| 释义 |
ˈhoney-ˌeater
a. An animal that feeds on honey; = honeysucker. (In quot. 1731 = honey-guide 1.)
1731Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 155 These Gnat⁓snappers, or Honey-eaters are a sort of guides to the Hottentots in the search of honey. 1882Proctor Nature Stud. 26 Like many other ants, these little honey-eaters are divided into different castes or classes. 1884J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. V. 392 The ratels belong to the genus Mellivora, the Honey Eaters.
b. An Australasian bird of the family Meliphagidæ.
In Morris Austral English, 56 Australian species of Honey-eaters are named, e.g. banded, black, bridled, brown honey-eater, etc.
1822J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds IV. 208 None of them, although the tongue be cloven into two filaments, are at all fringed at the edges, as is the case with very many of the honey-eaters. 1845J. Gilbert in J. Gould Mammals of Australia I. tab. 5 It [sc. Tarsipes rostratus] inserted its long tongue precisely in the way in which the Honey⁓eaters among birds do theirs into the flower-cups for honey. 1862Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. II. 212 The true Honey-Eaters form a very numerous group of birds. 1864–5― Homes without H. xxv. (1868) 470 In Australia there is a large group of rather pretty birds, popularly called Honey-eaters, because they feed largely on the sweet juices of many flowers. 1901A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs Austral. Birds I. 354 The range of the splendid little Black Honeyeater extends across the southern part of Australia. 1936[see coach-whip 1 b]. 1964A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 375/2 The diet of the majority of honeyeaters consists of a mixture of nectar, pollen, and insects. |