Honeyeater

Honey-eater, Honey-sucker, any bird of the Passerine family Meliphagidee, confined to the Australian region, and characterised by their long, slender, curved bill and extensile tongue, ending in a bundle of filaments. There are twenty-three genera, with nearly two hundred species, living chiefly on nectar and insects. One of the best-known species is the Warty-faced Honey-eater (described by Gould), with brilliant black and yellow plumage. Prostliemadcra novcc-zealaitdice, about the size of a blackbird, with black plumage of metallic lustre, is a member of this family. The natives call it Tni, and Europeans the Parson-bird, from a tuft of white feathers on each side of the throat.