Austral English Part 115
M. brevirostris, Gould,
M. chloropsis, Gould, Swan River H. ... 73
M. albogularis, Gould, White-throated H.
(as well as pl. 51) ... ... 74
M. melanocephalus, Gould, Black-headed H. ... 75
Myzantha garrula, Vig. and Horsf, Garrulous H. 76
M. obscura, Gould, Sombre H. ... ... 77
M. lutea, Gould, Luteous H. ... ... 78
In the Supplement of 1869 Gould adds--
Plate
Ptilotis ca.s.sidix, Jard., Helmeted H. ... 39
P. fasciogularis, Gould, Fasciated H. ... 40
P. notata, Gould, Yellow-spotted H. ... 41
P. filigera, Gould, Streaked H. ... 42
P. c.o.c.kerelli, Gould, c.o.c.kerell's H. ... 43
Tropidorhynchus buceroides, Helmeted H. ... 44
[Note.--The Brush Wattle-birds, Friar-birds, Spine-bills, and the Yellow-throated Minah, are known as Honey-eaters, and the whole series are sometimes called Honey-birds.]
1897. A. J. Campbell (in `The Australasian,' Jan. 23), p. 180, col. i:
"The honey-eaters or meliphagous birds are a peculiar and striking feature in Australian ornithology. As Gould points out, they are to the fauna what the eucalypts, banksias, and melaleucas are to the flora of Australia. They are closely adapted to feeding on these trees. That great author asks:-- `What can be more plain than that the brushlike tongue is especially formed for gathering the honey from the flower-cups of the eucalypti, or that their diminutive stomachs are especially formed for this kind of food, and the peculiar insects which const.i.tute a portion of it?'"
.
.
1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. iv.
p. 101:
"They ... returned ... dreadfully exhausted, having existed chiefly by sucking the wild honey-flower and shrubs."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 37:
"`Honey-flower' or `honeysuckle,' a plant as well known to small boys about Sydney as to birds and insects. It obtains its vernacular name on account of the large quant.i.ty of a clear honey-like liquid the flowers contain. After sucking some quant.i.ty the liquid generally produces nausea and headache."
.
(q.v.).
The species are--
Coast Honeysuckle-- Banksia integrifolia, Linn.
Common H.-- B. marginata, Cav.
Heath H.-- B. serrata, Linn.
New Zealand H.-- Knightia excelsa, R.Br.
Silvery H.-- Grevillea striata, R.Br.
Tasmanian H.-- Banksia margirata, Cav. /sic. Probably marginata/
1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 125:
"Some scattered honeysuckles, as they, are called, but which, being specimens of a ligneous evergreen shrub (Banksia Australis), my English reader will please not to a.s.similate in his mind's eye in any respect with the woodbine."
1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 84:
"The honeysuckle (Banksia integrifolia) will greatly disappoint those who, from its name, expect to see anything similar to the sweet-scented climbers of English hedges and gardens--this being a tree attaining to thirty or forty feet in height, with spiral yellow flowers. The blossoms at the proper seasons yield a great quant.i.ty of honey, which on a dewy morning may be observed dropping from the flowers."
1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in Goodman's `Church in Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 83:
"In the course of our journey today we pa.s.sed through a thin wood of honeysuckle trees, for, I should think, about three miles. They take their name from the quant.i.ty of honey contained in the yellow cone-shaped flower, which is much prized and sucked by the natives--the aborigines, I mean."
1852. Mrs. Meredith, 'My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 164:
"The honeysuckle-tree (Banksia latifolia) is so unreasonably named ... so very unlike any sort or species of the sweet old flower whose name it so unfittingly bears... .
The blossoms form cones, which when in full bloom, are much the size and shape of a large English teazel, and are of a greenish yellow... . The honeysuckle trees grow to about thirty feet in height."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 10:
"Banksia, spp., N.O. Proteaceae. The name `honeysuckle' was applied to this genus by the early settlers, from the fact that the flowers, when in full bloom, contain, in a greater or lesser quant.i.ty, a sweet, honey-like liquid, which is secreted in considerable quant.i.ties, especially after a dewy night, and is eagerly sucked out by the aborigines."
1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 271:
"It [banksia] is called the `honeysuckle' by the people of Australia, though it has no resemblance to an English honeysuckle. Many of the banksias grow into stately trees."
(q.v.).
.
See Pine.
(q.v.)