of the group. The honey-guides are small birds,
the largest hardly exceeding a lark in size, and of plain plumage,
with what appears to be a very sparrow-like bill. Bowdler
Sharpe, in a revision of the family published in 1876 (Orn.
Miscellany, i. 192-209), recognizes ten species of the genus
Indicator, to which another was added by Dr Reichenow (Journ.
für Ornithologie, 1877, p. 110), and two of Prodotiscus. Four
species of the former, including I. sparrmani, which was the
first made known, are found in South Africa, and one of the
latter. The rest inhabit other parts of the same continent,
except I. archipelagicus, which seems to be peculiar to Borneo,
and I. xanthonotus, which occurs on the Himalayas from the
borders of Afghanistan to Bhutan. The interrupted geographical
distribution of this genus is a very curious fact, no species having
been found in the Indian or Malayan peninsula to connect
the outlying forms with those of Africa, which must be regarded
as their metropolis. (A. N.)
HONEY LOCUST, the popular name of a tree, Gleditsia
triacanthos, a member of the natural order Leguminosae, and
a native of the more eastern United States of North America.
It reaches from 75 to 140 ft. in height with a trunk 2 or 3, or
sometimes 5 or 6 ft. in diameter, and slender spreading branches
which form a broad, flattish crown. The branchlets bear numerous
simple or three-forked (whence the species-name triacanthos)
sharp stiff spines, 3 to 4 in. long, at first red in colour, then
chestnut brown; they are borne above the leaf-axils and
represent undeveloped branchlets; sometimes they are borne
also on the trunk and main branches. The long-stalked leaves
are 7 to 8 in. long with eight to fourteen pairs of narrowly
oblong leaflets. The flowers, which are of two kinds, are borne
in racemes in the leaf-axils; the staminate flowers in larger
numbers. The brown pods are often 12 to 18 in. long, have
thin, tough walls, and contain a quantity of pulp between the
seeds; they contract spirally when drying. The tree was first
cultivated in Europe towards the end of the 17th century
by Bishop Compton in his garden at Fulham, near London,
and is now extensively planted as an ornamental tree. The
name of the genus commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch
(1714–1786), a friend of Linnaeus, and the author of one of
the earliest works on scientific forestry.
HONEYMOON, the first month after marriage. Lord Avebury
in his Origin of Civilization suggests that the seclusion usually
associated with this period is a survival of marriage by capture,
and answers to the period during which the husband kept his
wife in retirement, to prevent her from appealing to her relatives
- ↑ The young of this species has the throat yellow.
- ↑ W. A. Forbes published a careful monograph of this genus in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1879, pp. 256-279.
- ↑ This bird, according to Sir Walter Buller (Birds of New Zealand, p. 88), while uttering its wild notes, indulges in much gesticulation, which adds to the suggested resemblance. It has great power of mimicry, and is a favourite cage-bird both with the natives and colonists. On one occasion, says Buller, he had addressed a large meeting of Maories on a matter of considerable political importance, when “immediately on the conclusion of my speech, and before the old chief to whom my arguments were chiefly addressed had time to reply, a tui, whose netted cage hung to a rafter overhead, responded in a clear, emphatic way, ‘Tito!’ (false). The circumstance naturally caused much merriment among my audience, and quite upset the gravity of the venerable old chief, Nepia Taratoa. ‘Friend,’ said he, laughing, ‘your arguments are very good; but my mokai is a very wise bird, and he is not yet convinced!’ ”
