VII. THE PARROTS…

VII. THE PARROTS

Characteristics of the Order--The Sub-orders--ZYGODACTYLÆ--THE PARROTS--Their Talking Powers--Sections of the Family--THE GREAT PALM COCKATOO--THE PYGMY PARROTS--THE AMAZON PARROTS--THE AMAZONS--THE GREY PARROT--Court Favourites--Historical Specimens--In a state of Nature--Mr. Keulemans’ Observations--THE CONURES--THE ROSE-RINGED PARRAKEET--Known to the Ancients--Habitat--Habits--THE CAROLINA CONURE--Destructive Propensities--THE PARRAKEETS--THE OWL PARROT--Chiefly Nocturnal--Incapable of Flight--How this Fact may be accounted for--Dr. Haast’s Account of its Habits--THE STRAIGHT-BILLED PARROTS--THE BRUSH-TONGUED PARROTS--THE NESTORS--THE KAKA PARROT--Skull of a Parrot--The Bill.

The birds which are contained in this order are of very different forms, but they possess one character which, although an osteological one, is found throughout nearly the whole group, and that is, the double notch in the hinder margin of the sternum or breast bone. In all the true Passeres, or perching birds, only a single notch is observed. The hind toe, which in the true perching birds is an essential character, and is separately movable, possessing its own distinct flexor muscle, is in the Picarians not of so much account, its flexor muscle being joined to the common flexor of all the toes; it is sometimes absent altogether. If the Parrots have certain characters in common with the Accipitres, the Cuckoos and the Plantain-eaters undoubtedly show affinity to the Game-birds, while most of the other families have peculiar structures which render them quite distinct from the ordinary mass of true perching birds or Passeres. It may be remarked that the eggs of most of the Picariæ, so far as we are acquainted with them, are glossy white, and that the majority of them breed in the holes of trees or of rocks, and that they are as a rule bad nest-builders. The greatest exception to the above description of the nesting of these birds is met with in the family of Goatsuckers (Caprimulgidæ), some of whom lay their eggs on the ground, the eggs being beautifully marbled with streaks and spots.

Within this great Picarian order there are two large sub-orders, called respectively the Scansorial and the Fissirostral[232] Picariæ. The Scansorial birds are also sometimes known as the Zygodactylæ,[233] or yoke-footed birds, because they have their toes arranged in pairs, two in front and two behind, and their name of Scansores is given to them because most of them are climbing birds, and run up trees and rocks with great facility, though in different ways. Parrots, for instance, use their bills in climbing from branch to branch, while Woodpeckers have very powerful feet and stiffened tail-feathers, which support them as they cling to the bark of the trees, the bill being chiefly employed to prise off the bark in order to get at the insects underneath. Cuckoos do not climb trees in the same manner as the Woodpeckers, though they have true zygodactyle feet: the present writer has, however, seen a common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) cling with both feet to the trunk of a huge elm while it picked off insects from the bark. It must not be supposed, however, that the above are the only birds which climb trees, for among the true Passeres, or perching birds, there occur such birds as the Dendrocolaptidæ in South America, who have stiffened tails exactly as the Woodpeckers, while the Tree-creepers are just as expert as the last-named birds, and yet cannot be placed in the same order as the Scansorial (Picariæ), for they possess a simple passerine foot, with three toes in front and one behind.

The Fissirostres, or wide-gaping birds, are also called Gressorial Picariæ, as their toes are more or less connected together, which gives them a very flat sole to the foot. They generally hunt for their food from some selected spot, ordinarily a post or a dead bough, whence they take flights after their prey, usually returning to the same spot to devour it. Their flight is active and swift, their gape extremely large, and the head correspondingly big, and in many instances clumsy and ungainly. The feet are generally small and weak.

SUB-ORDER I.--ZYGODACTYLÆ.

FAMILY I.--THE PARROTS (Psittaci).

Just as the Monkeys have been placed at the head of the Mammalia on account of their high development, so the Parrots, from their general cleverness, and especially on account of the facility with which they can talk, have been considered the highest order of birds, and placed at the beginning of the class. It is impossible for some people to avoid the conclusion that these birds think and reason, and the à propos or sometimes mal à propos way in which they introduce speeches, coupled with the look of wisdom which they assume while being spoken to, seems to show that the brain is being employed in thinking. A friend in Manchester told the writer of a parrot-show in the North of England, where the talking powers of each bird were made the subject of a prize competition. Several of the birds had exhibited their prowess, and at last the cover was removed from the cage of a Grey Parrot, who at once exclaimed, on seeing the company to which he was suddenly introduced, “By Jove! what a lot of Parrots!” an observation which gained him the prize at once. Instances of famous talking birds might be multiplied by the hundred, and it is wonderful to read some of the stories which have been related of Parrots, whose fame has been recorded in many popular works, leaving no doubt that these birds often possess the power of reason of a very high order; at the same time, it must be confessed that many of the Corvine birds, such as Ravens, Jackdaws, and Magpies, do not fall far short of their Scansorial friends.

The Parrots are divided into two large sections, firstly the Parrots proper (Psittaci proprii), and secondly the straight-billed Parrots (Psittaci orthognathi[234]). These two sections together contain six families, of which five belong to the first and one to the second. The true Parrots have a powerful and swollen bill, especially as regards the lower mandible, which is much inflated, curved, and flattened in front, the cutting edges (tomium) indented just behind their tip. The sub-family which has to be noticed first are the Camptolophinæ[235] or Cockatoos, which are birds entirely of the Australian region, being confined to Australia and the Molucca Islands. The bill is higher than it is broad, with a very distinct indentation of each side of the cutting edge of the mandible, the tip of the bill short, rather strong and perpendicular, the head crested in all except the Pygmy Parrots (Nasiterna). This family contains at once the largest and the smallest of the Parrots.

THE GREAT PALM COCKATOO (Microglossus[236] aterrimus[237]).

This is one of the most powerful of all the Parrot tribe, measuring about twenty-four inches in length, and having a bill of unusual thickness and power. Its black plumage also renders it a conspicuous species, the only relief to this sombre colouring being the greyish crest and the dull crimson cheeks. Its home is New Guinea, but it is also found in the Cape York Peninsula in Australia, where it was discovered by John Macgillivray during the voyage of the Rattlesnake. He writes as follows respecting it:--“This very fine bird, which is not uncommon in the vicinity of Cape York, was usually found in the densest scrub among the tops of the tallest trees, but was occasionally seen in the open forest land perched on the largest of the Eucalypti, apparently resting on its passage from one belt of trees or patch of scrub to another. Like the Black Cockatoos, or Calyptorhynchi, it flies slowly and usually but a short distance. In November, 1849, the period of our last visit to Cape York, it was always found in pairs, very shy, and difficult of approach. Its cry is merely a low short whistle of a single note, which may be represented by the letters ‘Hweet-Hweet.’ The stomach of the first one killed contained a few small pieces of quartz and triturated fragments of palm-cabbage, with which the crop of another specimen was completely filled; and the idea immediately suggests itself, that the powerful bill of this bird is a most fitting instrument for stripping off the leaves near the summits of the Seaforthia elegans and other palms to enable it to arrive at the central tender shoot.”

THE PYGMY PARROTS (Nasiternæ).

These Parrots are represented by seven little manikins which are found in New Guinea and the adjacent islands, each particular island possessing its own peculiar species. Not one of these little birds exceeds a Sparrow in size, the largest being a little over three inches and a half in length. Owing to their small size and the resemblance of the green colouring to the forests they inhabit, they are not easily seen, and until recent years were very hard to procure. In the island of Mafoor in the Bay of Geelvink, N.W., New Guinea, Baron von Rosenberg says that he found it common near Roemsaro, and several specimens, both alive and dead, were brought to him by the natives. They bred there in January and February, nesting in hollow trees and laying two eggs, the size of those of the English Bottle Titmouse. Their food consists of fruit.

THE AMAZON PARROTS (Androglossinæ).[238]

This, the second sub-family, consists of the true Parrots, of which the ordinary Grey Parrot (Psittacus erythacus) is the type. It also includes all the Green Parrots of America, which are called Amazons, as well as the Lories (Eclectus) and Love-birds (Agapornis). The head is moderately smooth, without any highly-developed crest, as in the Cockatoos, and the tail is short, or of only moderate length. The tail-feathers are generally broad and obtuse, in a few widening at the tip, or sharp at the end. In the genus Prioniturus, which inhabits the Philippine Islands, and some of the Moluccas, the two centre feathers have the shafts produced, and ending in a small spatule, or racket.

THE AMAZONS (Chrysotis).[239]

These Parrots are entirely American, and are the only birds of the New World which can compete in talking powers with the African Grey Parrots, who, however, far surpass their American relatives. About thirty species of Amazon are known, all of them confined within the limits of the Neotropical region, which comprises the whole of Central and Southern America, south of an imaginary line drawn through Northern Mexico. The West India islands are also included in this area, and most of them are inhabited by a species of Amazon. The habits of all these Parrots seem to be very similar, and a good account of the Active Amazon of Jamaica (Chrysotis agilis) is given by Mr. Gosse[240]:--“All the Parrots are gregarious, cunning, watchful, noisy, mischievous; and thus are like the Monkeys. This and the Yellow-billed Parrot [Mr. Gosse’s name for C. agilis is the Black-billed Parrot] are so much alike in manners and general appearance, that a description of one applies nearly to the other. Flocks varying from half a dozen to twenty or thirty fly hither and thither over the forest, screeching as they go, and all alight together on some tree covered with berries. Here they feast, but with caution. On a slight alarm one screams, and the whole flock is on the wing, vociferous if not musical, and brilliant if not beautiful, particularly when the sun shines on their green backs and crimsoned wings. They generally prefer lofty trees, except when, in June, the ripe yellow plantain tempts them to descend, or when the blackberry shines upon the pimento. Of the latter the flocks devour an immense quantity, and the former they destroy by cutting it to pieces with their powerful beaks, to get at the small seeds. One day in January, when the pimento on the brow of Bluefields Mountain was about ready for picking, being full-sized, but yet green and hard, I observed large flocks of Black-bills, and a few Parrakeets, flying to and fro with voluble chatter, now alighting to feed on the hot, aromatic berry, now flying off, and wheeling round to the same neighbourhood again. They were not at all shy, but, with unusual carelessness of one’s proximity, scarcely moved at the report of the gun which brought their companions to the ground. Of two which I shot on this occasion, I found the craws stuffed with the cotyledons of the seed alone, the most pungently aromatic part of the berry; the fleshy part having been, as I presume, shorn off by the beak and rejected. When alighted, as is often the case, on a dry branch, their emerald hue is conspicuous, and affords a fair mark for the gunner; but in a tree of full foliage, their colour proves an excellent concealment. They seem aware of this, and their sagacity prompts them to rely on it for security. Often we hear their voices proceeding from a certain tree, or else have marked the descent of a flock upon it, but on proceeding to the spot, though the eye has not wandered from it, and we are therefore sure that they are there, we cannot discover an individual. We go close to the tree, but all is silent, and still as death; we institute a careful survey of every part with the eye, to detect the slightest motion, or the form of a bird among the leaves, but in vain; we begin to think that they have stolen off unperceived, but on throwing a stone into the tree, a dozen throats burst forth into cry, and as many green birds rush forth upon the wing. The screaming of this and the following species differs from that of the Parrakeet, so far as to be easily distinguished. That of the latter consists of a series of harsh screeches, of comparative length; that of the Parrots is less shrill, more broken into short and rapid articulations, forming a series of varying length, separated by momentary pauses. It is, in fact, much more like a hurried chattering.”

THE GREY PARROT (Psittacus erythacus).

This familiar cage-bird is a native of Africa, and it would appear to have been a favourite in England for a longer period than can be traced. They were held in great estimation at the court of the “Merry Monarch” Charles II., for his Queen Catharine of Braganza had a parrot-keeper, at a salary of £36 per annum, while the maids of honour received only £10 a year each, and the “mother of the maids” £20 per annum. Therefore, the custodian of the Parrots was better paid by £16 than the lady who held the very responsible post of care-taker of the maids of honour.[241] A Grey Parrot which lived for forty years with the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, who died in 1702, and who was a celebrated beauty at the court of Charles II., is preserved in Westminster Abbey along with the effigy of that lady, having survived its mistress only a few days.

It is strange that for a bird which has so long been one of the chief pets in Europe, so little is known of its habits in a wild state, and at the present time not a single authentic egg of this species, taken in its native haunts, is known to exist. Occasionally it lays in confinement a white egg, like other Picarian birds, but it is probably from the care with which the species selects its breeding-place that it has been so difficult to find their nest and eggs. The only naturalist who appears to have discovered the latter appears to be the celebrated natural history artist, Mr. Keulemans, who spent nearly two years in West Africa, and has written the best account of the Grey Parrot in a state of nature,[242] as observed by him on Ilha do Principe, or Prince’s Island, in the Bight of Biafra. Here it is very common, and breeds in the month of December in the very thickest forests. Only one pair breed in each tree, laying five eggs in a hole thereof, but a large number nest in close proximity to each other, many hundreds breeding in the same area, according to the above-named author. Both parents take a share in the rearing of the young birds, sitting by turns, the one who is thus relieved bringing food to its mate and feeding it out of its crop, which method is also adopted in the care of the young birds. The food of the Grey Parrot is stated to consist of palm-nuts, the arocat (Laurus persea), the banana (Musa paradisea), goyare, mango, and many other fruits of a smaller size; but it always gives the preference to palm-nuts. On Prince’s Island, writes Mr. Keulemans, there is “a very lofty mountain, reaching some 1,200 feet above the level of the sea, and called by the natives ‘Pico de Papagaio,’ or Peak of the Parrots. On the slope of this mountain, and extending far up its side, is a magnificent forest. The trees are of great size and height, and their trunks and branches give support to the lianas and other climbing plants, which hang about them in luxurious folds. The density of the forest is so great that it is only with the greatest difficulty and toil that the explorer can force his way through it; while to the Parrots who come up there every night it presents no obstacle, but gives them, under the shelter of its thick foliage, a secure and pleasant resting-place.”

Another observer in West Africa, Dr. Reichenow, found the Grey Parrot breeding in West Africa in the low-lands along the streams and groves of mangrove, and the great difficulty of traversing these swamps is, according to him, the reason why their breeding habits are not better known. They are very destructive to the crops of Indian corn, which they visit in large flocks, wasting as much as they consume. They proceed to roost in flocks, selecting the same route each night; and Governor Ussher says that, whilst up the river Addo, near Lagos, he has seen them crossing at sunset from their feeding-grounds to their roosting-places, when they presented the appearance of one continuous flock passing at a great distance overhead, their screams and chattering being heard long after darkness has set in. They are said by some travellers to be very good eating, but by others to be only good for soup.

The Grey Parrot in his native haunts is an unsociable bird, and a curious story is told by Dr. Dohrn, and confirmed by Mr. Keulemans, respecting the species in Prince’s Island. As has already been stated, the Parrots are extremely common there, but not a single Kite is met with on the island. On the neighbouring island of St. Thomas there is an abundance of Black Kites but not a single Parrot, between whom and the Kites a constant warfare is waged, so that, should one of the latter get driven over to Prince’s Island he is almost immediately set upon by the Parrots and slaughtered; and the compliment is returned if a Parrot is so unfortunate as to land uninvited on St. Thomas’s. On the coast the chief enemy of the Parrots is the Vulturine Sea-Eagle (Gypohierax angolensis).

The colouring of the Grey Parrot is simple, being of a clear bluish-grey, with a red tail. About the face the skin is white, and covered with a soft, velvety feathering, amongst which there is a plentiful supply of white powder, as any one knows who scratches the head of “Polly.” This powder is present in most of the family, but not to the same degree as in the grey species. The young bird in the nest is stated to have the tail dark-grey instead of red, and it is more of a brownish-grey colour, not so clear as in the old bird, while the iris is grey instead of yellow.

The CONURES (Conurinæ) are the third sub-family of Parrots, and are represented largely in America, only one genus, Palæornis, being found in India and Africa. They have the head devoid of a crest, with a very long graduated tail, and short and weak tarsi. Amongst the best-known species of this sub-family may be mentioned the Great Macaw.

THE ROSE-RINGED PARRAKEET (Palæornis torquatus).

This Parrot is probably the species of which we have the earliest known record, as Onesicritus, who was admiral of the fleet of Alexander the Great, is said to have brought from Ceylon a specimen of a green Parrot with a red neck. Many authors have supposed that the large Alexandrine Parrakeet (Palæornis eupatrius, or Alexandri) was the species referred to, but the habitat of this bird is now known to be the island of Java, and the Rose-ringed Parrakeet is more probably the bird intended. Professor Sundevall, the great authority on Aristotle, believes that the present bird was the only Parrot known to the ancients, being brought into Europe probably from Nubia. Other species were not seen in Europe before the end of the Middle Ages, and the West African species, such as the Senegal Parrot (P. senegalus), in 1455, and the Grey Parrot even later; the latter not being described before Aldrovandus, about the year 1600. American species were brought already in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, and many Indian species after the circumnavigation of Africa about the year 1500. The present bird is common in India and Ceylon, and is, moreover, one of the few species of birds which are common to the Indian Peninsula and the continent of Africa, as it is a well-known bird in Nubia and Abyssinia, and on one occasion a flock has been seen in the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth in the extreme south of the continent. According to Dr. Jerdon, it is one of the most common and familiar birds in India, frequenting cultivated ground and gardens, even in the barest and least wooded parts of the country, and it is habitually found about towns and villages, constantly perching on the house-top. It is very destructive to most kinds of grain, as well as to fruit-gardens. Burgess says that they carry off the ears of corn to trees to devour at leisure, and Jerdon has observed the same sometimes. When the grains are cut and housed it feeds on the ground in the stubble cornfields, also in meadows, picking up what seeds it can; and now and then takes long flights, hunting for any tree that may be in fruit, skimming close and examining every tree; and when it has made a discovery of one in fruit, circling round, and sailing with outspread and down-pointing wings till it alights on the tree. It associates in flocks of various size, sometimes in vast numbers, and generally many hundreds roost together in some garden or grove. At Saugor all the Parrakeets, Mynahs, Crows, Bee-eaters, &c., of the neighbourhood, for some miles around, roost in company in a large grove of bamboos; and the deafening noise heard there from before sunset till dark, and from the first dawn of day till long after sunrise, gives to the listener the idea of numberless noisy steam machines at work. Many of the flocks of Parrots are very late in returning, and fly along quite low, skimming the ground, and just rising over a tree, house, or any obstacle in the way, and, for several nights in succession, several Parrakeets flew against the wall of a house, on the top of a hill in Saugor, and were killed. The Rose-ringed Parrakeet breeds both in holes in trees, and very commonly in the south of India about houses, in holes in old buildings, pagodas, tombs, &c. It lays four white eggs. Its breeding season is from January to March. Adams states that he has seen this Parrakeet pillage the nests of the Sand Martin; but with what intent he does not guess at. Its ordinary flight is rapid, with repeated strokes of the wings, somewhat wavy laterally, or arrowy. It has a harsh cry, which it always repeats when in flight, as well as at other times. Mr. Philipps remarks that the Kite will sometimes swoop down on them when perched on a tree, and carry one off in its talons; also that Owls attack these birds by night.[243]

The length of this species is about sixteen inches and a half. It is green with a black band extending from under the chin backwards nearly to the nape, and having a rose-coloured collar round the hind neck. The bill is cherry-red, the feet greyish, and the iris pale yellow. The female does not possess the rose-coloured collar, but has instead a narrower one of emerald green.

THE CAROLINA CONURE (Conurus carolinensis).

The Conures are inhabitants of the New World, and are very abundant in South America, but one species, the Carolina Conure, penetrating into the Nearctic region above the line of North Mexico. It is a very handsome bird, but is rapidly decreasing in numbers, and becoming restricted in its range, so much so, that in places where it was once plentiful it is now no longer to be found at all. Even in 1842, when Audubon wrote, they were then fast diminishing, and are now confined to the Southern and South-western States, as far west as the Missouri river. The food of the Carolina Conure is stated to consist chiefly of the seeds of the Cockle-burr (Xanthirum strumarium), but it is also very partial to fruit of all kinds, and it is owing to the way in which it has been shot down that it is now so rare, for Mr. Audubon describes the immense damage done by a flock of Conures to stacks of grain, which they covered in such numbers that they presented to the eye the same effect as if a brilliant-coloured carpet had been thrown over them. The farmers resented the attacks on their property to such an extent that the same naturalist states that he has seen hundreds killed in the course of a few hours, the survivors, after each shot, flying round for a few minutes, and then settling again in a place of most imminent danger. Even in confinement the birds seem to develop their destructive propensities, destroying wood, books, and, in short, everything that comes in their way, while from their incapability of talk, and their harsh, disagreeable voices, they are not much esteemed as pets. As Audubon observes, the woods are the habitation best fitted for them, and there the richness of their plumage, their beautiful mode of flight, and even their screams, afford welcome intimation that the darkest forests and most sequestered swamps are not destitute of charms. According to the same observer, they deposit their eggs, without making a nest, in the bottoms of such cavities in trees as those to which they usually retire at night. Many females deposit their eggs together, and he believed that the number laid by each hen bird was two; the eggs were greenish-white, and nearly round, and the young are at first covered with soft down, such as is seen in nestling Owls. The colour of this Parrot is green, the head and neck bright-yellow, and the forehead and region of the eye scarlet; the bill is white, the feet pale flesh-colour, and the iris hazel; the length of the bird being about fourteen inches. The female is like the male, but the young bird has the head green instead of yellow.

THE PARRAKEETS (Platycercinæ).

These form the fourth sub-family, and are remarkable for their slender, smooth tarsus, which is formed as in most birds; and the voice is more agreeable than in the other genera, the members of which, almost without exception, have a harsh and unpleasant cry. They are mostly inhabitants of Australia, whence come several of them well known as cage-birds, such as the King Parrakeet (Platycercus scapulatus), the Rosella, or Rose Parrakeet (P. eximius), and in America they are represented by the single genus Bolborhynchus.

THE OWL PARROT (Strigops[244] habroptilus[245]).

The genus Strigops is the sole representative of the fifth sub-family, the Strigopinæ. It is one of the most remarkable of all the Parrots, and is met with only in New Zealand. The face shows a disc exactly as in the Owls, whence the name, and the wing is very short, convex, and rounded. In its habits this bird is chiefly nocturnal, but not entirely so; the most remarkable fact connected with it being, perhaps, its unwillingness to fly. Thus Dr. Buller, F.R.S., in his excellent work on the “Birds of New Zealand,” writes:--“All who have studied the bird in its natural state agree on this point, that the wings, although sufficiently large and strong, are perfectly useless for purposes of flight, and that the bird merely spreads them to break the force of its fall in descending from a higher point to a lower, when suddenly surprised; in some instances even this use of them is neglected, the bird falling to the ground like a stone. We are naturally led to ask how it is that a bird possessing large and well-formed wings should be found utterly incapable of flight. On removing the skin from the body it is seen that the muscles by means of which the movements of these anterior limbs are regulated are very well developed, but are largely overlaid with fat. The bird is known to be a ground-feeder, with a voracious appetite, and to subsist chiefly on vegetable mosses, which, possessing but little nutriment, require to be eaten in large quantities; and Dr. Haast informs us that he has sometimes seen them with their crops so distended and heavy, that the birds were scarcely able to move. These mosses cover the ground and the roots or trunks of prostrate trees, requiring to be sought for on foot; and the bird’s habit of feeding at night, in a country where there are no indigenous predatory quadrupeds, would render flight a superfluous exertion, and a faculty of no especial advantage in the struggle for existence. Thus it may be reasonably inferred that disuse, under the usual operations of the laws of nature, has occasioned this disability of wing; for there is no physiological reason why the Kakapo should not be as good a flier as any other Parrot.”

The Kakapo, as it is called in New Zealand, meaning a “Night Parrot,” is becoming rarer every year, as the places which it affects become more and more accessible to the colonists. From the long accounts of its habits given in Dr. Buller’s work, the following note of Dr. Haast is selected, as it gives a good idea of the habits of this singular species:--“So little is known of this solitary inhabitant of our primæval forests, that the following short narrative of observations, which I was fortunate enough to make during my recent West Coast journey, may interest you. Although I was travelling almost continuously for several years in the interior of these islands, it was only during my last journey that I was enabled to study its natural history. I was well acquainted with its call, and had often observed its tracks in the sands of the river-beds and in the fresh-fallen snow, but I had not actually seen it. The principal reason for this was, that formerly I had no dog with me; and consequently it would only be by the greatest accident that this bird, not at all rare in those untrodden regions, could be obtained. The true habitat of the Kakapo is the mossy Fagus forest, near mountain streams, with occasional grassy plots; but it also lives both on the hill-sides, amongst enormous blocks of rock, mostly overgrown with roots of trees and a deep covering of moss, and on wooded flats along the banks of the larger rivers, liable to be inundated by heavy rainfalls or by the sudden melting of the snow.... It is a striking fact, that--with the exception only of the valley of the river Makarora, forming Lake Wanaka--I never found the Kakapo on the eastern side of the Alps, although extensive Fagus forests exist there also. It appears to have crossed the main chain at the low wooded pass which leads from the source of the Haast to that of the Makarora, and reached the mouth of this river at Lake Wanaka, where probably the absence of forest put a stop to its farther advance. It is very abundant in the valley of the last-mentioned river, and is found even in the Makarora bush, notwithstanding that numerous sawyers are at work there. When camped on the borders of that forest we continually heard its call near our tents; but none of the sawyers had any idea of the existence of such a large bird in their neighbourhood, although the irregular shrill call had sometimes attracted their attention. It also occurs in the valley of the Wilkin, but is less numerous there, which may be accounted for by the existence of wild dogs in this locality. We may therefore safely assume that from the junction of this river with the Makarora the Kakapo ascended toward the sources of the former. In the valley of the Hunter, only divided by a mountain-range of great altitude but with some low saddles, no sign of it was to be observed, although large Fagus forests would appear to offer a propitious abode. This bird has hitherto been pronounced to be of true nocturnal habits; but I think, from observations I was able to make, that this opinion ought to be somewhat modified. It is true that generally an hour after sunset, the dense foliage of the forest giving additional darkness to the country, its call began to be heard all around us. It then commenced to rove about, and, attracted by the glare of our camp-fire, frequently came close to our tent, when the heedless bird was immediately caught by our dog. But as we met with it on two occasions in the daytime, occupied in feeding, and as I observed that it knew and understood perfectly well the danger which approached, we may assume that it has, at least in this respect, some relation to diurnal birds. In order to show why I come to this conclusion, I will particularise the two occurrences I have mentioned, as they appear to bear directly upon some other important points in the structure of this bird. When returning from the West Coast, we observed in the afternoon (the sky being clouded) a Kakapo sitting on the prostrate trunk of a tree in the open forest. When about ten yards from it, the bird observed us, and disappeared instantly in its hole, whence, with the aid of the dog, we afterwards took it. It is clear that in this case the bird was not overtaken by the coming day when far from its abode, but that it left its retreat voluntarily during daylight. The second instance I shall mention is more striking, and shows that the Kakapo feeds also during the day. It was towards evening, but still broad daylight, when we passed along the hill-side near a deep rocky gorge, and saw a large Kakapo sitting on a low fuchsia-tree, about ten feet from the ground, feeding on the berries. When close to it, the bird saw us, and instantly dropped down as if shot, and disappeared amongst the huge fragments of rocks strewed along the hill-side. But the most remarkable circumstance was, that the frightened bird did not open its wings to break its fall, but dropped as if it did not possess any wings at all. In order to see whether they would fly, or even flutter, when pursued by an enemy, I placed on the ground a full-grown specimen, which had been caught by the dog without being hurt. It was on a large shingle-bed, so that the bird had ample room for running or rising on the wing, if for this purpose it wanted space. I was not a little astonished to observe that it only started running towards the nearest point of the forest, where a dark shadow was apparent, and it went quicker than I had anticipated, considering the position of its toes and its clumsy figure, its gait resembling closely that of a Gallinaceous bird in its movements. As I was standing sideways to it, I thought that it kept its wings closed upon its body, so little were they opened; but my companion, who was equally anxious to see how our prisoner would try to escape, and who stood a little behind it, observed that it opened its wings slightly, but without flapping them in any degree, using them apparently more for keeping its balance than for accelerating its movements. This would almost lead to the conclusion that the Kakapo does not travel far, especially as I have already shown that its whole structure is ill adapted for running. But having myself frequently followed its tracks, and found them to extend a great distance over the sandy reaches along the river, such a conclusion as that suggested above would be erroneous. It must be exceedingly fond of water, because in many localities its tracks were observed for half a mile over shingle and sand to the banks of the river; and I am unable to explain the curious fact, unless the object be to mix river water with the enormous mass of pulpy vegetable matter which is to be found in its crop. With the exception of two specimens, the crops of which were filled with the large berries of a small-leaved Coriaria, by which their flesh was flavoured, all the birds examined by me had their crops widely distended by a mass of finely-comminuted vegetable mosses, weighing many ounces.

“I carefully examined the subterranean abode of this bird. From the account given by the natives, I thought that it would be found living in well-excavated holes, resembling in their construction those of the Fox or Badger; that the entrance would be so small as to enable only the inhabitants to enter, and thus to exclude larger animals from persecuting it. This, however, is not the case; because, with one exception, all the specimens obtained were either in fissures amongst rocks, or in cavities formed by huge blocks tumbled one over another, and overgrown with moss, or in holes formed by the roots of decayed trees. The cavities in the rocks were generally sufficiently large to allow of my dog, a good-sized Retriever, freely entering them. The openings to the other holes were smaller, and it was sometimes necessary to cut away a few roots at the entrance. Inside, the cavity was invariably of very large size, because we could plainly hear the dog advancing several yards before commencing his scuffle with the occupant; and on returning with the bird in his mouth, he always emerged head foremost, thus proving that the chamber was large enough to enable him to turn himself round. Before he had become accustomed to the work, the dog was often punished severely by the bird’s powerful beak and claws; but he ultimately became quite an expert, always seizing his prey by the head and crushing the skull.

“The holes or abodes of the Kakapo were not only on the mountain sides, but also on the flats near the river banks which are liable to be overflowed. There can be no doubt that when a sudden inundation takes place the bird can save itself upon a bush or neighbouring tree. I do not think, however, that it can climb the boles of standing trees, because it never resorted to them during the night or when persecuted by the dog--except in one single case, when the bird ascended a leaning tree close to our camp, and remained till the dog had given up the attempt to obtain it. But, notwithstanding that almost all the abodes that came under examination were natural cavities, I met with one hole that seemed to have been regularly mined. On the northern bank of the river Haast, just below the junction of the river Clarke, a large flat occurs, formed by deposits of sand, over which a thin layer of vegetable mould is spread, and on which a luxuriant vegetation has sprung up. The river, in washing against these deposits, has in some cases formed nearly perpendicular banks, about six to eight feet high. At one spot, about two feet below the surface, several rounded holes were observed, and the dog tried in vain to enter them. After carefully scenting the ground, he began to scratch the surface with his paws, and soon succeeded in widening the entrance sufficiently to admit his body, and he immediately afterwards emerged with the bird in his mouth. There is no doubt in my own mind that this hole at least had been excavated; and the burrowing faculty of the bird may be considered so far established. On a flat in the valley of the Makarora, the dog brought one from the interior of a hollow drift-tree, which was lying amongst sedges and grasses in an old river channel. There never was more than one individual in the hole, although very often, within twenty or thirty yards of it, another specimen would be scented out by the dog, the two being generally of opposite sexes. At night-time, in visiting our camp fire, they generally came in pairs, the two being successively caught by my dog, a single or sometimes a repeated angry growl from the bird informing us that he had hold of it. These circumstances lead me to conclude that during the day each inhabits separately its own hole, and that only after dark do they meet for feeding and for social intercourse.”

In size, the Owl Parrot is about twenty-six inches in length, and is of a dark sap-green colour, varied and mottled with dark brown and yellow; the face is lighter, being darker brown, the ear-coverts mixed with yellow; the belly and under tail-coverts, as well as the wing-lining, are rather brighter yellow than the rest of the under surface. The tint of green varies a good deal: from light yellowish to dark sap-green.

THE STRAIGHT-BILLED PARROTS (Psittaci orthognathi).[246]

In this second section of the Parrots only one family is known, all the members of which are easily recognisable by their straightened bills, the lower mandible being gently compressed, and not bulged out, with a nearly straight tip, the cutting edges with scarcely any indentation. With the exception of the Lorikeets (Loriculus), members of which are found in India and the Indo-Malayan region, the whole family is Australian, being confined to that continent and the adjacent Molucca Islands, New Zealand, and the islands of Polynesia.

THE BRUSH-TONGUED PARROTS.[247]

The Brush-tongued Lorikeets are all birds of very beautiful colouring, and are mostly found in Australia, the Moluccas, some few species extending through the Oceanic Islands. All seem to be very similar in their habits, an account of which is given by Mr. Gould. He says:--“This arboreal group of honey-eating Lorikeets, if not so numerous in species as the seed-feeding Parrakeets, is individually as abundant, and more universally dispersed, being found in every part of Australia yet visited. In their structure, habits, food, and mode of nidification, no two groups of the same family can be more widely different than these forms: the pencilled tongue, the diminutive stomach, thick skin, tough flesh, and fœtid odour of the Trichoglossi presenting a decided contrast to the simple tongue, capacious crop and stomach, thin skin, delicate flesh, and freedom from odour of the Platycerci; besides which, the Trichoglossi possess a strong os furcatorium, which bone is wanting in the Platycerci. Hence, while the Trichoglossi are powerful, swift, and arrow-like in their flight, the Platycerci are feeble, pass through the air in a succession of undulations near the ground, and never fly to any great distance. The mode in which the two groups approach, alight upon, and quit the trees is also remarkably different--the Trichoglossi dashing among and alighting upon the branches simultaneously and with the utmost rapidity, and quitting them in like manner, leaving the deafening sound of their thousand voices echoing through the woods; while the Platycerci rise to the branch after their undulating flight, and leave them again in a quiet manner, no sound being heard but their inward piping note. The eggs of the Trichoglossi are from two to four in number; those of the others are more numerous.”

THE NESTORS (Nestor).

These Parrots, which are only found in New Zealand, are generally placed with the other Brush-tongued Parrots. “In all Parrots the fleshy tongue ends anteriorly in a dilated portion, supported by a narrower neck. This tip is much like the end of a human finger, as mentioned by most observers; and its function is similar also, for it is employed by the bird as a third prehensile organ in connection with the upper and lower beak, any solid substance being held by the tongue and upper beak, while the mandible is freed to give another bite. Continuing the simile of the finger, the tip is directed forwards with the nail-like portion downwards, the part corresponding to the free edge of the nail appearing along the lower margin of the anterior rounded surface.[248] In the Trichoglossi, this ‘nail,’ or horny plate, is stated to be present; but on the superior surface of the tongue, between the lateral edges of the unguis, or nail, there is an arrangement of retroverted papillæ, forming a spinous covering, and their mechanism is such that when the tongue is protruded beyond the mouth to grasp any object, the papillæ stand upright, or are even directed somewhat forward. In Nestor,” continues Professor Garrod, “there are no papillæ of this description; but the tongue is here, as Dr. Buller says, ‘soft, rounded on the edges, with a broad central groove,’ and it is as smooth as in other Parrots. Therefore, the Kaka Parrot cannot in this point be said to approach the Trichoglossini (badly so called). The peculiarity of the tongue of Nestor consists in the fact that the interior edge of the unguis, or nail, always free (though for a very short distance) and jagged in the other birds of the class, is here prolonged forwards beyond the tips of the tongue for about one-tenth of an inch, as a delicate fringe of hairs with a crescentic contour. In the living bird the mouth is moist, as in the Lories, and not, as in the Cockatoos and others, dry and scaly.”

The members of the genus Nestor are entirely confined to New Zealand, the species of Philip Island (Nestor productus) being now extinct. Their habits, like those of all New Zealand birds, are sufficiently curious, one of them, known as the “Kea” (N. notabilis), actually feeding on raw flesh, as is noticed by Dr. Buller:--“Those that frequent the sheep stations appear to live almost exclusively on flesh. They claim the sheep’s heads that are thrown out from the slaughter-shed, and pick them perfectly clean, leaving nothing but the bones.” An eye-witness described this operation to Dr. Hector as follows:--“Perching itself on the sheep’s head or other offal, the bird proceeds to tear off the skin and flesh, devouring it piecemeal, after the manner of a Hawk; or at other times holding the object down with one foot, and with the other grasping the portion it was eating, after the ordinary fashion of Parrots.” Dr. Buller also mentions instances of tame Parrots devouring their comrades in captivity; but the Kea is the only Parrot known to eat flesh when flying wild.

THE KAKA PARROT (Nestor meridionalis).

This Parrot is best described by the above-named ornithologist in the work on the Birds of New Zealand, to which frequent reference has been made in these pages:--“Sprightly in its actions, eminently social, and more noisy than any other inhabitant of the woods, the Kaka holds a prominent place among our native birds. Being semi-nocturnal in its habits, it generally remains quiet and concealed during the heat of the day. If, however, the sportsman should happen to find a stray one, and to wound instead of killing it, its cries of distress will immediately rouse the whole fraternity from their slumbers, and all the Kakas within hearing will come to the rescue, and make the forest echo with their discordant screams. Unless, however, disturbed by some exciting cause of this sort, they remain in close cover till the approach of the cooler hours. Then they come forth with noisy clamour, and may be seen, far above the tree-tops, winging their way to some favourite feeding-place; or they may be observed climbing up the rough vine-clad boles of the trees, freely using their powerful mandibles, and assuming every variety of attitude, or diligently tearing open the dead roots of the close epiphytic vegetation in their eager search for insects and their larvæ. In the spring and summer, when the woods are full of wild blossom and berry, these birds have a prodigality of food, and may be seen alternately filling their crops with a variety of juicy berries, or sucking nectar from the crimson flowers of the rata (Metrosideros robusta) by means of their brush-fringed tongues. With the earliest streaks of dawn, and while the underwoods are still wrapped in darkness, the wild cry of this bird breaks upon the ear with a strange effect. It is the sound that wakes the weary traveller encamped in the bush; and the announcement of his ever active Maori attendant--‘Kua tangi te Kaka’--is an intimation that it is time to be active. But although habitually recluse during the day, it is not always so.

“During gloomy weather it is often very active; and sometimes even in the bright sunshine a score of them may be seen together, flying and circling about high above the tree-tops, uttering their loud screams, and apparently bent on convivial amusement. When the shades of evening bring a deeper gloom into the depths of the forest, and all sounds are hushed, save the low hoot of the waking Morepork, or the occasional cheep-cheep of the startled Robin, the Kaka becomes more animated. It may then be heard calling to its fellows in a harsh rasping note, something like the syllables ‘t-chrut, t-chrut,’ or indulging in a clear musical whistle with a short refrain. It is strictly arboreal in its habits, and subsists to a large extent on insects and their larvæ, so that it is probably one of our most useful species. Where they exist in large numbers they must act very beneficially on the timber forests; for in the domain of Nature important results are often produced by apparently trivial agencies. Like all the honey-eaters, while supplying their own wants, they do good service with their brush tongues by fertilising the blossoms of various trees, and thus assisting in their propagation; while, on the other hand, the diligent search they prosecute for insects and grubs, and the countless numbers daily consumed by each individual, must materially affect the economy of the native woods. On this latter point Mr. Potts has furnished the following valuable note:--‘Although so often accused of injuring trees by stripping down the bark, from careful observation we do not believe a flourishing tree is ever damaged by its beak. It is the apparently vigorous, but really unsound, tree that is attacked, already doomed by the presence of countless multitudes of insects of many varieties, of which it is at once the food and refuge, either in their perfect or larval state. In the persevering and laborious pursuit of this favourite food, the Kaka doubtless lends his assistance in hastening the fall of decaying trees; the loosened strips of bark dissevered admit to the exposed wood rain and moisture collected from dews and mists, to be dried by evaporation by the heat of the sun, by the desiccating winds, only to become saturated again. Under this alternation the insidious fungi take root, decay rapidly sets in, the close-grained timber gives place to a soft spongy texture, branches drop off, and gradually the once noble-looking tree succumbs to its fate; but its gradual decay and fall, the work of years, has proved beneficial to the surrounding plants: the dropping of the branches admits light and air to the aspiring saplings, assists in checking the undue spread of lichens and epiphytes; and when the old stem falls, tottering down from its very rottenness, its place is supplied by vigorous successors.’

“In estimating the value of the labours of the Kaka as an insect-eater, it should not be forgotten that the family of Woodpeckers is entirely absent from our bird-fauna, and that upon this indefatigable climber devolves some share of the duty of representing that peculiar group of forest birds. How diligently the insects are sought for by the Kaka may be judged from the heaps of bark chips that lie beneath the decaying trees. Often it may be noticed on the ground tearing away the mossy clothing of the huge gnarled roots that spread around; even the soft rotten boughs are gnawed to obtain the larvæ of some of the larger bush insects.”

The Nestors vary immensely in colour, so that many of the plumages now known to be only occasional varieties have been supposed to be specifically distinct. They are birds of large size, and have the cere, or fleshy portion at the base of the bill, rather strongly developed, the bill being large and powerful. The colour is of an olivaceous brown, with a dash of dark red, the crown grey, and the ear-coverts shaded with orange, the cheeks with dark red, as also are the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts and abdomen.

The structure of the bill of the Parrots is so remarkable as to be worthy of a more extended description than could be given to it when it was incidentally referred to in our account of the osteology of birds in general. The way, however, in which the upper and lower jaws are connected with the skull was there explained, and a reference to the description on pp. 241-2 will save the necessity of much repetition now. That account embraced all members of the class of birds; here we are dealing only with certain peculiar modifications.

If the skull of an adult bird of any familiar type, such as a Crow, be examined, it will be seen that the bones of the upper jaw are apparently continuous, and form one piece, with those of the forehead and sides of the head. There is nothing that looks like a joint, or “articulation,” between the bill where it is attached to the forehead above, or to the long jugal arch (“quadrato-jugal”) that runs each side to reach the quadrate bone, or to the flattened bones that help to form the palate below. But if the skull of this same bird had been carefully examined in an earlier stage of its existence, it would have been found that the bones were at first distinctly separate at the three points here indicated, and were merely connected by a soft membranous substance. In many birds this “inter-osseous” membrane connecting the bones of the upper mandible with the skull proper never becomes true bone at all, but remains throughout life more or less soft and flexible. And by this means a sort of elastic joint is established, conferring upon the beak a certain range of up and down motion.

Now in Parrots, more conspicuously than in any other birds, each of these joints, not alone that of the beak with the forehead, is converted into a true hinge-like articulation, so that the upper jaw can be raised to a very considerable extent; and to effect this motion the muscles of the palate are developed into a somewhat complex apparatus.

If the figure be examined, the actual relations of the bones can be readily made out. At a is seen the line where the bill is articulated to the frontal bones. At b is the joint which the bill makes with the long jugal bone (j). And at c is its articulation with the palatine bone (pl).

But it is not this mobility of the upper mandible alone that gives the characteristic aspect to the Parrot’s face. There are several other points in which Parrots agree, with a wonderful uniformity, among themselves, and differ from most other birds. Besides the absence of certain important processes, called “basi-pterygoid,” the ploughshare-like bone, or “vomer,” is altogether wanting. The maxillo-palatines are very largely developed and spongy; they unite with one another in the middle line, and with the thick wall of bone into which the septum nasi is in Parrots strongly ossified, and thus fill up almost the whole base of the beak. The long palatine bones proper are remarkably flattened from side to side for most of their length; their hinder edges are more or less notched, and quite free from any bony attachment; and they are united at about the hinder third of their length by a plate-like extension from each. The scoop-like lower mandible, with its tip that seems to have been cut off “square,” to be out of the way of the strongly-hooked upper jaw, is too familiar to call for any particular description.

THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER I.--ZYGODACTYLÆ.

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Chapter VIII

CUCKOOS--HONEY GUIDES--PLANTAIN-EATERS--WOODPECKERS--TOUCANS--BARBETS.

THE CUCKOOS--THE BUSH CUCKOOS--THE LARK-HEELED CUCKOOS, OR COUCALS--THE COMMON CUCKOO--Its Characteristics--Mrs. Blackburn’s Account of a Young Cuckoo Ejecting a Tenant--Breeding Habits--The Eggs--The Call-notes of Male and Female--Food--Its Winter Home--Its Appearance and Plumage--THE HONEY GUIDES--Kirk’s Account of their Habits--Mrs. Barber’s Refutation of a Calumny against the Bird--THE PLANTAIN-EATERS--THE WHITE-CRESTED PLANTAIN-EATER--THE GREY PLANTAIN-EATER--THE COLIES--THE WHITE-BACKED COLY--THE WOODPECKERS--How they Climb and Descend Trees--Their Bill--Do they Damage Sound Trees?--THE WRYNECKS--THE YAFFLE--THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER--THE SPOTTED WOODPECKER--THE TOUCANS--Mr. Gould’s Account of their Habits--Mr. Waterton’s Account--The Enormous Bill--Azara’s Description of the Bird--Mr. Bates’ History of a Tame Toucan--THE BARBETS--Messrs. Marshall’s Account of the Family--Mr. Layard on their Habits.

THE SECOND ORDER OF ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.--THE CUCKOOS (Cuculidæ).

Within the limits of this family are comprised birds of very different habits and of very different structure, some being inhabitants of the ground and of the thick bush, whilst others are lovers of the open, and are birds of very strong flight. Without being able to climb up the trunks of trees, like our Woodpeckers, the Cuckoos possess the zygodactyle foot of the climbing bird in a very perfect degree. They differ from others of the Scansorial group by the position of the nostrils, which are placed rather low in the upper mandible, not far from the cutting edge of it. There are three sub-families of Cuckoos, distinguished by the form of the wing: the first of these has the wings short, rounded, and with from two to six, or even seven, of the primaries slightly indented in the middle. They have the feathers of the thigh close-set, and not over-hanging like those of a Hawk, as is the case with the true Cuckoos.

THE BUSH CUCKOOS (Phænicophæinæ).

These birds have representatives in India, Australia, and Africa, and even South America. Some of them are of very varied and beautiful plumages, and many of them reach the size of a moderate game-bird. The first genus of these Bush Cuckoos contains

THE LARK-HEELED CUCKOOS, OR COUCALS (Centropus).

These are remarkable for the form of the hind toe, which is furnished with a straight nail or claw, very strong, always equalling and often surpassing the length of the hind toe itself. These Lark-heeled Cuckoos do not occur in Europe, but are found all over Africa, India, and Burmah, to China, and throughout the Malayan Archipelago to Australia. They frequent the thick bush, and have a very similar call-note, which has been rendered by some observers as resembling the syllables “bop bop,” while on the West Coast of Africa, from their cry “hoot, hoot,” they have been nicknamed by the colonists the “Scotchman.” Writing of the Eyebrowed Lark-heel, Mr. Thomas Ayres says:--“This bird frequents the dense bush, and principally lives amongst impenetrable creepers, where it hunts about in search of the insects which it feeds upon; if disturbed, it flies but a short distance. The note is a loud, melancholy, cooing noise; they call most in wet weather. They are fond of getting up into trees that are covered with creeping plants, and sunning themselves; they generally fly on to the lower part, and then gradually hop upwards till they gain the top, but they can fly a very short distance at a time, and are easily caught if chased out into the open grass, though they lie very close, and it requires a good dog to find them. If disturbed, they immediately fly to the thickest cover near at hand, and commence running, like the Rails.” Mr. Ayres says that they feed on Grasshoppers, Caterpillars, and other insects; but Mr. Rickard, another excellent field naturalist, in South Africa has found a small Snake and Locusts in their stomachs, one having a small bird--a White-eye (Zosterops)--inside him. The Lark-heeled Cuckoos are not parasitic, like the true Cuckoos and many others: that is to say, they build their own nests, and do not employ the nests of other birds to place their eggs in. When hatched, the young birds are very curious, being covered with long hairs and bristles. In colour the Lark-heels are for the most part rufous, with black heads, but some of them are almost entirely rufous, the shafts of all the feathers much stiffened, so that the plumage lies very close, which must be of advantage to birds who have to climb a great deal amongst the lianas and creepers of tropical forests.

Of the Indian Coucal (Centropus bengalensis) an interesting account is given by Mr. Gammie, which affords a very good idea of the habits of these Bush Cuckoos. He says:--“This species has increased largely of late. Among grassy scrub, up to 3,500 feet, it is now abundant, where, only a few years ago, it was rarely to be found. In the earlier part of the rainy season its odd, monotonous notes are to be heard in every direction. I am not sure that the male calls, but have shot the female--as I found by dissection--when calling. It has a call of a double series of notes: ‘whoot, whoot, whoot, whoot;’ then, after a pause of four or five seconds, ‘kurook, kurook, kurook, kurook.’ The ‘whoot’ is quite ventriloquistic, sounding as if it came from a distance of six or seven yards from the bird. Before calling, it seats itself about five feet from the ground; then you see it draw its neck and body together, slightly puffing out its body-feathers, raising its back, and depressing its tail, and for every ‘whoot’ there is a violent throb of the body, as if the bird was in great pain; at the same time the motion of the throat is scarcely perceptible, and its bill is closed. Then, as if greatly relieved, it stretches itself out, the feathers fall smooth, and with open mouth and throbbing throat comes the ‘kurook,’ without the slightest attempt at ventriloquism. When searching for the caller, one must take no notice of the ‘whoot,’ but wait for the ‘kurook.’ It feeds almost entirely on Grasshoppers, and frequents the open, scrubby tracts only. I have never once seen it in larger forests.”[249]

The Malkohas are another remarkable group of the Bush Cuckoos, and are found throughout India, Ceylon, the Indo-Malayan region and islands, as far as the Celebes. The genera differ principally in the shape of the nostril; and although differences of structure are usually considered sufficient characters on which to found distinctions of genus, some ornithologists are of opinion that the variation in the form of the nostril only separates them as species. One of the most remarkable of these Bush Cuckoos is the Carpococcyx radiatus of Borneo, which, when alive, is stated by Mr. Wallace to resemble a Pheasant in appearance and gait. It lives much on the ground, and is often caught by the Malays in the snares which they set for Argus Pheasants and other game-birds. In Madagascar they are represented by the Couas (Sericosomus), of which there are no less than ten species found in that island. They are the inhabitants of the Palestrina forests, where their monotonous notes are often heard. The cry of the Blue Cuckoo is said by Messrs. Pollen and Van Dam to resemble the syllables cir-cir-cir, while that of the Crested Coua (S. cristatus) is toc-toc-toc. When calling, the latter bird raises its crest and flaps its tail and wings. Its flight is difficult and generally descending, and the bird never flaps its wings when it flies. It is ordinarily seen on the lower branches of the trees, and loves to repose during the great heat of the day in the sheltered parts of the trees, resting on the branches and puffing out its feathers.

In America there are several allied forms of Bush Cuckoos, many of which frequent the ground, one of the most interesting being the Geococcyx californianus, which is called the “Road-runner,” and is a bird of such powers of running that it is sometimes hunted on horseback and pursued with hounds, a test of fleetness in which it is said often to make a longer race than its pursuers anticipated.

THE COMMON CUCKOO (Cuculus canorus).

The true Cuckoos, of which the English bird is the type, differ from the Bush Cuckoos in being more Accipitrine, or Hawk-like, in their appearance, and having long thigh-feathers, like the majority of the birds of prey. The nostril is swollen and rounded. It would be easy to write a complete book on this mysterious bird, whose habits and cry have rendered it an object of interest in all countries and from very early times. The popular superstition concerning the nestling--that the young Cuckoo, when sufficiently grown, and having no further use for the little foster-parent to whose care it owed its life and well-being, used to devour the latter--has often been held up as an “awful example” to ungrateful children who become a burden and a shame to their parents when they are unable to provide for them any longer. The idea of the young Cuckoo devouring its protector is no doubt erroneous, and, as Brehm puts it, has arisen from the oft-recurring spectacle of a little Wren or a diminutive Gold-crest placing food in the wide-gaping mouth of the young Cuckoo, which, indeed, without much stretch of the imagination, might swallow it. In Mr. Gould’s “Birds of Great Britain” there is a picture showing the dénouement of the young Cuckoo’s story, when, still callow and blind, it is represented as disposing of some unfortunate little Tree Pipits which were hatched along with it in the same nest. This incident was sketched by Mrs. Hugh Blackburn, who thus describes the occurrence:--“The nest (which we watched last June, after finding the Cuckoo’s egg in it) was that of the common Meadow Pipit (Titlark, Mosscheeper), and had two Pipit’s eggs besides that of the Cuckoo. It was below a heather bush on the declivity of a low abrupt bank or highland hill-side, in Moidart. At one visit the Pipits were found to be hatched, but not the Cuckoo. At the next visit, which was after an interval of forty-eight hours, we found the young Cuckoo alone in the nest, and both the young Pipits lying down the bank, about ten inches from the margin of the nest, but quite lively after being warmed in the hand. They were replaced in the nest beside the Cuckoo, which struggled about till it got its back under one of them, when it climbed backwards directly up the open side of the nest, and hitched the Pipit from its back on to the edge. It then stood quite upright on its legs, which were straddled wide apart, with the claws firmly fixed half-way down the inside of the nest among the interlacing fibres of which the nest was woven, and stretching its wings apart and backwards, it elbowed the Pipit fairly over the margin so far that its struggles took it down the bank instead of back into the nest. After this the Cuckoo stood a minute or two, feeling back with its wings, as if to make sure that the Pipit was fairly overboard, and then subsided into the bottom of the nest. As it was getting late, and the Cuckoo did not immediately set to work on the other nestling, I replaced the ejected one and went home. On returning next day, both nestlings were found dead and cold out of the nest. I replaced one of them, but the Cuckoo made no effort to get under it and eject it, but seated itself contentedly on the top of it. All this I find accords accurately with Jenner’s description of what he saw. But what struck me most was this: the Cuckoo was perfectly naked, without the vestige of a feather, or even a hint of future feathers; its eyes were not yet opened, and its neck seemed too weak to support the weight of its head. The Pipits had well-developed quills on the wings and back, and had bright eyes, partially open; yet they seemed quite helpless under the manipulations of the Cuckoo, which looked a much less developed creature. The Cuckoo’s legs, however, seemed very muscular, and it appeared to feel about with its wings, which were absolutely featherless, as with hands; the spurious wing (unusually large in proportion) looked like a spread-out thumb. The most singular thing of all was the direct purpose with which the blind little monster made for the open side of the nest, the only part where it could throw its burden down the bank. I think all the spectators felt the sort of horror and awe at the apparent inadequacy of the creature’s intelligence to its acts that one might have felt at seeing a toothless hag raise a ghost by an incantation. It was horribly ‘uncanny’ and ‘gruesome!’”

The above account of Mrs. Blackburn’s graphically describes the ejection of its foster-brothers and sisters by the nestling Cuckoo; and this brings us to the next part of the subject, viz., the breeding habits of this curious bird. As is well known of the hen bird, it never makes its own nest, but it is believed that during its stay in Europe it lays altogether about eight eggs, all of which are deposited in the nest of some other bird. The variation in the colour of the Cuckoo’s eggs is very great, from a white speckled egg, like that of the Water Wagtail, or the dark brown mottled egg of a Lark or Pipit, to the blue egg of the Hedge Sparrow; while Mr. Dresser states that he has seen even green eggs, and is of opinion that the same female will lay similarly coloured eggs. The researches of ornithologists during recent years sufficiently prove that the female Cuckoo lays her egg upon the ground, and then deposits it in the nest of a bird whose egg resembles the one she has just laid; hence it is probable that a hen Cuckoo killed with a broken egg in its mouth is the rightful owner of the latter, and has not been sucking the eggs of some other bird, as the species is often supposed to do. The writer has on many occasions found Cuckoos’ eggs in the nest of the Water Wagtail in Berkshire, the latter bird being frequently selected by the Cuckoo as her victim; and he can affirm that the eggs were in all cases similar to those of the Wagtail, but were a little larger in size. In due time the young Cuckoo is hatched, the rightful owners of the nest ejected, and for weeks the powers of the unhappy foster-parents are exercised to the utmost in feeding the gaping and constantly-complaining occupant of their domain. Even when the young Cuckoo has outgrown the nest, and is strong enough to fly about, he is still attended by his foster-parents. So great is the instinct of the young Cuckoo to receive food from other birds, that a specimen in the Zoological Gardens which managed to live through the winter and put on his full plumage in the following spring, on the appearance of a Hedge Sparrow in the same aviary, fluttered down, and with drooping wings and open bill solicited food from his small companion.

The reason for the parasitic habits of the Cuckoo is hard to discover, but it appears probable that the number of males greatly exceeds that of the females, and one observer has calculated that the preponderance of the former sex over the latter is as much as twenty-five to one. This would seem to be too large an estimate, but the proportion is probably about five males to one female. The latter may not only be distinguished by its somewhat darker plumage, and a certain red colour on the chest (which is more apparent when the bird is alive), but has a somewhat different note from that of her mate, and calls cuckoo in a much sharper and less emphasised way than the male bird. Thus, if the call of the female be represented by the syllables cŭck-oo, the responsive utterance of the male would be coo-coo. The female has also another call-note, which may be described as “whittling,” and is well expressed by Brehm as kwikwikwik, the sound of which is quite sufficient to set all the male Cuckoos within hearing cuckoo-ing with might and main. Thus it happened to the writer, on a still, quiet evening in spring a few years ago, to be fishing beneath a large elm-tree on the river Thames, when a female Cuckoo flew into the topmost boughs and uttered her peculiar note. From four different points of the compass she was answered by male birds, who one and all directed their flight toward the tree where she was perched. A tremendous scrimmage ensued, and apparently a fight took place, but, being suddenly alarmed, they all took flight in different directions. It is certain that during the breeding season the Cuckoo is a very passionate bird, and loves to call until, from sheer hoarseness, he is obliged to stop; sometimes his cry comes from the middle of a thickly-wooded tree, at other times he will sit on a bare dead branch, or swing in the breeze from the top of a fir-tree. The female bird is more retiring and keeps nearer the ground, so that it is possible to shoot her by hiding behind a tree as she hunts after insects near one of their favourite haunts. The same plurality of males has been observed by the author during the spring at Avington Park, in Hampshire; and on one occasion, when the female was shot, the note of the males was scarcely heard again, as if they had disappeared from the vicinity.

Brehm remarks:[250] “The note itself, and the manner in which it is emitted, are typical of the bird’s habits and character. The same abruptness, insatiability, eagerness, the same rage, are noticeable in its whole conduct. The Cuckoo is a greedy feeder, and a discontented, ill-conditioned, passionate fellow: in short, a decidedly unamiable bird. Its food consists entirely of insects and their larvæ; young Cuckoos, alone, will sometimes eat berries; Cockchafers, Fern-beetles, Moths, and Dragon-flies are favourite morsels, and Caterpillars (especially the hairy species, which no other birds ever devour) being preferred. The hairs of these creatures cling so close to the inner membranes of the stomach that the use of the magnifying glass is necessary to convince one that they do not form part and parcel of that organ. Its keen sight enables the Cuckoo to see Caterpillars from a great distance, when it flies quickly to the spot, seizes them, and returns to its perch, without spending much time over the operation or climbing about after them. The bird is so constantly on the move that it always manages to obtain sufficient food--which is saying a great deal, for its stomach is large and its powers of digestion almost unlimited. Thus it would be a most useful bird, did it not cause so much damage while breeding.”

The Cuckoo resembles a Hawk so much in flight that even a practised eye sometimes fails to distinguish it from a Kestrel at first sight. There is, however, a certain pointed look about the body of the bird which distinguishes it from a Hawk; if near enough, the flat, obtuse head of the latter making the bird appear as if it had no head at all.

Lastly, one word as to the winter home of the Cuckoo. It is always known in England as the “harbinger of spring,” and with the exception of the Swift, who very rarely makes a mistake in the period of his advent, there is no bird whose arrival may be considered so certain a sign of that genial season of the year. Just as the Swifts, however, sometimes come in for some cold weather, which proves fatal to many of them, so the Cuckoos have been known to have been detained by cold winds in the south of England, where they have remained in flocks until the weather was more seasonable and they could distribute themselves over the country. They are seldom heard of in the height of summer; and, as the old rhyme says, “in June he changes his tune, in August go he must.” And it seems certain that this bird leaves England early in that month, but not entirely, as young birds--perhaps the later offspring--are seen as late as September. The old ones arrive in Egypt on their way south before the young birds, which are somewhat later; and in Berkshire the writer shot three young Cuckoos during the first week in August, a few years ago, out of a flock of birds on migration, which, like himself, had apparently taken shelter under a wood from an approaching thunderstorm. These specimens are now in the British Museum, and are of slightly different ages. The Cuckoo is a well-known bird at the Cape of Good Hope during the English winter, and specimens are in the national collection. It is much rarer on the west coast of Africa, but was shot by Governor Ussher near Cape Coast Castle, evidently on migration. The main route of the birds visiting the Cape in winter is, however, evidently down the Nile Valley and along the east coast to the Cape Colony and South Africa generally. A second line of migration extends to India, and it probably goes further, and has been found in the island of Celebes. In Asia, however, and Australia, there are several species of Cuckoo, very like the English bird, but smaller and differing in voice, which have not been sufficiently studied to enable one to say whether they are actually distinct or not.

The Cuckoo when adult is ashy-grey, with a white breast, barred across with narrow lines of greyish-black; the tail is long, barred with white on the outer feathers, and spotted with white on the centre ones; the bill is black, with a little yellow at the gape and at the base of the lower mandible; the feet and the eye are yellow; the length of the bird is about thirteen inches. The female is a trifle smaller, and has the chest slightly tinged with rufous. The young bird is quite different, being blackish, mottled with yellow and grey, and having a good deal of white about the hind neck. Rarely in England, but more often on the Continent, the Cuckoo is red instead of grey, and this is called the “hepatic” plumage. It is found also in Owls, Goatsuckers, and a few other birds, and exists in almost all the true Cuckoos.

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE HONEY GUIDES (Indicatoridæ).

These constitute a small family of Scansorial birds allied to the Cuckoos, and, like the latter, they are parasitic, and lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. Eleven species are known, of which eight are peculiar to Africa, one is found in the Himalaya Mountains, one in the Malayan Peninsula, and one in Borneo. The Asiatic members of the group are extremely rare, and our knowledge of the habits of these birds is derived from a study of the African species: so that it is not yet known whether the Asiatic Honey Guides deserve the name of Indicator, which is applied to the birds on account of their being “indicators,” or “pointers out,” of Bees’ nests containing honey. Dr. Kirk thus described their habits in the Zambesi district:--“The Honey Guide is found in forests, and often far from water, even during the dry season. On observing a man, it comes fluttering from branch to branch in the neighbouring trees, calling attention. If this be responded to--as the natives do by whistling and starting to their feet--the bird will go in a certain direction, and remain at a little distance, hopping from one tree to another. On being followed, it goes farther; and so it will guide the way to a nest of Bees. When this is reached, it flies about, but no longer guides; and then some knowledge is required to discover the nest, even when pointed out to within a few trees. I have known this bird, if the man, after taking up the direction for a little, then turns away, come back and offer to point out another nest in a different part. But if it does not know of two nests, it will remain behind. The difficulty is that it will point to tame Bees in a bark hive as readily as to those in the forest. This is natural, as the Bee is the same; the bark hive--‘Musinga,’ as it is named--being simply fastened up in a tree, and left for the Bees to come to. The object the bird has in view is clearly the young Bees. It will guide to nests having no honey, and seems equally delighted if the comb containing the grubs be torn out, when it is seen pecking at it.” Many of the natives of South Africa believe that the bird will occasionally guide the traveller, through sheer malice, to a Leopard or an Elephant; but on this point there seems some little doubt, to judge from a letter of Mrs. Barber, an accomplished lady and good observer in South Africa:--“What I wrote to you in a former letter is the opinion of many old bee-hunters in this part of the country, who have no faith in the popular belief that leading to the Leopard is done on purpose. My nine brothers, who were all brought up in this country, were all of them great hunters, as well as sportsmen; and during all the years of their experience, while they were living at Tharfield, where Bees’ nests were exceedingly plentiful, and where they were constantly in the habit of following these birds, never once did the Honey Guide ever lead them purposely to any noxious animal. Many times, in following the bird through dense woods, have they started various kinds of creatures; but if they did not neglect the bird for the purpose of hunting, she would continue her flight towards the Bees’ nest, regardless of the startled animals. One of my brothers once, while following a Honey Guide through a dense forest near the Kowie, passed directly through a drove of wild Pigs. They were, of course, more frightened than he was, and rushed about in every direction; but my brother knowing the popular belief, and wishing to test it, took not the slightest notice of the wild Pigs, but passed on, keeping his eye on the bird, who went steadily on her way, until she arrived at the nest she intended to show, regardless of the Pigs. I have other reasons for not believing the story. Why should the Honey Guide waste her time in leading people to Leopards, Jackals, Wolves, and so forth? These creatures are not her natural enemies; she would gain nothing by doing it--no advantage whatever; and I have ever found that in nature there is nothing done in vain, or in an empty, purposeless manner. There is always a reason for the peculiar habits and actions of birds and animals of all kinds; and therefore, why should a bird which does not even rear her own young, and has not the care of a nest, fear or care about these animals? Why should the Honey Guide, unlike all animals, do this thing without any reason for doing it? And again, when the bird has arrived at the nest she intends to show, there is an alteration in the notes of her voice. An old bee-hunter knows this in an instant, and knows when he ought to commence searching for the nest. Now, this alteration never takes place when animals of various kinds are startled in passing through the forest while following the bird. Hence I conclude that she does not intend to show where these creatures are, or the alteration in her voice would take place.” Some of the Indicators are not of the same use in guiding to Bees’ nests, and are consequently held in less repute. They are all birds of similar coloration, being generally of a dull grey, tinged with yellow or olive, and they vary considerably in size, the larger species, such as I. major and I. sparrmanni, measuring about eight inches in length; while the smallest species, I. exilis, from the Gaboon, does not exceed four inches. Although coming very close to the Cuckoos in the natural classification, the small bill, the thick-set, stout plumage, and the nine primaries in the wing, in addition to their peculiar habits, easily distinguish the Honey Guides as a separate family.

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE PLANTAIN-EATERS (Musophagidæ).

These may be called a strictly Ethiopian family of birds, every single member being found in Africa, and nowhere else. They have very much the appearance of game-birds, and are all remarkable for their beautiful crests, which they are able to elevate or depress at will. Although belonging to the Scansorial, or climbing birds, they do not always keep their toes in pairs, but being of a lively disposition they hop continually from bough to bough, and the outer toe is seen as often placed in front with the others as it is directed backwards along with the hind toe. With the exception of the Grey Plantain-eaters, all the other species have beautiful red primaries; and the writer was informed by the late African traveller, Jules Verreaux, that the bird often gets caught in violent showers during the rainy season, when the whole of this brilliant red colour in the wing-feathers gets washed out, and the quills become pinky-white, and after two or three days the colour is renewed, and the wing resumes its former beauty.

THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE MUSOPHAGIDÆ.--THE MUSOPHAGINÆ, OR TRUE PLANTAIN-EATERS.

THE WHITE-CRESTED PLANTAIN-EATER (Corythaix musophaga).

This is perhaps the best known of the whole family of these curious birds, being the commonest species in South Africa, where it is plentiful in the forest districts of the Knysna, and the south coast as far as Natal, and the wooded districts of the Eastern Transvaal. It is known by the name of the Louri, or Lory, and the following brief account of its habits is given by Mr. Layard:[251]--“The Plantain-eater feeds on fruits, and frequents the highest trees, rarely, if ever, descending to the ground, over which it can, however, travel with great rapidity if brought down by a shot. The motions of this species are very graceful and light, and performed with an ease and rapidity that delight the eye of the beholder. Strange to say, though we inquired carefully, we never could obtain any information respecting the nidification of this beautiful and common bird. Mr. Atmore, however, states that the eggs are white; but this must be from hearsay, as he writes: ‘How difficult it is to find these forest birds’ nests! The Lories are breeding now, but for the life of me I cannot find a nest. The young ones go in troops, and are delicious eating; the old ones in pairs. We never shoot specimens out of a troop except for the pot.’ An old forester told him that the eggs were white, both the latter and the nests being like those of Pigeons. Mr. Rickard says: ‘I once found an egg in a bird I shot at East London (January 27th); it was pure white, and the size of a tame Pigeon’s.’ Mr. Bowker writes: ‘I once found a Louri’s nest. It was just like a Dove’s, built of sticks laid horizontally, and about the size of a large dinner-plate, placed about ten feet from the ground in the centre of a round bush. The old bird flew out as I walked up. I found five young birds in the nest; they were almost full-grown, but their tails rather short and stumpy, crest just showing, but I cannot remember whether the red on the wing was showing or not. On my getting up to the nest they all flew out, and were killed by my Dogs before I could come to the rescue. The bush was twenty or thirty yards from the edge of a large forest, and I was rather surprised at this nest, as I had been told they built in hollow trees.’” In size this species is about nineteen inches long; the general colour is green, with a broad white tip to the feathers of the crest, the abdomen and vent are blackish, the quills brilliant carmine.

The false Touracoes, as Dr. Sclater calls them, do not possess the red colouring of the wings, but are for the most part of a uniform grey colour. The best known species is

THE GREY PLANTAIN-EATER (Schizorhis concolor).

This is also found in South Africa, but in different districts to the White-crested Plantain-eater. Where the range of the latter ceases that of the present bird begins, and it is found throughout the Matabele country and the Transvaal as far as the Zambesi, and westwards through Damara Land to Angola. Mr. Andersson writes:--“It is partial to localities abounding in large trees; and when prominently perched, with crest erect, it is not unlike a gigantic Coly. It also climbs and flies like the Colies, which it strongly resembles in its general habits. It is usually found in small flocks, and feeds on berries and seeds, especially those of mistletoe and of other parasitical plants, and also on fruits, young shoots, and insects. The Damaras call this species ‘Ongoro-oroquena,’ from the extraordinary and almost human cry with which it frequently startles the traveller who is passing near its perch. It is sometimes very easy to approach these birds, whilst at other times they are so shy that they will defy the utmost exertions which may be made to obtain them. On January 5th, 1867, I obtained three eggs of this species, of a dull bluish-white colour, at Omapja, from a boy, who told me that the nest which contained them was composed of sticks roughly put together, and situated in a tree at some distance from the ground; and on March 1st I met with a nest in Ondonga placed in a tree, but at no great elevation, which also contained three eggs, much incubated.” Dr. Exton, also, who has been through the Matabele country, writes as follows:--“In travelling through the Bechuana country one often comes upon a party of five or six of these birds, hiding from the mid-day heats under the sheltered portions of dense foliage near the centre of a large tree. Whilst yet undisturbed, the crest lies flat on the head, and can only be seen as a tuft projecting from the occiput. But their first act on becoming aware of an intruder is to run along the branches, either to the summit of the tree or to the extremity of a branch commanding a good look-out, where, with crest fully erected and well thrown forward, they keep up a constant reiteration of their note. If but little alarmed they move rapidly from branch to branch, frequently jerking up the crest, and assuming an attitude of attention. Again, after flight from one tree to another, on alighting, they first rest on a branch, with the body somewhat horizontal and the tail drawn nearly to the perpendicular, as if assuring themselves of their equilibrium, and then raising the body, elongating their neck, and at the same time elevating the crest, they seem to take an observation as to the security of their new position. So much is this a habit of the bird, that during the conversational difficulties of my earlier intercourse with the Bechuanas, when inquiring for the nest of Schizorhis (the native name of which is ‘Ma-quaai’), as soon as it dawned upon the mind of a native what bird I meant he has imitated its note, accompanied by a sudden jerking up of the hand, with his fingers extended to the utmost, as if at the same time to mimic the elevation of the crest. Dr. Sclater mentions that ‘Mr. J. J. Monteiro, speaking of the Grey False Touraco (S. concolor), as observed in Benguella, expressly states that the crest-feathers are always carried erect.’ In my own experience, the observation of Schizorhis was an every-day occurrence; and, as I have stated, when undisturbed (also when in flight) very little of the crest is to be seen, but is invariably carried erect on the least alarm. I may here mention a peculiar scream of S. concolor. I was one day walking along a low ridge of rocks, from which I flushed an Owl--the common Bubo maculosus--that flew to some distance to a clump of trees. Presently I heard an agonised scream, such as is made by a young Antelope when seized by a Dog; and so exact a repetition of the sound was it that even my Dogs were deceived by it, and rushed off in the direction whence it came. I also sent a Kaffir boy, and presently followed myself, when I discovered it was the frightful scream of Schizorhis, of which a party were collected round the Owl I had previously disturbed, and whose presence appeared to be the exciting cause. At a later period I had a second opportunity of verifying this observation.”

THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE MUSOPHAGIDÆ.--THE COLIINÆ, OR COLIES.

Like the foregoing sub-family, the Colies are confined to Africa. They have decided affinities with the true Plantain-eaters, but are distinguished at a glance by their long tails, the feathers of which are much pointed, and become smaller and narrower towards the outside of the tail. They are most dexterous climbers, as was well seen in the captive specimens of the Chestnut-backed Coly, which were brought by Cameron from Angola, and lived for some time in the London Zoological Gardens.

THE WHITE-BACKED COLY (Colius capensis).

The Colies are known in the Cape Colony by the name of Muisvogel, or Mouse-bird, and they are not uncommon, ranging about in small families of from six to eight individuals. Mr. Layard says that they fly with a rapid, though laboured flight, generally at a lower level than the object at which they aim, and on nearing the latter they rise upwards with a sudden, abrupt curve. They creep among the branches like Parrots, and hang suspended head downwards, without inconvenience; and it is said that they invariably sleep in this position, many of them congregated in a ball. The nest was found by Mr. Andersson in Damara Land, between September and December. It was placed in a small bush, and was composed externally of grass and twigs, lined internally with softer grass, and the eggs were dull white, and, according to his observations, always three in number. Mr. Andersson states that the bird “is gregarious in its habits, being found in flocks by day, and also when roosting at night. Its flight is short and feeble, seldom extending beyond the nearest bush or tree, on reaching which it usually perches on one of the lower branches, and then gradually glides and creeps upwards through the foliage, using both bill and feet for that purpose. It is essentially a fruit-eating bird, but I believe when hard pressed for its regular food it does not despise insects and the young shoots of plants. Its flesh is palatable.” The Colies as a rule are dull-coloured brown birds, but they have a long crest. The present species is perhaps the handsomest, being ash-coloured, and having the lower back and rump purple glossed with red, while a white line, bordered on each side by a broad black one, extends from beneath the shoulders to the rump. The bill is bluish-white, and the feet bright red. The length of the bird is thirteen or fourteen inches.

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.--THE WOODPECKERS (Picidæ).

These are perhaps the most typical of all the yoke-footed or climbing birds, as they are most expert climbers, being aided in the latter operation not only by their long toes, which are arranged as usual in this order in pairs, but by their stiffened tail, which enables them to climb with great rapidity up the perpendicular trunks of trees. If they wish to descend a little way they do not turn and come down head-foremost, as a Nuthatch would do, but they let themselves down by a few jerks, still keeping an oblique position, with the tail downwards. The bill in almost every member of the family is wedge-shaped, and very powerful, and with this organ a Woodpecker taps vigorously at the bark, which he sometimes also prises off to get at the grubs or insects underneath. These latter, as they endeavour to escape, have little chance against the intruder, who, in addition to the stout bill which discloses their place of concealment, possesses a peculiar tongue, which is capable of being protruded to a long distance, is furnished with minute barbs at the end, and is covered with a glutinous fluid from which the insects are unable to free themselves. The Woodpeckers nearly all procure their food in the above manner, but occasionally frequent the ground, and the Green Woodpecker (Gecinus[252] viridis) commits great ravages among ant-hills. The resting-place is generally a hole excavated by the bird itself in a hollow tree, and the eggs are white. Among the most aberrant of the Woodpecker family are the Wrynecks (Iÿnx[253]), of which one species is well known in England under the name of the “Cuckoo’s mate.” The Wrynecks are all birds of beautiful mottled plumage, and do not have a stiffened tail like a true Woodpecker. They are found in Europe, in India, North-Eastern and Southern Africa. Woodpeckers, on the other hand, are extremely plentiful in the New World, and are distributed all over Africa, Europe, and Asia, but are not found in the Australian region, no Woodpecker occurring beyond the Island of Celebes in the Moluccas.

One great peculiarity in the anatomy of the Woodpeckers is the structure of the tongue, and its relation to the hyoid bone and its horns, or cornua. (For a description of this part in the Mammalia, see Vol. I., p. 168.) In Birds the hyoid bone is a much more complex structure than in the Mammalia. Besides forming the basis of the otherwise mainly muscular substance of the tongue, it is continued backwards in most birds as a double chain of bones, each pair of which bears a separate name significant of its importance; and the whole is apparently quite distinct from the skull above and from the larynx below. Its composition in the common fowl is best rendered intelligible by reference to the accompanying woodcut (Fig. 1). It represents the entire hyoid apparatus divested of all muscular and other surrounding tissues. The upper part of the figure is that nearest to the tip of the tongue, and the references to the lettering become clear in the course of the subsequent description.

Another woodcut (Fig. 2) shows a side view of a dissection of the head of the common Green Woodpecker (Gecinus viridis), and a reference to the explanation of the lettering on it will give a general idea of the whole.

The tip of the tongue (t) is a slender, flattened, horny point, bearing on its sides and upper surface a number of very delicate bristles, or prickles, directed backwards, an arrangement eminently useful to the bird for enabling it to extract its insect food from the recesses to which its beak, by reason of its size and hardness, could not readily, nor with sufficient quickness, gain access. This tip is further rendered a more efficient instrument for this purpose by its being constantly moistened by a very viscid saliva secreted by two particularly large salivary glands (Figs. 2, 3, and 4, s.g.); and it was long ago remarked by Sir Charles Bell, in his essay on “The Hand” (Bridgewater Treatise, 1837), that the same muscles that effected the protrusion of the tongue exerted a simultaneous pressure upon these glands, so that the first result of the muscular contraction is to lubricate the tongue, while the rest of its force is spent in shooting it out with marvellous rapidity.

Behind this barbed and horny tip, the tongue is a slender worm-like body, of which the core is the anterior prolongation of the hyoid bone. The fore-part of this core, more like a bristle than a bone, is known to anatomists as the “glosso-hyal,” and it is immediately succeeded posteriorly by the “cerato-hyal.”[254] Behind this is the “basi-hyal ” (Fig. 1, b.h.), the last bone to enter into the formation of the tongue proper. From this basi-hyal springs the pair of bones--the “thyro-hyals”--which attain the remarkable degree of development for which the birds now under consideration are distinguished. From each side of the hinder portion, then, of this basi-hyal bone diverge these important “thyro-hyals” (Fig. 1, c.br., e.br.). They, in the Woodpeckers (compare Fig. 3, th.h.), extend outwards and backwards to pass one on each side of the neck until they curl upwards and forwards, converging to meet one another on the upper part of the back of the head; thence they run along together, ploughing themselves a furrow in the skull-top till they reach almost to the right nostril. Each of these curved and highly elastic bones is surrounded by a delicate sheath, whose inner surface is kept constantly moist and lubricated by its own secretion; and this sheath is attached to the bone of the skull at its junction with the upper mandible, as is shown in the accompanying woodcut (Fig. 3, i).

Enclosed in the sheath here spoken of, and along the concavity of each bone, is a muscle which has a fixed attachment to the crura of the lower mandible on each side (Fig. 4, e.m., e.m.). The contraction of this muscle shoots the tongue out in two different ways. In the Green Woodpecker the extremities of the thyro-hyal bones are themselves attached to the mandible, while the curvature of the bones makes a loop that hangs low down on each side of the neck (see Fig. 2, th.h.). As the muscle is shortened this loop is raised up, and the free tip of the tongue is consequently projected; and since the muscle is on the inner, or concave, side of the curve, a very small shortening on its part makes a great addition to the apparent length of the tongue. Sir Charles Bell elucidates this action by comparing the great effect on the curve of a fishing-rod’s flexible top that a small tightening of the line has. But while this is the case in many species, there are others in which the sheath alone is attached to the bones of the forehead, and the bones themselves slide along inside together with the contracting fibres of the muscle, thus producing the same result as was obtained in the other case by the loops hanging low down in the neck.

The tongue, whose length is thus so extraordinarily increased, is drawn back to its original position within the bill by another pair of muscles, one on each side, which are attached to the basi-hyal. These take their origin from the trachea, around which (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, r.m.), in many species, they are curiously wound in their course. And, since the bones are at the point of their greatest curvature when at rest, it is obvious that this action of withdrawal is materially assisted by the elasticity of the prolongations of the hyoid bones themselves; for it is a well-known law that Nature never lets power run to waste, but always utilises forces of mere elasticity or rigidity when by their means the expenditure of nervous energy and muscular contractility can be saved.

It may be observed that this curious development of the bones of the tongue is not confined to the Woodpeckers; in the Sun Birds (Nectariniidæ) of the Old World, and the Humming-Birds (Trochilidæ) of the New, this same adaptation of means to ends obtains. Even in the Picidæ themselves many variations have been noticed, in addition to those above alluded to; for instance, in the Yellow-billed Woodpecker (Sphyrapicus[255] varius) of North America the horns of the hyoid do not reach so far as the eye, so that the tongue, with its bushy tip in this case, is only extensible in a very slight degree; while in the Hairy Woodpecker (Picus villosus) the thyro-hyals curve spirally over the right orbit so as to reach entirely around the eye, to be inserted at its lower posterior margin.

Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the damage done by Woodpeckers in tapping sound trees, and many a poor bird pays the penalty of his life for his supposed destructive propensities. Mr. Waterton argues strongly on the side of the bird, and alleges that only rotten and unsound trees are attacked for the sake of a nesting habitation, or for the purpose of getting insects; but that this is not always the case was proved by the writer himself in the spring of 1878, when a boy was sent up to a hole in a beech-tree in Avington Park, in Hampshire. The tree was still perfectly sound, so sound, indeed, that the bird had evidently given up the idea of inhabiting it for that year, and had betaken himself elsewhere, after having excavated a round hole to the depth of two or three inches. In the same tree, a little lower down, was a similar hole, evidently made the previous year, when the bird had “tapped” the tree, and it was clear that he had returned again in the succeeding season, and had tried a little higher up in the trunk, to see if there were any chance of procuring a domicile. This proceeding must have injured the tree, and was the work of a Green Woodpecker, or Yaffle, whose laughing note was heard from another quarter of the park, even as the above examination was being conducted. In this part of Hampshire, though the bird is not persecuted by the owner of Avington, Mr. Edward Shelley, or by his keepers, the Green Woodpecker is rare; but in certain parts of Huntingdonshire the writer can remember to have found it very plentiful in his school-days, and it was a never-failing object in a country walk, flitting from tree to tree in front of the observer, and always keeping a sharp look-out from the opposite side of the trunk on which he settled. This species appears in old pieces of poetry under the various names of Yaffle, Woodwele, or Woodwale, Whetile, and it is in some places called “Hewhole,” Woodhacker, &c.[256]:--

“The Skylark in ecstasy sang from a cloud, And Chanticleer crowed, and the Yaffil laughed loud.”

The Peacock at Home.

“The Woodwele sang, and would not cease, Sitting upon the spray; So loud he wakened Robin Hood In the greenwood where he lay.”

Ritson’s Edition of Robin Hood, vol. i., p. 115.

“There the Jay and the Throstell The Mavis menyd in her song, The Woodwale fard or beryd as a bell That wode about me rung.”

True Thomas.

Some Woodpeckers seem to make storehouses against the winter, by pecking holes in a tree, and an interesting example of a piece of bark, in which a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)[257] had placed a store of acorns, is to be seen in the British Museum.

Another British species, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Picus[258] minor), is a bird of different habits, frequenting fruit-gardens in the autumn, and doing very little damage to trees in the nesting season. It generally selects the rotten branch of an old poplar-tree, and hollows out a hole in so perilous a situation that it is difficult to climb to, and, indeed, the whole bough is often brought down by the first gale in the ensuing winter. Here its small wedge-shaped bill speedily makes an excavation, and at some little distance down in the hollow interior it lays its glossy white eggs on the touchwood and decaying wood. Both sexes assist in the preparation of the nest; and in mild winters they sometimes begin with the commencement of the year to look out for their future home. The selection of this appears to be a matter of no small anxiety, for several trees are examined in turn, and often at long distances apart. The birds at the time of incubation keep up a continual signalling one to the other, which is produced by a rapid whining noise caused by tapping on the thinner branches of the dead trees. This call-note, if it may be called such, is generally heard in the early morning, and ceases as soon as the nesting operations have finally commenced. Besides this note, they have also one like the “laugh” of the Green Woodpecker, but, of course, much reduced in accordance with the difference in the size of the two birds. The little Spotted Woodpecker may often be seen hanging on to, and climbing round, the slender twigs of the outer branches of a tree, and looks much like a Creeper or a Nuthatch, which it does not greatly exceed in dimensions.

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE TOUCANS (Rhamphastidæ).[259]

The Toucans, with their clumsy bills, have much the aspect of Hornbills, which they may be said to represent in South America, to which continent they are entirely confined, but by this time the student knows that they have really little to do with each other, beyond a certain outward similarity, as the Toucans belong to the Scansorial, the Hornbills to the Fissirostral, section of the Picariæ. It is not possible to give a long account of the habits of individual species of Toucans, and a general sketch of their manners and customs is extracted from the monograph of the Toucans written by Mr. John Gould.[260] To him the late Prince Maximilian, of Neuwied, an excellent observer, during his travels in South America writes:--“The Rhamphastidæ are very common in all parts of the extensive forests of the Brazils, and are killed in great numbers at the cooler portion of the year, for the purposes of the table. To the stranger they are of even greater interest than to the natives, from their remarkable form, and from the rich and strongly-contrasted style of their colouring, their black or green bodies being adorned with markings of the most brilliant hues--red, orange, blue and white--the naked parts of the body dyed with brilliant colours, the legs blue or green, the irides blue, yellow, &c., and the large bill of a different colour in every species, and in many instances very gaily marked. The colouring of the soft parts is, however, so evanescent, that, to determine the species with accuracy, they must be depicted during life or immediately after the birds are killed. Common as these birds are in their native wilds, it is exceedingly difficult to detect their breeding-places; it is certain that they deposit their eggs in the hollow limbs and holes of the colossal trees so abundant in the tropical forests, but I never was so fortunate as to discover them. The stomachs of the specimens I examined contained nothing but the remains of fruits, principally of the softer kinds, for which, indeed, they have such a liking that they resort in great numbers to the plantations in the vicinity of their native haunts, and commit sad havoc among their favourite delicacies. I was informed that they frequently steal and eat young birds, but no instance of their doing so came under my own observation, and I never detected the remains of animal food in their stomachs. Mr. Waterton’s opinion agrees with mine, that they feed solely upon fruits; but Azara, among others, states that they also feed upon animal substances. The specimens we saw in a state of domestication were very voracious and perfectly omnivorous, but they seem to be purely frugivorous in a state of nature, a fact which was, indeed, confirmed by the Brazilian natives whom we questioned on the subject. In their manners the Rhamphastidæ offer some resemblance to the Crows, and especially to the Magpies; like them they are very troublesome to the birds of prey, particularly to the Owls, whom they surround and annoy by making a great noise, all the while jerking their tails upwards and downwards. The flight of these birds is easy and graceful, and they sweep with facility over the loftiest trees of their native forests, their strangely-developed bills, contrary to expectation, being no encumbrance to them. The voice of the Toucans is short and unmelodious, and is somewhat different in every species. The feathers are used by the Indians for personal decoration, especially the yellow breasts of the birds, which they affix to their heads on each side near the temple, and also to the ends of their bows.”

Mr. Waterton, in one of his Essays, has the following remarks:--“There are three species of Toucan in Demerara, and three diminutives, which may be called Toucanets. The largest of the former frequents the mangrove-trees on the sea-coast. It is never seen in the interior until you reach Macoushia, where it is found in the neighbourhood of the river Tacatou; the other two species are very common. They feed entirely on the fruits of the forest, and, though of the Pie kind, never kill the young of other birds or eat carrion. The larger is called Bouradi by the Indians (which means nose), the other Scirou. They seem partial to each other’s company, and often resort to the same feeding tree, and retire to the same shady noon-day retreat. They are very noisy in rainy weather at all hours of the day, and in fair weather at morn and eve. The sound the Bouradi makes is like the clear yelping of a puppy-dog, and you fancy he says ‘Pia-po-o-co,’ and thus the South American Spaniards call him Piapoco. All the Toucanets feed on the same trees on which the Toucan feeds, and every species of this family of enormous bill lays its eggs in the hollow trees. They are social, but not gregarious. You may sometimes see eight or ten in company, and from this you may suppose they are gregarious, but upon a closer examination you find it is only a dinner party, which breaks up and disperses towards roosting-time. You will be at a loss to conjecture for what end Nature has overloaded the head of this bird with such an enormous bill. It cannot be for the offensive, as it has no need to wage war with any of the tribes of animated nature, for its food is fruits and seed, and those are in superabundance throughout the whole year in the regions where the Toucan is found. It cannot be for the defensive, as the Toucan is preyed upon by no bird in South America, and, were it obliged to be at war, the texture of the bill is ill-adapted to give or receive blows, as you will see by dissecting it. The flight of the Toucan is by jerks. In the action of flying it seems incommoded by this huge, disproportionate feature, and the head seems as if bowed down to the earth by it against its will. If the extraordinary size and form of the bill expose the Toucan to ridicule, its colours make it amends. Were a specimen of each species of Toucan presented to you, you would pronounce the bill of the Bouradi the most rich and beautiful one. It is worthy of remark that all these brilliant colours of the bill are to be found in the plumage of the body and the bare skin around the eye.” Space will not permit of a long extract from the works of d’Azara (the only field naturalist of any fame that Portugal has yet produced), but a few notes of this traveller, made in Paraguay, differ from the foregoing accounts, and show that in the southern portion of their range the habits of some of the Toucans vary to a great extent. So voracious does d’Azara consider them, that on this account he places them among the birds of prey, and writes:--“The Toucans, contrary to all appearances, destroy a great number of birds, and, on account of their long and strong beak, are respected and feared by all species. They attack and drive them from their nests, and in their very presence eat their eggs and young; these they draw from the holes with the long beak, or throw down nest and all together. It is credibly reported that the Toucans do not even respect the eggs or young of the ‘Aras’ (Macaws) and Caracaras, and if the fledglings are too large or too strong to be lifted from the nest, they dash them to the ground, as if it were their nature not only to devour, but to uselessly destroy. The bird, in flying, presents the point of his bill against the wind, so that it does not offer more resistance than that of other birds in which the head and superficies are equal in extent; besides which, the conformation and specific lightness of this long beak cannot impede flight, because the highest points of the bird being the bill itself and the anterior portion of the body, they form no obstacle, the wind first taking effect upon the point of the bill. When in a state of repose, the Toucan carries its bill rather more elevated than a horizontal line that would pass through the eyes, and when closely looked at, it looks like a false bill, because its base exceeds the breadth of the head, which presents the appearance of being enclosed in a case. In addition to these singularities, the nostrils are placed behind the aforesaid base. The tongue is very narrow and of an equal thickness throughout. It is entirely osseous, and resembles somewhat a feather two lines in width, furnished with an osseous fringe, which is directed from behind forwards, so that the tongue, stiff and unyielding, takes no part in the direction of the food nor in the formation of the note, which, in the first two Paraguayan species, is confined to the single syllable ‘rae.’ The mandibles are very distinctly dentated at their edges, these dentations not corresponding at all above and below, nor are they even relatively symmetrical. The beak itself is a thin osseous sheath, filled with a number of empty cellules. The eye is large, and surrounded by a triangular naked space, puffed up, and very pretty. The foot is very short and stout, and covered nearly to the heel with long scales, harsh to the touch. The outer toe, as well before as behind, is the longest. The claws are much flattened and curved, as in the Woodpeckers. The tail is composed of ten feathers. The Toucan flies at a moderate height, and in a straight horizontal line, flapping its wings occasionally with some noise. The flight is quicker than the smallness of the wings would lead one to believe. It perches towards the top of the highest trees, and though unable to climb after the manner of Woodpeckers, it still progresses with speed, hopping from branch to branch. It pays great attention to all that takes place in its vicinity, advancing with fear and diffidence, like the ‘Uruca’ and the ‘Acahes.’ There is no perceptible difference between the two sexes, nor do I believe that the species exists towards the south beyond 28°, nor that it drinks. It rarely settles on the ground. The Toucan hops obliquely and very awkwardly, with the legs separated about a hand’s breadth. When it takes young birds from the nest, pieces of meat or fruit, it throws them in the air, as a juggler his balls, and by a quick movement of the beak repeats this action until the food is in a favourable position for being swallowed, and then by another movement gulps it down its large throat. If the mouthful be larger than the orifice of the gullet, the Toucan abandons it without seeking to divide it.”

Mr. Bates, in his “Naturalist on the River Amazon,” makes some further allusions to the Toucans and their bill, which will be found well worth the reading. He also gives the following history of a tame bird (Vol. ii., p. 341):--“One day, whilst walking along the principal pathway in the woods near Ega, I saw one of these Toucans seated gravely on a low branch close to the road, and had no difficulty in seizing it with my hand. It turned out to be a runaway pet bird; no one, however, came to own it, although I kept it in my house for several months. The bird was in a half-starved and sickly condition, but after a few days of good living it recovered health and spirits, and became one of the most amusing pets imaginable. Many excellent accounts of the habits of tame Toucans have been published, and therefore I need not describe them in detail; but I do not recollect to have seen any notice of their intelligence and confiding disposition under domestication, in which qualities my pet seemed to be almost equal to Parrots. I allowed Tocáno to go free about the house, contrary to my usual practice with pet animals. He never, however, mounted my working-table after a smart correction, which he received the first time he did so. He used to sleep on the top of a box in a corner of the room, in the usual position of these birds--namely, with the long tail laid right over on the back and the beak thrust underneath the wing. He ate of everything that we eat (beef, turtle, fish, farina, fruit), and was a constant attendant at our table--a cloth spread on a mat. His appetite was most ravenous, and his powers of digestion quite wonderful. He got to know the meal-hours to a nicety, and we found it very difficult, after the first week or two, to keep him away from the dining-room, where he had become very impudent and troublesome. We tried to shut him out by enclosing him in the back yard, which was separated by a high fence from the street on which our front door opened; but he used to climb the fence and hop round by a long circuit to the dining-room, making his appearance with the greatest punctuality as the meal was placed on the table. He acquired the habit afterwards of rambling about the street near our house, and one day he was stolen, so we gave him up for lost. But two days afterwards he stepped through the open doorway at dinner-hour, with his old gait, and sly, magpie-like expression, having escaped from the house where he had been guarded by the person who had stolen him, which was situated at the farther end of the village.”

THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE BARBETS (Capitonidæ).[261]

These are climbing birds of somewhat brilliant coloration, distributed over the tropical portions of both hemispheres, but absent in Europe, Northern Asia, Australia, and the Moluccas southwards from the Sunda Islands. “Though strictly arboreal in their habits,” write Messrs. Marshall, in their exhaustive work on the family,[262] “and living only in forest districts or open countries interspersed with groves of trees, they are neither shy nor difficult to approach. When the districts in which they are found happen to be at all thickly populated, the Barbets show no disposition to retreat to more secluded quarters, but take up their abode in gardens, and frequently breed in trees close to the houses. They usually keep to the tops of the trees, but may occasionally be seen creeping among the branches of small bushes and underwood. Their food is fruit, seeds, buds, and occasionally insects; these latter are very seldom resorted to in Asia, more frequently in Africa, and with some American species they form the staple food. They are not gregarious, though a great number may sometimes be seen together in a fig-tree at the fruit season. They live in pairs during the breeding season, which is in the spring, and commence moulting in September. They rarely, if ever, descend to the ground, and appear to move from tree to tree only when compelled to do so in search of food, or when disturbed by an intruder. Their flight is powerful, but heavy and undulating, like that of a Woodpecker. A curious instance of their disinclination to travel is seen in the fact of the Himalayan Lineated Barbet (Megalæma hodgsoni) and the Hoary Jungle Barbet (M. caniceps) never crossing the narrow valley of the Deyra Doon, though both are abundant in their respective boundaries; also that the Blue-faced Barbet (M. asiatica) is confined to the valley of the Jumna, in the district between Mussooree and Simla, though there are many other valleys apparently equally suitable. When not in pursuit of food, the Barbets sit motionless among the foliage near the tops of the trees, and exhibit none of that vivacity which is so marked a characteristic of the Passerine birds, amongst which they have been sometimes erroneously classed. Their voice is loud and ringing, consisting almost always of one, two, or three syllables, given out with extraordinary power, and may be heard at midday or on a moonlight night when all other sounds are hushed. Some of the American species have, in common with the Toucans, the habit of jerking their tail up over their back when they utter their call. The male and female sometimes keep up what appears to be a ‘calling-match’ for about ten minutes, and then suddenly cease. As far as is known, they all build in holes of trees, which they make for themselves in soft or decayed branches. No lining is needed for the nest, a few of the broken chips being left at the bottom of a hole. The entrance is circular and neatly bevelled, resembling that of a Woodpecker. The hole is generally about eight or ten inches deep, varying, of course, with the size of the bird. They lay three or four shining white eggs, with rather thin shells, and rather elongated, blunt, oval in shape, both ends being nearly similar. They are laid in the latter end of April and beginning of May in Northern India. Barbets are occasionally caged, but they are very seldom brought to England, and do not bear confinement very well; consequently, little is known of them in this country, except to ornithologists. An interesting account of one of them (Megalæma zeylanica) in captivity, by Mr. Layard, will be found quoted below. Their plumage, though very brilliant, is tasteless and too gaudy, and their shape is heavy and ugly, which will account for their skins not yet having been promoted to the positions with which pretty birds’ feathers are generally associated in the minds of the non-ornithological public.” Mr. Layard’s account is as follows:--“The Brown-headed Barbet is common in Ceylon, and universally distributed. It feeds on fruits and berries of all kinds, which it swallows entire. It does not, that I know of, devour small birds when in a state of nature, but one kept in a large aviary at Colombo destroyed all the little Amadinæ placed with it. Not content with snapping them up when within his reach, he would lie in wait for them behind a thick bush or the feeding-trough, pounce upon them unawares, and, after beating them a little on the ground or perch, swallow them whole. When this cannibal came into my possession he was confined in a smaller cage than that in which he had at first been secured. This seemed to displease him, and he went to work to find some means of escape. He narrowly examined every side and corner to discover a weak spot, and having detected one, applied himself vigorously to bore a hole through it, as a Woodpecker would have done. Grasping the bars with his feet, he swung himself round, bringing his whole weight to bear upon his bill, which he used as a pickaxe, till the house resounded with his rapid and well-aimed blows. On being checked from exercising his ingenuity in this manner, he became sulky, and refused to eat or offer his call of recognition when I approached him. In a day or two, however, he apparently thought better of the matter, resumed his labours upon another spot, and fed as voraciously as ever, devouring huge slices of bananas, jungle fruits, the bodies of any small birds I skinned, &c.”

THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER II.--FISSIROSTRES.

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Chapter IX

THE JACAMARS, PUFF BIRDS, KINGFISHERS, HORNBILLS, AND HOOPOES.

THE JACAMARS--THE PUFF BIRDS--THE KINGFISHERS--Characters--THE COMMON KINGFISHER--Distribution--Its Cry--Habits--After its Prey--Its own Nest-builder--Mr. Rowley’s Note on the Subject--Nest in the British Museum--Superstitions concerning the Kingfisher--Colour--Various Species--CRESTED KINGFISHER--PIED KINGFISHER--Dr. Von Heuglin’s Account of its Habits--New World Representatives--OMNIVOROUS KINGFISHERS--THE AUSTRALIAN CINNAMON-BREASTED KINGFISHER--Macgillivray’s Account of its Habits--THE LAUGHING JACKASS of Australia--Its Discordant Laugh--The “Bushman’s Clock”--Colour--Habits--THE HORNBILLS--Character--Their Heavy Flight--Noise produced when on the Wing--Food--Extraordinary Habit of Imprisoning the Female--Native Testimony--Exception--Fed by the Male Bird--Dr. Livingstone’s Observations on the point, and Mr. Bartlett’s Remarks--Strange Gizzard Sacs--Dr. Murie’s Remarks--Mr. Wallace’s Description of the Habits of the Hornbills--Capture of a Young One in Sumatra--THE GROUND HORNBILLS--South African Species--Kaffir Superstition regarding it--Habits--Mr. Ayres’ Account of the Natal Species--How it Kills Snakes--The Call--Habits--Mr. Monteiro’s Description of the Angola Form--Turkey-like Manner--Wariness--Food--THE HOOPOES--Appearance--Distribution--THE COMMON HOOPOE--Habits--The Name--How does it Produce its Note?--THE WOOD HOOPOES--Habits.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE JACAMARS (Galbulidæ).[263]

These birds are usually of metallic green plumage, with long beaks and wedge-shaped tails, and are found only in Central and Southern America, where they seem to represent the Bee-eaters of the Old World. Not many notices have appeared of their habits, the best being that given by Mr. Waterton, in his “Wanderings” in Demerara:--“A bird called Jacamar is often taken for a Kingfisher, but it has no relationship to that tribe: it frequently sits in the trees over the water, and as its beak bears some resemblance to that of the Kingfisher, this may probably account for its being taken for one. It feeds entirely upon insects. It sits on a branch in motionless expectation, and as soon as a Fly, Butterfly, or Moth passes by, it darts at it, and returns to the branch it had just left. It seems an indolent, sedentary bird, shunning the society of all others in the forest. It never visits the plantations, but is found at all times of the year in the woods. There are four species of Jacamar in Demerara; they are all beautiful, the largest rich and superb in the extreme. Its plumage is of so fine a changing blue and golden green, that it may be ranked with the choicest of the Humming Birds. Nature has denied it a song, but given a costly garment in lieu of it. The smallest species of Jacamar is very common in the dry savannas. The second size, all golden green in the back, must be looked for in the Wallaba Forest; the third is found throughout the whole extent of these wilds; and the fourth, which is the largest, frequents the interior, where you begin to perceive stones in the ground.”

THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE PUFF BIRDS (Bucconidæ).

In general form the Puff Birds are not unlike Kingfishers, some of which they resemble in their habits, feeding chiefly on insects, which they catch in the air. In many respects also they resemble the Bee-eaters (Meropidæ), and may be considered as representing the last-named family in South and Central America, to which countries they are entirely confined. Of the Long-winged Puff Birds (Chelidoptera tenebrosa) the late Prince Maximilian of Neuwied gives the following account:--“It is not rare in most provinces of South Brazil, and very common in many of them. It is found in certain spots sitting still and immovable upon the high isolated branches of the forest trees. From time to time it flies after an insect in the air, and falls back again to its place like a true Fly-catcher. It is a stupid, still, melancholy bird, but likes to sit high, and not low and near the ground, like other Puff Birds. As in form and colour it rather resembles a Swallow, the Brazilians call it Andurinha do mato (Wood Swallow). The resemblance is greatest when the bird sits upon the ground, for its feet are little adapted for walking, and it consequently shuffles along as a Swallow does. Its flight is light and undulating. Sitting upon a high point, whence it can overlook the neighbourhood, it often emits a short call-note. It is anything but timid, and very easy to shoot. It is usually found where the woods are varied with open country, on the edges of the woods, but likewise in the interior of them. The food of these birds consists of insects, of which I have found the remains in their stomachs. On the Rio Grande del Belmonte I observed how these birds nest. In the month of August I saw them enter a round hole in a perpendicular sand-bank on the river, like a Kingfisher’s. After digging about two feet in a horizontal direction, we found two milk-white eggs upon a bad lining of a few feathers.”[264]

THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE KINGFISHERS (Alcedinidæ).

The Kingfishers are a very varied family, including within their limits birds of very different form and habits. The bill is always long and powerful for the size of the bird, producing, in some of the smaller species, a top-heavy and ungainly aspect; but this organ is modified according to the habits of the birds, and is strictly in accordance with the functions which it has to perform. The foot is similar in all Kingfishers, the sole being very flat, and the toes joined together for the greater part of their length, so that the birds always have a very firm support to their bodies. The legs are very short and weak, the wings powerful, and the gape very wide. The Kingfishers may be divided into two sub-families, distinguished by the form of the bill, which is long and compressed in the fish-eating Kingfishers (Alcedininæ), of which the European bird is a type, with a distinct ridge or keel along the upper mandible; while in the Daceloninæ, which have a stouter and flatter bill, with a smooth and rounded culmen, the food is varied, consisting more of insects than of fish.

THE COMMON KINGFISHER (Alcedo[265] ispida).

This is, perhaps, the most brilliantly-coloured bird there is in England, but by reason of its shy habits and wonderfully quick flight it is not often observed, excepting as a flash of bright blue on the river side, appearing for an instant and gone the next. It is, however, by no means uncommon in many of the rivers in the south of England, particularly during the month of October, when a partial migration of the species evidently takes place. At this season of the year, the writer once observed a Kingfisher on the ornamental water in St. James’s Park. Beyond the British Islands it is found in most parts of the European continent, being replaced in the East by the little Indian Kingfisher (A. bengalensis), a miniature of the English bird, but with a much longer bill. The following account of the habits of this bird, the result of several years’ close acquaintance with the species on the river Thames, is taken from the author’s work on this subject[266]:--“When in a wild state, flying along the banks of a stream, or sitting patiently at watch for its finny prey, the Kingfisher is a beautiful sight. Often has it been our good fortune to witness the bird at close quarters, but this is by no means easy to accomplish, owing to the extreme wariness of the bird from repeated persecution. The presence of the Kingfisher in one’s neighbourhood can be detected from some distance by the faint cry which falls upon the ear from afar. This note, which is a shrill, but not unmusical, scream, generally consists of two syllables, but is very difficult to render in language. Naumann gives it as ti-ti, which is by no means a bad representation of the cry; and these syllables are quickly repeated as the bird leaves its perch and skims over the stream. The flight is rapid and very direct, the bird speeding like a bullet a little height above the surface of the water. When suddenly disturbed, it utters its cry shortly after leaving its perch, and then flies for some distance in silence; but when passing unmolested from one resting-place to another, its shrill note may be heard at frequent intervals. Just before perching, the cry is uttered three or four times successively--ti-ti-ti. When resting, it sits uprightly, with the glance directed downwards, motionlessly scanning the stream beneath, intent on the capture of any fish or water insect which may come within its reach. Its unerring dive seldom proves fruitless; and when secured, a few smart raps on its perch, to which the bird always returns, deprive the victim of life, after which it is immediately swallowed. Except in the early morning, it seldom chooses a very open position for its resting-place; but in the autumn, when the migration is in progress, at break of day it is not unusual to see two, or even three, birds in company on a rail or on the side of a punt; in the day-time, however, it loves solitude, and seldom more than one can be seen at once, and then it affects more shady and secluded haunts. In general it is a lonely bird, jealous of intrusion, especially from individuals of its own species. Each pair appears to choose and maintain a particular hunting-ground, and should one Kingfisher enter upon the domain of another, it is speedily and effectually ousted by the rightful owner with cries of rage. So fierce is the animosity displayed by these birds, that when excited in combat they fly heedless of obstacles, and thus occasionally meet their death in their headlong career.” An instance is on record of two Kingfishers flying with such violence against a window that both pursuer and pursued met their death on the spot. The present species does not always pounce on its prey from a perch, but will occasionally fly out over the mid-stream, and hover in the air like a Kestrel Hawk; and after making an unsuccessful plunge, will repeat its hovering position over the same spot, until its efforts are rewarded with success. It has been seen also to dash into the water several times in succession, which movement has been supposed to be for the purpose of attracting fish to the spot by disturbing the water; it is, however, more probable that in this exercise the bird is taking a bath. The young have exactly the same cry as their parents, but the note is less shrill. On leaving the nest, they often congregate in some well-shaded locality by the side of the stream, where food is brought to them by their parents, and the presence of the nestlings is often betrayed by their shrill pipings. The bill in the young birds is very short, and has a little white tip to it; in the adult male it is entirely black; but the female may always be distinguished by the base of the lower mandible being red.

That the Kingfisher makes its own hole is now an ascertained fact, and the following note on the subject was published in 1866 by Mr. G. Dawson Rowley:--“Though the subject of the Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida) is somewhat stale, yet, in consequence of the remarks which I have just read in the October Quarterly on ‘Homes without Hands,’ I send you the following notes, made this spring, in order to set at rest, if possible, a mistake regarding the breeding of this bird. Modern writers on the Kingfisher are hardly more free from error than even Ovid or Pliny. The bird is a true miner, and makes a nest of fish-bones; but, as no rule is without an exception, when it cannot find a suitable bank to bore in, it has been known to nidificate in abnormal situations; and when abundance of proper fish are not to be caught it is obliged to do without bones.

“From many years’ constant watching, I can exactly tell the probable position of the hole, and the day it will be begun. Accordingly, on Thursday, March 29, I sent two witnesses to a particular spot on the River Ouse, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. They observed that there was on that day positively no hole of any kind, no vestige of hole, in that bank. On Easter Monday, April 2, I sent a keeper to the place. He reported the hole as begun. On the same day I went in a boat, and, putting a reed up, found it by actual measurement about fifteen inches deep, the moulds being quite fresh outside. Droppings of the bird (which was seen constantly leaving the hole) were visible in two places. There was also a shallow hole a little to the left of the above-mentioned one. This was a failure--either from caprice or some other cause abandoned. We observe the same in Woodpeckers, which will sometimes bore in three or four places before they get one to their liking, a circumstance I particularly remarked in a pair of the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers (P. major) last spring. Between March 29 and April 2 the Kingfisher had made two holes. I thought it best now to leave the place, only receiving from the keeper each morning a report, as he went by in his boat, how the bird was going on.

“Saturday, April 7, I made a memorandum: ‘I again observe fresh moulds, but not, as we consider, to-day’s, but yesterday’s: hence I suppose the hole to be nearly finished, if not quite.’ Here, I should say, after taking these nests constantly for nearly thirty years, I find twenty-one days is the correct time, from the commencement of the excavation to the end of laying seven eggs. I never had the luck to find eight; Mr. Gould, however, informs me he once did. ‘Saturday, April 21. Opened the hole situated in the perpendicular bank to keep off Water-rats. Found by measurement the entrance was twelve inches from the surface of the ground, and about five feet from the water. The length of the ascending gallery was eight inches and a half, and the oval chamber six inches in diameter more. The top of the chamber was nine inches from the surface of the ground. It contained the usual nest of fish-bones, which was one inch and a half deep; and the same, with the seven fresh eggs, are now before me, with two other nests from the same locality. The bird flew off after the first dig, which I commonly made so as to cover up the hole again without disturbance if the full number of eggs had not been laid. There was no excrement in the chamber, but much just outside in the gallery.’ The size of the chamber is just sufficient for the owners to turn round pleasantly. When the young birds, which I have seen in every stage, have been some time in the nest, of course the hole gets very foul. Here, then, is a case, capable of being attested by two or three witnesses step by step--and concerning which there can be no doubt--where the Kingfisher is proved to have made its own hole. I have known it when driven from one bank by floods to revert to an old hole of its own making in the previous year; but never has there been an instance of its taking up with the abode of its most deadly enemy, the Water-rat. It is hard to prove a negative, but it is certainly a most unlikely thing for a Kingfisher to enter a rat-hole. No one who has seen the eggs of this species in situ as often as I have can deny that the fish-bones are placed with the design of making a nest.”

In the British Museum may be seen a nest of the Kingfisher, which was taken by Mr. Gould under the following circumstances:--“On the 18th of April, 1859, during one of my fishing excursions on the Thames, I saw a hole in a precipitous bank, which I felt assured was the nesting-place of a Kingfisher; and on passing a spare top of my fly rod to the extremity, a distance of nearly three feet, I brought out some freshly-cast bones of fish, convincing me that I was right in my surmise. The day following I again visited the spot with a spade, and, after removing nearly two feet square of the turf, dug down to the nest without disturbing the passage which led to it. Here I found four eggs placed on the usual layer of fish-bones. These I removed with care, and then replaced the earth, beating it down as hard as the bank itself, and restored the turfy sod. A fortnight after the bird was seen to leave the hole again, and my suspicions were aroused that she had taken to her old breeding quarters a second time. I again visited the place on the twenty-first day from the date of my former exploration, and upon passing the top of my fly rod up the hole, found, not only that it was of the former length, but that the female was within. I then took a large mass of cotton-wool from my collecting-box, and stuffed it to the extremity, in order to preserve the eggs from damage during my again laying it open from above. On removing the sod and digging down as before, I came to the cotton-wool, and beneath it was formed a nest of fish-bones the size of a small saucer, the walls of which were fully half an inch thick, together with eight translucent pinky-white eggs, and the old female herself. This nest I removed with the greatest care; and it is now deposited in the proper place for so interesting an object--the British Museum. This mass of bones, then weighing 700 grains, had been cast up and deposited by the bird and its mate in the short space of twenty-one days. Ornithologists are divided in opinion as to whether the fish-bones are to be considered in the light of a nest. Some are disposed to believe them to be the castings and fæces of the young brood of the year, and that the same hole being frequented for a succession of years, a great mass is at length formed; while others suppose that they are deposited by the parents as a platform for the eggs, constituting, in fact, a nest; and I think, from what I have adduced, we may fairly conclude this is the case: in fact, nothing could be better adapted to defend the eggs from the damp earth.” In ancient times there was a legend that when the Kingfishers made their nests--which were supposed to float upon the top of the sea--fine weather was always allowed to prevail.[267] A custom used formerly to be in vogue in England of turning a Kingfisher into a weathercock; and, according to the late M. Jules Verreaux, this practice is pursued in France even in the present day, where the bird is mummified and suspended by a thread with extended wings in order to show the direction of the wind. Mr. Harting alludes to these superstitions in his “Ornithology of Shakespeare” (p. 275). It was formerly believed that during the time the Halcyon, or Kingfisher, was engaged in hatching her eggs, the water, in kindness to her, remained so smooth and calm that the mariner might venture on the sea with the happy certainty of not being exposed to storms or tempests; this period was therefore called, by Pliny and Aristotle, “the halcyon days.”

“Expect Saint Martin’s summer, halcyon days.”

Henry VI., Part i., Act i., sc. 2.

It was also supposed that the dead bird, carefully balanced and suspended by a single thread, would always turn its beak towards that point of the compass from which the wind blew. Kent, in King Lear (Act ii. sc. 2), speaks of rogues who--

“Turn their halcyon beaks With every gale and vary of their masters.”

And, after Shakspere, Marlowe, in his Jew of Malta, says:--

“But how now stands the wind? Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill?”

The Common Kingfisher measures about seven inches from the tip of his bill to the end of his tail. The colour of the upper parts is blue, greener on the mantle and scapulars, and beautiful rich cobalt on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; the head is blue, barred with black, the wings blue, with spots of brighter cobalt on the coverts; in front of the eye is a spot of rufous, this being also the colour of the eye-coverts and under parts; the throat is white, and there is a patch of white on each side of the neck; the cheeks and sides of the breast are blue, the bill is black, the feet red. The female is coloured like the male, but can always be told by the red colour at the base of the under mandible. This is also present in young birds of both sexes, but the latter can readily be distinguished by their shorter bills.

Species of the genus Alcedo are distributed over the greater part of the Old World, extending even into the Molucca Islands, but in Australia and the Papuan group they are represented by the genus Alcyone, comprising Kingfishers of similar form to the English bird, but distinguished by the absence of the inner toe. In Africa and Madagascar some beautiful little crested Kingfishers (Corythornis) are met with, the largest of which scarcely exceeds five inches in length. A very familiar species on the banks of the Nile is the Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle[268] rudis), one of the commonest birds in Africa and India, and of this species Dr. von Heuglin writes[269]:--“It lives in pairs, is sociable, and, except during the breeding season, more friendly with members of its own species than other Kingfishers, and often several pairs dwell in the same neighbourhood. It sits and watches along the shore on overhanging branches, on roofs, walls, brickets, rocks, and even on the ground, but seldom pounces from the latter on its prey. From time to time it takes a flight over shallow clear water, also right across the river or from one island to another, sometimes very low, generally, however, several fathoms above the surface. Its flight is not very swift, but straight, and steadied by quick, fluttering motions of the wing--not rushing, like that of Alcedo ispida--and it rises and falls according to will and with great agility. One often sees it, after taking a start by several quick flaps of the wing, and gliding on for a distance, suddenly, with one quick movement, alter the direction of the flight and suddenly stop and hover. When hovering, the bill is held straight down, and the hind part of the body and tail also rather lowered. Directly it catches sight of its scaly prey it turns up, lays its feathers close to the body, and drops like a stone into the water, remaining often over ten seconds below the surface. It seldom misses its mark, and devours the fish it has captured either on the wing or at one of its resting-places. The voice is a shrill whistle, at the same time chirpy, or at times snickery. During the pairing time the males often fight on the wing, and roll together, calling loudly, nearly to the surface of the water. In Egypt the breeding season is our spring; according to Adams, as early as December. The nest, consisting of a small heap of clean dry grass, is placed in a horizontal hole about arm’s depth in a steep bank, and contains four to six pure white roundish eggs, the shell of which is rather rough compared with that of Alcedo ispida. Often several nest-holes are close together. The plumage of the young much resembles that of the adult. There is scarcely any bird on the Nile tamer than the Black and White Kingfisher.” The genus Ceryle, to which the foregoing species belongs, is largely represented in the New World, one of the best known being the Belted Kingfisher of North America, and an unusual circumstance in fish-eating Kingfishers is characteristic of the genus, viz., a difference in the colouring of the sexes. The Stork-billed Kingfishers (Pelargopsis[270]) are the most powerful members of the sub-family, some of them measuring nearly a foot and a half in length.

More difference in form and size is perceptible in the omnivorous Kingfishers (Daceloninæ), where some of the little three-toed species of Ceyx do not exceed five inches in length, whereas the Great Laughing Jackasses of Australia (Dacelo) attain the dimensions of more than a foot and a half. The smaller birds of this section feed almost entirely on insects, and the Rose-cheeked Kingfisher of Africa (Ispidina[271] picta) feeds principally on Grasshoppers and small Locusts, while its representative in Natal (I. natalensis) is said to feed entirely on Butterflies and insects caught on the wing. They are often found along the banks of rivers, but never catch fish. The large genus Halcyon is distributed all over Africa, and ranges throughout Southern Asia, through China, to Japan, inhabiting also the islands of the Malay Archipelago and the entire Continent of Australia. These birds prefer a mixed diet, and, in addition to an occasional fish, they will also eat crustacea, small reptiles, and insects. Perhaps the most beautiful of all the Kingfisher family are the Tanysipteræ,[272] which are found only in New Guinea, the adjacent Moluccas, and the north-east peninsula of Australia. These birds have only ten tail-feathers, the middle pair being very much longer than the rest, and ending in a spatule or racket. They live entirely in the forests, feeding on insects, and they are said to roost in the holes of rocks by the side of small streams. The best known species of Tanysiptera is the Australian Cinnamon-breasted Kingfisher (T. sylvia), which was discovered by the late Mr. John Macgillivray, who gives the following account of its habits:--“This pretty Tanysiptera is rather plentiful in the neighbourhood of Cape York, where it frequents the dense bushes, and is especially fond of resorting to the sunny openings in the woods, attracted, probably, by the greater abundance of insect food found in such places than elsewhere. I never saw it on the ground, and usually was first made aware of its presence by the glancing of its bright colours as it darted past with a rapid arrow-like flight, and disappeared in an instant amongst the dense foliage. Its cry, which may be represented by whee-whe-whee and wheet-wheet-wheet, is usually uttered when the bird is perched on a bare, transverse branch, or woody, rope-like climber, which it uses as a look-out station, and whence it makes short dashes at any passing insect or small Lizard, generally returning to the same spot. It is a shy, suspicious bird, and one well calculated to try the patience of the shooter, who may follow it for an hour without getting a shot, unless he has as keen an eye as a native, to whom I was indebted for first pointing it out to me. According to the natives, who know it by the name of Quatawur, it lays three white eggs in a hole dug by itself in one of the large ant-hills of red clay which form so remarkable a feature in the neighbourhood, some of them being as much as ten feet in height, with numerous buttresses and pinnacles. I believe that the bird also inhabits New Guinea; for at Redscar Bay, on the south-east of that great island, in long. 146° 15′ E., a head strung upon a necklace was procured from the natives.”

The largest of all the Kingfishers are the Laughing Jackasses of Australia, this curious name being given to the bird from its strange note and peculiar look, both of which can be appreciated by any visitor to the London Zoological Gardens, where there is generally one, if not two, out of the seven species known. Of the bird in its native haunts a very good idea is given us by the “Old Bushman,” the late Mr. Henry Wheelwright, which is here taken from a little work called the “Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist.” “About an hour before sunrise the bushman is awakened by the most discordant sounds, as if a troop of fiends were shouting, whooping, and laughing around him in one wild chorus: this is the morning song of the ‘Laughing Jackass,’ warning his feathered mates that daybreak is at hand. At noon the same wild laugh is heard, and as the sun sinks into the west it again rings through the forest. I shall never forget the first night I slept in the open bush in this country. It was in the Black Forest. I woke about daybreak, after a confused sleep, and for some minutes I could not remember where I was, such were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears; the fiendish laugh of the Jackass, the clear, flute-like note of the Magpie, the hoarse cackle of the Wattle-birds, the jargon of flocks of Leatherheads, and the screaming of thousands of Parrots as they dashed through the forest, all joining chorus, formed one of the most extraordinary concerts I have ever heard, and seemed at the moment to have been got up for the purpose of welcoming the stranger to this land of wonders on that eventful morning. I have heard it hundreds of times since, but never with the same feelings that I listened to it then. The Laughing Jackass is the bushman’s clock, and being by no means shy, of a companionable nature, a constant attendant about the bush-tent, and a destroyer of Snakes, is regarded, like the Robin at home, as a sacred bird in the Australian forests. It is an uncouth-looking bird, a huge species of land Kingfisher, nearly the size of a Crow, of a rich chestnut brown and dirty white colour; the wings slightly chequered with light blue, after the manner of the British Jay; the tail-feathers long, rather pointed, and barred with brown. It has the foot of a Kingfisher; a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a large mouth; it has also a kind of crest, which it erects when angry or frightened, and this gives it a very ferocious appearance. It is a common bird in all the forest throughout the year; breeds in a hole of a tree, and the eggs are white; generally seen in pairs, and by no means shy. Their principal food appears to be small reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars. As I said before, it destroys Snakes. I never but once saw them at this game: a pair of Jackasses had disabled a Carpet-Snake under an old gum-tree, and they sat on a dead branch above it, every now and then darting down and pecking it, and by their antics and chattering seemed to consider it a capital joke. I can’t say whether they ate the Snake--I fancy not; at least the only reptiles I have ever found in their stomachs have been small Lizards. The first sight that struck me on landing in London was a poor old Laughing Jackass moped up in a cage in Ratcliffe Highway. I never saw a more miserable, woe-begone object. I quite pitied my poor old friend, as he sat dejected on his perch; and the thought struck me at the time that we were probably neither of us benefited in changing the quiet freedom of the bush for the noise and bustle of the modern Babylon.” The Common Laughing Jackass has the sexes alike, but in all the other species the male has a blue tail and the female a red one.

THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE HORNBILLS (Bucerotidæ).

These birds are found in Africa, India, and throughout the Malayan region and Molucca Islands, as far as New Guinea. They are birds of rather ungainly appearance, nearly every species having a casque, or helmet, which is developed in every variety of shape, and in some of them reaches an extraordinary size. The flat soles which were alluded to in the Kingfishers are here developed in a greater degree, and the toes are united together in exactly the same way. The flight, however, of the Hornbills is very different from that of the Kingfishers, being heavy and performed with an abundance of noise: so much so that some explorers in South-eastern New Guinea have been led to speak of a bird whose wings, when flying, produced a noise “resembling a locomotive,” but which was doubtless made by the large Hornbill (Buceros[273] ruficollis), which frequents that part of the world. They are generally found on very lofty trees and at a great height, which makes them difficult to shoot; and Governor Ussher says that in ascending the lonely forest-clad rivers of North-western Borneo the only sign of life is often a solitary Hornbill flying across at a great height in the air. Wallace states that the Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros), a native of the Malayan Peninsula and Borneo, finds the exertion of flying so great that it is compelled to rest at intervals of about a mile; and the same author says that he heard the Great Hornbill (Dichoceros bicornis) more than a mile off, so that the amazement caused by one of these large birds to the travellers in New Guinea, as mentioned above, does not seem so very inexplicable. The voice of the last-named species is said to be very harsh and grating, and the noise it makes is compared by Wallace to something between the bray of a Jackass and the shriek of a locomotive, and is not to be surpassed, probably, in power by any sound that an animal is capable of making. Tickell says that its roar re-echoes through the hills to such a degree that it is difficult to assign the noise to a bird; and Wallace observes that this is kept up so continuously as to be absolutely unbearable. The flight is heavy, and performed by repeated flappings of its huge wings. It usually flies in a straight line, and sails only when about to alight upon some tree.[274]

The food of the Hornbills consists principally of fruits, but under certain circumstances they become to a great extent omnivorous, and will devour anything, some of the species searching the ground for Lizards, which they devour readily, both when wild and in confinement; and the Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros malabaricus) is stated by Mr. Inglis to be very fond of live fish, which it catches in shallow pools. The way he discovered this predilection for an abnormal diet was as follows: he possessed a tame Otter and three tame Hornbills; at feeding time the Otter was placed in a tub containing live fish, and these, when closely pressed, would jump out to escape from their pursuer, and were immediately swallowed by the Hornbills. Mr. Inglis has also found bones of fish in the stomachs of birds which he had shot; and the natives of the Naga Hills affirm that when these Hornbills are intent on fishing they can be approached sufficiently close to be killed by a stick.

By far the most curious habit belonging to these birds is that which takes place during the breeding season, when the male bird plasters the female into a hollow tree, there to hatch her eggs, nor does he release her until the young ones are nearly full grown. It is scarcely possible to conceive a practice more detrimental to the well-being of any bird than this. The exertion of feeding himself as well as his wife and nestlings must entail a serious strain upon the male, while the destruction of the latter must inevitably ensure the starvation of the female and of the young birds. This curious habit has been well attested by observers in Asia as well as in Africa; and the writer once received from an old negro collector on the West Coast of Africa, who rejoiced in the name of St. Thomas David Aubinn, and styled himself “Royal Hunter to the King of Denkera,” an adult female of the Black Hornbill (Sphagolobus atratus), together with a nearly full-grown young one, which, he said, had been taken by him together out of the hole of a tree; and the habits of the Hornbill in this respect were given by him in the following words: “When the female go to sit, the male he her shut in tree. If he no bring food, then she angry. If he no then bring food, then she more angry--swear. If he no then bring food, then she curse him for die. Man--beef--beefy--beef!”

If the last sentence is intended to represent the enraged Hornbill, it is evident that the noises produced by the bird are not of that startling character ascribed to the Eastern species by Wallace, as mentioned above. All accounts seem to agree that the female is shut in the hollow of a tree; but Dr. Kirk noted an exception, on native authority, and therefore one which must be confirmed by future research. This is the Crested Hornbill (Bycanistes cristatus), which is a common bird on the river Shiré, where it goes in large flocks, and roosts regularly in the same places. “The natives say that the female hatches her eggs in a hole underground, in which she is fastened by the male.” Our astonishment at the imprisonment of the female Hornbill is not lessened when it is found that the male bird keeps her supplied with food by a most curious process, which accounts for the statement of Dr. Livingstone[275]:--“The first time I saw this bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me and exclaimed, ‘There is the nest of Korwe.’ I saw a slit only, about half an inch wide and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of a tree. Thinking the word Korwe denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would extract. He broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into the hole, and brought out a Tockus, or Red-beaked Hornbill, which he killed. He informed me that when the female enters her nest she submits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest, of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives; while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies.” At a meeting of the Zoological Society on the 25th February, 1869, Mr. A. D. Bartlett produced a curious envelope, which had been thrown by a Wrinkled Hornbill (Anorrhinus corrugatus) in the Zoological Gardens of London, which was found to contain plums or grapes well packed together; and Mr. Bartlett came to the conclusion that it was by means of fruit packed together in such a wrapper that the male fed the female during her confinement in the hollow tree. In 1874, Dr. Murie exhibited to the same society some similar envelopes, or, as he more properly called them, gizzard sacs, which had been thrown up by a specimen of Sclater’s Hornbill (Bycanistes subcylindricus) in the same way as by the previous bird. On examination, these gizzard sacs proved to be the interior lining of the bird’s stomach; and it was evident, from the short time that elapsed between the throwing up of the envelopes, that, as Dr. Murie observed, the bird in the interval had made a new one, and got rid of it also, without apparently being any the worse. One can readily imagine, however, that this process, being continued during the long period that the female is shut up in the bole of the tree, must tend greatly to weaken the bird. The habit of feeding his mate seems to be inherent in every Hornbill, even in captivity, for Mr. Bartlett observes:--“The tame male Hornbill is particularly distinguished at all seasons by this habit of throwing up his food, which he not only offers to the female, but to the keepers and others who are known to him. The male Concave Hornbill (Buceros cavatus) now in the Gardens will frequently throw up grapes, and, holding them in the point of the bill, thrust them into the mouth of the keeper, if he is not on the alert to prevent or avoid this distinguished mark of his kindness.”

Mr. Wallace thus describes the habits of the Hornbills, as observed by him during his travels in the East, and he points out certain peculiarities, proving that the old systematic position of these birds near the Toucans of America is erroneous:--“From an examination of the structure of the feet and toes, and from a consideration of their habits, we are led to conclude that the Hornbills are Fissirostral birds, though of a very abnormal form. Their very short legs and united toes, with a broad flat sole, are exactly similar to those of the Kingfishers. They have powerful wings, but their heavy bodies oblige them to use much exertion in flight, which is not therefore very rapid, though often extended to considerable distances. They are (in the Indian Archipelago, at least) entirely frugivorous, and it is curious to observe how their structure modifies their mode of feeding. They are far too heavy to dart after the fruit in the manner of the Trogons; they cannot even fly quickly from branch to branch, picking up a fruit here and a fruit there; neither have they strength or agility enough to venture on the more slender branches with the Pigeons and Barbets; but they alight heavily on a branch of considerable thickness, and then, looking cautiously round them, pick off any fruits that may be within reach, and jerk them down their throats by a motion similar to that used by the Toucans, which has been erroneously described as throwing the fruit up in the air before swallowing it. When they have gathered all within their reach they move sideways along the branch by short jumps, or, rather, a kind of shuffle, and the smaller species even hop across to other branches, when they again gather what is within their reach. When in this way they have progressed as far as the bough will safely carry them, they take a flight to another part of the tree, where they pursue the same course. It thus happens that they soon exhaust all the fruit within their reach; and long after they have left a tree the Barbets and Eurylaimi find abundance of food on the slender branches and extreme twigs. We see, therefore, that their very short legs and syndactyle feet remove them completely from the vicinity of the Toucans, in which the legs are actively employed in moving about after their food. Their wings, too, are as powerful as those of the Toucans are weak; and it is only the great weight of their bodies that prevents them from being capable of rapid and extensive flight. As it is, their strength of wing is shown by the great force with which they beat the air, producing a sound, in the larger species, which can be distinctly heard a mile off, and is even louder than that made by the flight of the great Muscovy Duck.” Mr. Wallace[276] also describes the capture of a young Hornbill in Sumatra:--“I returned to Palembang by water, and while staying a day at a village while a boat was being made water-tight, I had the good fortune to obtain a male, female, and young bird of one of the large Hornbills. I had sent my hunters to shoot, and while I was at breakfast they returned, bringing me a fine large male of the Buceros bicornis, which one of them assured me he had shot while feeding the female, which was shut up in a hole in a tree. I had often read of this curious habit, and immediately returned to the place, accompanied by several of the natives. After crossing a stream and a bog, we found a large tree leaning over some water, and on its lower side, at a height of about twenty feet, appeared a small hole, and what looked like a quantity of mud, which I was assured had been used in stopping up the large hole. After a while we heard the harsh cry of a bird inside, and could see the white extremity of its beak put out. I offered a rupee to any one who would go up and get out the bird, with the egg or young one, but they all declared it was too difficult, and they were afraid to try. I therefore very reluctantly came away. In about an hour afterwards, much to my surprise, a tremendous loud, hoarse screaming was heard, and the bird was brought me, together with a young one, which had been found in the hole. This was a most curious object, as large as a pigeon, but without a particle of plumage on any part of it. It was exceedingly plump and soft, and with a semi-transparent skin, so that it looked more like a bag of jelly, with head and feet stuck on, than like a real bird.”

One genus of these Hornbills is so remarkable as to demand a special notice.

THE GROUND HORNBILLS (Bucorax).

These are an African form, of which there are two or three kinds, distinguished by the casque, which is open in the birds from Abyssinia, compressed and shut in the South African species (B. cafer). Of the habits of the latter bird several accounts have been written, from which a few extracts are made; and the first is from a letter sent by Mr. Henry Bowker to Mr. Layard, after the publication of the latter’s “Birds of South Africa”[277]:--“There are many superstitions connected with the ‘Bromvogel.’ The bird is held sacred by the Kaffirs, and is killed only in times of severe drought, when one is killed by order of the ‘rain-doctor,’ and its body thrown into a pool in a river. The idea is that the bird has so offensive a smell that it will ‘make the water sick,’ and that the only way of getting rid of this is to wash it away to the sea, which can only be done by heavy rains and flooding of the river. The ground where they feed is considered good for cattle, and in settling in a new country, spots frequented by these birds are chosen by the wealthy people. Should the birds, however, by some chance, fly over a cattle kraal, the kraal is moved to some other place. They are mostly found in groups of from three to six or seven, and build their nests in hollow trees, or in the hollow formed by three or four branches striking off from the same spot. They roost in tall yellow-wood trees, and commence calling about daylight. I never saw one eating carrion, as stated in your book, though I have frequently seen them near the bones of dead cattle, picking up beetles and worms. They will eat meat, mice, and small birds, and swallow them by throwing them suddenly in the air, and letting them drop down the throat in falling. I once had a tame one, and noticed this particularly. It is very weak on the wing, and when required by the ‘doctor,’ the bird is caught by the men of a number of kraals turning out at the same time, and a particular bird is followed from one hill to another by those on the look-out. After three or four flights it can be run down and caught by a good runner.”

Mr. Ayres’ account of the species in Natal, though often referred to by other writers, is so excellent that no work treating of South African birds can omit it, and is therefore reproduced here in its entirety:--“In the stomach of the male were snakes, beetles, and other insects. These birds are gregarious, and to be found here all the year round, but are not very plentiful, generally three or four, sometimes more, being found together. They are very fond of hunting for their food on ground from which the grass has been burnt; with their strong bills they peck up the hard ground and turn over lumps in search of insects, making the dust fly again. Having found an insect or other food they take it up, and giving their head a toss, the bill pointing upward, appear to let the food roll down their throat. They also kill large snakes in the following manner, viz.:--On discovering a snake, three or four of the birds advance sideways towards it with their wings stretched out, and with their quills flap at and irritate the snake till he seizes them by the wing-feathers, when they immediately all close round and give him violent pecks with their long and sharp bills, quickly withdrawing again when the snake leaves his hold. This they repeat till the snake is dead. If the reptile advances on them they place both wings in front of them, completely covering the heads and most vulnerable parts. Their call, which consists of but one note repeated--a deep and sonorous coo-coo--may be heard at a great distance. I have myself heard it, under favourable circumstances, at a distance of nearly two miles. The call of the female is exactly the same coo-coo, only pitched one note higher than the male. The latter invariably calls first, the female immediately answering, and they continue this perhaps for five or ten minutes, every now and then, as they are feeding. Their flight is heavy, and when disturbed, although very shy, they seldom fly more than half a mile before they alight again. At a distance they would easily be mistaken for Turkeys, their body being deep and rather compressed, similarly to those birds, with the wings carried well on the back. The little pouch on the throat they are able to fill with air at pleasure, the male bird sent to me to London doing this before he died. I think their principal range of country is on the coast and from twenty to thirty miles inland. They roost on trees at night, but always feed on the ground.”

In Angola, where the bird is called by the natives Engungoashito, Mr. Monteiro had great difficulty in procuring specimens, on account of the superstitious dread in which they are held by the natives. He says:--“They are found sparingly nearly everywhere in Angola, becoming abundant, however, only towards the interior. In the mountain range in which Pungo Andongo is situated, and running nearly north and south, they are common, and it was near the base of these mountains that I shot these two specimens. They are seen in flocks of six or eight (the natives say always in equal numbers of males and females). Farther in the interior I was credibly informed that they are found in flocks of from one to two hundred individuals. The males raise up and open and close their tails exactly in the manner of a Turkey, and filling out their bright cockscomb-red, bladder-like wattle on their necks, and with wings dropping on the ground, make quite a grand appearance. They do not present a less extraordinary appearance as they walk slowly with an awkward gait, and peer from side to side with their great eyes in quest of food in the short grass, poking their large bills at any frog, snake, &c., that may come in their way. Their flight is feeble and not long sustained. When alarmed, they generally fly up to the nearest large tree, preferring such as have thick branches with but little foliage, as the Adansonia, ‘Muenzo’ (a wild fig). Here they squat close on the branches, and, if further alarmed, raise themselves quite upright on their legs in an attitude of listening, with wide open bills. The first to notice a person at once utters the customary cry, and all fly off to the next tree. They are very wary, and the grass near the mountains being comparatively short, with but little scrub or birch, it is very difficult to approach without being observed by them from the high trees. I followed a flock of six for upwards of two hours, crawling flat on my stomach, negro fashion, before I obtained a chance of a shot, when I was so fortunate as to break the wing of a male without otherwise injuring it. It was quickly captured by the blacks. They are omnivorous in their food; reptiles, birds, eggs, beetles, and all other insects, mandioca roots, ginguba or ground-nuts, constitute their food in the wild state. In confinement I have fed this bird upon the same food, also upon fresh fish, which it showed itself very fond of, as well as on entrails of fowls, &c. On letting it loose in Loanda in a yard where there were several fowls with chickens, it immediately gulped down its throat six of the latter, and finished its breakfast with several eggs! The note or cry of the male is like the hoarse blast of a horn, repeated short three times, and answered by the female in a lower note. It is very loud, and can be heard at a considerable distance, particularly at night. They are said to build their nests on the very highest Adansonias, in the hollow or cavity formed at the base or junction of the branches with the trunk.”

The present species is of a very large size, measuring about forty inches in length, and about nineteen inches in the wing. It is entirely black, with the exception of the primary quills, which are white; the bill and legs are black, but the bare skin on the neck and round the eye is bright red in the male, but blue in the female.

THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE HOOPOES (Upupidæ).

Different as these birds are in appearance and habits, ornithologists now agree that from their structure they must be placed in close alliance with the Hornbills, with which they are more particularly connected by the Wood Hoopoes. Instead of the ungainly figures and top-heavy-looking casques of the Hornbills, the Hoopoes are remarkable for their graceful carriage and elegant figure, in which the beautiful crest plays an important part. They are particularly at home in the desert countries, where their sandy-coloured plumage is no doubt a great protection to them; and a story is told that the Hoopoe, if it sees a Hawk approaching, will throw itself flat on the ground, and by twisting its wings round in front and remaining motionless, with its bill pointing upwards, it will look like a piece of old rag, and thus escape detection.

Not more than five species of Hoopoe are known, all inhabitants of the Old World, and the most widely distributed is the Common Hoopoe (Upupa epops) of Europe, which visits England during the spring and autumn migration, and at least one instance of its breeding in that country is known. Mr. Howard Saunders states[278]:--“In the year 1847 a pair of Hoopoes nested in a hole of an old yew-tree in a shrubbery of an old-fashioned garden at Leatherhead, Surrey. The proprietor was very anxious that the birds should not be disturbed, and a strict veto was placed upon any bird’s-nesting in the shrubbery--a severe trial to our boyish propensities; but we were afterwards rewarded by seeing the parent birds with their young strutting about upon the lawn. As well as I remember, there were five young ones besides the two old birds.” The species is found all over central and southern Europe in summer, being in some places very plentiful; but it is a rare visitor to the northern parts, and has disappeared from some countries, like Denmark, for instance, where the felling of the old and hollow forest trees has deprived it of its accustomed breeding-places. In some places the bird is disliked, and in Scandinavia, where it occurs only in the southern and central portions, it bears a bad name among the peasantry, who suppose it to be a foreboder of war and hard times, and from this circumstance its name of Härfugel or “army bird,” is derived. The Chinese also have an objection to them, branding them by the name of “Coffin-bird,” as they often breed in the holes of exposed Chinese coffins. On the other hand, according to Canon Tristram, in the Sahara the Arabs have a superstitious veneration for the Hoopoe, and its magical properties enter largely into the arcana of the Arab “hakeem.” He says that great numbers of Hoopoes resort to the M’zab cities and frequent oases in winter, where they strut about the courtyards and round the tents with the familiarity of barn-door fowls. Mons. Favier says, that in Tangier the superstitious Jews and Mahomedans both believe that the heart and feathers of the Hoopoe are charms against the machinations of evil spirits.

The ordinary name of Hoopoe is derived from the note of the bird, and in most European languages the latter suggests the vernacular names. Thus, in Bulgaria it is called Poo-poo, in Valentia Put-Put, Bubbula, &c., in Italy, Poupa in Portugal, and so on. Mr. Swinhoe writes of the bird and its note as follows:--“I have already described the peculiar way in which the Hoopoe produces its notes--by puffing out the sides of its neck, and hammering on the ground at the production of each note, thereby exhausting the air at the end of the series of three, which makes up its song. Before it repeats its call, it repeats the puffing of the neck with a slight gurgling noise. When it is able to strike its bill, the sound is the correct hoo-hoo-hoo; but when perched on a rope, and only jerking out the song with nods of the head, the notes more resemble the syllables hoh-hoh-hoh. Mr. Darwin makes use of this last fact to show that some birds have instrumental means to produce their music. It is not to this point, however, that I wish to call attention, but to the fact of the bird’s puffing out the sides of its neck. It is generally supposed that the song of a bird is produced by actions of the lower larynx on air passing up the bronchial tubes onwards and outwards through the main tube, or trachea. The trachea of the Hoopoe is not dilatable, but its œsophagus is; and the puffing of the neck is caused by the bulging of the œsophagus with swallowed air. There is no connection between the œsophagus and the trachea, and apparently no organ at the entrance to the former that could modify sound. What action, then, can this swallowed air be made to take in the production of the bird’s notes? Pigeons have strikingly large air-crops, which they empty with each coo, and refill before they coo again. Many birds swell out the throat when calling or singing, and others move it up and down. These actions must also be caused by the swallowed air in the œsophagus, and must modify the sounds in some way, as variously used, adding power and richness in some cases, or giving ventriloquistic effect in others. This question seems never to have been enquired into before, and I throw out the hint in hopes that others may help to elucidate the matter with their investigations.”

The length of the Common Hoopoe is about one foot; the upper surface is greyish-brown, the wings and shoulders black barred with white, the rump being pure white; on the head, which is tawny-coloured, is an enormous crest, the feathers of which have a black tip, before which is a narrow white bar; the tail is black; with a white band at about a third of its length from the end; underneath the body is pale cinnamon, white on the abdomen and under tail coverts, the flanks striped with brown. The sexes are alike in colour, excepting that the female is a little paler.

THE WOOD HOOPOES (Irrisor).

All the birds belonging to this section of the Hoopoes are remarkable for their very long and strongly graduated tails, for their brilliant metallic plumage, which is always dark, and inclining more or less to black--instead of a sandy colour, as in the true Hoopoes--and most of them for their very curved, scimitar-like bills. They are all natives of Africa, and have a remarkably loud, chattering note; and from its harsh and resounding voice the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe (I. erythrorhynchus) is known among the Dutch at the Cape as “Cackala,” or the “Chatterer.” The late M. Jules Verreaux told the writer that the noise made by these birds is tremendous, and that on one occasion he was attracted by an uproar, which seemed to indicate that something unusual was the matter. On proceeding to the place whence the noise came, he was astonished to find on the low branch of a tree three of these birds, perched one on the back of the other, betokening by their drooping wings and repeated chatterings the utmost consternation and fright. The cause of this was not far to seek, for just below the birds was a cobra, balancing himself in an erect attitude, and perfectly motionless, the only indication of life being the incessant flicking of the animal’s tongue. The cacklings of the birds became feebler and feebler, until at last the bottom one fell off the perch and dropped into the extended jaws of the snake, which were ready to receive it; while the other two birds, apparently freed from the spell of the reptile’s eye, took to instant flight. Having his gun in his hand, M. Verreaux shot the snake immediately; but on going to rescue the bird, found that the latter was quite dead. Mr. Thomas Ayres, who has studied the species in Natal, says:--“The food of these birds consists almost entirely of a species of cockroach, which they take from the crevices of rough-barked trees, and in search of which they creep about the trunk and branches somewhat similarly to the Woodpeckers. In this manner their tail-feathers frequently become much worn. From four to eight of these birds are generally together, and frequent busby country. They have a loud chattering note, and are extremely restless in their habits. They have a peculiarly powerful and disagreeable smell.” Mr. Andersson’s account of the species is as follows:--“It lives in small flocks--probably consisting of entire families--which frequent trees, chiefly of the larger kinds, and examine them most assiduously in search of insects and their larvæ, which they extract from crevices in the wood and from beneath the bark. These birds climb like Woodpeckers; and their long tails come into constant contact with the rough surface of the trees, by which the tail-feathers are much injured. When they have finished their examination of one tree they move to the next convenient one, but not all together, as a short interval generally elapses after the departure of each individual. The moment flight is decided on, they utter harsh discordant cries or chatterings, which are continued until they are all safely lodged in their new quarters. These harsh notes are also heard when they conceive themselves in danger from either man, beast, or bird; and they thus often betray their presence.”

The present species measures about seventeen inches, the tail being about ten out of that number, and being thus three inches longer than the body of the bird. The colour is black, glossed with green on the head, back, and under surface, with blue on the throat, purple on the wings and tail, and having a bronzy gloss on the shoulders. All the tail feathers, except the two centre ones, have a white spot near the tip and across the wings a white bar. The bill and legs are bright coral red.

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