[Illustration:
MYZOMELA SANGUINOLENTA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
MYZOMELA SANGUINOLENTA.
Sanguineous Honey-eater.
_Certhia sanguinolenta_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxvii.
_L’Heorotaire sanguin_, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. ii. p. 127.
_Sanguineous Creeper_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 167. pl.
130.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 235.
_Sanguineous Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol iv. p. 201. pl. 73.
_Certhia dibapha_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxvii.
_L’Heorotaire rouge tacheté_, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. ii. p. 127.
_Small-crested Creeper_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 253. pl. 35?
_Cochineal Creeper_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 167.
_Cochineal Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 201.
_Certhia erythropygia_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 38.
_Red-rumped Creeper_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 169.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 249.
_Le Kuyameta_, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. ii. p. 92. pl. 58.
_Certhia Australasiæ_, Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. i. pl. 11.
_Meliphaga Cardinalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
316.
_Blood-bird_ of the Colonists of New South Wales.
This beautiful little bird is an inhabitant of the thick brushes of New
South Wales, particularly those near the coast and those clothing the
hilly portions of the interior, and I have reason to believe that it is
rarely, if ever, found among the trees of the open parts of the country.
I have not yet seen specimens from the western, and only a single
example from the northern coasts, whence I infer that the south-eastern
part of the continent is its natural and restricted habitat. It gives a
decided preference to those parts of the forest that abound with
flowering plants, whose fragrant blossoms attract large numbers of
insects of various kinds, upon which and the pollen of the flower-cups
it chiefly subsists.
I regret to say that I was unable to obtain any information respecting
the nidification of this pretty species; but in this respect it
doubtless closely resembles the other members of the group.
The sexes are very dissimilar in colour, the female being of a uniform
pale brown above and lighter beneath, while the male is dressed in a
gorgeous livery of scarlet and black; the young, as is usually the case
where the sexes differ considerably in colour, resembles the female
until after the first moult, when it gradually assumes the colouring of
the male.
Much confusion exists in the writings of the older authors respecting
this bird, which has arisen from the circumstance of their having
considered it to be identical with two other species, one inhabiting the
Isle of Tanna, and the other the province of Bengal: after a careful
examination of the subject, I am of opinion that the synonyms given
above are all that have reference to the Australian bird.
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