The extensive group of the Meliphagidæ, or Honey-suckers, is wholly Australian, for the genus Zosterops, which extends into the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, does not naturally belong to it. Several of the genera are confined to Australia, others to New Zealand, while a few range over the whole Australian region. The genera are distributed as follows:—
Myzomela (18 sp.), has the widest range, extending from Celebes to the Samoa Islands, and to Timor and Eastern Australia; Entomophila (4 sp.), Australia and New Guinea; Gliciphila (10 sp.), Australia, Timor, New Guinea, and New Caledonia; Acanthorhynchus (2 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Meliphaga (1 sp.), Australia; Ptilotis (40 sp.), Gilolo and Lombok to Australia and Tasmania, and to the Samoa and Tonga Islands; Meliornis (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Prosthemadera (1 sp.), Pogonornis (1 sp.), New Zealand; Anthornis (4 sp.), New Zealand and Chatham Islands; Anthochæra (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Xanthotis (4 sp.), Papuan Islands and Australia; Leptornis (2 sp.), Samoa Islands and New Caledonia; Philemon = Tropidorhyncus (18 sp.), Moluccas and Lombok to New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania and New Caledonia; Entomiza (2 sp.), Australia; Manorhina (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Euthyrhynchus (3 sp.), New Guinea; Melirrhophetes (2 sp.), New Guinea; Melidectes (1 sp.), New Guinea; Melipotes (1 sp.), New Guinea; Melithreptus (8 sp.), New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania; (397) Moho (3 sp.), Sandwich Islands; Chætoptila (1 sp.), Sandwich Islands.
Family 23.—NECTARINIIDÆ. (11 Genera, 122 Species.)
| General Distribution. | |||||
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| Neotropical Sub-regions. | Nearctic Sub-regions. | Palæarctic Sub-regions. | Ethiopian Sub-regions. | Oriental Sub-regions. | Australian Sub-regions. |
| — — — — | — — — — | — 2 — — | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2 — — |
The Nectariniidæ, or Sun-birds, form a rather extensive group of insectivorous honey-suckers, often adorned with brilliant metallic plumage, and bearing a superficial resemblance to the American humming-birds, although not in any way related to them. They abound in the Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions, as far east as New Ireland, and south to Queensland, while one species inhabits the hot Jordan Valley in the Palæarctic region. For the Eastern genera I follow Lord Walden's classification (Ibis, 1870); the African species not having been so carefully studied are mostly placed in one genus. The genera adopted are as follows:—
Promerops (1 sp.), South Africa; Nectarinia (60 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; Cinnyricinclus (5 sp.), West Africa; Neodrepanis (1 sp.), Madagascar; Arachnecthra (13 sp.), Palestine, all India to Hainan, the Papuan Islands, and North-east Australia; Æthopyga (15 sp.), Himalayas and Central India to West China, Hainan, Java, and Northern Celebes; Nectarophila (5 sp.), Central India and Ceylon, Assam and Aracan to Java, Celebes and the Philippines; Chalcostetha (6 sp.), Malay Peninsula to New Guinea; Anthreptes (1 sp.), Siam, Malay Peninsula to Sula Islands, and Flores; Cosmeteira (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; Arachnothera (15 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippines) Celebes, Lombok, and Papuan Islands.
Family 24.—DICÆIDÆ. (5 Genera, 107 Species.)
| General Distribution. | |||||
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| Neotropical Sub-regions. | Nearctic Sub-regions. | Palæarctic Sub-regions. | Ethiopian Sub-regions. | Oriental Sub-regions. | Australian Sub-regions. |
| — — — — | — — — — | — — — 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 |
The Dicæidæ, or Flower-peckers, consist of very small, gaily-coloured birds, rather abundant over the whole Oriental and much of the Australian regions, and one genus extending over the Ethiopian region. The genera here adopted are the following:—
(622) Zosterops (68 sp.), the whole Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions, as far east as the Fiji Islands, and north to Pekin and Japan; (400—403) Dicæum (25 sp.), the whole Oriental region, except China, with the Australian region as far as the Solomon Islands; (404) Pachyglossa (2 sp. 1437 1442), Nepal and Northern Celebes; (405) Piprisoma (2 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Timor; (1450) Pardalotus (10 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (407—409) Prionochilus (5 sp.), Indo-Malay sub-region and Papuan Islands.