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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE

CAMBRIDGE NATURAL HISTORY

EDITED BY

S. F. HARMER, Sc.D., F.R.S., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge;
Superintendent of the University Museum of Zoology

A. E. SHIPLEY, M.A., Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge;
University Lecturer on the Morphology of Invertebrates

VOLUME IX

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.

TORONTO

BIRDS

By A. H. EVANS, M.A., Clare College, Cambridge

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1909

In sicco ludunt fulicae. — VIRGIL.
Loons disport themselves on dry matters."

First Edition 1899. Reprinted 1900, 1909

PKEFACE

IN this volume of the " Cambridge Natural History " the author
has attempted to meet a need which he believes to be some-
what widely felt. Eecognising the fact that there is at the
present time an abundance of popular, or only slightly scien-
tific, works on Birds, some of which touch but superficially upon
the individual species composing the various groups, as regards
their plumage or habits, while others pay little or no attention
to correctness of Classification, he has essayed the difficult and
apparently unatteinpted task of including in some six hundred
pages a short description of the majority of the forms in many of
the Families, and of the most typical or important of the innumer-
able species included in the large Passerine Order. Prefixed to
each group is a brief summary of the Structure and Habits; a
few further particulars of the same nature being subsequently
added where necessary, with a statement of the main Fossil forms
as yet recorded.

Thus it is hoped that the work may be of real use, not only
to the tyro in Ornithology, but also to the traveller or resident
in foreign parts interested in the subject, who, without time or
opportunity for referring to the works of specialists, may yet need
the aid of a concise account of the species likely to cross his path.

An introductory chapter has been written, to meet the claims
of the present day, on the external and to a limited extent on
the internal structure of Birds, with short paragraphs on Classi-

VI PREFACE

fication, Geographical Distribution, and Migration, and a " Ter-
minology " of the subject.

In accordance with the scheme of the Series generally, the
order followed runs from the lowest forms and the Eatite Birds
upwards ; the Carinate Birds being divided, after Dr. Gadow's
plan, into two Brigades or main sections, and these again into
Legions, Orders, and so forth. It should, however, be under-
stood that the Species of each Genus are often merely placed in
the most convenient order ; and that, where a geographical range
is given, it does not follow that it is unbroken from end to end.

In descriptions of colour, the names used for tints in the
British Museum Catalogue of Birds have been commonly
adopted, or for British species those in Mr. Howard Saunders'
Manual of British Birds.

Various subjects of a highly technical, or at least of a special
character, have purposely been avoided in the main, as unfitted
to the scope of the work ; such are, Variation and Hybrids,
with their accompaniments of Dimorphism, Dichromatism, and
the like ; Myology ; Mechanism of Flight and the supposed Lines
of Flight on Migration; the Classifications of Linnaeus and the
older writers ; and the Strickland Code of Ornithological Nomen-
clature. For these Professor Newton's Dictionary of Birds, and
especially the Introduction to it, may be consulted ; besides a
multitude of other works.

The woodcuts have been chiefly supplied by Mr. G. E. Lodge;
but a few illustrations have been utilized from other sources.

The author does not hold himself responsible for the fact of
the Family names being in Eoman in place of Italic type, nor
for the dissociation of the vowels in the diphthongs ; in these
minor points he personally differs from the writers of the former
volumes, though he agrees with the wish of his Editors for
uniformity.

PREFACE vii

In conclusion, he must take the opportunity of acknow-
ledging the invaluable assistance afforded by Mr. Howard
Saunders, who carefully went over the whole of the proofs,
while Dr. E. B. Sharpe was kind enough to do the same ; nor
must he fail to record his indebtedness to Professor Newton,
Mr. Sclater, Dr. Gadow, Mr. Ogilvie Grant, and many others,
not to mention the innumerable authors without whose previous
labours to write a book of this description would be a well-
nigh impossible task. Dr. Stejneger's Volume on Birds in the
Standard Natural History should be mentioned in particular.

A. H. EVANS.

CAMBRIDGE, November 17, 1898.

ADDENDUM

SINCE the text has been printed off, several new species have
been described, and of these it is necessary to mention at least
the following; —

Archaeopteryx siemensi, from Solenhofen, where the original
form was obtained. — (Dames.)

Euryapteryx exilis (Dinornithidae) ; a new genus, Anomalornis,
is also proposed for Anomalopteryx (preoccupied). — (Hutton.)

Ammoperdix cholmleyi (Phasianidae), from Suakin. — (Ogilvie-
Grant.)

Cepplius snowi (Alcidae), from the Kurile Is. — (Stejneger.)
The range of C. columba will now be " Bering Sea to California ; "
and of C. carlo " North-East Asia and Japanese Seas."

Podoces pleskii (Corvidae), from East Persia. — (Zarudny.)

Some new fossil forms from Patagonia. — (Mercerat.)

Mr. F. E. Blaauw has published a Monograph of the Cranes,
and Mr. C. W. de Vis has described the eggs and young of
Salvadorina (Anatidae).

In all these cases the Zoological Record for 1897 may be
consulted.

In 1898 Mr. F. E. Beddard's Structure and Classification of
Birds was issued in London ; and Dr. A. B. Meyer and Mr. L. W.
Wiglesworth's Birds of Celebes in Berlin.

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE . . . . v

ADDENDUM ............. viii

SCHEME OF THE CLASSIFICATION ADOPTED IN THIS BOOK xi

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER II
ARCHAEORNITHES — NEORNITHES RATITAE — NEORNITHES ODONTOLCAE . . 23

CHAPTER III

NEORNITHES CARINATAE

BRIGADE I — LEGION I (COLYMBOMORPHAE). ORDERS: ICHTHYORNITHES —

COLYMBIFORMES — SPHENISCIFORMES — PROCELLARIIFORMES ... 48

CHAPTER IV

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

BRIGADE I — -LEGION II (PELARGOMORPHAE). ORDERS: CICONIIFORMES —

ANSERIFORMES — FALCONIFORMES ..... 70

CHAPTER V

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

BRIGADE II — LEGION I (ALECTOROMORPHAE). ORDERS : TINAMIFORMES —

GALLIFORMES — GRUIFORMES — CHARADRIIFORMES . . 182

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

PAGE

BRIGADE II — LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE). ORDERS : CUCULIFORMES —

CORACIIFORMES ........... 351

CHAPTER VII

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONCLUDED

BRIGADE II — LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE CONCLUDED}. ORDER : PASSERI-

FORMES . , 466

INDEX , 589

SCHEME OF THE CLASSIFICATION ADOPTED
IN THIS BOOK

CLASS AVES (p. 23.)

SUB-CLASS I. ARCHAEORNITHES (p. 23).
Archaeopteryx (pp. viii, 23).

SUB-CLASS II. NEORNITHES (p. 25).
DIVISION A. NEORNITHES RATITAE (p. 25).

I. Struthiones (p. 27) : Fam. Struthionidae (p. 27).
II. Rheae (p. 30) : Fam. Kheidae (p. 30).

TTT AT • 4- i oo\ fFam. I. Casuariidae (p. 33).
III. Megistanes (p. 32) : |Fam u Dromaeidae \P>

RATITAE (p. 26) -

? ? STEREORNITHES

(p. 43)

IV. Apteryges (p. 38) : Fam. Apterygidae (p. 38).
V. Dinornithes (p. 41) : Fam. Dinornithidae (p. 41).
VI. Aepyornithes (p. 43) : Fam. Aepyornithidae (p. 43).

Mesembriornis, etc. (p. 44).
Diatryma (p. 45).
Dasornis (p. 45).
Remiornis (p. 45).
Gaslornis (p. 45).

DIVISIONS. NEORNITHES ODONTOLCAE (p. 45).

HESPERORNITHES (p. 46).
? ENALIORNITHES (p. 46).
? Baptornis (p. 46).

DIVISION C. NEORNITHES CARINATAE (p. 48).
ICHTHYORNITHES / Fam. ICHTHYORNITHIDAE (p. 48) : Ichthyornis (p. 48).

(p. 48)
Order.

COLYMBIFORMES

(p. 49)

SPHENISCIFORMES

(p. 54)

PROCELLARIIFORMES

(p. 59)

\ ? Apatornis (p. 49).

Sub-Order. Family. Sub-family.

f Colymbi(p. 49) COLYMBIDAE (p. 50).

-I Podicipedes PODICIPKDIDAE

( (p. 49) (p. 52),

Sphenisci SPHENISCIDAE

(p. 54) (p. 54).

( Diomedeinae (p. 63).

Tubinares PEOCELLARIIDAE J Oceanitinae (p. 65).

(p. 59) (p. 59) 1 Procellariinae (p. 65).

^ Pelecanoidinae (p. 68).

Xll

SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

Order. Sub-Order.

Family. Sub-family.

C PHAETHONTIDAE (p. 72).

SULIDAE (p. 73).

Steganopodes -j PHALACROCORACIDAE (p. 75).

(p. 70) FREGATIDAE (p. 81).

PELKCANIDAE(P. 83).

J ARDEIDAE (p. 87).

CICONIIFORMES

(p. 70)

Ardeae (p. 86)

SCOPIDAE (p. 95).

ClCONIIDAE (p. 95).

Ciconiae (p. 95) \ ImD.DAK (p. 99) -j PSl£(pTo3).

PHOENICOPTERIDAE

Phoenicopteri

(p. 105).

(p. 105)

PALAELODTDAE

^

(pp. 105, 108).

f Palamedeae

PALAMEDEIDAE

(p. 108).

(p. 108)

Merginae (p. 115).

Merganettinae (p. 116).

Erismaturinae (p. 117).

Fuligulinae (p. 118).

ANSERIFORMES

Anatinae (p. 123).

(p. 108)

Anseres (p. 110)

ANATIDAE (p. Ill)' Chenonettinae (p. 130).

Anserinae (p. 131).

Cereopsinae (p. 133).

Plectropterinae (p. 133).

Anseranatinae (p. 135).

_.

, Cygninae (p. 135).

Cathartae

CATHARTIDAE

(p.137)

(p. 137).

SERPENTARIIDAE

(p. 141).

VULTTJRIDAE

(p. 143).

FALCONIFORMES

C Gypaetinae (p. 150).

(p. 137)

Accipitres

(pp. 137, 141) '

Polyborinae (p. 151).
FALCONIDAE J Accipitrinae (p. 153).
(p. 146) I Aquilinae (p. 159).

Buteoninae (p. 164).

[ Falconinae (p. 173).

PANDIONIDAE

s (P- 180).

TINAMIFORMES Tinami (p. 182)

TINAMIDAE (CRYPTURIDAE)

(p. 182)

(p. 182).

Mesitae (p. 186)

MESITIDAE(P. 186).

f TURNICIDAE

Turnices (p. 187) -

(p. 187).
1 PEDIONOMIDAE

1 (p. 189).

f MEGAPODHDAE

(p. 190).

rCracinae (p. 196).

GALLIFORMES

(p. 186)

Galli (p. 190)

CRACIDAE (p. 194) ] Penelopinae (p. 197).
^ Oreophasinae (p. 198).

( Numidinae (p. 204).

PHASIANIDAE Meleagrinae (p. 206).

V, (p. 198) 4 Phasianinae (p. 206).

Odontophorinae (p. 230).

v Tetraoninae (p. 233).

Opisthocomi

OPISTHOCOMIDAE

1 (p. 241)

(p. 241).

SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

Xlll

Order.

GRUIFORMES

(p. 243)

Sub-Order.

Family.

RALLIDAE (p. 243).
GRUIDAE (p. 251).
ARAMIDAE(P. 256).
PSOPHIIDAE (p. 257).
CARIAMIDAE(P. 258).
OTIDIDAE (p. 260).
RHINOCHETIDAE
(p. 263).

EURYPYGIDAE
(p. 265).

HELIORMITHIDAE

(p. 267).

Sub-family.

CHARADRIIFORMES

(p. 268)

CHARADRIIDAE

(p. 272)

CHIONIDIDAE

(p. 292).

vr. ~.w,
THINOCORY-

THIDAE (p. 296).

OEDICNEMIDAE
(p. 297).

PARRIDAE(p.297)

Lari (pp. 268, 300) LARIDAE (p. 300)

Alcae (p. 315) ALCIDAE (p. 315).

Pterocles (p. 321) PTF;R°CLIDAE

f DIDIDAE (p. 328).

I DlDUNCULIDAE

Columbae (p. 325) J (p. 331).

( Charadriinae (p. 272).
\ Tringinae (p. 278).
( Scolopacinae (p. 289).

f Glareolinae (p. 293).
\ Dromadiuae (p. 296).

Stercorariinae (p. 304).
Larinae (p. 305).
Rhynchopinae (p. 310).
Sterninae (p. 310).

CUCULIFORMES

(p. 351)

Cuculi (p. 351)

Psittaci(p. 361)

COLUMBIDAE
I (P-

CUCULTDAE

(p. 351)

f Gourinae (p. 334).
I Peristerinae (p. 334).
~| Columbinae (p. 342).
I Treroniiiae (p. 344).

MTJSOPHAGIDAE
(p. 359).

PSITTACIDAE
(p. 366)

' Cuculinae (p. 352).
Centropodinae (p. 356).
Phaenicophainae (p. 357).
Xeomorphinae (p. 357).
Diplopterinae (p. 359).
Crotophaginae (p. 359).

(Continued on the next page.}

( Stringopinae (p. 366).
- Psittacinae (p. 367).
( Cacatuinae (p. 372).
TRTCHOGLOSSIDAE / Cyclopsittacinae (p. 373).
/ Q7oN { Lornnae (p. 3/3).

(^373) Uestorinae (p. 374).

( Coraciinae (p. 376).
1 Leptosomatinae (p. 378).
/ Momotinae (p. 380).
\ Todinae (p. 381).

(p. 379)

XIV

SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

Order. Sub-Order. Family.

Sub-family.

f

f ALCEDINIDAE

/ Halcyoninae (p. 385).

(p. 382)

\Alcedininae (p. 386).

MEROPIDAE

Coraciae

(p. 387).

(continued)

BUCEROTIDAE

(p. 390).

UPTJPIDAE

/ Upupinae (p. 395).

(p. 395)

^ Irrisorinae (p. 397).

Striges (p. 397) '^^l)

/ Striginae (p. 403),
{ Buboninae (p. 404).

CAPRIMULGIDAE

/ Caprimulginae (p. 418).

(p. 417)

(_ Nyctibiinae (p. 418).

Caprimulgi

PODARGIDAE

(p. 415) 1 (p. 419).

STEATORNITHI-

CORACIIFORMES

(continued)

( DAE (p. 419).

( CYPSELIDAE
Cypseli (p. 419) J (P' 420)

{Macropteryginae (p. 422).
Chaeturinae (p. 422).
Cypselinae (p. 424).

TROCHILIDAE

I (P- 426).

Colii (p. 439) *YpmtE9).

Trogones (p. 441) TRO(p°74V)E

r GALBULIDAE

f Galbulinae (p. 445).

(p. 445)

\ Bucconinae (p. 446).

CAPITONIDAE

{Capitoninae (p. 448).

Pici (p. 445)

(p. 448)
RHAMPHASTIDAE

Indicatorinae (p. 451)

(p. 453)

PICIDAE (p. 457)

/ Picinae (p. 457).
\ lynginae (p. 464).

Order.

Group.

Division.

Sub-family.

( SUBCLAMATORES EURYLAEMIDAE

(p. 467) (p. 467).

PlTTIDAE

(p. 469).

PHILEPITTIDAE

(p. 471).

XENICIDAE

(p. 472).

PASSERI-
FORMES -

(p. 466)

Passeres
aniso-
myodao "
(p. 467)

CLAMATORES
(p. 469)

f Taeniopterinae ^
TYRANNIDAE 1 Platyrhynchinae-( p.
(p. 473) j Elaineinae j 473.
^Tyranninae

OXYRHAMPHIDAE

(p. 477).

PlPRIDAE

(p. 477).

Tityrinae

Lipauginae

COTINGIDAE

Attilinae (p.

(p. 479)

Rupicolinae 479).

Cotinginae

^ Gymnoderinae

PHYTOTOMIDAE

_

L (p. 483).

(Continued on the next page.)

SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

xv

Order. Group. Division. Family.

Sub-family.

Pcisseres

f Furnariinae -\
DENDROCOLAPTI- 1 Synallaxinae (
DAE (p. 483) 1 Sclerurmae I ^
Dendrocolap-
l tinae J

aniso-
myodae

(continued]

i CLAMATOKES
(continued)

FORMICARIIDAE

(p. 488)

( Thamnophili- ^
I nae | (p.
Formicarnnae | 488).
I Grallariinae J

CONOPOPHAGIDAE

(p. 489).

PTEROPTOCHIDAE

(p. 490).

[ MENURIDAE

fSUBOSCINES (p. 491).

(p. 491) j ATRICHORNITHI-

l DAE (p. 493).

f ALAUDIDAE

(p. 496).

MOTACILLIDAE

( Motacillinaelj / .nox

(p. 498)

{Anthinae )(?• 498)'

HENICURIDAE

(p. 501).

TlMELIIDAE

(p. 501).

PYCNONOTIDAE

(p. 504).

PASSERI-

MUSCICAPIDAE

FORMES

(p. 506).

(continued]

{Turdinae (p. 509).

TURDIDAE

(p. 509)

Myiodectinae (p. 513),
Sylviinae (p. 513).
Polioptilinae (p. 514).

Mirainae (p. 514).

ClNCLIDAE

Passeres
diacro-

OSCINES

(p. 519).
TROGLODYTIDAE

myodae

(p. 491)

(p. 494)

(p. 521).
CHAMAEIDAE
(p. 522).

HlRUNDINIDAE

(p. 522).

CAMPEPHAGIDAE

(p. 525).

DlCRURIDAE

(p. 527).

AMPELIDAE

(p. 529).

ARTAMIDAE

(p. 530).

r Gymnorliininae

(p. 532).

Malaconotinae

LANIIDAE

(p. 533).

(p. 531)

Pachycephalinae

(p 533).

( Continued on the next page. ]

Laniinae (p. 534).
^ Prionopinae (p. 535).

XVI

SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

Order. Group. Division. Family.

Sub-family.

r

' VlREONIDAE

(p. 536).

SlTTIDAE

(p. 536).

PARIDAE

(p. 538).

PANURIDAE

(p. 541).

ORIOLIDAE

(p. 542).

PARADISEIDAE

(p. 543).

CORVIDAE

(p. 552)

( Corvinae \
\ Garrulinae V (p. 552).
\ Fregilinae J

STTJRNIDAE

(p. 559).

DREPANIDIDAE

(p. 562).

PASSERI-
FORMES <

(continued)

Passeres
diacro-
myodae

(continued)

OSCINES

(continued)

MELIPHAGIDAE

(p. 564)

ZOSTEROPIDAE

(p. 568).
NECTARINIIDAE

f Myzomelinae \ (p.
\Meliphaginae /564).

(p. 568).

DlCAEIDAE

(p. 570).

CERTHIIDAE (p.

571).

COEREBIDAE

(p. 572).

MNIOTILTIDAE

(p. 573.

TANAGRIDAE

(p. 575).

PLOCEIDAE

/ Viduinae (p. 576).

(p. 576)

\ Ploceinae (p. 577).

T Cassicinae ^

ICTERIDAE

(p. 579)

Agelaeinae ,
4 Sturnellinae rlp',
Icterinae
{ Quiscalinae J

FRINGILLIDAE

I (P-

„ + EMBERIZIDAE

\ 582).

CHAPTEE I

INTRODUCTION

Definition. — "A Bird is a feathered biped/' This popular
saying undoubtedly furnishes a definition in the world of
to-day, since no other existing creature has a clothing of feathers,
and even the word " biped " is thus superfluous.

The above should, however, be somewhat expanded, in order
to shew in greater detail the differences between Birds and other
Vertebrata. Care must nevertheless be taken to avoid the fault
common to many modern definitions, of giving an abstract
of the main characteristics of the object, rather than a clear
guide to distinction.

Dr. Gadow l defines Birds as " oviparous, warm-blooded, amniotic
Vertebrates, which have their anterior extremities transformed
into wings. Metacarpus and fingers carrying feathers or quills.
With an intertarsal joint. Not more than four toes, of which
the first is the hallux."

Much of this the beginner might well postpone, his attention
being solely drawn to the external characters ; though of course
those that are internal are by no means to be subsequently
neglected. Indeed no satisfactory progress can be made in the
serious study of Ornithology, or the Science of Birds, without a
competent knowledge of their Anatomy and Development ; while,
though at present comparatively few fossil remains of Birds have
been found, some of them are of the highest importance, and there
is every probability of future discoveries throwing much light not
only on the mutual relationships of Birds among themselves, but
also on their connexion with the Reptilia. Birds are, in fact, only
extremely modified Eeptiles, the two Classes forming the Saur-
opsida of Huxley, one of his three primary divisions of Vertebrata.

1 P.Z.S. 1892, p. 236.
VOL. IX |£ B

FEATHERS CHAP.

The aid of the Palaeontologist and Geologist must thus be called
in to clear up many problems which present themselves to the
Ornithologist who does not content himself with examining exist-
ing forms of life alone. Archaeopteryx (p. 23) from the Jurassic
System is the. oldest Bird known, nor are any other pre-Tertiary
forms recorded, save a small number from the rocks of the Creta-
ceous Epoch, the chief of which are the so-called Odontornithes,
or toothed species of America (p. 45).

The following paragraphs on the structure of Birds will help
to explain the systematic account in the later chapters.

Feathers. — Eeturning to the outward character denoted by
the popular saying with which we began, the Feathers 1 con-
stituting the plumage may not inconveniently be first considered.
The general belief that they grow from almost every part of a
Bird's body, as do hairs in most Mammals, is erroneous ; for,
almost without exception, they grow in certain definite tracts
called pterylae, the intervening spaces, whether they be wholly
bare or covered with down, being termed apteria. The arrange-
ment of these patches is at times of considerable assistance in
determining a Bird's affinities ; and the subject may be studied in
Nitzsch's Pterylograpliie 2 or in a shorter form in Dr. Gadow's
article " Pterylosis " in Professor Newton's Dictionary of Birds.

A feather originates thus. A conical papilla arises in the
derma and pushes up the epidermis, a depression forming mean-
while around the base ; subsequently the derma supplies a
nutritive pulp, while part of the epidermal layer is converted
into a tuft of stiff rays, meeting and forming a short tube
below ; these thereafter burst their covering and protrude as the
rami or barbs, on which, apparently by secondary splitting, are
commonly produced radii or barbules. In this state we have a
" plumule" or "down-feather " ; but in the case of the feathers that
have " webs " or " vanes " (vexilla), often called contour feathers
(pennae or plumae), a fresh papilla forms at a deeper level, so that
the earlier structure is thrust forward and eventually drops off
from the apex of the later. Meanwhile the " dorsal " portions of

1 The integument of a Bird consists of Skin and Feathers, the former being
composed of a superficial epidermis and an underlying derma or cut-is, which
is rich in sensory organs but poor in blood-vessels. The epidermis itself has
a horny outer layer and a softer (Malpighian) substratum. Feathers, hairs, bristles,
scales, claws and bill-sheaths are epidermal structures.

8 A translation was edited for the Ray Society by Mr. Sclater in 1867.

COLOUR

the barrel or quill (calamus or scapus) at the base of the tuft
of rays have elongated into a principal shaft (rhachis) ; this is
generally accompanied by a secondary " aftershaft " (hyporliacliis),
originating from the " ventral " side, which in the Emeu and
Cassowary rivals the shaft itself in size. On the rhachis a double
series of lamellae or barbs are developed, carrying a similar double
series of barbules, much as in the down-feather, but the barbules
again give rise to barbicels (cilia), which in the distal rows
usually terminate in booklets Qiamuli). These catch in the folded
margins of the next proximal row, and a firm surface is thus
secured. An after-shaft never, and a down-feather rarely, possesses
barbicels ; while in some cases by the absence of these and part
of the barbules a " disconnected " web and -a " decomposed " feather
are formed, as in the decorative tufts of many species. The barbs
may even be absent, as in the wing-quills of Cassowaries, the
" wires " of Birds of Paradise, the " bristle-feathers " at the gape
of Night-jars or the eyelashes of Hornbills. In the hackles of
Gallus (Fowl), and the secondaries or even the tail-feathers of
Ampelis (Waxwing), the tip of the rhachis is flattened and wax-
like ; and similar structures are observable elsewhere. In the
newly-hatched young the down is often partly or entirely sup-
pressed, but in certain Birds this suppression is temporary, and a
thick coat grows after a few days. " Powder-down " feathers are
those which never develop beyond the early stage, and continually
disintegrate at the tip into bluish- or greyish-white powder ; they
occur in the Tinamidae, Ardeidae, Rliinochetidae, Eurypygidae,
Mesitidae, Accipitres and Psittaci, in Podargus, Coracias, Lepto-
soma, Gymnoderus and Artamus.

Colour. — The colour of Feathers is due to one of three causes.
First, an actual pigment * may be present in certain corpuscles, or
in diffused solution, and the tint does not then vary according to
the incidence of the light. Secondly, it may arise from a pigment
overlaid by colourless structures in the form of ridges or imbedded
polygonal bodies ; here, if the vanes are scraped or held up to
the light, the pigmentary colour alone is visible.2 Thirdly, the
colour may be iridescent or prismatic ; that is, a blackish pig-

1 Of this nature are zoomelanin (black), zoonerythrin (red), zooxanthin (yellow),
turacin (red — only known in the Musophagidae], and perhaps turacoverdin (green,
from the same family). Brown is produced by a combination of red and black ;
white is the appearance due to innumerable air-spaces.

2 Such are many yellows, oranges, greens and blues.

MOULT

ment may lie beneath a surface, which, whether polished, ridged,
or pitted, acts as a series of prisms, causing the hue to vary
according to the relative position of the spectator's eye and the
light. This is seen in a remarkable degree in Humming-birds.1

Not uncommonly the vanes of feathers have an appearance like
watered silk, due to very indistinct transverse striations. In
regard to plumage generally, it may be noticed that the markings
on a feather frequently indicate the age of a bird. In some the
immature plumage is characterised by light-coloured tips to the
feathers, which are lost as maturity is reached. In other groups,
and especially in most of the Accipitres or Diurnal Birds of Prey,
the markings of the immature bird are generally longitudinal,
and in the adult transverse. In nearly all these cases the change
is effected at the first moult. Females and young are usually duller
than males, but in some cases, such as PJialaropus (Limicolae) and
Eclectus (Psittaci\ the hen-birds are the more brightly coloured.

Moult. — Referring to p. 2, it should be remarked that, after
the production of a feather, the formative substances become for
a while dormant, but awake to renewed activity, if accidental
or periodical loss needs to be made good ; and so we naturally
arrive at the phenomena of the annual Moult, which is often
" double," that is, occurring towards autumn, and again in spring.

Though some Birds do not lose their quill-feathers the first
year, they normally gain a winter plumage — differing in colour
from the summer garb — by moulting or shedding their feathers.
The wing-quills, and even those of the tail, are ordinarily discarded
in pairs, though not quite simultaneously ; but most Anatidae
(Swans, Geese and Ducks), and apparently the Phoenicopteridae
(Flamingos), lose all the former at once,2 and with them the
power of flight ; while in the first- named Family the males of
many species assume for several weeks a dress resembling that of
the female, and are said to undergo an " eclipse." Young birds
moult, as a rule, somewhat later than adults, but in the typical
Gallinae the original quills are shed before the possessors are
fully grown, and are succeeded by others of proportionately in-
creased size, the power of flight being attained very early,

1 Albinism is due to the absence of pigment ; melanism, xanthochroism and
ery thrism are terms implying an abnormal proportion of black, yellow, or red in the
plumage. They may be caused by food.

2 In some cases at least Rails and Moor-hens do the same.

SKELETON 5

The additional or spring moult affects the smaller feathers
only, while it is still doubtful how far changes of colour are due
to a mere dropping off of the fringe of barbicels. The decorative
plumes of the males of many species are gained at the vernal
moult. The double process is certainly not diagnostic of Families
or even Genera, except in isolated cases ; as an instance, however,
the Larks have one moult, the Pipits and Wagtails two.

In such cases as Swallows and Diurnal Birds of Prey generally,
the plumage is not 'changed till after the migration ; in the
Ptarmigan there is a triple moult, the breeding-suit being
changed first to a greyish habit and then to a white ; in Penguins
the feathers of the wing come off in apparent flakes.1

Skeleton, Digestive Organs, etc. — The plumage, however,
though often striking, and of undoubted utility as a non-conductor
of heat and a protection against wet, plays a subordinate part in
determining the relationships of the larger groups of Birds. For
this we need the assistance of anatomy, if indeed we do not rely
upon it almost entirely. It will be well before starting to state
that structures which are morphologically similar, that is, which
have a like origin in the embryo, are termed "homologous," while
those which perform the same physiological functions are " analo-
gous," the word in its strictest sense implying initial diversity.

Any standard work on Vertebrate Anatomy ought to furnish
a concise account of the bony framework or Skeleton of a Bird,
but it will be convenient here to follow mainly the treatment of
Dr. Gadow, in Prof. Newton's Dictionary of Birds, pp. 848-867.

According to this authority the Axial Skeleton consists of
the Skull and Vertebral Column ; the Appendicular Skeleton of
the Eibs, the Sternum, the Limbs and their Arches, the Hyoid
Apparatus or framework of the tongue, and the Jaws.

1. The Vertebral Column, which protects the Spinal Cord, is
composed of a variable number of cervical, dorsal, sacral or pelvic,
and caudal vertebrae ; that is, those of the neck, back, loins and
tail respectively. The first cervical vertebra, which bears the
head, articulating with it by a single condyle, is called the Atlas ;
the second, on which it turns, the Axis ; the succeeding cervicals

1 In certain of the Tetraonidac the claws are shed in spring ; in some Alcidae
(Auks) the horny bill-sheath and the outgrowths over the eyes are lost after the
breeding season ; the American White Pelican moults a horny projection on the
culmen after nesting, while the beak of Redpolls is much elongated in summer.

SKELETON CHAP.

present a considerable number of processes or projections, which
protect certain blood-vessels, and serve for the attachment of
the muscles which turn the flexible neck. The dorsal vertebrae
follow, and some not unfrequently coalesce with each other, but
this is always so with the sacrals, and in nearly all existing
Birds with the terminal portion of the caudals, which are fused
together to form a " pygostyle " or upright triangular plate to carry
the tail-feathers.1 Archaeopteryx, so far as is known, stands
alone in having all the caudal vertebrae free.

A typical vertebra consists of a centrum, and an arch, with
articular surfaces for two ribs, and is called heterocoelous when the

facets, or connecting surfaces, are
saddle-shaped, a condition charac-
teristic of, and restricted to, Birds.
It is amphicoelous, or biconcave,
when each end is hollowed, as in
the dorsal region of Ichthyornis

& / .^f\"^^^^J and probably in Archaeopteryx ;

£ j^ VP- procoelous, when concave in front

FIG. l.-Third cervical vertebra of Wood- (a8 is COmmon in ^ptiles) ; opis-

pecker (Picus viridis). (Viewed thocoelous when concave behind

men"°of upper Lcfc ; Pa, articular (aS *n man7 Mammals).

process ; Psi, haemal spine ; pt, Pt, 2. The Eibs are doubly attached

the two bars of the transverse process, , ,-, , n ^ il j / •

shewn on one side ancyiosed with the to the vertebrae by a head (capi-

cervical rib (R) ; Sa, articular surface tulum} and a knob (tubercullim) \
of centrum. (From Wiedersheim. ) , , , , ,

and have a neck, a dorsal, and a

ventral portion, each dorsal section (save on the last rib)
possessing an " uncinate process " or thin, bony posterior projec-
tion, except in Archaeopteryx and the Palamedeidae. Should the
ventral piece articulate with the sternum the rib is " true,"
otherwise it is called " false " ; moreover the cervical and
frequently the post - thoracic ribs are fused with the cervical
vertebrae and the ilia respectively.

3. The Breast-bone (Sternwrri) presents two different styles —
according to whether it exhibits on its ventral surface a median
ridge or keel (carina), or not. In the former case, which is that
of by far the greater number of existing Birds (hence termed
Carinatae), the keel is of variable size, being correlated with the
power of flight. It is exceedingly deep in the Swifts, Humming

1 The Ratitae, Crypturi and Hesperornis have no pygostyle.

SKELETON

Birds, and certain Petrels, but dwindles almost to disappearance
in some flightless forms such as the Dodo, the Kakapo (Stringops),
the extinct New Zealand Goose (Cnemiornis), and a good many
Eails. The absence of a keel is characteristic of the other and
smaller group of Birds, made up of the Ostrich, Ehea, Emeu and

FIG. 2. — Skeleton of the trunk of a Falcon. Ca, coracoid, which articulates with the
sternum (St) at f ; Cr, keel of sternum ; Fu (Cl), furcula (clavicles) ; G, glenoid
cavity for humerus; S, scapula; Un, uncinate process; V, vertebral, and Sp, sternal,
portion of rib. (From Wiedersheim.)

Cassowary, Moa and Kiwi, which from the resemblance the
sternum thus bears to a flat-bottomed boat (ratis) are known as
Eatitae. Whether keeled or not, the breast - bone affords a
surface of attachment to the principal muscles of the fore-limbs,
and its anterior end supports the coracoids, as in Fig. 2. Various
processes are in most cases developed on the sides of the sternum
itself, behind its junction with the ribs, especially towards the

SKELETON

posterior portion, where they often take the form of prolonga-
tions, the extremities of which occasionally meet and enclose
what are called fenestrae ; but these are un-
important when compared with the features pre-
sented by the anterior part.

4. The Pectoral Arch, or
Shoulder -Girdle, consists of
three pairs of bones, the
:>, Coracoids, the Scapulae
X;\ or Shoulder-blades,
"X arid the Clavicles
•. \ or Collar-

-—ME

bones, the last two usu-
ally coalescing in the
median line into a
V-shaped or U-shaped
Furcula (the well-known
"Merry- thought"); but
in some groups, as
certain Parrots, the
clavicles are practically
absent, while in others,

Fig. 3.— Skeleton of the Limbs and Tail of a Carinate as Several Owls, they do

Bird. (The skeleton of the body is indicated by not unite. The furcula
dotted lines.) F, digits; Fi, fibula; HW, carpus; „ .~ „

MF, tarsometatarsus ; MH, carpometacarpus ; OA, Olten OSSineS firmly

humerus ; OS, femur ; Py, pygostyle ; R, coracoid ; with the anterior por-

Ul, ulna ; Sch, scapula ; St, sternum, with its keel . r .

(Cr) ; T, tibiotarsus ; Rd, radius ; z, z^, digits of tion of the keel, and in
foot. (From Wiedersheim.) Fregata, Didus and the

Ratitae, the coracoids and scapulae are fused together.

5. The Anterior Limbs, or Wings, are composed of the
Humerus, or upper arm - bone, the Ulna and Radius (mak-
ing the fore-arm), the Carpus or wrist, the Metacarpus and
Digits, corresponding with the hand and fingers. The first of the
three metacarpals bears the Pollex, or thumb, with one or two

SKELETON

phalanges (joints) ; the second the Index, representing man's first
finger, with two or three joints ; the third a weak digit with only
one phalanx, except in Arcliaeopteryx, where there are four. The
Casuarii and Apteryges possess an index only, which in the Sphenisci
is fused with the pollex. The basal joint of this is the normal
place of attachment of the " bastard wing " (alula spuria).
Archaeopteryx had claws on all its fingers, but in recent Birds
they occur on the first two only, being functionless in the adult.
Wing-spurs arise from the carpal and metacarpal bones.

6. The Pelvic Arch consists of the Ilium, Ischium, and Os
pubis, these three paired bones meeting from each side at the cup
(acetabulum) that receives the head of the femur, and coalescing
early in life ; while the incisura ischiadica or notch between the

il

P

FIG. 4. — Pelvis of Apteryx australis. Lateral view, a, Acetabulum ; ft, ilium ; is, iscbinm :
p, pectineal process of pubis ; p1, pubis. (From Wiedersheim, after Marsh.)

ischium and the ilium becomes an inclosed space (foramen) in
all Birds except the Hatitae and Crypturi.

7. The Posterior Limbs, or Legs, are composed of the Femur
or thigh, the Tibia and Fibula, making the shank or " drum-
stick," and the bones of the Foot. The thigh, however, being
hidden by the plumage, the shank of a Bird might easily be
taken for the thigh, and the metatarsus (the cannon-bone of some)
for the shank. The tibia and fibula commonly unite to some
extent, and the former, as it now exists in adult Birds, is strictly
a " tibio-tarsus," since with it is fused the proximal portion of the
originally existing tarsal elements. Similarly the distal tarsal

I O SKELETON CHAP.

elements unite with the metatarsus, which is therefore properly
a " tarso-metatarsus/' though often called merely " tarsus " by
ornithologists. This arises from a fusion of the second, third,
and fourth metatarsal bones, which in the adult (except among
the Sphenisci and to some extent in Psittaci) do not lie in the
same plane ; the middle one having its upper end thrust back-
ward and its lower end forward in the course of growth to
maturity. The fifth metatarsal practically disappears, while the
first remains more or less separate, and lies behind the distal
portion of the other metatarsals.

Of the toes the fifth is not traceable in Birds ; the first is
often aborted, but the second only in Struthio, and to a less
extent in Ceyx and Alcyone, and the fourth (nearly) in Cholornis.
The hallux, or hind toe, has two phalanges, the second digit
three, the third four, and the fourth five ; Cypselus and Panyptila
(Swifts), however, are exceptions, and possess only three in each
of the anterior toes, while the Caprimulginae (true Nightjars) and
Pteroclidae (Sand-Grouse) have only four joints on the outer. In
Owls and Pandion the fourth digit is reversible at will, the same
being true to a less extent of the Musophagidae (Plantain-eaters)
and Leptosoma (akin to the Koller) ; when this condition is per-
manent, as in the Cuculidae, Psittaci and Pici the foot is termed
zygodactylous. In Trogones the second toe is reversed (hetero-
dactylous). Colius can turn the first toe forward and the fourth
backward, while certain Swifts, and to a less degree some Night-
jars, have the whole number permanently pointing to the front
(pamprodactylous). Membranes more or less connecting the
anterior digits produce a webbed or swimming foot, even the
hallux being united with the rest in the Steganopodes. The
hind-toe is often elevated, or higher than its fellows, when it is
commonly reduced and sometimes lacks a nail. The Ostrich has
little or no claw on the outer toe, while that of the third toe is
toothed or serrated in a considerable number of Birds, but this
is a character of very slight importance.

The covering of the metatarsus is usually " scutellated," but
when the scutellae, or scales, which may be oblong or polygonal,
are smaller than usual — and generally hexagonal — it is called
" reticulated." In some cases the surface becomes nearly or quite
smooth (" ocreated " or " booted "), or more or less granulated.

8. The structure of the Skull is a study in itself and affords

SKELETON I I

considerable help in Taxonomy (Classification). It must suffice
here to refer for the names of the parts to the subjoined figure.

The Bill, or Beak, is composed of an upper jaw or maxilla,
and an under jaw or mandible. From the figure it will be seen
that " maxilla " is not strictly the whole upper portion, -though
the term is thus used for convenience, as is the plural "mandibles"
for the two jaws when mentioned simultaneously. The " rham-
photheca," or horny sheath, may be simple (undivided), or com-
pound, that is, made of several distinct pieces. In the Anseres
the covering is soft with a horny (corneous) tip or " nail " ; in

FIG. 5. — Skull of a Wild Duck (Anas boscas), from the side, ag, Angular; als,
alisphenoid ; ar, articular ; bt, basitemporal ; d, dentary ; en, external nostrils ; e.o,
exoccipital ; eth, ethmoid ; fr, frontal ; /, jugal ; Ic, lacrymal ; mx, maxilla ; mx.p,
maxillopalatine process ; n, nasal ; p, parietal ; pg, pterygoid ; pi, palatine ; ps,
presphenoid ; px, premaxilla ; q, quadrate ; q.j, quadratojugal ; s.ag, supra-angular ;
s. o, supraoccipital ; sq, squamosal ; ty, tympanic cavity ; v, vomer ; //, foramen for
optic nerve ; V, for trigeminal. (From Wiedersheim, after Parker.)

the Limicolae it varies extremely, producing a hard pickaxe, as
in the Oystercatcher, or a delicate sensory organ as in the Snipe
and Woodcock. The rhamphotheca at times has extraordinary
outgrowths, as in the Hornbills, Sheathbills, and elsewhere. In
the Accipitres, or Diurnal Birds of Prey, and most Psittaci, the
base is soft and becomes a " cere," while the similar formation in
the Columbae is due to a swelling of the opercuhim or covering
of the nostrils. This operculum, moreover, may be leathery (coria-
ceous), as in the Charadriidae, Trocliilidae and so forth, or rolled
up, as in Rliinoclietus ; it may even result in a short soft tube,
as in Caprimulgus, or in the hard double tube which gives the
name of Tubinares to the Petrels. "Impervious" nostrils are those
with a septum, or division, between *the nasal- cavities, " pervious "

I 2 DIGESTIVE ORGANS, ETC. CHAP.

those with none. The narrow slit-like or entirely closed nostrils
of the Steganopodes should also be mentioned.

The form of the bill varies from the " spoon " of Platalea
and Eurynorhynchus (spatulate) to the " arch " of Numenius, the
" scissors " of RhyncJiops, the " wedge " of Picus, the big rounded
feature of the Psittaci, and so forth ; but for details the characters
of the several Families must be consulted, as also for helmets,
shields, horns, knobs, and peculiarities due to the elongation,
distorting or crossing of the mandibles. These, too, are often
notched, serrated, lobed or " festooned," or emarginate (slightly
indented) ; the curious transverse serrations or lamellae of the
beak in Anseres, and the somewhat similar sifting apparatus in
Phoenicopterus, Prion and Anastomus being especially remarkable.
Teeth were probably lost by Birds before Tertiary times, but were
possessed at least by Archaeopteryx, Bcsperomis and Ichtliyornis.
The so-called " egg-tooth " of embryos is merely a calcareous pro-
tuberance on the upper surface of the bill, which is cast after
being used to crack the shell.

9. The organs of deglutition and digestion begin with the
tongue, which is subject to much variation of structure, accord-
ing to the different groups of Birds, and is of course correlative
with their habits. It has little connexion with taste, though
often of assistance in obtaining nutriment. To this follows the
gullet (oesophagus), which in many cases has an enlargement
forming the crop (ingluvies), wherein the food may be tempor-
arily retained before passing into the stomach, the last-named
always having an antechamber (proventriculus) where digestion
is largely accomplished, in front of the gizzard (ventriculus). This
has frequently strong muscular walls, and its action is often
assisted by the mechanical process of comminution performed by
stones, grit or sand, swallowed for that purpose. The stomach is
succeeded by the intestines, which in most cases have a pair of blind-
sacs (caeca) attached to them, often acting as aids to digestion,
though these are not always functional, and are absent in many
Birds, while in others they attain a very large size, their con-
dition being in consequence of some importance as a systematic
character.

10. The organs of voice in Birds have long attracted special
interest from the loud cries which some utter, and the melody
with which others are gifted. Setting aside the part played by

CLASSIFICATION I 3

the trachea or windpipe in supplying air to the lungs, its forma-
tion is worthy of attention. Its upper end consists of the
larynx, and it passes down the neck as a flexible tube, formed
by a continuous succession of bony rings connected by membrane,
until it bifurcates into two bronchi, which open into the lungs.
A common feature, found in many groups not nearly allied, is
the dilatation of a portion, generally near the middle, while a
remarkable modification is exhibited by the males of many of the
Duck-tribe, some of the lowest rings being fused together and
forming what is known as the bulla ossea or "labyrinth." In
other Anatidae (some of the Swans), and some of the Cranes, the
trachea enters the keel of the sternum ; but a not unfrequent
modification, usually confined to the male sex, often occurs else-
where, when the windpipe is looped back upon itself. All these
arrangements, however they may affect the sounds uttered by
Birds, do not in themselves constitute the voice organ of most.
That is reserved for the syrinx, a peculiarity of the Class Aves,
consisting of the lower end of the trachea and the adjoining part
of the bronchial tubes ; and the varied modulations are effected
by means of muscles attached thereto. These voice-muscles may
be wholly absent or of the simplest character, but they attain their
highest perfection in the Passeres, and especially in the large
group of them known as 0 seines, where there are often five or
seven pairs. In this group the lowest four or five tracheal
rings are solidly fused into a little bony box communicat-
ing with the bronchi ; the first and second bronchial rings (or
in this part often semi-rings) being closely attached to the
trachea, and the spaces between the second and third and the
third and fourth being generally closed by an outer typaniform
(drum-like) membrane, while the rest of the semi-rings of the
bronchi are closed by the inner tympaniform membrane. It
should be clearly understood that all the notes emitted by Birds
are produced by the above structures only, and that the tongue has
nothing to do with their utterance, except, possibly, in the case
of the sounds that Parrots (but not other birds) are taught to
produce.

Classification. — The Classification of Birds is still in a con-
dition of uncertainty, notwithstanding the many schemes succes-
sively propounded during more than two centuries. To dwell
upon them here would be impossible, and it is only practicable

14 CLASSIFICATION CHAR

to trace in the briefest way the line which has led to the most
recent attempts, and to name those whose researches have pro-
duced the results which may be fairly regarded as attained.
First among them is Nitzsch (1806-1840), to whom followed
Merrein (1812-1817), and after a few years L'Herminier
(1827). These three worked quite independently, and in their
lifetime little notice was taken of their labours ; for, though
there were good ornithologists among their contemporaries, little
value was then set upon internal characters in this connexion. An
improvement took place when the great Johannes Mliller (1846,
1847) published his scheme for grouping the Passeres, which,
though based on purely anatomical facts, was almost immediately
accepted, chiefly through the simultaneous exertions of Dr. Cabanis,
by systematists of the Old School. For twenty years no advance
was made, for the morphological researches of Parker were not
directly taxonomical ; but Huxley (1867, 1868) started what
was practically a new line of investigation, though it subse-
quently appeared that up to a certain point it had been already
suggested by Dr. Cornay (1842-1847). The impetus thus
given was fortunately sustained, Huxley's example being followed
by Dr. Murie, and by two promising men, A. Garrod and W.
A. Forbes, both of whom died at an early age, leaving their
mark in work which, though much of it was crude, was that of
true genius. Mr. Sclater (1880) has tried to bring the results
of the whole four into harmony with pre-existing views, and
a similar attempt was that of Dr. Stejneger (1885); but all
were overshadowed by the monumental performance of Prof.
Flirbringer, whose Untersucliungen zur Morpliologie und Syste-
matik der Vogel, completed in 1888, must ever remain a record
of unexampled labour, while his considerations on the derivation
of Birds from Eeptiles, and of the later groups of Birds from the
earlier, whether his results be right or wrong, are of the utmost
importance to the ornithologist. During the progress of this
work the author was in frequent communication with Dr. Gadow,
himself engaged on the ornithological portion of Bronn's Thier-
Eeicli, and thus the opinions of each were in many cases mutually
affected. Dr. Gadow, on the completion of his undertaking, pro-
pounded a scheme of classification, which is followed, with some
slight modifications, in the present volume (see foregoing table)
—it being, of course, understood that a linear arrangement is,

i GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 1 5

strictly speaking, impossible, since any group may have a
decided affinity to more than two others. This Classification,
beginning (as Birds themselves must have begun) with the lower
forms, takes us, except in the Oscines, as far as the Families,
which in most cases are fairly distinguishable, though of very
variable value. Coming to Genera, and still more to Species,
the opinions of authorities often differ so widely, that at present
an attempt to reconcile them is hopeless. It cannot be denied
that Genera and Species are merely " convenient bundles," and
that divisions of either, if carried too far, defeat the object for
which Classification is intended. Genera are only more distinct
from Species, and Species from Races, because the intervening
links have disappeared ; and, if we could have before us the
complete series which, according to the doctrine of Evolution, has
at some time existed, neither Genus nor Species would be cap-
able of definition, any more than are Eaces in many cases ; while
the same remark will apply to the larger groups.

From these Races or Geographical variations we may not
unnaturally turn to Geographical Distribution. It will always
be credited to Ornithology that the interesting study of the Geo-
graphical Distribution of Animals was first placed on a scientific
basis as a result of the study of Birds. This was effected by Mr.
Sclater, whose division of the Globe into Six " Regions " — the
Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Indian, and Australian, forming one
group — the " Old World " (Palaeogaea)\ and the Nearctic and Neo-
tropical, forming a second — the " New World " (Neogaeci) ; was
announced in 1858 (J. Linn. Soc. ii. pp. 130-145). His scheme,
being solely grounded on Ornithological considerations, was
accepted with scarcely any modification by Mr. Wallace in his
great work (Geograpli. Distrib. of Animals, 1876), and by the
majority of zoologists, though some demurred, and among them
Huxley, who, in especial reference to Birds, shewed (Proc. Zool.
Soc. 1868, pp. 313-319) that there was more reason to divide
the earth's surface latitudinally than longitudinally, and that
Four Regions were better than Six — these four being (1)
Arctogaea, comprising Mr. Sclater's Indian, Ethiopian, Palae-
arctic, and Nearctic; (2) Austro- Columbia, corresponding with
the Neotropical; (3) Australasia; and (4) New Zealand — the
last three being combined as Notogaea. In 1882 Prof. Heilprin
proposed to unite Mr. Sclater's Palaearctic and Nearctic under

I 6 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

CHAP.

the name of Triarctic ; but in the next year (Nature, xxvii. p. 606)
adopted for that union Prof. Newton's earlier term Holarctic.
Some other general schemes have been promulgated, as those of
M. Trouessart and Professor Mobius ; but they have found little
support, and with regard to the Class Aves, though certainly not with
regard to other groups as Pisces, or Mollusca, what is practically
the scheme of Mr. Sclater has met with acceptance, whether with
or without the modifications proposed by Huxley and Professor
Newton, there being really but two important points of difference —
(1 ) the recognition of New Zealand as a distinct Region, and (2) the
union of the Nearctic and Palaearctic areas into a single Region.
It would be impossible here to set forth the arguments by which
these views are maintained or contested, and it must suffice to
trace briefly the outlines of the several districts. New Zealand,
if admitted as a distinct Eegion, consists only of the islands so
named, the smaller Chatham, Auckland, and Macquarrie groups,
Antipodes Island, Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands.
The Australian, if the preceding be cut off, will include Tasmania,
all Australia, and the islands to the northward as far as what has
been called " Wallace's Line " (between Lombok and Bali), Celebes,
New Guinea, New Britain, and all the countless groups of
tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean — except the Galapagos, which
undoubtedly belong to the next Eegion. The Neotropical is made
up of all South America, the Antilles and Central America, the
only doubt being whether to draw the northern boundary so as
to exclude or include Mexico, or even the southern part of the
United States. To this naturally succeeds, but with an indefinite
southern boundary, the Nearctic, comprising the whole of the
rest of North America to the shores of the Polar Sea, with the
addition of Greenland. Its north-western corner, Alaska, is now
known to be largely tenanted by forms from Asia, not found
elsewhere in America, and this is one of the chief reasons assigned
for uniting it with the Palaearctic area, which may be taken to
include Japan and all continental Asia to the north of China
proper, the Himalayas, the Persian Gulf and the east end of the
Mediterranean. Some authorities would add Northern Arabia
and Lower Egypt ; but all have agreed to include Tunis and the
ancient Mauritania — the Barbary States lying north of the Great
Desert to the Atlantic Ocean about Mogador, as well as the
Canaries, Madeira and the Azores, with the whole of Europe

MIGRATION 1 7

from Greece to Iceland. What is left of Arabia and Africa, after
taking off the above portions, with the addition of Madagascar
and the Mascarene Islands, is the Ethiopian Eegion ; and all the
rest of continental Asia, with the islands not included in the
Australian Eegion, becomes the Indian, or, as it has lately been
called, the Oriental. It would be quite impossible to enumerate
here the various Sub-regions and Provinces into which these
several Kegions may be divided. The views of Mr. Wallace are
set forth at length in his excellent work, those of Mr. Sclater in
The Ibis for 1891, pp. 514-557, and those of Professor Newton
in his Dictionary of Birds. Many writers would assign to Mada-
gascar a higher rank than that of a Sub-region.

Migration. — Few peculiarities of Birds have excited more
general interest than their seasonal Migration, which in many
species is so marked as to have been observed from very remote
times ; and it is probable that nearly all species are subject to
periodical movements of varying extent. These movements are
greatest in the Birds which have their breeding quarters in the
northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere ; and, with some
exceptions, it may be said that the more northerly is the range
of a species the more extensive are its migratory wanderings.
In the Southern Hemisphere the facts known are as yet
insufficient to allow of safe deductions. Absence of a food-
supply in winter is alone enough to account for migration in the
above cases, and the return from the south in spring is prob-
ably due to the desire of Birds to reoccupy their old haunts, or
those in which they have been bred. But just as there are some
species which habitually breed within the Arctic Circle and winter
in the Tropics, there are others which may not go so far in either
direction, and yet have their movements governed by exactly the
same principle, with the result that in a temperate zone we
have Birds coming from the north to winter with us, while
others, arriving from the south in spring, spend the summer
here, and depart towards autumn. Others again, the true " Birds
of Passage," arriving like the last in spring, make little or no
stay, but pass onward to more northerly lands, and re-appear for
as short a time in autumn on their return journey southwards.
Moreover, observation shews that, in most parts of the temperate
zone, there are many Birds which, though resident as species, are
migratory as individuals — that is to say, that while examples of

VOL. ix C

1 8 MIGRATION

CHAP,

the species may be met with at certain spots throughout the whole
year, those which occur at one season are not always the same
individuals as those which occur at another — the particular
Thrush, Titmouse, or Finch, appearing in the winter not being
identical with that which appears in summer. Again, among
species of which some individuals are constantly present throughout
the year, a great accession to the numbers is made at the close
of the breeding-season by the influx of other individuals of the
same species bred in another district, though this influx generally
lasts for a comparatively short time, and the strangers pass on,
accompanied it may be, by some or even most of those that have
been reared on the spot in the season immediately preceding.
These species are the " Partial Migrants."

It would at first seem from the above that the annual mi-
gratory movement would be in a direction due north and south,
or south and north, according to season, and so in a general way
it is ; but there is no doubt that this simple movement is dis-
turbed by many causes, chief among which is possibly the
configuration of the land, which is found to give rise to con-
siderable deviations, and that to an extent which is at present
very imperfectly understood. It rnay be considered proved that
the trend of a coast-line, the course of a great river, or the
intervention of a chain of mountains, has a very appreciable
effect on the direction taken by migrating Birds ; but not one of
these, nor all in combination, affords a sufficient explanation of
all the deflexions, and will certainly not account for at least one
remarkable fact, as it may now be regarded — the tendency of
many Birds in Eastern Europe and part of Siberia to travel
westward towards the close of summer or in autumn. This is
shewn in several ways, but in none better than by the almost
yearly occurrence in Britain at that season of examples of species
which breed only in the Eussian Empire. For, admitting that
such examples are stray wanderers, which have lost their course,
their appearance here is still useful in indicating the existence of
the westward movement ; and, with the evidence they furnish
before us, we may judge whence come vast numbers of others —
Starlings, Crows, Eooks, Jays, Larks, and what not, whose origin
and starting-point it would be otherwise hard to trace or even
surmise. Much has been written, especially in Europe, on so-
called " Lines of Flight," but as yet to little purpose, and indeed

MIGRATION 1 9

scarcely any writers on the subject have had sufficient data to
form an hypothesis, so that it is not suprising that hardly any
two agree in theory.1 In other parts of the world there is still
less ground for theorising, though in North America many
valuable observations have been made ; and these, in conjunction
with those carried on in Europe, will no doubt in due time lead
to satisfactory results as regards the Northern Hemisphere.
Concerning the Southern our ignorance is almost complete.

Of the way in which Migration is performed there is still
much to learn — but one thing is certain, all Birds do not migrate
in the same manner. Some gather in flocks, great or small, others
seem to accomplish their northward journey in pairs, or at any-
rate arrive at their breeding-quarters already paired. Some
undoubtedly voyage by night, others may be seen to travel by
day. Of the Birds which in spring arrive unpaired, it is now
incontestable that the males outstrip or precede the females.
There is, moreover, equal diversity in the southward movements
towards the close of summer and all through the autumn. Of
some species the earlier broods disappear without attracting
attention, and the later broods as well as the parents slip away
almost as imperceptibly. In one remarkable case, that of the
Cuckoo, the adults leave this country long before the young are fit
to follow ; but, in by far the greater number, the young start first,
and are followed, often at an interval of some weeks, by their
parents.2 It is contended by many that of actual Migration we
see very little, since it is constantly carried on at a height where
the Birds are beyond our ordinary observation, and as regards
some species this seems to be true. Moreover, it would seem
that the longest flights are performed by night, and when the
sky is clear, so that only in thick weather do the Birds come near
enough to the earth to be heard — seeing them being of course
impossible in the dark, though in a few cases they have been
telescopically observed passing across the face of the moon. It
is certain that many of the smaller land-birds gradually press

1 For the best collection of facts, see the various reports of the Migration Com-
mittee of the British Association, 1880-1888 ; and especially that for 1896, con-
taining the Digest of the observations (made at Lighthouses and Lightships) by
Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. Also Mr. Harrington's work on Migration in Ireland (1900).

2 It has been suggested that these flocks of young birds are led by older members
of their own species which, though for some cause not breeding, have yet had
experience of migration ; but of this there is no evidence whatever.

20

TERMINOLOGY

CHAP

onwards prior to leaving our shores, but after that they may
possibly betake themselves aloft to continue their journey.

The speed at which Birds travel during Migration is a matter
on which very diverse opinions have been and are held ; but the
highest estimates, such as those of the late Herr Gatke (who

crown (vertex)

hind-head (occiput}
ear coverts , aurieulars^

nape (micha}-'",
hind-neck (cervix}''"'
back (dorsum\
scapulars

rump (uropygium

; hind-toe (fallux)

'under tail-coverts and
vent (crissuni)

•primaries (rsmiges primarii. )

.forehead (from}
/ , nostril
•'' /^cere
/,-'',.- ridge (culmen)

^ -maxilla

-cutting edges (tomia)

mandible
•gonys

'throat (gula)
''-lesser coverts
''•fore-neck (jugulum)
median coverts
bastard wing (alula)

'. . . greater coverts
""••breast (pectus\

upper-tail coverts

y^ • secondaries (remiges secunda.ri{)
b'elly (abdomen)

FIG. 6.— A Falcon. To shew the nomenclature of the external parts.

would allow even 150 miles an hour), can scarcely be otherwise
than exaggerations; for there is no evidence of any but exceptional
performances at such rates, and there is really no reason to suppose
that Birds can fly faster at a higher elevation than at a lower.

Terminology. — The annexed figure explains the nomenclature
of most of the outward parts of a Bird, but some further explana-
tions may be given, as below :—

TERMINOLOGY 2 1

Air-sacs. — Membranous receptacles, filled with air, in communication with the
respiratory organs or passages. Pouches are often exaggerated air-sacs.

Alar bar. — A coloured bar across the wing (ala).

Allantois. — A vascular sack, growing from the hind-gut of the embryo and
enclosed by the amnion ; the two fuse together and form the Chorion,
which lines the egg-shell, and takes upon itself respiratory functions.

Altrices or Nidicolae. — Nestlings which, being hatched in a helpless condition,
are fed by their parents or inhabit the nest for a considerable time.

Amnion. — A membrane which grows in the developing egg from the ends and
sides of the embryonic area, and encloses the embryo at an early period.

Bronchi (p. 1 3).

Bronchial syrinx. — One in which outer tympaniform membranes exist between
two or more successive bronchial semi-rings, while an inner tympaniform
membrane may also be present. In typical cases the trachea has no
sounding membranes.

Chest. — The same as the upper breast or base of fore-neck.

Chorion. — See Allantois.

Compressed. — Used of lateral compression as opposed to vertical (depressed).

Coverts (tectrices). — Feathers that cover the base of the quills (Remiges, oar-
feathers) of the wing and of the tail (Rectrices, steering-feathers). The
wing exhibits several series above and below (greater, median, and lesser).
Unless otherwise specified, " coverts " in the text refer to upper coverts.

Cubitals. — See Secondaries.

Cuneate. — AVedge-shaped.

Decomposed (p. 3).

Depressed. — See Compressed.

Distal. — That end of any part or member which is furthest from the
imaginary centre or axis of the body.

Dorsal. — The upper side- of the body ; and hence applied to the correspond-
ing surface of any part or parts of the structure.

Filoplumes. — Filamentous or hair-like feathers.

Flanks. — The portion of the sides near the leg.

Graduated. — Used of the tail when its feathers diminish in length gradually.

Hackles. — Elongated and pointed feathers, as on the neck of Fowls.

Heterodactylous (p. 10).

Hyoid Apparatus. — The bony and cartilaginous framework of the tongue.

Hypocleidium. — A projecting median process at the junction (symphysis] of
the clavicles.

Lanceolate. — Used of the tongue and the feathers when pointed and lengthened.

Lore. — The space between the bill and the eye.

Mantle. — The feathers of the upper back combined with the upper wing-
coverts.

Manuals. — See Primaries.

Nidicolae. — See Altrices.

Nidifugae. — See Praecoces.

Oil-glands. — Secretory organs near the root of the tail, probably used in
oiling the plumage. Some exhibit tufts of feathers, others are naked.

Operculum (p. 11).

Pamprodactylous (p. 10).

22 TERMINOLOGY CHAP. I

Patella. — The knee-cap.

Pouches. — See Air-sacs.

Powder -down patches. — Groups of powder-down feathers (p. 3).

Praecoces or Nidifugae. — Nestlings which are hatched in a condition that

enables them almost immediately to leave the nest and feed themselves.
Primaries or Manuals. — Those wing-quills (Remiges), varying from ten to

twelve, borne by the manus or hand. They should properly be counted

outwards from the carpus or wrist.
Procnemial. — In front of the knee.

Proximal. — That end of any part or member which is nearest to the im-
aginary centre or axis of the body.

Racquet-shaped. — Used of feathers with bare shafts and roundish terminal vanes.
Rectrices and Remiges. — See Coverts, Primaries and Secondaries. The Rectrices

usually number twelve, but vary from four to twenty-eight.
Reticulated (p. 10).
Rictal. — Belonging to the gape.
Roofed. — See Vaulted.

Sagittate. — Used of the tongue, and meaning arrow-shaped.
Scapulars. — The feathers lying along the scapulae or shoulder-blades.
Scutellated (p. 10).
Secondaries or Cubitals. — Those wing-quills (Remiges} borne by the Ulna,

which often exhibits roughnesses where they grow. They should properly

be counted inwards from the wrist, and vary from six to thirty or more.
Spatulate. — Spoon-shaped. Used of the bill or of racquet-shaped feathers.
Speculum. — Strictly applied to a band across the wing, more or less metallic

in colour, which occurs in the Duck-tribe.
Square. — Used of the tail when level at the end.
Syrinx (p. 13).
Tectrices. — See Coverts.

Tertials. — A mistaken word for the inner secondaries.
Thighs. — Loosely used in describing plumage to indicate the feathers falling

over the leg.
Trachea (p. 13).
Tracheal syrinx. — One in which the lower portion of the trachea consists of

thin membranaceous walls, about six of the rings being thin or deficient.

Both inner and outer tympaniform membranes exist in the bronchi, as

well as some vibratory tracheal membranes. The few muscles, generally

but one pair, are wholly lateral.
Tracheo-bronchial syrinx (the normal form). — One which has this essential

feature, that the proximal end of the inner tympaniform membrane,

forming the median wall of each bronchial tube, is attached to the last

pair of tracheal rings.

Vaulted or Roofed. — Used of the tail when compressed like that of a Fowl.
Ventral. — The lower side of the body, in which lie the heart, lungs and

digestive organs ; and hence applied to the corresponding surface of any

part or parts of the structure.
Zygodactylous (p. 10).

CHAPTEE II

ARCHAEORNITHES NEOBNITHES RATITAE NEORNITHES

ODONTOLCAE.

THE Class AVES is divided by Dr. Gadow (Bronn's Klassen
und Ordnungen des Thier-Reichs, Aves, Systemat. Theil, p. 299)
into two Sub -Classes of like value, ARCHAEORNITHES and
NEORNITHES, though some writers prefer to consider the
former as of equal rank only to the several subdivisions of the
latter here adopted, namely, Ratitae, Odontolcae, and Carinatae
(p. 25). The question is clearly one of degree, and depends
entirely on the amount of weight assigned to the various points
of distinction to be mentioned below.

The Sub-Class ARCHAEORNITHES is at present represented
by but one member, the first undoubted fossil Bird, made known
in 1861 by Andreas Wagner from the Jurassic slate formation of
Solenhofen in Bavaria, and now preserved in the British Museum.
This he described under the name of Griphosaurus ; but as
Hermann von Meyer had already bestowed the title of Archae-
opteryx litliographica, upon a bird, presumably identical, a feather
of which had been obtained from the above system, the latter
appellation has a prior claim. In 1877 a second example, now
at Berlin, was procured from the same beds,1 since which date
Meyer's specific name has become firmly established, in place of
that of macrura given by Owen to "Wagner's specimen.

This very remarkable animal, about the size of a Eook, is
without doubt a connecting link between Eeptiles and Birds ;
but zoologists are practically unanimous in regarding it as an
Avine form, with Eeptilian affinities and probably arboreal habits.

The sternum was possibly furnished with a weak keel, the
strong wide furcula was U-shaped, the ribs had no uncinate
processes, while in all probability the coracoid and scapula made

1 Cf. W. Dames, Pal. Abhandl. ii. 1884, pp. 119-196 ; transl. Geol. Mag. 1884, pp.
418-424 ; Vogt, Ibis, 1880, pp. 434-456 ; Hurst, Nat. Sci. vi. 1895, pp. 112-122, 180-186,
244-248 ; Pycraft, op. cit. v. 1894, pp. 350-360, 437-448 ; viii. 1896, pp. 261-266.

ARCHAEORNITHES

CHAP.

a right, or even an acute, angle at their junction, and the centra
of the vertebrae of the neck and back were biconcave. The bill
was short and blunt, each side of the upper jaw possessing about
thirteen teeth, of which six seem to have belonged to the prae-

FIG. 7.— Archaeopteryx lithogmphica. The Berlin specimen. (After Dames.)

maxilla ; whereas in each side of the lower jaw only three can be
recognised, and those towards the anterior extremity. These teeth,
conical in shape and of fairly equal size, were fixed in a regular
row, in distinct sockets. The fibula and tibia did not coalesce,
the latter exceeding the metatarsus in length ; the toes were four

NEORNITHES

in number, with two, three, four, and five phalanges respectively,
ending in claws, the hallux being directed backwards. The
manus had three free digits, and apparently three free metacarpals ;
the pollex consisted of two joints, the index of three and the
third finger of four, while each had a strong hooked claw at the
tip. The hand was furnished with six or seven well-developed
primaries, attached to the third metacarpal and the second and
third digits, the number of secondaries being ten. The long Lizard-
like tail had no terminal pygostyle, but was composed of about
twenty-one free post-sacral vertebrae, of which the first twelve each
bore a pair of large feathers, similar to those of the wing, with
the inner webs broader than the outer, and with decided shafts.1

The Sub-Class NEORNITHES moy be arranged, as above stated,
in three divisions, (A) Neornithes Ratitae, (B) Neornithes Odon-
tolcae, and (C) Neornithes Carinatae. The first of these con-
tains the Eatite Birds proper and possibly part of the so-called
STEREORNITHES of Patagonia (p. 43), with several fossil forms of
doubtful position from England, France, and New MexiuOy as will
be seen below; the second the Hi!SPERORNJTH£S^t}^fi^eteiceo\is
Shales of Kansas, the ENALIORNITHES of the^Ufmbridge Upper
Greensand, and Baptornis of the Ame^o^^Malk ; the third the
ICHTHYORNITHES of the aforesaid feasts' deposits, and all other
existing Birds, with various extinct species closely allied to them.

Of the points of distinction' between the Neornithes and the
Archaeornithes the most [important are that the metacarpals are
fused together, the second digit being the longest, and the third
more or less reduced ; and that the number of caudal verte-
brae does not, as far as is known, exceed thirteen, of which the
last five or six combine together to form a pygostyle, except in
the Hesperornithes, Eatitae, and Tinamidae, where such is seldom
the case.2 The centra of the vertebrae also are concave on one
side only, except in IcMhyornis, and perhaps in Enaliornis. The
possession of teeth is, of course, exceptional, as is the remarkable
loss of the keel of the sternum in the Eatitae.

It is now generally, if not universally, agreed that Flightless
Birds were developed from those that could fly. It does not,
however, necessarily follow that the Neornithes are direct

1 A doubtful genus, Laopteryx, has been described from the Jurassic by Marsh,
Ann. Nat. Hist. (5) vii. 1881, p. 488.

2 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil. 1893, p. 90.

26 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

descendants of the Archaeornithes, as each may be a separate
offshoot from the same parent stem. All we can safely assert is,
that the former were in existence about the end of the Jurassic
times, that teeth were still retained in some cases during the
Cretaceous Epoch, and that not only normal forms, but also flight-
less forms without keel or pygostyle,1 had arisen by that date.

(A) The Ratitae are commonly characterised as Birds with no
keel to the sternum ; but this will not hold as a definition, since
Hesperornis has also that peculiarity, while such genera as Didiis,
Stringops, Cnemiornis, and Notornis are nearly in the same con-
dition. It is no one point, therefore, but the sum of many, which
enables us to draw so clear a line of demarcation between this
primitive group and the remainder of existing forms ; neverthe-
less it is convenient to preserve the name unaltered, as it is well
understood to what members of the class it is more especially
meant to apply. The rhamrjhotheca, or horny sheath of the bill,
instead of being simple, is composed of several more or less separate
pieces, as in the Procellariidae, Tinamidae, and Steganopodes ; the
quadrate bone, by means of which the lower jaw is articulated to
the skull, in place of two proximal knobs has only one, as in
Hesperornis, Ichtliyornis, and the Tinamidae ; the coracoid and
scapula are fused together, and meet at an obtuse, as opposed
to an acute or right, angle ; and the last six or seven caudal
vertebrae do not coalesce into a pygostyle, or upright triangular
expansion to carry the rec trices, a state of things found else-
where in Hesperornis and the Tinamidae.2 The reduced wings
preclude flight ; the tail is functionless, as in the Podicipedidae
and Tinamidae ; the tongue is very small ; the oil gland is
absent ; the penis is large and erectile, being comparable to that of
the Anseriformes ; while in the adult the feathers are evenly dis-
tributed over the whole surface, as in the Spheniscidae and Pala-
medeidae, no down being present. Claws are found on the pollex
and index in Struthio and Rhea, or occasionally on the third digit ;
in Casuarius, Dromaeus, and Apteryx they occur only on the index.

Ratite Birds proper are comprised in six groups, STRUTHIONES
or Ostriches, EHEAE or Nandus, MEGISTANES or Cassowaries and
Emeus, APTERYGES or Kiwis, DINORNITHES or Moas, and AEPYOR-
NITHES or Eocs.

1 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil. 1893, p. 90.

2 A pygostyle is occasionally found in Struthio and Apteryx.

STRUTHIONIDAE

I. STRUTHIONES.

Fam. Struthionidae. — These birds are distinguished from all
others by having only two toes — the third and fourth — the ter-
minal phalanges of which are shortened and bear thick stunted
claws, that of the outer toe being commonly absent. The whole foot,
including the long scutellated metatarsus, is exceptionally stout,
and the toes are padded beneath. The beak is short, broad, and
depressed, with deeply split gape ; the head is small, with large
eyes ; the neck very long ; the wing- and drooping tail- feathers
— the plumes of commerce — are large and soft, with broad equal
vanes. The furcula and syringeal muscles are wanting, nor is
there any aftershaft.

Strutliio camelus, the Ostrich or " Camel-bird " of North Africa,
now extends from Barbary to Arabia, and even to Mesopotamia,
though no longer found, as of old, in Egypt or Central Asia, its
former occurrence in Baluchistan being somewhat open to question.
It is black with white wings and tail, having a flesh-coloured neck
covered with brownish down, and partially bare tibiae of the same
hue. The female and young male are almost entirely cinereous,
while the chicks are clothed with bristly yellowish-white down
with blackish stripes. The eggs of the typical northern bird have
a surface like ivory, while those from Southern Africa are marked
with close-set pits, whence some authorities recognise a different
species (S. australis) in the latter region, distinguishable, moreover,
by the bluish colour of the naked parts. Examples from Somali-
land and the adjoining districts of East Africa to Lake Tanganyika
are separated as S. molyldoplmnes, on account of the leaden colour
of the unfeathered portions, coupled with a red patch on the front
of the metatarsus. The eggs are smoother than in the southern
species, but similarly pitted. The fossil forms S. asiaticus from
the Pliocene of the Siwalik Hills of India, and S. karatheodori
from the Upper Miocene of Samos complete the family, while S.
(Struthiolithus) chersonensis has been founded on a petrified egg
from the government of Cherson in South Russia.

The Ostrich stands about eight feet high, being the largest of
existing birds ; it frequents sandy wastes and dry arid localities,
such as are found in the Sahara and the plains and valleys of
Southern Africa, while districts studded with low bushes are not
unfrequently tenanted. Though the fable of the head being hidden

28

NEORNITHES RATITAE

CRAP.

to avoid detection is of course devoid of foundation, this species is
timid and wild in its native haunts, and being keen-sighted as
well as wary, gives an impression of great restlessness. From
the fact that a single stride is said to cover
twenty-five feet or more, it will readily be under-
stood that the speed is very great, exceeding that
of a galloping horse ; but, owing to its habit of
running in a curve, it is generally possible to
intercept the bird's path at a distance from the
point where it started. In motion the head is

held forward, and
the wings are out-
spread, while both
beak and feet are
used as weapons
of defence when
capture is immi-
nent, the latter
delivering strong
sideways kicks,
which make close
quarters very
dangerous. Forty
or fifty indi-
viduals may at
times be seen in
company ; the
usual parties,
however, consist
of five or six at
most, especially
during the breed-
ing season, when
the polygamous
cock escorts a
flock of several
hens, obtained by battle or allured by courting performances earlier
in the season. A liking for the companionship of zebras, hartebeests
and other antelopes, has been noticed by various observers. The cry
is said to be hoarse and mournful, resembling the roar of a lion or

Fio. 8. — Ostrich. Struthw camelus. x

STRUTHIONIDAE

the lowing of an ox ; but Ostriches are, as a rule, decidedly silent.
In a state of nature the food consists chiefly of herbage, including
seeds and fruits ; in captivity the diet is of every description,
and even in a wild condition small mammals, birds, reptiles, and
insects are eaten, with a quantity of grit to aid digestion. In
confinement the birds become very tame, and will then swallow
bones, nails, and the like — in fact almost anything they can pick
up. They can exist for a long time without water, but drink
regularly when opportunity offers ; they show a liking for salt,
and will bathe in the sea or in rivers, immersed up to the neck.
The hens belonging to one cock lay in the same nest, which is a
fairly shallow excavation dug in sand or dry soil, and surrounded
by the material thrown out during the process, or more rarely by
an edging of grass. The spot is hard to discover in the desert, the
stride being too long for tracks to be of much assistance. More
than thirty yellowish-white eggs are sometimes deposited within
the pit in circular arrangement, and many more are dropped
around, to serve, it is asserted, for food for the newly-hatched
young ; in the wild state, however, the average number is
probably less. The contents, equal to those of some two dozen
hens' eggs, are used for food by the natives, the shells forming
convenient pots for water and so forth. The cock undertakes
almost the whole duty of incubation, being occasionally relieved
by the hens during the daytime ; l but when the sun is hot no
brooding is necessary, though a covering of sand is superposed to
guard the spot from the depredations of marauders. The chicks,
which run from the shell, are hatched in six or seven weeks, and
are accompanied by both parents, the male often counterfeiting
wounds to draw away the intruder, circling around with drooping
wings or throwing himself down as if in extremities.

Ostriches were well known to the ancients, who used the
plumes for ornament, as we do ; these were considered emblems of
justice from the equality of the two webs, or were worn in token
of victory, as is still done in some parts of Africa. The words
of Aristotle — who was followed by Pliny in the statement that the
Ostrich was part quadruped, part bird — combine with those of
Xenophon to bear witness to this knowledge, while monuments,
inscriptions, and even the Bible tell the same tale. In the Sahara
and elsewhere these birds are hunted with horses and camels,

1 P. L. Sclater, P.Z.S. 1895, p. 401.

30 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

being stalked or ridden down by means of fresh relays of beasts ;
the Namaquas draw a cordon round them ; the Bushman, con-
cealed in sand or disguised in skins, shoots them with poisoned
arrows ; while the lasso, pitfall, or other device are used in par-
ticular districts. Space will not permit a detailed account of
the Ostrich farms of modern Africa, so well described in Messrs,
de Mosenthal and Harting's Ostriches and Ostrich-Farming, and
other books; but it may be mentioned that the tribes of the
north of that continent have long been in the habit of domes-
ticating the bird, that the value of the sales in South Africa is
not far from a million pounds yearly, and that the plumes are
plucked or, preferably, cut about twice a year, the adults yielding
the finest feathers. The flesh is coarse, and of little use for food.

II. RHEAE.

Fam. Rheidae. — The Eheas, or Nandus, have the head, neck,
and bill much like those of Ostriches, the maxilla being somewhat
more rounded and terminating in a nail-like process ; the meta-
tarsus is also similar and equally stout in proportion, but the toes
are three in number in place of two, the mid-phalanges being
shortened and the terminal furnished with decided claws. In
Rhea darwini alone the metatarsi are mainly reticulated instead
of scutellated anteriorly, and have the upper portion feathered.
The bones of the wing are comparatively well developed, the
feathers being slender but not ornamental, while there is no ap-
parent tail. The furcula is wanting, as is the aftershaft in adult
feathers, but the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial with one pair of
syringeal muscles, a condition absolutely unique among the Eatitae.
The head and neck are feathered, only the lores, orbits, and ear-open-
ings being naked, and of these the latter are surrounded by bristles.

Rhea americana, the so-called American Ostrich, the Ema of
the Brazilians, the Avestruz, Nandii, or Chueke of Argentina,
is found from Bolivia, Paraguay, and South Brazil to the Eio
Negro, if not further ; it is brownish-grey with blackish crown,
nape, and breast, white thighs and abdomen, and yellowish neck.
The sub-species R. macrorhyncha of North-East Brazil is darker,
with longer bill and more slender metatarsi. R. darwini, which
occurs south of the Eio Negro, and up the Andes to Tarapaca, is
bumsh-brown, with whiter under parts and white margins to the

RHEIDAE

feathers of the wings and back. Hens are not so dark, and Mr.
Hudson says1 that in R. darwini the young are dusky grey
and are hatched with the
legs feathered to the toes.
Ptheas are shorter than
Ostriches by about a couple
of feet, R. americana being
the largest form ; the feathers
are much rounded, broad,
and very soft. Fossil re-
mains occur in the Upper
Tertiary or quite recent
deposits of South America.
The members of this
family find their favourite
haunts on the treeless flats
of the Argentine Pampas,
the scrub-covered plains of
Patagonia, or the dry open
Sertoes of Brazil, where
their acute vision enables
them to detect the approach
of enemies from afar.
Small flocks of from three
to seven individuals are met

with at certain Seasons, and FlG. 9.— Nandu. Rhea americana. x fa.

parties of twenty or thirty

at other times — often with deer or guanacos — so it would appear
that, as in the case of the Ostrich, larger companies are formed
after the young are able to provide for themselves. The birds
become exceedingly tame when not molested, but when danger
threatens they run at great speed, doubling upon their pursuers
constantly, or crouching down among bushes or other cover, if they
think they can escape observation. In the latter case they will
lie closely until almost trodden upon, and may be shot before they
rise by the hunter who cautiously approaches their hiding-place,
as the head is usually visible above the surrounding vegetation.
When moving at full pace the wings have normally a somewhat
drooping position, but they are raised alternately above the back
1 Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, p. 220.

32 NEORN1THES RATITAE CHAP.

— apparently to aid progress — when fresh exertions are neces-
sary. Mr. Hudson tells us l that Darwin's Ehea " carries its neck
stretched forward, which makes it seem lower in stature than the
allied species." The diet consists chiefly of grass, roots, and
seeds, but berries of Empetrum are a favourite food, and lizards,
insects, worms, and molluscs are said to be eaten, together with
hard substances to promote digestion. Nandus take readily to
the water, and can swim across a river several hundred yards
wide, the body being hardly visible. In spring the cock utters
a deep, resonant, booming noise, a loud hiss being not uncommonly
heard also ; while at that season the rival males attack each
other viciously with their beaks, trampling down the ground in
their passion, but not generally using their feet, as they do when
wounded. The hens secured by each of the cocks lay together in
a mere depression in the soil with very little, if any, lining ; the
eggs numbering from twenty to thirty, or exceptionally more,
besides those scattered about outside the nest. Here again Mr.
Hudson is our authority for stating 2 that the eggs of R. americana
are golden yellow when fresh, those of E. darwini deep rich green ;
both however fade quickly to a whitish colour. The male incubates
very closely for about six weeks, often taking up his position, as
the Ostrich does, before the final egg is laid; he afterwards
attends upon the young, and charges intruders who seem
dangerous, with outstretched wings and beak. Eheas may be
captured by riding after them in a semicircle, which closes upon
them as they go, or by means of long-winded hounds ; but the
most usual method is that of hurling the " bolas " or leaden balls
connected by leather thongs, which wind around the bird's neck
or legs, and thereby hamper its movements or throw it down.
The feathers, though inferior to Ostrich plumes, are much used
for brooms and the like, and are said to be called " Yautour " in
the trade. The flesh is very poor. These birds breed both
on the Continent and in Britain.

III. MEGISTANES.

The MEGISTANES comprise the Casuariidac or Cassowaries,
and the Dromaeidae or Emeus, the following being the chief
peculiarities of the ^ group. The wings are quite rudimentary ;

1 Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, p. 220. 2 Op. cit. pp. 218, 220.

II CASUARIIDAE 3 3

the aftershaft of the contour feathers is extremely large, so that
they appear to be double; three front toes are present, with
shortened mid-phalanges and large claws ; and the two clavicles
do not meet. The lack of ornamental wing- or tail- plumes, and
the hair-like nature of the coat is also characteristic, while, as
opposed to Rhea, there is no indication of syringeal muscles.
Within the group itself the Cassowaries are distinguished from
the Emeus by the points next to be mentioned. The former have
a compressed keeled beak and a large casque of bony tissue upon the
bare head, the greater part of the neck being also naked and in
most cases wattled ; the remiges are reduced to thick black barb-
less quills from four to six in number, and the inner toe has a
particularly long sharp claw. Emeus, on the contrary, have a
broad depressed beak, short feathers on the head and neck, no
helmet, wattles, or spines on the wing, and an ordinary claw on
the inner toe. Both Families have long necks, stout metatarsi
covered with coarse roundish scales, and toes padded below ; the
tibia being nearly, if not quite, covered by the plumage.

Earn. I. Casuariidae. — Following Professor Salvador!,1 Casso-
waries may be divided into two groups : the first with the helmet
laterally compressed, and the second where it is triangular and pyra-
midal, or even depressed. They are all large birds, though smaller
than Emeus, which are only surpassed in size among existing forms
by the Ostrich; the colour of the coarse but glossy hair-like plumage
is black, and similar in both sexes ; the hen is bigger than the
cock, as is also the case in the Dromaeidae and Apterygidae.

Of the first of the above groups, Casuarius tricarunculatus^
from Warbusi in New Guinea, which is possibly a " sport," has
two lateral wattles on the fore-neck and a third small median
caruncle at a lower level. C. licarunculatus, of the Aru Islands,
has two long distant reddish -violet wattles, a black casque, bluish-
green head, and blue neck with some red behind. C. galeatus of
Ceram, the species first known to ornithologists, is similarly
coloured, though less brightly, and has the flesh-coloured throat-
wattles close together, and a naked reddish-purple space on each
side of the neck. The larger C. australis of North-East Australia
has a higher helmet, a brighter blue throat, and a few scattered
hairs on the wattles, which Wall, who discovered the species, said
were coloured with blue and scarlet. C. beccarii of the Aru Islands,

1 Ornitologia Papuasia e, Molucche, iii. Torino, 1882, p. 473.
VOL. IX D

34 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

Middle and South New Guinea, has the front and top of the casque
black, its sides greenish, and its back yellowish ; the head is grey-
blue, the throat and sides of the neck are blue, the hind-neck is red
and orange, a yellow streak running across to the mandible; a bare
space on each side of the base of the neck is flesh-coloured, and the
long single neck-wattle of the same colour is somewhat deeply
divided at the tip.

Of the second group, C. uniappendiculatus (Fig. 10), of Sala-
watti and the adjoining parts of New Guinea, has the head, throat,
and nape blue, the lower portion of the neck and the median pear-
shaped caruncle yellow, the casque dusky olive, and a longitudinal
naked space towards the sides of the neck flesh-coloured with a
yellow margin. C. occipitalis of Jobi Island is distinguished
from the last-named by a large occipital spot of yellow and a
paler helmet ; while the remaining three forms have no wattle at
alL Of these, 0. papuanus, of North-East New Guinea, has a
dusky black casque, blue head, throat, and fore-neck, grey-green
occiput and auricular region, and orange hind-neck changing into
rosy flesh-colour towards the sides. C. picticollis of South-East
New Guinea has a black helmet, grey-blue occiput, violet-blue
nape, pale blue hind-neck, red throat and longitudinal space on
the sides of the lower neck ; C. bennetti of New Britain differing
in having the head and neck of an almost uniform blue.
Nestling Cassowaries are clothed in rusty brown, relieved by
darker stripes ; at a later period they become more tawny, and
the black plumage begins to appear ; but a few hair-like feathers
remain on the head for some time, while the helmet is very
gradually developed from a flat Coot-like shield, though the
gaudy colours of the neck and wattles are assumed much earlier.1

All the species of this family inhabit wooded country, com-
monly of the densest description, though often found in more
open scrub and in the neighbourhood of creeks and watercourses.
Naturally shy but inquisitive, they have been rendered doubly
wary by man's persecution since their haunts have been invaded
by colonists. They dislike the sun, and emerge from cover only
in the morning and evening, to seek their favourite spots, where
they feed chiefly on fallen fruit, varying this diet with insects
and crustaceans. Berries, leaf -buds, and bulbs are, however,
also eaten, with grit and pebbles for digestive purposes, and in

1 Cf. E. P. Ramsay, P.Z.S. 1876, p. 122.

CASUARIIDAE

35

captivity they are almost omnivorous. In this state they become
extremely tame, and are kept like fowls by the natives of some
districts, who consider the flesh very palatable ; while in Queens-
land the adults are said to be hunted with dogs. The plumage
is used for the manufacture of mats, rugs, head-ornaments, ^and
the like. Cassowaries run with wonderful swiftness, though
rather heavily, diving into the bushes at a moment's notice, or

ep^ee*

FIG. 10. — One-wattled Cassowary. Casuarius uniappendiculatus. x -j^. (From Nature. )

aiding themselves by their wings, and leaping over obstacles as
much as six feet high, if shelter is not readily available. They
usually rest on the whole of the metatarsus, but sleep on the
breast, or perhaps occasionally on the side ; at other times they
will dance about with contortions of the neck, or roll on the
ground like playful monkeys. Old males become very fierce
when driven to bay, kicking out in front or sideways, ruffling up
their feathers and using their beaks at the same time. In the
wet season swimming is a common practice, wide rivers being

36 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

crossed with ease, and in the absence of other bathing-places the
sea is often utilised. The note in a state of excitement is a sort
of grunt or snort, the call to the young being of a lowing nature ;
but the ordinary voice is loud, guttural, and unearthly, consisting
of quickly-repeated croaking sounds, lasting for as long as three
minutes, and audible at a distance of a mile, or considerably
more. The female is much quieter, while the " Mooruk " (C.
bennetti) is stated to utter a low scolding or plaintive whistle.
A rough nest of leaves and grass is formed in a depression of the
soil, generally below bushes or tangled undergrowth, in which
from three to six very large eggs are deposited, often placed in the
shape of the letter V. These are normally light green in ground
colour, with close-set granulations of dark bright green ; but one,
if not more, is ordinarily of a perfectly smooth texture, and is
therefore entirely light green. The cock incubates, it appears,
solely, though some say that the hen takes her turn ; and the
former tends the young when hatched, the period of sitting
being about seven weeks. The nest is said to be covered by the
parent if left for a time, but this is uncertain, as is the use of
the two or three eggs scattered round the nest, which are asserted
by natives of widely-distant districts to furnish food for the chicks.
After breeding, small flocks are formed in some cases, possibly by
the combination of two families. The Ceram species, which seems
to have been called " Emeu " or " Ema " by the early Portuguese
navigators, often lays eggs in captivity, while C. bennetti has
bred in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London.

Fossil remains occur in Australia. Hypselornis sivalensis is
an allied form from the Pliocene of the Siwalik Hills in India.

Fam. II. Dromaeidae. — From about the beginning of this cen-
tury the name "Emeu," used, as mentioned above, in varying form for
both the Ehea and the Cassowary, has been restricted to the genus
Dromaeus, the members of which stand more than five feet high,
though lower on their legs than an Ostrich. D. novae-hollandiae
of the interior of Eastern Australia, which extended in times past
to Tasmania and the islands in Bass's Straits, is blackish grey, with
black tips to the plumage. D. irroratus, a more slender species
from West, and probably the adjoining parts of South, Australia,
has each feather transversely barred with dark grey and white,
and a rufous margin to the black patch at the end. Young birds
in down are greyish-white, with longitudinal blackish streaks above,

DROMAEIDAE

and spots on the head and lower parts. The sexes are similarly
coloured, both possessing a remarkable tracheal pouch, connected
by a slit with the windpipe, and only fully developed in adults.1
In their general habits Emeus are not unlike Cassowaries,
but they inhabit sandy plains or open forest districts, being
invariably monogamous, though seen in small parties after breed-
ing. Their sight is keen, they run strongly and rapidly, rest on
the whole metatarsus, and kick out backwards towards the side.

FIG. 11. — Emeu. Dromaeus novae-hollandiae. x -fa.

The food is of fruit, roots, and herbage, generally obtained in
the morning or evening ; water is freely drunk, and the birds
love bathing, being capable of crossing even a broad river. They
utter at times a hissing or grunting sound, but in the nesting
season a peculiar loud booming or drumming note is produced,
probably in connexion with the tracheal pouch. The nest may
be a mere hollow scraped in the ground, with or without a sur-
rounding ring of grass or plant-stems, or a mound of bark-scales
some three inches high 2 ; the eggs are from seven to thirteen in
number, or even more, and are of a dark, or occasionally light,

1 Of. Murie, P.Z.S. 1867, p. 405.

- North, Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, Sydney, 1889, p. 293.

38 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

green colour, while the surface is covered with granulations
which give it the appearance of shagreen. They are small for
the size of the bird, being less than those of the Cassowary.
The cock performs the duties of incubation, and it is very doubt-
ful whether the hen ever assists him ; the chicks break the shell
in about eight weeks. The flesh is moderately good for eating,
and the fat below the skin yields a large quantity of oiL
The birds are constantly hunted with dogs or shot on account of
the damage they do to wire fencing and the grass they devour.
Emeus are easily domesticated, and propagate readily in semi-
confinement, being perfectly hardy in Britain and elsewhere.

D. patricius is a fossil species from the Plistocene of Queens-
land and New South Wales. D. gracilipes is another extinct
Australian form, but Dromornis australis of Queensland may
indicate a distinct group of Eatitae.1 Dromaeus ater, of Kangaroo
Island, off the south coast of Australia, is now extinct, though a
stuffed skin and a skeleton are in the Paris Museum.2

IV. APTERYGES.

The APTERYGES, or Kiwis, have been recently shown to be much
more nearly related to the Dinornithes than to the remaining
Eatite forms, and are accordingly placed in close proximity to
them in the classification here adopted. Professor T. J. Parker
has, moreover, lately formulated a new system — excluding the
Aepyornitlies, which may commend itself to many persons as a
further improvement.3 In this, the Order Struthiones contains
the family Struthionidae, and the Rlieae the Eheidae ; but the
third Order, upon which the name Megistanes, Vieillot, is be-
stowed, includes two Sub-Orders — Casuariformes, comprising the
Casuariidae and Dromaeidae, and Apterygiformes, with the Din-
ornithidae and Apterygidae. In other words, the original stock
is considered to have produced three Eatite branches only, the
third of which gives rise to two twigs, each of these separating
again into two smaller twigs representing the Families.

Fam. Apterygidae. — These birds are at once distinguished

1 For an extinct gigantic bird from Callabonna, South Australia, with enormous
skull (Genyornis newtoni), see Stirling, Nature, 1. 1894, p. 206 ; Stirling and
Zietz, Tr. R. Soc. S. Austr., xx. 1896, pp. 171-211.

2 Cf. Milne-Edwards and Oustalet, Vol. Centenaire Mus. N. H. Paris, 1893,
pp. 62-67. 3 Tr. Zool. Soc. London, xiii. 1895, pp. 425-427.

APTERYGIDAE

from all their allies by their small size, and by the long, weak,,
decurved bill, which tapers regularly and has the nostrils placed
almost at the extremity. The head and eyes are comparatively
small, as will be seen to be the case in the Dinornithidae. The
legs are very stout and situated backwardly, a small elevated
hallux is present, and the toes are provided with long, sharp claws.
The moderate metatarsus is reticulated in the young, but is clothed
with fairly large scutes in the adult, when it becomes much smoother.
The wings are small-boned and invisible, with functionless quills,
the tail is rudimentary, the aftershaft and furcula are absent, while
many elongated hairs occur on the front of the head.

FIG. 12.— Kiwi. Apteryx australis. x f.

These curious flightless birds are confined to New Zealand,,
whence a specimen was brought to England as early as 1813.
Apteryx mantelli, of the North Island, is deep red-brown with
longitudinal streaks of yellowish -brown, the head being darker
and the lower parts greyer ; A. australis, of the South Island, is
lighter, and feels soft instead of harsh when grasped. A. oweni,
of both islands, is much smaller, and is light grey-brown, trans-
versely marked with blackish bars. A. haasti, also said to
occur in both islands,1 is a larger and darker form of the last
named; A. lawryi, of Stewart Island, hardly differs from A.
australis ; while A. maximus, of Yerreaux, is a very doubtful
species. Mr. Eothschild 2 has founded a sub-species (occidentalis)

1 Rothschild, Bull Ornith. Club, I. 1893, pp. Ix. Ixi. 2 Loc. cit.

4O NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

on examples of A. oweni from the North Island and the
west of the South Island. In all these birds the lanceolate
feathers have a hair-like texture, due to the disunited filaments
of the upper portion, the lower part being covered with grey down,
and the rhachis more or less exserted. The tibia is feathered,
the bill being yellowish, and the feet brown or black. The female
is similar, but larger, the young blacker. Mr. Lydekker has
described a fossil species, Pseudapteryx gracilis, from New
Zealand,1 and Mr. De Vis Metapteryx bifrons from Queensland.2

Kiwis inhabit wooded country and hills up to the snow line ;
they are still met with at low elevations on a few islands, but
their retreats are now chiefly on the slopes and in the gullies of
the mountains, where a dense undergrowth of shrubs and tree-
ferns shades a carpet of creeping vegetation and moss. Here
parties of from six to twelve used to be seen, though in the breed-
ing season they separated into pairs, but at the present day flocks
can hardly be hoped for. In the daytime these shy birds hide in
burrows in the ground, or natural cavities under tree-roots or rocks,
while towards dusk they emerge in an animated condition. The
direct rays of the sun seem to dazzle them, and they roll them-
selves up into balls, if not disturbed ; when stirred up they are
somewhat sleepy and quickly retreat to cover. Lengthy strides
carry them along at a great pace, the body being held obliquely
with outstretched neck ; and, if molested, they ruffle up the
plumage and snap the bill, while striking viciously with their
feet at the intruder, the leg being drawn up to the breast and
the blow delivered downwards. Sometimes they rest upright
with the point of the bill touching the ground, sometimes upon
the whole metatarsus, but usually they are seen at feeding time
cautiously moving from spot to spot, and tapping the soil or the
walls of their cage with their long sensitive beaks. A sniffing
sound accompanies this operation, and probably the smell of food
assists in its discovery, yet the sense of touch is no doubt the
primary agent. The diet consists chiefly of worms, in search of
which the ground is deeply probed, and shows funnel-like holes
scattered over its surface ; when a capture is made the worm is
extricated with a gentle wriggling motion, and is either beaten
upon the ground to kill it, or swallowed at once with a jerk of

1 Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 218.

2 P. Linn. Soc. JV. S. Wales (2), vi. 1891, p. 448.

DINORNITHIDAE 4!

the head. Grubs, beetles, molluscs, and berries are also eaten,
with grit or pebbles as digestives. The loud whistling note,
which gives the name to the Kiwi, is chiefly heard on light
nights, that of the female being shorter, and the young uttering
a chuckling or kitten-like cry. Growls are emitted by the birds
when disturbed, and they have a curious way of yawning in the
daytime. The nest is usually in an enlarged space at the end
of a round tunnel in the soft earth, said to be made by the
female alone, the opening being under a tree-root, a stone, or a
tussock of grass ; it consists merely of a little dry fern, herbage,
or a few leaves. The eggs- — generally two in number, though
one is often found, and three are recorded — are enormous for the
size of the bird, and are equal to a quarter of its weight ; they
are pure white, or slightly green in hue, with a smooth surface,
recalling by their appearance those of the Whooper. The
Maories are very fond of the flesh, either roasted or boiled,
and hunt Kiwis systematically with muzzled dogs, while of old
the chiefs utilised the plumage for ornamentation. The cock
performs most, if not all, of the duties of incubation, and attends
upon the young. Females lay in captivity, but no chicks appear
to have been hatched as yet under these conditions.

V. DINORNITHES.

The Family Dinornithidae contains those well-known extinct
New Zealand forms the Moas, as they are supposed to have been
denominated by the Maories, some of which were of gigantic size.
The larger species must have been comparatively rare, judging
by the fossils obtained, while some seem to have survived until
about four or five hundred years ago, or even a century later in
the South Island. Being flightless, these birds were easily slaugh-
tered by the natives, who were very fond of the flesh, and were
captured when exhausted by repeated spear-wounds, after they
had been driven from their retreats by burning the grass and vege-
tation. It was not until the year 1839 that a femur-shaft was
exhibited by Owen to the Zoological Society of London, that being
the first portion of a Moa known to have reached this country ; but
since the above date an immense quantity of bones of all descrip-
tions have been procured in many parts of both the North and
the South Islands, some hidden under the sand or exposed upon

42 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

its surface, some in marshes and superficial deposits generally,
and others in caves, hollows of rocks, or cooking places of the
former inhabitants. Footprints have been observed in the sand-
stone ; portions of muscles, ligaments, and even of skin have been
discovered ; and, most remarkable of all, feathers have been met
with of fresh appearance and unfaded colours. Pebbles used to aid
digestion, and eggs, both whole and fragmentary, complete the list.

Moas had comparatively small heads, and also small orbits and
eyes ; the bill varied, as will be seen below ; the legs were stout,
though not always equally so, a hallux being usually present ;
the wings were extremely reduced, or even wanting ; the furcula
was absent, and the aftershaft of the larger feathers was of great
size. The neck is supposed to have been partially bare, while
the webs of the rounded feathers were disunited and more or less
downy below. Some of the latter were black, with red-brown
bases and white tips, others were blackish-brown or yellowish.

Professor Parker, in his recent memoir,1 proposes three Sub-
families, Dinornithinae, Anomalopteryginae, and Emeinae ; Megal-
apteryx, which he omits, possibly representing a fourth. The
first of these contains only one genus, Dinornis, with wide convex
sternum, comparatively slender limbs, broad skull, and long, wide,
deflected beak ; the height of D. maximus, the largest of the whole
group, being estimated at about twelve feet. The second Sub-family
comprises three genera, Pachyornis, Mesopteryx, and Anomcdopteryx,
forms of small or moderate height and varying bulk, with less
broad skulls and pointed beaks, the sternum ranging from long and
narrow to wide and flat. The third possesses a single genus, Emeus,
in which the limbs are heavy, the strongly-built skull is narrow,
and the beak short and broad. Padiyornis elephantopus has extra-
ordinarily stout, short legs, while Anomalopteryx parva, perhaps
the smallest Moa known, is said to have been about the size of
a turkey. The validity of some genera and species is, however,
questionable. Most writers think that the female was larger
than the male. Mr. De Vis has described a fossil femur from
Queensland as D. queenslandiae? but it may belong to the Dro-
maeidae. According to native testimony the habits were sluggish,
but the birds were dangerous to approach ; they lived in pairs and
fed upon green shoots and roots of ferns, making a nest of a pile

1 Tr. Zool. Soc. London, xiii. 1895, pp. 373-431.

2 P. Soc. Queensland, i. 1885, pp. 23-28.

II AEPYORNITHIDAE STEREORNITHES 43

of grass and leaves. We are told that the eggs found with the
remains were dark green, light green, or yellowish, but the last
colour at least probably refers to faded specimens.

VI. AEPYORNITHES.

Quite as remarkable as the Moas are the immense, massive-
limbed forms of the Family Aepyornithidae, supposed by many
to be identical with the "Rue" or " Eoc " of the Venetian
traveller Marco Polo, and of the Arabian Nights. If this is
the case, the size of the birds and their eggs must have been
absurdly exaggerated, since the largest species known probably
stood about seven feet high, and the egg is certainly not as big
as a butt ; nevertheless, the fact of the Eoc being accredited to
Madagascar makes it probable enough that the fables were
engrafted upon Aepyornis, which was an inhabitant of that island.
The eggs were first brought to the notice of ornithologists by
Strickland in 1849, while soon afterwards Isidore Geoffrey St.-
Hilaire obtained two of them, with some fragments of bones.1
These eggs, which exceed all others in magnitude, measuring
some thirteen inches by nine and a half, have now been obtained
in considerable numbers, with a large quantity of fossil remains
of the birds themselves ; and in consequence about twelve species
have been indicated, and a second genus, Mullerornis.2 It is sup-
posed that some of them were in existence not more than two
hundred years ago. The most salient points of their structure
are the long, stout legs, with four toes and broad flat metatarsi,
the apparently rudimentary humeri, the absurdly short keel-less
sternum, and the frontal pits, indicating a large crest, compar-
able to that supposed to have existed in certain of the Dinorni-
thidae.3 The shell of the eggs, some of which contain two gallons,
is used by the natives to hold liquor, and is slightly pitted.

It will be remembered that, in the arrangement here followed,
Dr. Gadow placed the STEREORNITHES under the head of Neor-
nithes Eatitae, though not under that of Eatitae in the restricted

1 Ann. Sci. Nat. (3) xiv. 1850, pp. 205-216.

2 Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, C. R. Ac. Sci. cxviii. 1894, pp. 122-127;
Andrews, Geol. Mag. 1894, p. 18 ; id. Ibis, 1896, pp. 376-389.

3 Parker, Tr. N. Z. Inst. xxv. 1892, p. 3.

44 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP.

sense ; but it should be noted that their systematic position was not
by any means assured, though justified by what was then known
of these extraordinary fossils, of which the sternum has not even
yet been brought to light. Kemains of various forms, chiefly of
gigantic size, have been disinterred from the Miocene strata of
Santa Cruz in Patagonia, one of which (Phororhachos) was described
in 1887, by Dr. Ameghino,1 from its mandible as an Edentate
Mammal, though four years later 2 he arrived at the more correct
conclusion that the jaw was to be referred to a bird. In 1891,
moreover, Senores Moreno and Mercerat 3 proposed a new Order
with the name of Stereornithes, when publishing a series of fine
plates ; while Dr. Ameghino, who criticised their work, reduced
the nine genera created therein to the smaller number of three.4
Another paper by the author last named,5 and two by Mr.
Lydekker 6 should be consulted by those interested in the details
of the subject, while an admirable summary will be found in
Professor Newton's Dictionary of Birds. In a review of Dr.
Ameghino's paper on these birds/ Mr. C. W. Andrews stated that
Phororhachos and others of the " Stereornithes " were not truly
Eatite, but were Carinate forms in which the wings had under-
gone reduction, and suggested that possibly they were related to
the parent stock of the Gruiformes, approximating particularly
to Cariama (Dicholophus). Shortly afterwards Dr. Ameghino's
collection was acquired by the British Museum, and a study of
the specimens themselves has not caused the reviewer to change
his opinion.8 Some members of the group (e.g. Mesembriornis)
are perhaps truly Ratite, and one at least (Dryornis) belongs to
the Cathartidae. Phororhachos is remarkable for the immense
size and heavy build of the skull, to which the legs, huge though
they sometimes are, bear no proportion ; the maxilla is exceed-
ingly compressed, yet very deep, and ends in a strong hook, while
the long massive mandible curves upwards to meet it. There is
a quite or nearly complete interorbital septum in this case, as
opposed to Apteryx, and, to a considerable extent, to the Dinorni-

1 Bol. Mus. La Plata, i. 1887, p. 24. 2 Revist. Argent, i. 1891, p. 255.

3 An. Mus. La Plata, Pal. Argent, i. 1891, pp. 20, 37.

4 Revist. Argent, i. 1891, pp. 441-453.

5 Bol. Inst. Geogr. Argent, xv. 1895, pp. 11, 12.

6 Ibis, 1893, pp. 40-47 ; and Nat. Sci. 1894, p. 125.

7 Ibis, 1896, pp. 1-12 ; see also Gadow, op. cit. pp. 586, 587.

8 Science Progress, v. 1896, pp. 398-416.

li NEORNITHES ODONTOLCAE 45

thidae ; while the nostrils are pervious, and the quadrate articu-
lates with the skull by two heads, contrary to what occurs in the
Katitae proper. The furcula is existent, but extremely slender ;
the metatarsus is more or less elongated, the hallux is present,,
the wings are small but well developed, and the tail is said to be
long, with a considerable number of separate vertebrae.

This genus includes the species P. longissimus, P. inflatus, P.
platygnatJiuSy P. modicus, P. gracilis, and P. sehuensis ; Brontornis,.
which has a shorter and wider mandible and smaller but stouter
metatarsi, possesses in B. burmeisteri a form as large as Aepyornis
maximus, while Opistliodactylus and other proposed genera are too
imperfectly known to deserve consideration in our limited space.

Besides the above, Dr. Gadow classed with the Stereornithes,
Diatryma of New Mexico, known from a metatarsus ; Dasornis of
the London Clay, described fr.om fragments of a skull ; Remiornis
from the neighbourhood of Kheims, of which several imperfect
bones have been found ; and Gastornis of both England and France,
of which a fair number of parts have been unearthed. All occur
in the Eocene, but the question of their relationship is by no
means settled, and some writers consider Gastornis to be nearly
allied to the Anseres. This form appears to have been of the size
of an Ostrich, with long leg-bones and short weak wings, and
was probably flightless. Three species have been propounded,
G. parisiensis, G. Maasseni, and G. edwardsi.

(B) With regard to the difficult question of the position in the
system of the Neornithes Odontolcae, a few introductory words
of explanation are necessary. In 1872 Professor Marsh bestowed
upon two fossils from the Cretaceous deposits of Kansas the
names of Ifesperornis and IMhyornis, which he proposed in the
following year * to comprise in a Sub-Class Odontornithes, so called
from the presence of teeth in the jaws. Subsequently 2 he divided
this Sub-Class into two Orders, Odontolcae and Odontotormae, the
former containing Ifesperornis, with the teeth arranged in grooves,
and the latter Iclithyornis, where they were placed in distinct
sockets. His views have been controverted by many writers,
but Mr. Lydekker — an authority of great weight in this con-
nexion— while fully admitting the affinity of the first form ta

1 Amer. J. Sci. (3) v. 1873, pp. 161, 162. 2 Op. cit. x. 1875, pp. 403-408.

46

NEORNITHES ODOTsTOLCAE

CHAP.

the Divers, and the resemblance of the second to the Gull-tribe,
proposed in 1 8 9 1 * to retain the term Odontornithes for a series
of birds ancestral to the modern series of toothless Carinatae, for
which he adopted the title JSuomithes, used in a narrower sense
by Dr. Stejneger. It has, however, been decided to follow Dr.
Gadow on this point ; while the marks of distinction given below
make it seem at least probable that, whereas Iclithyornis may be

FIG. 13. — Restoration of Hesperornis. (From Huxley, after Marsh.) x TV

referred to the Carinate division, Hesperornis should be placed in
closer proximity to the Katite forms. Our Neornithes Odontolcae
consequently contain the HESPEROENITHES, the ENALIORNITHES,
and Baptornis, all of which appear to be nearly related.

Hesperornis regalis, which stood about three feet high, and
H. crassipes, of even larger dimensions, had blunt teeth in the

1 Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 200 ; id. A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1894. p. 651.

ii HESPERORNITHES ENALIORNITHES 47

grooves of both maxilla and mandible, the number being thirty
or more below, but considerably less above, where they did not
reach to the anterior extremity. The bill was long and pointed,
the rami of the lower jaw being entirely separate ; the head was
rather small, the neck was long, and the quadrate bone articulated
with the skull by one knob only. The sternum was long, broad,
and flat, without keel ; the furcula was decidedly reduced, the
metatarsus was moderate and laterally compressed ; there were four
toes, all directed forwards and probably webbed ; the wing was
rudimentary, being little more than a humerus ; the tail was fairly
long and broad, but had no pygostyle. Enaliornis barretti and
E. sedgwicki of the Cambridge Greensand had leg -bones very
similar to the above, but being only known from fragmentary
remains, their position is uncertain ; while the same may be said
of Baptornis of the North American Cretaceous strata, which,
like the two last-named, is much smaller than Hesperornis.

CHAPTER III

NEORNITHES CARINATAE

BRIGADE I LEGION I (COLYMBOMORPH^]). ORDERS: ICHTHYORNITHES

— COLYMBIFORMES SPHENISCIFORMES PROCELLARIIFORMES

(C) THE Neornithes Carinatae, or birds which, with few excep-
tions, have a keel to the sternum, include all the remaining
members of the Class. It is unnecessary to recapitulate the
distinctions between these forms and the Eatitae, to be found on
p. 26, but it may be well to reiterate that it is the sum of all
the characters that constitutes the difference, and to point out that
in one or more of the items several of the Carinatae agree with the
members of the aforesaid group, though totally at variance with
them in the aggregate. Claws on the manus are found on the
pollex and index in certain of the Anseres, Cathartae, and Accipi-
tres, and on the pollex alone in some Anseres, Accipitres, and
Galli, with individual instances in other birds.

Order I. ICHTHYORNITHES.

Enough has already been said with regard to the position of the
Order Ichthyornithes, with its sole Family Ichthyornithidae ; but

it remains to discuss the several
members. Ichthyornis victor,
I. dispar, and the other species
were small forms of about
the size of a Partridge, with
the habits and appearance, it

FIG. 14. — Head of Ichthyornis. (From Geikie, is presumed, of Terns Or Glllls.1

x *• The head was extremely large

1 This is very doubtful, as they show quite as many points of resemblance to
other very different forms.

CHAP, in COLYMBIFORMES 49

in proportion to the remainder of the skeleton ; the beak was long
and pointed, with entirely separate rami to the mandible ; the sharp
teeth, fixed regularly in distinct sockets, were inclined backwards,
and occupied the whole of the lower and at least the posterior half
of the upper jaw ; the keel of the sternum was large and broad ; the
dorsal and cervico-dorsal vertebrae were biconcave, as in Arcliae-
opteryx, and perhaps to some extent in Enaliornis ; the quadrate
articulated to the skull by one knob, as in the Neornithes Eatitae
and Neornithes Odontolcae ; the metatarsus was short and the
whole foot small ; a furcula was probably present ; the wings were
well developed, indicating great powers of flight ; while the tail
was comparatively short, and ended in a pygostyle. It will
be observed that of these characters the formation of the jaw and
its teeth, the biconcave vertebrae, and the articulation of the
quadrate, are those that chiefly distinguish the Order from the
rest of the Carinatae. Apatornis celer, also from the Cretaceous
deposits of Kansas, is probably to be placed here, but other genera
described from the same strata cannot yet be certainly classified.1

Order II COLYMBIFORMES.

The Colymbiformes constitute a very archaic Order of Birds,
and hold a somewhat isolated position. Older writers combined
them with the Alcidae as a group Pygopodes, but recent anatomi-
cal investigations make it clear that Auks have more affinity to
Gulls, which again trend to the Limicoline alliance. As regards
structure, the two Sub-Orders COLYMBI and PODICIPEDES, with
their Families Colymbidae, or Divers, and Podicipedidae, or Grebes,
may be here treated together. They are all water-birds with
webbed or lobed toes and extraordinarily flattened metatarsi.
The sternum in the Colymbidae is much longer than broad, in the
Podicipedidae short and wide, while the furcula is Y-shaped ; the
neck is more or less elongated; the bill in the former Family is
strong, straight, acute, and compressed, in the latter moderate and
sometimes recurved, being either slender, as in Aechmophorus, or
very stout, as in Podilymbus. The scutellated metatarsi are set
very far back, and are fairly long, the procnemial process of the
tibia being remarkably elongated, though Grebes alone have a
distinct patella ; the hallux is very small and has a small mem-

1 For these refer to Prof. Marsh's Odontornithes, New Haven, Coim. 1880.
VOL. IX E

50 COLYMBIFORMES CHAP.

brane, but whereas Divers have the anterior toes fully webbed,
their allies have them surrounded by large lobes of skin, con-
nected only at the base. The claws are abnormally broad and
flat in Grebes, the outer margin of the third being serrated.
In the Colymbidae the wing is short, narrow, arid pointed, with
eleven primaries and about twenty secondaries ; in the Podici-
pedidae it is still shorter and concave in form, with twelve
primaries but rarely twenty secondaries ; in the latter no true
rectrices can be distinguished, though a tuft of downy feathers
exists, while in the former they are normal though much reduced,
and number from eighteen to twenty. Grebes have bare lores,
and are frequently adorned in the breeding season with crests or
tippets of a golden or brownish colour ; the dense glossy plumage
being more commonly used for decorative purposes than the duller
coats of Divers. The tongue is always long and pointed, the
syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, the nostrils are pervious, an aftershaft
is present, and both adults and young are uniformly downy.
Fossil remains from the Oligocene of France and southern England,
indicating a genus intermediate between the two Families, have
been named Colymboules}

Fam. I. Colymbidae. — Colymbus septentrionalis, the Bed-
throated Diver of the Arctic and sub- Arctic parts of both worlds,
is brownish black in summer, with white under parts and white
specks above ; the head and neck are lead-coloured, except the
nape, which is black with white streaks, and the mid -throat,
which is reddish-chestnut. C. arcticus, the Black -throated Diver,
found in the same regions though with a different distribution,
as for instance in Scotland, is blacker, with white bars as well as
spots ; the crown and hind neck being ashy grey, the sides of the
latter striped with black and white, and the throat purplish-black,
interrupted by a semi-collar of white with vertical black lines.
C. pacificus of western North America is barely separable. C.
glacialis, the Great Northern Diver, has a much more restricted
range, breeding in Iceland, Greenland, and the Fur Countries as
far west as the Great Slave Lake, where it meets C. adamsi
(hardly differing except in the yellowish-white bill), which
extends thence to Northern Asia, and possibly to Spitsbergen
and Jan Mayen. The former is black above, with belts of white
spots making a " chess-board " pattern ; the lower surface is

1 Lydekker, Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 192.

Ill

COLYMBIDAE

white, and the throat is crossed by two bands of white with
longitudinal black bars, while the head and neck are black with
a purplish gloss, changing to green below. In winter most
Divers are found down to the northern tropic, at which season
the throat becomes white, as it is in the young, in which the
feathers of the upper parts are duller with whitish edges. The
sexes are similar; the bill is normally black, and the feet are
bluish or greenish grey. The downy chicks are sooty above.

Divers are not usually gregarious, and unless driven by stormy
weather to inland waters, are essentially marine, except during

FIG. 15. — Great Northern Diver. Colymbus glacialis.

the breeding season, when they ascend the rivers and seek their
customary nesting-sites on the moors, the Black-throated species
showing a somewhat greater preference than the rest for islands
in the lakes they frequent, but the Eed-throated often selecting
small pools, or even " flows," among the heather. The two eggs,
greenish- or reddish-brown in hue, with blackish and grey blotches
and spots, are laid on a mere depression in the grass or sand close
to the water's edge, or upon a mass of green vegetation which is
occasionally semi-natant. Incubation is said to last four weeks. As
a rule the female performs this duty, lying flat upon her eggs, and
gliding or scrambling off when disturbed, whence a distinct track is
often visible upon the turf. On leaving the land a dive is taken

5 2 COLYMBIFORMES CHAP.

to a considerable distance, then both parents swim towards the
intruder with the body partly submerged, and finally, if thoroughly
scared, they rise heavily on the wing to circle round with out-
stretched neck before betaking themselves with rapid but laboured
flight to some neighbouring lake, from which they return at
intervals until the coast is clear. They descend from aloft
noisily and with great impetus, the splashing plunge being fol-
lowed by a gliding movement, leaving a broad furrow behind,
while on land they move with difficulty, and often rest on
the metatarsus. Their croak, or loud, clear, melancholy cry is
heard before storms, whence the Ked-throated Diver is called
"Bain-goose" in Scotland; the food consists chiefly offish, brought
to the surface and swallowed with a jerk, but crustaceans, molluscs,
and perhaps aquatic insects vary the diet. The young take to the-
water readily, but the female occasionally carries them on her back, v

Both Divers and Grebes swim strongly, the flat of the meta-
tarsus meeting the water during the back stroke, and the thin
edge on the return. When submerged they do not use the pinions.

Fam. II. In the Podicipedidae both sexes are mainly dusky
brown or blackish grey above, and silvery white below, often with
some white on the wing ; so it will only be necessary to note-
hereafter the distinctive ornaments or bright colours which

FIG. 16. --Little Grebe. Podicipes fluviatilis.

are invariably lost in winter. Poditipes flwviatilis, the Little Grebe
or Dabchick, ranging over Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Malay
Countries and North Australia, has rich chestnut cheeks, throat,
and sides of the neck, horn-coloured bill, and greenish feet. In
winter the chestnut fades to buff with a white chin. Count
Salvador! * considers P. gularis of Australia and Papuasia and

1 Ornitologia Papuasia e Molucche, in. Torino, 1882, pp. 469-471 ; cf. also
Sharpe, Bull. Ornith. Club, iv. 1894, p. iv.

in PODICIPEDIDAE 53

P. tricolor of the Moluccas separable, P. pelzelni of Madagascar
being hardly so. P. dominions, extending from the southern
United States to Patagonia, differs in its black throat. The
Little Grebe breeds commonly in Britain, while P. cristatus, the
Great Crested Grebe or Loon, only nests on our largest waters,
covering, however, a wide range in Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus-
tralia, and New Zealand. It has a bifurcate crest of brown, a
chestnut ruff tipped with black round the cheeks and throat, a
red base to the bill and greenish feet. P. griseigena, the Ked-
necked Grebe, which wanders to our shores, but breeds in the
north of the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions, and perhaps occa-
sionally in Morocco, has the foreneck chestnut, a line above the
cheeks white, and the base of the bill yellow. Some writers
denominate the North American and East Asiatic form, P. hoi-
boelli. P. auritus, the Slavonian Grebe of the sub- Arctic portions
of both worlds, has a tuft of golden chestnut feathers on each
side of the head, an ample black ruff, rufous chest and flanks,
black bill and greenish feet ; P. nigricollis, the Eared Grebe, of
Central and Southern Europe, Africa, temperate Asia, and
western North America, has merely golden ear -tufts, with a
black chest. Both visit us at certain seasons. Finally, P.
nestor inhabits South Australia ; P. rufipectus New Zealand ;
P. caliparaeus, P. rollandi, and Aechmophorus major America
south of Peru and Brazil ; Ae. occidentalis western North
America ; Podilymbus podiceps nearly all the New World ; and
Centropelma micropterum Lake Titicaca only. The first two have
white hair-like filaments on the head, the third and fourth elon-
gated ear-coverts of golden brown or black and white ; while Po-
dilymbus is remarkable for its stout whitish bill with median black
band and its black throat, Centropelma for its aborted wings and
flightless condition. Podicipes taczanowskii, of Lake Junin in Peru,
differs from P. caliparaeus in its longer and lighter bill and feet,
and grey-brown ear-coverts. Grebes in the down are streaked
with white or buff on a dusky ground, while some have a naked
red space on the crown.

These migratory birds frequent reedy streams and stagnant
waters in summer, being companionable, though not gregarious ;
hard weather, however, drives them to the sea. They walk
fairly well, though awkwardly, and sit upon the whole meta-
tarsus; but the chicks progress on "all fours/3 using the wings almost

54 SPHENISCIFORMES CHAP.

as forefeet.1 They fly straight and rapidly, with head and feet
extended, but have difficulty in leaving the water ; they dive at the
slightest alarm, their quick sight enabling them to vanish below
the surface at the flash of a gun, to reappear, with hardly a ripple,
at a distance. Frequently it requires much patience to obtain a
second view, as their bodies can be submerged to any extent, and at
times the bill alone is exposed. In swimming they jerk the head
and often rise vertically to shake their wings. They descend from
the air with a splash and a glide, while in diving the feet alone act
as oars, the young soon equalling their parents in this respect.
The note is a harsh croak in the larger forms, a softer sound or
"whit -whit" in the smaller; the food consists of fish when
procurable, but small reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans,
insects, and vegetable matter are frequently added, and feathers
of some size are constantly found in the stomach. The nest,
a pile of aquatic weeds or rushes of varying bulk, is fixed among
reeds, sedges, semi-natant masses of herbage, or, more rarely,
upon low branches of trees or bushes verging upon the water.
Should this rise higher, fresh materials are added. From
three to six bluish -white eggs with a smooth chalky cover-
ing are laid in a slight depression above, but being covered
with wet weeds by the female on leaving, soon become stained
with brown. The bill is used in concealing them, nor does an
invader's presence usually hinder the operation. Incubation lasts
from twenty-one to twenty-four days. Both sexes are said to
assist, and the mother carries the nestlings on her back, or even
dives with them in that position.

Order III. SPHENISCIFORMES.

The Order Sphenisciformes, with its Sub-Order SPHENISCI,
contains only those remarkable marine birds the Penguins (Fam.
Spheniscidae), the life of which is chiefly spent on the stormy
waters of the Antarctic seas. Coupled by former writers with
the Auks, their northern analogues, it has now been shown that the
slight external similarity of the two groups is utterly misleading,
the nearest allies of the primitive forms here treated being the
Petrels on the one hand and the Divers and G-rebes on the other.
Their unique structure is correlated with very peculiar habits.
1 A. Newton, Ibis, 1889, p. 577.

in SPHENISCIDAE 5 5

The horny sheath, of the maxilla is composed of from three to
five more or less distinct pieces, while the powerful bill may be
long, thin, and slightly decurved, as in Aptenodytes and Pygosceles ;
shorter and pretty broad, as in Eudyptes ; or very stout, short,
and compressed, as in Splieniscus, where the prominent hook of the
culmen overhangs a truncated mandible. The three metatarsals
are not completely fused as in other birds (p. 10), the scutellated
metatarsus itself being shorter and broader than in any other
Family, except the Fregatidae ; the legs are set far back, the tibia
is hardly visible, and the short thick toes are directed forwards,
the small hallux alone having no web. Even more striking
are the wings, which are totally devoid of normally-developed
quills, though the number of feathers is very large, the primaries
themselves amounting to about thirty-six ; these flippers or
paddles have highly compressed bones with no power of flexure,
but work freely from the shoulder in rotatory fashion, requiring
a corresponding increase of strength in. the muscles of the neigh-
bouring parts. The numerous rectrices are fairly long and stiff
in Aptenodytes, Pygosceles, and Eudyptes, but shorter in Spheniscus,
having considerably reduced vanes. On the body we find some
naked tracts, with a pretty uniform covering of small feathers,
with or without ,barbs, and an equally uniform distribution of
down both in adults and young ; the moult, moreover, is accom-
plished in an exceptional manner, the plumage being shed in
masses, and that of the wing gradually flaking off above the new
coat. The process apparently occupies about ten days.1 Long
superciliary crests occur in Eudyptes, the mandible is more or less
feathered in Aptenodytes and Pygoseeles, and the metatarsi are
clothed besides in A.forsteri. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx
tracheo-bronchial, the tongue often rudimentary, an after-shaft is
present, and the plentiful subcutaneous fat produces a marketable oil.

Penguins 2 have been said to derive their name from the Latin
pinguis (fat) or the English " pin- wing," i.e. pinioned wing, but
such nautical appellations are usually obscure. The French term
them " Manchots." These birds rest on the whole metatarsus, the
bill usually pointing upwards ; their gait on land is ludicrous, but
often fast, a vertical position being generally preserved, while they
endeavour to waddle along on their toes with constant flapping
of the pinions, every now and then partially losing their balance

1 A. D. Bartlett, P.Z.S. 1879, p. 6. 2 Cf. Gare-fowl (Alcidae], infra.

5 6 SPHENISCIFORMES

CHAP.

and regaining it by the aid of their flippers. Several species are
called Rock-hoppers, from their manner of hopping upon the
boulders. They are, however, rarely seen on land, except in the
breeding season, though equally gregarious at all times, swimming
in " schools " and resorting in vast numbers to their " rookeries."
When submerged, the wings act as paddles with alternating
rotatory action, and the feet as rudders ; but on the return to the
surface the latter naturally become the propellers. The note is a
croak, a scream, a murmuring sound, or, in the young, a whistle.
The food of crustaceans, cephalopods, and other molluscs, is varied
by fish or a little vegetable matter, and accompanied by a mass of
pebbles, often ejected near the breeding places. The nest of grass
and leaves — more rarely of twigs, pebbles, clay or rubbish, when
herbage is scarce — may be in burrows, among tussocks, under stones,
in caves, or in the open ; the two coarse-flavoured eggs being white
or greenish-white, with a variable amount of chalky incrusta-
tion. The male is said to assist in incubation, which lasts about
six weeks ; the parents sit very closely and feed the blind young
for an exceptionally long period, by inserting their bill in that of
the nestling. Pugnacious and thievish towards one another,
Penguins are usually fearless on land, though, when they are
irritated, the beak can inflict a very severe bite.

The range extends southwards from the Galapagos round Cape
Horn to the Falkland Islands, a few stragglers reaching Brazil ;
thence breeding stations are found eastwards in Tristan da Cunha,
off the Cape of Good Hope, in the Crozets, Marion, and Amsterdam
Islands, Kerguelen Land, and so on to the south of Australia and
New Zealand, with the Antarctic regions as far as man has pene-
trated. The largest form is Aptenodytes forsteri, and the smallest
Spheniscus minor, about 3 6 and 1 9 inches long respectively ; the
sexes are alike in colour, or the female may be a little duller
aud resemble the young. The bill and feet are usually reddish-
brown, black or grey, but the latter may be whitish. The nestling
in down is blackish- or yellowish-brown with white lower parts.

A. forsteri, the Emperor Penguin of Victoria Land and the
adjacent seas, is blackish-grey, with white breast and belly and an
oval yellow spot on each side of the head. It is particularly tame,
and moves at a marvellous rate by lying on the snow and pro-
pelling itself with its feet.1 A. pennanti, the King Penguin of
1 P. L. Sclater, Ibis, 1888, p. 330.

in SPHENISCIDAE 57

Kerguelen Land, the Falklands, Crozets, Auckland, Macquarie,
Campbell, and other southern islands, apparently confounded with
the last-named under the title of A. patagonica, is distinguish-
able by the longer bill, more orange chest, and lack of feathers on
the sides of the mandible and metatarsus. The crowded breed-
ing grounds are flat spaces of hard soil covered with slime, and
are often quite apart from the general quarters. When disturbed
the birds utter a loud " urr-urr-urr," and run to the sea at a great
pace, maintaining an upright position ; while they pass to and
from the water singly, and not in flocks, as do other species.1
The pyriform eggs are sometimes held up by the parents' feet.
Pygosceles taeniata, the " Gentoo," of similar but more restricted
range, is bluish-black above and on the throat, having the lower
parts, the margins of the flippers, and a band across the crown
white. Dense colonies are found both near the sea and several
miles inland, a regular path being often beaten down by the birds
traversing it in company ; the nests consist of a little herbage
in a hollow, or are small conical mounds of stones and clay, lined
with feathers and down, the oval eggs being frequently of unequal
size. The note is an unmelodious bark.2 P. adeliae inhabits the
icy regions of the far south.

Spheniscus demersus, the Cape Penguin or Jackass, ranging from
western South America to South Africa, has bluish-black upper
parts and throat, and white lower surface crossed by a blackish
band — or two in the variety magellanicus. The note is a harsh
bray ; the eggs are either deposited in burrows — presumably dug
by the parent itself — or, as on rocky islands near the Cape, in
nests of pebbles and rubbish, commonly placed under large stones.3
S. (Eudyptula) minor is a bluer species with white throat, that
part being dark coloured in the whole Family except here and
in Eudyptes antarcticus ; it occupies the south of Australia and
the New Zealand area. The note is a loud croak or growl, and
the oval but somewhat pointed eggs are laid on a bed of leaves and
grass in an excavation in the soil or a crevice among rocks.4 S.
mendiculus, the only tropical form, occurs in the Galapagos.

The genus Eudyptes contains the crested " Maccaroni " Pen-

1 Cf. Moseley, Rep. Voy. " Challenger," Zool. ii. 1880, Birds, p. 123.

2 Cf. Abbott, Ibis, 1860, p. 336 ; Sclater, op. cit. 1894, p. 501 ; and Eaton, Phil.
Trans, clxviii. 1879, pp. 154-157.

3 Cf. Abbott, ut supra, and Moseley, op. cit. pp. 124, 125,

4 Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed. 1888, p. 301.

5 8 SPHENISCIFORMES CHAP.

guins or Rock-hoppers, of which E. chrysocome, figured below,
extends southwards and eastwards from the Falklands through the
Indian Ocean and Antarctic seas to the coasts of New Zealand
and the neighbouring islands. It is bluish -black with white
breast and belly, and a fine orange crest on each side of the crown,
from which a broad golden streak passes over the eye to the base
of the maxilla. E. chrysolophus, a rarer bird of somewhat similar
range, has the forehead yellow instead of black. E. clirysocome
nidificates on elevated slopes, usually near fresh water, in which it
delights to bathe, the nest being either a mere depression in the

FIG. 17. — Rock-hoppers. Eudyptes chrysocome. (From Thomson's Atlantic.)

bare earth or a slight structure of plant-stems and leaves. This is
at times perfectly exposed, but is not unfrequently among boulders
or under the shade of tussocks of grass as high as a man's head,
the filthy breeding-places being intersected by beaten pathways
formed by the constant passage of troops to and from the sea.
The parent is said to sit almost perpendicularly, with the eggs
closely applied to a naked space in the centre of the abdomen, but
it should be mentioned that some observers state that the breast
is lowered until it nearly touches the ground, though there seems
to be little doubt that the position is at least half upright in the
case of Penguins generally. Like other species, Rock-hoppers
swim chiefly below the surface of the sea, coming into view only

in PROCELLARIIFORMES 59

from time to time to breathe ; but they have a most curious habit
of stretching out the legs below the tail, laying their wings flat
to their sides, arching their necks forward, and then making a
sudden spring clear out of the waves. An occasional croak is
heard while the birds are in the water, but on land the barking
noise is perfectly deafening, nor do the severe bites with which the
intruder is greeted make matters more tolerable.1 Among other
species recognised by different writers are E. antarcticus of the
Falklands, South Orkneys, South Shetlands, and New Georgia ; E.
antipodum of New Zealand and Campbell Island, with an almost
yellow head; E. atratus of the Snares Islands, entirely of a blackish
hue, and possibly a melanistic form ; E. sMegeli of Macquarie
Island, E. vittatus and E. pachyrliynchus of New Zealand, E. sclateri
of the Auckland Islands, and E. serresianus of Tierra del Fuego.
Palaeeudyptes antarcticus - is a fossil form nearly 7 feet high,
from the Eocene of New Zealand, while Senores Moreno and
Mercerat record Paraptenodytes antarcticus, Palaeospheniscus
patagonicus, P. menzbieri, and P. lergii from the Miocene of
Patagonia.3

Order IV. PROCELLARIIFORMES.

The Procellariiformes, or Petrels, are archaic ocean forms
with great powers of flight, often placed near the Laridae on
account of a supposed external resemblance, though the structure
of the internal parts shews this to be misleading, and indicates
rather a position between the Sphenisciformes and Ciconiiformes.

The single Sub-Order TUBINARES, with the Family Procel-
lariidae, may be subdivided into the Sub-families: (1) Diome-
deinae, or Albatroses ; (2) Oceanitinae and (3) Procellariinae, or
Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels proper ; and (4) Pelecano'idinae,
or Diving Petrels.4

Fam. Procellariidae. — In the larger species the bill is long,
stout, and frequently compressed, with a strong sharp hook over-
hanging the truncated mandible ; its size gradually diminishing
throughout the Sub-families in very much the above order. The

1 Cf. Moseley and Abbott, ut supra, p. 57.

2 Huxley, Quart. J. Geol. Soc. xv. 1859, pp. 670-676.

3 An. Mus. La Plata, Pal. Argent, i. 1891, pp. 16-19, 446.

4 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, p. 129. For other classi-
fications see W. A. Forbes, Rep. Brit. Ass. 1881, p. 671 ; and 0. Salvin, Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. xxv. 1896, p. 342.

60 PROCELLARIIFORMES CHAP.

horny sheath is separated by grooves into more or less distinct
plates, and the mandible may also be grooved, as in Phoebetria ;
while Prion is especially remarkable for the curious fringe of trans-
verse lamellae on the margins of the broad maxilla, which recall
those of the Duck tribe, traces of the same being exhibited by
Ossifraga, Fulmarus, Daption, and Halobaena. The most striking
peculiarity, however, is the tubular structure of the impervious nos-
trils, which trenchantly divides the Petrels from all other Birds ;
these tubes are far apart in the Diomedeinae, and lie laterally
towards the back of the culmen ; in the remaining groups they
are fused together and are situated dorsally. In the Oceanitinae
the single aperture looks forwards and upwards, but in the
Procellariinae the septum is produced to the front, showing
clearly the double nature of the formation ; in Pelecanoides
again the distinct openings are almost vertical, an arrangement as
well adapted to the diving habits as are the long sternum and the
compressed wing-bones. The rows of retroverted spines found on
the palatal membrane in most of the family no doubt aid in the
retention of slippery prey, as do the lamellae in Prion. The
lower portion of the tibia is bare ; the metatarsus varies in
length and stoutness according to the species, though often
decidedly slender, and is much compressed in Puffinus and its
nearest allies. It is usually covered with hexagonal scales, but
Oceanites and Cymodroma show but one long anterior scute
(pcrea), while Garrodia and Pelagodroma have a series of
oblique plates instead. The hallux is absent in Pelecanoides, and
consists of only one phalanx elsewhere, being quite rudimentary in
the Diomedeinae ; it is slightly above the level of the anterior
toes, which are connected by large webs. The claws are, as a
rule, sharp, curved, and compressed, but are blunt and much
flattened in Pelagodroma, Pealea, and Cymodroma, showing a
similar tendency in others of the Oceanitinae. The wings are
normally long, and are very narrow and pointed in the Diome-
deinae, where the expanse is vast, but in Pelecano'ides they are
decidedly short : the primaries are eleven in number '; the
secondaries are ten or less in the Oceanitinae, thirteen or more
in the remaining forms, and amount to more than thirty in some
of the Diomedeinae. The tail is rarely long, as in Phoebetria, and
may be even, rounded, graduated, or emarginated; the above species,
Bulweria, and some forms of Puffinus have it wedge-shaped, while

Ill

PROCELLARIIDAE 6 1

a distinct fork occurs in Oceanodroma. Sixteen rectrices are found
in Ossifraga, fourteen in Fulmar us, Priocella, and Daption, twelve
elsewhere. The small tongue is somewhat triangular, being rather
larger in Ossifraga and Prion ; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial ;
and an after-shaft is present, though in some cases rudimentary.

The soft, dense plumage shows various patterns of black, brown,
grey, and white ; the bill and feet may be black, brown, flesh- or
horn-tinted, yellow, orange, or parti-coloured, but in Prion and
Halobaena the latter are bluish. Light and dark phases are not
uncommon, as in Fulmarus and Ossifraga ; the sexes are invari-
ably similar ; and the nestlings, which long remain helpless, are
clad in thick down of a black, brown, grey, or white hue, through
which the feathers appear gradually. Some white Albatroses
have intermediate dusky stages of plumage, and do not gain the
adult coloration at once, as most of the Family seem to do.

Diomedea exulans is one of the largest birds that fly, exceeding
a goose in size, while the smaller Petrels are hardly bigger than
Finches. The range of the Order is world- wide, though a majority
of species frequent the desolate tracts and islands of the southern
oceans ; but even Albatroses breed in the North Pacific.

Though the members of this Family can hardly be called
gregarious, flocks of Shearwaters, Fulmars, and so forth are by
no means an uncommon sight from shipboard, and settlements are
formed in the breeding season, which is almost the only occasion
on which they voluntarily seek dry land. Albatroses, Fulmars,
the " Cape Pigeon " (Daption), and other allied forms are observed
most commonly in the daytime, whereas those that nest under
cover are to a great extent nocturnal during incubation, and
are generally seen or heard after dusk. While the whole group
is oceanic, there is a wide difference between the powerful
Albatros and its smaller and weaker relations in that respect,
the latter journeying but little from the immediate neighbour-
hood of their homes, and not accompanying ships for long dis-
tances in the same way as the former. In the larger species the
flight is strong and graceful,1 accompanied by circling, soaring, or
sailing movements, the feet being extended below the tail ;
Shearwaters skim the waves in a curious twisting fashion, and
the lesser Petrels flit with greater action of the wing close to the

1 Here the late Professor Roy's article ou " Flight " (A. Newton, Diet. Birds,
1893, p. 260) may be consulted.

62 PROCELLARIIFORMES

CHAP.

surface, upon which they paddle to assist themselves. The
Diving Petrels — and their allies to a limited extent — plunge
through or beneath the billows, while all species may be noticed
at times resting or swimming upon the water. Equally at home
in storm or calm, they pass the greater part of their lives upon
the ocean, and it seems impossible to doubt the fact that they
sleep there also. Great difficulty is experienced in rising from
a level surface, whether it be the deck of a ship or a grassy flat ;
the birds scrambling along with flapping wings and occasional
aid from the bill, until some slight declivity or broken edge
enables them to obtain a start. When taken from a nest in a
burrow, they either drop to the ground like stones, or flutter off
in a dazed condition, which lasts for several seconds, and renders
them absolutely helpless. The cry is said in various cases to
resemble a bray, a croak, a harsh cackle, a diabolical scream, a
puppy's whine, or a soft whistle, while the twittering or " sing-
ing " of Procellaria, Oceanodroma, and Oceanites in their holes is
well known to those who have visited a Storm Petrel's colony.
The food consists of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and other mol-
luscs, jellyfish, and the like, Albatroses and Fulmars being said
to force other species to part with their booty after the manner
of Skuas, or even to devour nestlings. Herbage is rarely found
in the stomach, but blubber of dead animals and scraps thrown
from shipboard are eagerly swallowed, so that many of the
largest forms are captured by concealing a hook in a piece of
pork and trailing it in the water on a cork, when the bait is
often greedily contested by every individual in the vicinity.
Albatroses and other members of the Family which will take
food from the surface of the sea descend upon it with elevated
wings, to rise again with the morsel obtained, or to float upon
the waves while enjoying it ; Shearwaters commonly dash down
with considerable impetus, and disappear after their prey for the
moment ; while the Diving Petrels procure their nourishment
at a much greater depth. When handled, and perhaps especi-
ally when taken from a nesting-hole, the birds bite severely,
and eject a quantity of amber-coloured or greenish oil from the
beak, followed as a rule by semi-digested food, the fluid possessing
a strong smell of musk, which is also perceptible in the feathers
and the eggs. The nest of the Albatros is usually a truncated
cone or cylinder of mud, grass, leaves, and moss, with a slight

Ill

PROCELLARIIDAE 63

depression on the top, colonies being formed on cliffs, rocky
slopes, or bare hill-tops above the limit of trees ; the Giant Petrel
makes a similar structure at no great elevation ; Shearwaters $,nd
their nearest allies collect a mass of grass and rubbish in a burrow
scraped in a bank, among boulders, or in holes and crevices of rocks,
accommodating themselves to little stone huts, provided by the
fishermen, in the Canary and Salvage Islands.1 Fulmars scrape
a cup-shaped hollow on ledges of precipices, adding little or no
lining, while most of the remaining forms utilise small burrows,
or crannies among the scattered stones which collect upon the
shores or at the base of cliffs. A single lack-lustre white egg is
deposited, frequently marked with a ring of rusty spots towards
the larger end, especially in the case of the lesser species. Adult
and young Shearwaters are eaten by the natives of the Canaries,
the islands of Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere, Puffinus brevicauda
being the "Mutton-bird" of Australia, and P. anglorum being
termed " Fachach " in the Hebrides and North Ireland. In the
case of Pelagodroma, we have positive evidence that both sexes
incubate ; 2 and before the eggs are laid the parents are not un-
commonly found together in the hole when such a site is chosen.
Incubation lasts from twenty-five to sixty days.

Sub-fam. 1. Diomedeinae. — This contains two genera, Plwebetria
and Diomedea, of which the former has one member, P.fuliginosa,
of a sooty grey colour, distinguished from its allies by the sul-
cated mandible and cuneate tail. It frequents the South Seas,
while straying to Oregon, as does Diomedea culminata ; and
has similar manners to other Albatroses. Diomedea exulans, the
" Wandering Albatros," or " Cape Sheep," of the Southern Oceans
generally, is white with narrow dusky undulations above and
almost black wings ; and particulars of the habits having been
already given, it only remains to refer to the majestic flight,
described by Professor Hutton as follows : " With outstretched,
motionless wings he sails over the surface of the sea, now rising
high in the air, now with a bold sweep, and wings inclined at an
angle with the horizon, descending until the tip of the lower one
all but touches the crests of the waves as he skims over them.
Suddenly he sees something floating on the water and pre-
pares to alight ; but how changed he now is from the noble
bird but a moment before all grace and symmetry. He raises

1 Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1896, p. 52. 2 Id. ibid.

64

PROCELLARIIFORMES

CHAP.

his wings, his head goes back, and his back goes in ; down drop
two enormous webbed feet straddled out to their full extent,
and with a hoarse croak, between the cry of a Eaven and that of
a sheep, he falls ' souse ' into the water. Here he is at home
again, breasting the waves like a cork. Presently he stretches
out his neck, and with great exertion of his wings runs along
the top of the water for seventy or eighty yards, until, at last,

FIG. 18. — Wandering Albatros. Diomedea exulans.

having got sufficient impetus, he tucks up his legs, and is
once more fairly launched in the air." ] D. regia, of the New
Zealand seas, has no undulations on the back ; the similar D.
chionoptera, of the Southern Indian Ocean, has nearly white wing-
coverts ; and D. albatrus, of the North Pacific, has buff crown
and nape. Of the smaller forms, or Mollymauks (p. 65), D.
irrorata, of West Peru, is sooty -brown with plentiful white
mottlings and white, head ; D. nigripes, of the North Pacific, is
the same colour, but shews white only at the base of the tail
1 Ibis, 1865, pp. 281, 282.

in

PROCELLARIIDAE 65

and bill, and near the eye ; D. immutabilis, found from Laysan to
Japan, is darker, with white head, neck, rump, base of tail, and
lower parts ; D. melanophrys, of the southern oceans, which has
occurred in California, and in summer in England as well as at the
Faeroes,1 is white, with a blackish band on each side of the eje,_
slaty back, brownish-black wings, and grey tail ; D. lulleri, of the
New Zealand seas, is greyish -brown, with white rump and lower
surface, and ashy or whitish head ; D. culminata and D. chloro-
rhyncha, of the southern oceans, D. cauta of Tasmania, D. salvini
of the New Zealand Seas, and D. layardi of those of the Cape,
have similarly coloured plumage ; the last five being distinguished
by some writers as Thalassogeron, and having a strip of naked
skin between the plates of the maxilla towards its base. D. bulleri
has red, D. clilororhyncha flesh-coloured, and the others yellow
feet ; the amount of yellow on the bill varying with the species.

Sub-fam. 2. Oceanitinae. — The genera recognised are Cymo-
droma, Pealea, Pelagodroma, Gfarrodia, and Oceanites ; they are
sooty- or slaty-black birds, of small size, having in some cases the
rump, under parts, nuchal collar, forehead, superciliary streaks, or
margins to the feathers of the dorsal region white. Their range
extends over different portions of the southern seas, whence
Oceanites oceanicus, Wilson's Petrel, has strayed to Labrador and
Great Britain, and Pelagodroma marina to the latter and Massa-
chusetts, while breeding in the Salvage Islands south of Madeira
and the Cape Verds. The habits do not seem to differ appreciably
from those of the Storm-Petrel.2

Sub-fam. 3. Procellariinae. — As here arranged, this com-
prises three groups typified by the Fulmars, Shearwaters, and
Storm-Petrels respectively. Of the first, Ossifraga gigantea, the
Giant Petrel, or " Nelly " of the southern seas, recorded also from
Oregon, is dark brown, often with white on the head when
immature, and sometimes almost entirely white. Fulmarus
glacialis of the North Atlantic, the Fulmar of St. Kilda, and the
true Mollymauk of sailors, which is represented in the North
Pacific by the barely separable F. glupischa and F. rodgersi,
is bluish-grey with dusky quills, white head, neck, and lower
parts ; the dark phase being uniform dusky grey. It is smaller

1 Har vie -Brown, Zoologist, 1894, p. 337-338.

2 Eaton, Phil. Trans, clxviii. 1'879, pp. 129-134 ; Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1896,
pp. 51-53.

VOL. IX F

66 PROCELLARIIFORMES CHAP.

than Ossifraga, yet equal to a medium -sized Gull, though
easily distinguished by its light gliding flight with little motion
of the wings ; in rough weather it skims very near the waves,
while the croaking note is seldom heard. Daption capensis, the
" Cape-Pigeon," ranging from Ceylon and Peru throughout the
southern oceans, is black and white above and nearly white
below; it is well known as a constant companion of ships, especially
off South Africa, hovering or swimming around, uttering its harsh
cackle, or plunging into the water to fight for scraps thrown over-
board. Halobaena caerulea, extending from lat. 40° to 60° S., is
grey-blue above and white below, with a little white on the head,
scapulars, and tail ; the habits resemble those of Priori, a genus
of four species, remarkable for the fringe of lamellae on the bill,
and having blue-grey upper parts varied with black, white under
parts and superciliary streak. These forms are found throughout
the southern seas, while P. ariel has occurred in Madeira. P.
desolatus, the Whale-bird of sailors, is frequently seen flitting
round vessels, uttering its whistling or cooing note, or taking
food from the water upon the wing ; the slight nest is formed in
an extremely small burrow.

Little object would be served by describing in detail the
twenty members of Puffinus (Shearwater) or the thirty of
Oestrelata, the main constituents of our second group of Pro-
cellariinae. The former are sooty-brown or greyish, commonly
with white below, and in some cases with white or pale edges
to the feathers above ; all are much alike except the uniform
species, but it should be carefully noted that Petrels are often
best distinguished by the colour of the bill and feet. The
habits of these birds, which are distributed throughout the
greater part of the world, have been already sufficiently treated.
P. anglorum, the " Manx " Shearwater, breeds along the west of
Great Britain, in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Ireland, P. major
or gravis, P. griseus, P. obscurus, P. assimilis, and P. yelkouanus, the
" ame damnee " of the Bosphorus, being occasional visitors to our
shores. In Oestrelata the coloration is grey, brown, or blackish,
with a decided tendency to lighter margins on the upper feathers,
and in a few of the members more or less white on the tail,
wing, or head ; the under parts, moreover, being frequently white.
The various forms reach from the southern temperate regions to
Japan and also to Britain, where Oe. Jiaesitata and Oe. brevipes

Ill

PROCELLARIIDAE 6/

have each been recorded once. The latter breeds on mountain-
tops in islands, and of its other congeners some at least do like-
wise, many having an extremely limited range at all seasons.

Priqftnus cinereus, the " Night-hawk," perhaps more noisy at
night than even certain Shearwaters, is greyish-brown above and
white below ; it inhabits the southern oceans. Thalassoeca
antarctica, restricted to the Antarctic regions, is brown with
white lower parts and some white on the wing, tail, and their
coverts. Priocella glacialo'ides of the southern seas, which ranges
northwards to Washington State in the Pacific, and seems to
have the habits of a Fulmar, resembles that bird in its pearl-
grey hue, with nearly white head, neck, and under surface.
Majaqueus aequinoctialis of the regions south of lat. 30° S.,
known as the " Cape Hen," is sooty-black with a white chin, M.
parkinsoni of New Zealand being uniform in tint. The cry is
a soft whistle, but the manners are in other respects as in Shear-
waters, except that a. conical nest is constructed in a burrow,
whence a curious cackling noise issues during the period of
incubation.1 Pagodroma nivea, of the icy regions of the south, is
pure white with black bill and yellowish feet ; it remains on
the wing until late at night, and resembles Prion generally in its
ways. Bulweria bulweri, met with once in England, inhabits the
temperate parts of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, and
breeds as near us as the Desertas ; it is almost uniform sooty-
brown, and has the habits of a Storm-Petrel rather than of a
Shearwater, being bold but wary, and rapid in flight, with a loud,
cheerful quadruple note. It lays its pure white eggs without any
nest in crevices of rocks, breeding as late as June near Madeira.
B. macgillivrayi, with stouter bill, is known from the Fijian waters.

Our third group includes the true Storm-Petrels (Procellaria)
and their close allies the Fork-tailed Petrels (Oceanodroma), as
well as Halocyptena microsoma, a dark blackish bird from
Western America, between California and Panama. P. pelagica
of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic from Greenland to
South Africa, which breeds in Scotland, Ireland, and the West of
England, is sooty -black with the tail -coverts white, except at
the tips, and a little white on the wing -co verts. Named
" Mother Carey's Chicken " by sailors, who look upon it with
superstitious dread, it is often seen paddling along the waves in

1 Eaton, Phil. Trans, clxviii. 1879, p. 121.

68 PROCELLARIIFORMES CHAP.

stormy weather, thus gaining the name of " Petrel " from the
Apostle Peter ; while it may be heard singing among the
boulders towards the end of June in Scotland, where it breeds
more than a month later than the " Lyrie " or Manx Shearwater.
The note is shrill and the flight somewhat butterfly-like. P.
tethys, of the Galapagos and Western Central America, has
entirely white tail-coverts. Oceanodroma contains ten members
inhabiting the northern hemisphere, and ranging southwards to
Peru and St. Helena, all being sooty-black except 0. furcata,
which is chiefly ashy-grey, and 0. hornbyi, which is brown, with
white collar, forehead, and under surface, and blacker head and
wings. 0. leucorrhoa (Leach's Petrel) and 0. cryptoleucura possess

FIG. 19. — Storm-Petrel. Procellaria pelagica.

white tail-coverts tipped with black ; the former having some
breeding stations in Britain at St. Kilda and a few islands on the
west of Scotland arid Ireland, and the latter as far north as
Madeira, though it extends to St. Helena, the Galapagos, and the
Sandwich Islands, and has recently occurred in England. The
other species are apparently met with only in the Pacific north of
Panama, while in habits the genus is not dissimilar to Procellaria.
Sub-fam. 4. Pelecanoidinae. — These Diving -Petrels include
Pelecano'ides urinatrix, of the vicinity of Australia, New Zealand,
Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands, a glossy black bird with
white under parts, some grey on the sides of the neck, and grey and
white on the scapulars ; P. exsul, of the Southern Indian Ocean,
with grey throat ; and P. garnoti of Western South America,

PROCELLARIIDAE 69

which is larger and quite white below. Of the first Darwin says l
that it " never leaves the quiet inland sounds. When disturbed
it dives to a distance, and, on coming to the surface, with the
same movement takes flight. After flying by the rapid movement
of its short wings for a space in a straight line, it drops as if
struck dead, and dives again." The egg is deposited in a small
burrow ; the note is a cackle or moan.

Fossil remains are recorded from the Pacific, Australia, and
New Zealand, which are referred to the genera Pujfinus, Ossifraga,
and Diomedea, and probably belong to existing species ; Puffinus
conradii is from the American Miocene, P. eyermani from
Tavolara, off Sardinia ; but a much more remarkable fact is the
discovery in the Suffolk Eed Crag of portions of a distinct form,
named Diomedea anglica by Mr. Lydekker.2

1 Voy. "Beagle" (1890 ed.), P- 351.
2 Quart. J. Geol. Soc. xlii. 1886, pp. 366, 367.

CHAPTEE IV

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

BRIGADE I LEGION II (PELARGOMORPHAE). ORDERS : CICONII-

FORMES ANSERIFORMES FALCONIFORMES

Order V. CICONIIFORMES.

THE Order Ciconiiformes is a somewhat unwieldy assemblage con-
sisting mainly of Water-birds, which may be classed under the
Sub-Orders STEGANOPODES, ARDEAE, CICONIAE, and PHOENICOPTERL
Of these the first contains the Phaethontidae or Tropic-birds, the
Sulidae or Gannets, the Phalacrocoracidae or Cormorants and
Darters, the Fregatidae or Frigate-birds, and the Pelecanidae or
Pelicans ; the second the Ardeidae or Herons and Bitterns, and the
Scopidae with the Umbrette ; the third the Oiconiidae or Storks and
" Wood- Ibises," arid the Jbididae or true Ibises and Spoon-bills ;
while the fourth comprises the Phoenicopteridae or Flamingos,
and the extinct genus Palaelodus,for which Dr. Gadow recognises
a separate family Palaelodidae. Among these the greatest
affinity to the Procellariiformes is exhibited by the Steganopodes,
whereas the Phoenicopteri are so closely allied to the Anseriformes
that not a few writers prefer to include them in that Order.

The STEGANOPODES are aquatic and chiefly marine birds, so
far homogeneous in structure that the details may well be set
forth in common ; while in some points they bear a great resem-
blance to the Cathartidae.1 Each Family contains a single genus,
except the Phalacrocoracidae, where Phalacrocorax and Plotus
may be considered the equivalents of Sub-families.

The sternum is long, especially in Sula, while the large head

and short thick neck of Phaethon and Fregata may be contrasted

with the small head and remarkably long neck of Phalacrocorax,

and still more of Plotus ; Sula and Pelecanus being moderate in

1 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil. 1893, p. 135.

CHAP, iv STEGANOPODES 7 1

f

both respects. The bill, which is more or less compound, is
long, pretty straight, and generally compressed : in Phaethon
and Sula it is strong, conical, and pointed ; in Phalacrocorax
either stout with a long hooked nail, or less robust with the
hook at the tip shorter, the sides being scabrous ; in Fregata
similar, in Plotus slender and tapering, in Pelecanus weak, much
flattened, hooked, and scaly. The maxilla is furrowed in Sula,
Pelecanus, and Phalacrocorax, with the median part concave in
the latter, while the cutting edges of both mandibles are serrated
in Phoethon, Sula, and Plotus. The legs are placed far back,
especially in Phalacrocorax, the tibiae being partly bare in
Phaethon and Pelecanus, but feathered in the other forms, of
which Fregata has the clothing continued to the toes. The
metatarsus is short, stout, and compressed, that of Fregata being
extremely abbreviated, as in the Spheniscidae ; it is entirely
covered with hexagonal scales, becoming almost reticulated behind,
while the toes exhibit distinct transverse scutes in Phalacrocorax,
and have a similar tendency elsewhere. The hallux, which is
somewhat elevated in Phaethon, is turned inwards or forwards,
and is connected with the remaining toes by full webs, except in
Fregata, where the membranes are excised to about half their
extent ; this unique " Steganopodous " foot giving the name to
the whole group. The stout curved claws — weaker in Fregata
— are of medium length, that of the middle digit being serrated
on the inner side in the last named, Sula, and Phalacrocorax.
The wings are long and pointed, reaching their maximum in
Fregata, their minimum in Phalacrocorax, and having a
very ample spread in Sula and Pelecanus. There are eleven
primaries, and from fifteen to twenty-nine incurved secondaries,
which may even exceed the former. In Pelecanus the short,
broad, roundish tail consists of from eighteen to twenty-four soft
acute rectrices, but in the remaining genera the feathers are
strong and stiff, being particularly rigid in Phalacrocorax and
Plotus : Phaethon has sixteen, which are moderate and graduated,
with a long filiform median pair in the adult ; Sula and Phala-
crocorax from twelve to fourteen in a more or less wedge-shaped
formation ; Fregata twelve, arranged in a fork ; while Plotus has
the same number, forming a fan, the webs being very broad and
showing curious transverse corrugations in mature birds, found
also on the scapulars. The tail is fairly long in the four last

72 CICONIIFORMES : PHAETHONTIDAE CHAP.

\

mentioned, except in some members of Phalacrocorax. The V-shaped
furcula ancy loses with the sternum in some of the Sub- Order, but
Fregata differs from all other ornithic forms in the fact that the
furcula also coalesces with the coracoids at its extremities, while
the coracoids again unite firmly with the scapula, producing an
almost rigid framework, considered by Professor Newton to be con-
nected with the power which the bird possesses of sustaining itself
nearly motionless in the air.1 The peculiar angular articulation
of the long eighth cervical vertebra in Plotus, which causes the
Z-shaped " kink " in the neck, must also be noticed here.2 The
tongue is rudimentary ; the nostrils are pervious in Pha£thon, im-
pervious elsewhere, being practically obliterated in adults ; the
syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, except in Sula and Pelecanus, where the
usual muscles are entirely absent. The subcutaneous air-cells of
Sula are most remarkable. The newly-hatched young are blind and
helpless, being naked and covered with blackish skin in Sula, Phal-
acrocorax, Plotus, and Pelecanus, though they soon acquire a white
downy coat ; in Phaethon and Fregata they are similarly clothed
on breaking the shell. The down of the adults is uniformly dis-
tributed, the after shaft is diminutive or wanting. The gular sacs,
horny excrescences on the beak, crests, and so forth, are noted below.

Fam. I. Phaethontidae. — Phaethon aether eus, P. flavirostris, and
P. rubricauda are chiefly found in the tropical regions of the south ;
but the first two species breed about as far north as the tropic
of Cancer, while they frequent the West Indies, and occasionally
stray to the Eastern United States, or even Newfoundland.3 The
first and third are found nesting northwards to Laysan. All these
Tropic- or Boatswain-birds, as they are denominated, have satin-like
white plumage — often with a tinge of pink — varied by blackish
bars or patches above, and black marks near the eye ; the bill is
red, or in P. flavirostris yellow, the metatarsi yellowish and the
toes chiefly black. In P. rubricauda the long stiff median rectrices
are dull red with black shafts and very narrow webs, in P. flaviros-
tris they are pinkish with similar shafts, and in P. aethereus entirely
white. The sexes are alike, the young being more irregularly
marked and having no long tail-feathers.

The members of this Family are true denizens of the ocean,

1 A. Newton, Did. Birds, 1893, pp. 293, 294.

2 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1882, pp. 208-212.

3 The East American form of P. flavirostris is separated as P. americanus by
Mr. Ogilvie Grant, Bull. Ornith. Club, vii. 1897, p. xxiv.

IV

SULIDAE

73

often met with many hundred miles from land; they will then hover
constantly about a vessel, or even alight fearlessly on the rigging.
They traverse the air with rapid sweeping flight, accompanied by
constant quick pulsations of the wings ; at one time soaring aloft
to wheel in circles, at another plunging into the water from an
immense height, though appearing again in a moment to float upon
the surface. Their gait on land is shuffling, while they can hardly
rise from level ground ; the note is a harsh croak or chatter ; the

FIG. 20.— Tropic Bird. PhaetJwn aetkereus. x £.

food consists of fish, squids, and other produce of the sea. No nest
is made, but a single reddish-brown or buff egg, with spots and
frecklings of red-brown, purplish or grey, is deposited in a hole or
crevice in a cliff, among rocks, or even in a cavity in a rotten tree,
both sexes assisting in incubation.1 The parents sit very closely,
screaming, pecking, and snapping when disturbed ; in some places
they are habitually caught while breeding, and deprived of the
long tail-feathers, which are used for decorations.

Fam. II. Sulidae. — Sula lassana, the Gannet or Solan Goose,
which nests at several stations off the west of Great Britain, in
Ireland, and on the well-known Bass Rock, extends thence to Iceland,
and down the American coast to Nova Scotia, while it strays to
Greenland, and in winter reaches the Gulf of Mexico and northern
Africa. The plumage is white, with a buff tinge on the head and
neck, and black primaries ; the bill is whitish, the feet dusky, and
the naked skin round the eye and down the centre of the throat
blackish-blue. S. capensis of South Africa and S. serrator of
Australia are similar to the above, but the former has the rectrices
black, the latter the four median feathers blackish-brown.

1 Of. E. Newton, Ibis, 1861, pp. 180, 276 ; Layard, op. cit. 1863, p. 248.

74 CICONIIFORMES CHAP.

The remaining species, often called " Boobies/' have the whole
lower jaw and throat bare. Of these S. cyanops, common in the
South Pacific and ranging through the intertropical seas to the
Bahamas in summer, is white with sooty -brown remiges, the
wing-coverts and the lateral portion of the tail being partly of
the same colour ; the bill is yellow, the feet are reddish, and the
naked parts bluish. S. leucogaster, extending from tropical and
sub -tropical America over the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic
Oceans,1 has the upper parts and chest brown, the remaining
lower surface, and occasionally the head and neck, white ; the

FIG. 21. — Gannet. Sula bassana. xi.

bill is yellow, the feet are greenish or yellowish, the bare skin is
tinged with red or yellow. S. piscator, chiefly of the intertropical
seas, resembles S. bassana, but has slate-grey wing-quills, purplish -
grey bill, reddish feet and naked parts. S. variegata, of the shores
of Chili and Peru, is dark grey-brown with white head, neck, and
under parts, and white markings above. S. abbotti, of Assumption
Island, north of Madagascar, is allied to S. cyanops. In this
Family the sexes are alike, while the young are usually dusky with
white streaks and spots ; but those of S. cyanops are white below,
and those of S. leucogaster and S. piscator chiefly sooty-brown, with
1 Cf, Seebohm, Birds of the Japanese Empire, 1890, p. 212.

iv PHALACROCORACIDAE 7 5

grey head, neck, and under surface in the latter. It apparently
requires six years to attain the full adult plumage.

Gannets are oceanic birds, only frequenting the land in stormy
weather; they traverse very great distances, and the northern
species move southward in winter. The flight is easy and powerful,
with alternate flapping and sailing motion, the head being carried
in a line with the body and the feet drawn up. The food con-
sists of surface -swimming fish, squids, and the like, while the
young obtain their nutriment by thrusting their bills into those of
the parents, though it is disgorged for them when newly hatched.
The prey is chiefly captured by diving, the plunge being made
with great velocity from a considerable height and the body
being submerged for several seconds ; on coming to the surface
the bird generally remains quiescent for a short time before
again taking to the air, but occasionally swims for a longer period.
When diving the wings are kept open until the last moment, and
are then quickly closed. Gannets find the same difficulty in
rising from a level spot as do Tropic-birds, and are less prone to
perch than many other sea-birds. The note is a hoarse reiterated
sound or, less commonly, a plaintive cry, much noise being often
made by the large colonies when breeding. The nest is a mass
of sea-weed and grass, placed on a ledge of some high cliff, on
the top of a stack, or even on a low tree ; while the eggs — never
more than two in number — are occasionally deposited on the
bare sandy beach, and are greenish-blue, thickly coated with a
white chalky substance, which soon becomes soiled. Incubation
lasts about six weeks. The adults, especially in the case of the
Boobies, are often absurdly fearless on land, while the female, when
on the nest, grunts at an intruder, and pecks or bites sharply. They
are frequently caught on shipboard by fixing bits of fish on floating
pieces of wood, in which the beak is transfixed by the violence of
the plunge ; they do not, however, afford palatable food, though in
Scotland the Solan Goose is half-roasted and so preserved for eating.

Fam. III. Phalacrocoracidae. — The genus Phalacrocorax in-
cludes the Cormorants and Shags, birds of similar coloration, which
differ chiefly in the brilliancy of their metallic hues and the pro-
portion of white to black or brown in the plumage, the follow-
ing examples giving a fair idea of the whole. P. carlo, the
Common Cormorant, with fourteen rectrices, has the head and
neck glossy blue-black, interspersed with white hair-like feathers,

76

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

the remaining upper parts bronzy -black, the throat white, the bill
and feet grey-black. In spring a slight crest adorns the occiput
and white patches appear on the thighs. In common , with its
congeners this species has naked lores, orbital and gular regions,
which are here of a yellow colour, becoming redder below the eye ;
the iris is emerald-green. The skin of the throat is dilatable
and forms a pouch for food. It breeds on most of the British
coasts, except between the Humber and the Thames, and
occasionally inland ; while it ranges to Greenland northwards,

FIG. 22. — Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carlo, x £.

and thence down the Atlantic to New Jersey in the west,
and to North and even South Africa on the east, as well
as through Europe and Asia. The Australian and New Zea-
land P. novae hollandiae is doubtfully distinct. P. dilophus, of
which several forms occur on the shores and in the interior of
North America as far south as Mexico, is not unlike P. carlo, but
has a tuft of long narrow recurved plumes on each side of the
crown in the nuptial dress, which are black, white, or particoloured
according to the locality. The bare loral region and gular sac
are orange, and no white is visible on the throat or flanks. The
splendid P. pelagicus, on the contrary, has white flank-patches in
addition to white filaments on the neck and rump, the head and

iv PHALACROCORACIDAE 77

neck are violet-black, and a bronzy -purple tinge extends thence
to the wings, the naked areas being brownish-red. It ranges
from Kamtschatka to Western Mexico, and even winters in
North Japan. P. urile, of the extreme north of the Pacific, is
very similar, but has the gular pouch bluish with red hinder
margin, the lores, orbits, and an additional strip of bare skin on
the forehead being orange. P. perspicillatus, of Bering Island,
now considered extinct, is another close ally, in which the fila-
mentous feathers are yellowish and the orbits white. P.
graculus, the Green Cormorant or Shag, breeding in Britain
chiefly on the western side, and occurring rarely on our inland
waters, is found in many places along the coasts of West Europe
to Morocco and the Mediterranean ; it is dark green with black
remiges and twelve black rectrices, and metallic hues on the head,
neck, and under surface, the irides being green and the bill and feet
black, as are the naked regions, which are spotted with yellow.
In spring a recurved crest overhangs the forehead. P. lucidus,
of South, East, and apparently West Africa, differs from the last in
having a brown head and nape, and grey tints on the mantle and
tail, while the chin and most of the lower parts are white. P. afri-
canus occupies South and East Africa. P. varius, of New Zealand,
is greenish-black above with grey middles to the dorsal feathers,
white cheeks and under surface ; the bill being horn-coloured,
the feet black, the orbits bluish, the gular skin yellow, with an
orange spot before each eye. P. carunculatus, of New Zealand, has,
according to Sir W. L. Buller,1 no crest and a white band on the
back, but otherwise resembles the crested P. onslowi of the Chatham
Islands, and P. imperialis of Chili and Patagonia,2 two fine irides-
cent species with the under surface and an alar bar white, the bare
papillose skin in front of the eyes orange-red, and the bill and
feet brownish. P. feather stoni of the Chatham Islands, which is
remarkable for possessing both an occipital and a frontal crest,
is greenish-black and brown above with white filoplumes on the
nape, and greyish-white below ; the beak being dark brown, the
feet orange-yellow, and the naked parts bluish. Similar tufts are
met with in P. punctatus of New Zealand, wherein the upper
plumage is mainly brown with terminal black spots on the

1 Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed. ii. London, 1888, pp. 154-160.

2 The Chatham Island bird is P. onslowi of H. 0. Forbes (Ibis, 1893, p. 537),
who discusses various other species. The American forms need further study.

78 CICONIIFORMES CHAP.

feathers, the thighs show a few white markings, and a broad
white stripe reaches from above the eye down each side of the
neck, where the coat is somewhat elongated and silky. P.
pygmaeus, the Pigmy Cormorant, which breeds across South-East
Europe and South Asia to Java and Borneo, as well as in North
Africa, is greenish-black with greyer mantle, reddish-brown head
and neck, and small white spots on the lower surface, the naked
parts being black. The sexes in Phalacrocorax are alike, or nearly
so. The young are browner above — with little of the charac-
teristic gloss — and brown, or white mottled with brown below,
the bill and irides often differing in colour from those of the
adult.

The members of this family as a rule frequent salt water,
yet not uncommonly breed on inland lakes and swamps, especi-
ally in the proximity of trees ; they are often to be seen in
companies, and are decidedly shy and cautious in most cases.
The heavy flight is strong, steady, and rapid, bearing a certain
resemblance to that of the Duck-tribe, while the birds experience
considerable difficulty in starting, and laboriously flap their
wings until fairly launched in the air, when they rise to some
height, or skim the waves, as fancy dictates. They swim and
dive to perfection, remaining a long time submerged, and indulg-
ing in many a turn and twist as they pursue their slippery
prey, both wings and feet lending their aid to the performance.
Ordinarily a spring precedes the plunge from the surface, but in
presence of danger they disappear more quietly. Though the
gait on land is an awkward waddle, Cormorants perch with ease
on rocks, posts, and limbs of trees, where their upright posture
gives them the appearance of black bottles or objects hung out
to dry ; they are stated, moreover, to be able to cling to the face
of a cliff, and certainly can climb among thick vegetation, as in
the case of P. pygmaeus. Not unfrequeiitly they roost in trees,
with the head drawn back upon the shoulders. The food,
normally of fish, is varied by crustaceans, or even frogs and
newts ; the young are fed by regurgitation, and, when old
enough, thrust their heads into their parents' bills to help
themselves.1 The note, comparatively seldom heard, is a harsh
guttural croak, while the female hisses during incubation, in
which she is said to be assisted by the male. The nest, placed

1 P. L. Sclater, P.Z.S. 1882, p. 458.

iv PHALACROCORACIDAE 79

in caves, on ledges of cliffs, tops of stacks, or low islands, and
less commonly on trees, bushes or reeds, is a mass of sticks, grass,
seaweed, rushes and the like, according to situation ; the smaller
species constructing a slighter platform when the trees are chosen,
and a lining of green leaves being occasionally added. Early in
spring colonies, often of very large dimensions, are formed by many
— but not all — of the species for breeding purposes, the stench
from the remains of decaying fish at such spots being decidedly
unpleasant. Incubation lasts about four weeks. Cormorants
were of old used in England for catching fish, and this has been
a regular business from time immemorial in China and Japan ;
but with us it is a mere sport, the chief exponent of which
is now Captain F. H. Salvin, whose chapters on " Fishing with
Cormorants " will be read with pleasure by those interested in the
subject.1 The bird rises to the surface to swallow its prey, but
a strap round the neck allows it to dispose of the smallest only
of its captures, while it is forced by its master to disgorge the
remainder before it is rewarded with a portion of the catch.

Plotus anhinga, the Snake-bird or Darter of tropical and
sub-tropical America, ranging northwards to "West Mexico and
South Carolina, is glossy greenish-black with beautiful silvery-
grey markings on the scapulars and wing-coverts, a broad brown
tip to the tail, which becomes white terminally, and long whitish
hair-like feathers on the sides of the occiput and neck, merging
into a black mane on the nape. The filoplumes are absent in
winter, and are inconspicuous in the female, which differs, more-
over, in having a grey-buff head, neck, and breast, the latter
being divided from the belly by a chestnut band. The young
resemble the mother-bird, but are duller and lack the chestnut
tint. The peculiar long thin neck and corrugated rectrices have
been mentioned above; the plumage is unusually close, and is
chiefly composed of small soft feathers of very uniform distribu-
tion ; the lores, orbits, chin, and throat are naked, the two former
being apparently greenish, and the latter, which is moderately
dilatable, orange. The bill is olive above and yellow below, the
feet mainly olive with yellow webs. Three other species are
recognised, but the variability in the amount of rufous in all
makes their validity somewhat questionable. They are P. novae
Jiollandiae of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, with a

1 Freeman and Salvin, Falconry, its claims, etc., London, 1859, pp. 327-349.

8o

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

white stripe on the sides of the head and a white border to the
gular sac ; the almost identical P. melanogaster of the Indian
Eegion, extending to Celebes ; and P. levaillanti of the Ethiopian
Eegion — described also from Antioch as P. chantrii — which has
a rufous crown, buff throat, and chestnut greater wing-coverts.
Darters cannot be classed as marine birds, though they

FIG. 23. — Indian Darter. Plotus melanogaster.

(From Nature.}

frequent inlets of the sea as well as lakes and rivers, where they
sun themselves with outspread wings on some stump, rock, tree,
or even tuft of rushes, while seldom admitting of a near approach.
When disturbed, they circle in the air with the neck drawn back
upon the shoulders, as do the Pelicans ; but the flight is laboured,
and they are much more at their ease in water, where they swim
very low, exposing only the head and neck, or merely the bill, if
danger threatens, and having a very snake-like appearance, as they

IV

FREGATIDAE 8 1

sway gracefully from side to side in their endeavours to keep
the intruder in view. Hardly a ripple follows the prolonged dive,
while below the surface the wings are but slightly used, the
tail being often expanded, and the feet acting as powerful paddles.
On reappearance a fish is generally to be seen grasped in the bill
or transfixed by it, the peculiar mechanism of the vertebrae of
the neck allowing the head to be darted forward at a moment's
notice for the capture ; * subsequently the prey is jerked up into
the air, cleverly caught and swallowed. The food, which seldom
varies, is sometimes obtained by the bird standing with the body
immersed to waylay the passing shoals ; but if Gould is correct
in adding frogs, newts, and aquatic insects to the diet, these must
be procured very differently. The nest, generally situated over
water, is a flat or concave fabric of sticks, lined as a rule with
leaves, moss, or roots, and often used for several years in succession.
High trees or bushes are indifferently chosen, and colonies are
usually, but not invariably, formed, several pairs being accustomed
to breed in proximity on the branches. The two to five eggs are
greenish-blue with chalky incrustation, like those of Cormorants,
though smaller and more delicate. The note is short and hoarse.
Both sexes are said to incubate, and to regurgitate food for the
young.2 Jerdon says that the scapulars of the Indian Darter were
royal badges among the Khasias. It is tamed by boatmen in Bengal.

Fam. IV. Fregatidae. — Fregata aquila, the Frigate- or Man-of-
War-Bird, the latter of which names is sometimes transferred to the
Albatroses and smaller Skuas, is met with throughout the tropical
regions, breeds in Laysan and has strayed to Nova Scotia. It is
blackish -brown with green and purple reflexions ; the bill is bluish,
the feet are black, the orbits, lores, and pouch — inflated in flight —
scarlet. The female is browner above and white below, with pinkish
feet and no perceptible pouch; while the young resemble her, but shew
some white on the head and neck. F. minor, found from Madagascar
to Papuasia and North Australia, but seldom beyond these limits, is
smaller, with less purple gloss and a white mark on each flank.

These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs, and are
pre-eminently oceanic, seldom coming to land except near the
breeding quarters, where they roost on the trees ; the normal flight

1 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1882, p. 210.

" These birds eject the lining of the gizzard in a most curious manner ; cf. A. D.
Bartlett, P.Z.S. 1881, pp. 247, 248.

VOL. IX G

82 CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

is extremely rapid, graceful, and long-sustained, with sudden devia-
tions from the course, but they often soar until they appear mere
specks in the sky, descending thence with great abruptness. At
times they float aloft with little apparent movement of the wide-
spread wings, alternately opening and shutting the forked tail and
inclining the head from side to side, while in hurricanes they fly
low before the gale. At rare intervals they are found sitting
asleep upon the shore. Flocks frequently pursue the surface-
swimming fish, constituting their main aliment, which are seized

FIG. 24. — Frigate Bird. Fregata aquila. x J.

almost without ruffling the water ; squids, small crabs, flying fish,
and young turtles being also eaten. To see a Frigate-bird plunge,
however, is no uncommon occurrence, and the habit of forcing
Terns, Boobies, and the like to disgorge their prey, which is
caught before it reaches the waves, must not be forgotten.1 If
secured in an awkward position the captures are tossed up in
the air, caught again and swallowed. The note, a harsh croak
or cackle, is seldom heard. The nest of small sticks, which the
birds tear off upon the wing, is generally in trees or bushes,
though occasionally on the ground or on a bare rock ; it is often
1 H. 0. Forbes, Naturalist's Wanderings, London, 1885, p. 32.

iv PELECANIDAE 83

very slight, arid almost invariably contains one egg, resembling
that of the Cormorant. The young are fed by regurgitation, and
both sexes are said to incubate, sitting very closely, and merely
snapping at an intruder. The feathers are used for head-dresses
in the Pacific Islands.

Fam. V. Pelecanidae. — Pelecanus onocrotalus, the Pelican, of
South-East Europe, North-East and South-West Africa, reported
also from France, Germany, and Denmark, is white with a rosy
or salmon tinge, the primaries being black, and the moderate
occipital crest and stiff elongated feathers of the lower fore-neck
washed with yellow. The lores and orbits are naked, while an
enormous dilatable semi-transparent pouch fills the space between
the branches of the lower jaw. According to Mr. Dresser,1 these
parts and a fleshy knob appearing on the forehead in spring are
yellow, the bill is bluish -grey with pink sides marked with red,
and the feet are also pink. These colours, however, may vary
with the season. In this species, and to a certain extent in
P. erytlirorhynclius, the feathering on the forehead ends in a point,
but elsewhere is more or less concave anteriorly. Closely allied
forms of doubtful validity are P. minor, with a somewhat similar
range, P. sharpii of West Africa, and P. mitratus of South Africa.
P. crispus, occupying a slightly more eastern area than P. onocro-
talus, is distinguished from it by the curled filamentous plumes
which overhang the sides of the head, the lack of rosy tints, and
the flesh-coloured orbits. P. erytlirorhynclius of temperate North
America, found in winter down to Guatemala, resembles the last-
named, but has a still more pendent nuptial crest, and in the
breeding season develops a curious triangular horny excrescence on
the middle of the culmen, shed about May. The chest and wing-
coverts shew a little yellow, the bill and naked parts are reddish,
the feet orange-red, while the lower jaw is densely feathered.
P. rufescens of the Ethiopian Eegion, apparently identical with
P. philippensis of South Asia, is white, with black primaries, and
a grey shade on the secondaries, tail, crested head, or even lower
surface; the back is rose-coloured; the stiff feathers on the fore-neck,
the bill and pouch, are yellowish, with vertical red lines on the
latter. The remainder of the bare skin is flesh-coloured, and the
feet are pink. P.fuscus of the warmer coasts of North America, the
range of which south of Panama is uncertain, and depends upon the

1 Birds of Europe, vi. 1879, pp. 193, 194.

84

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

validity of P. molinae of Peru and Chili, has a white or occasionally
yellowish head, silvery-grey upper parts with dusky streaks, and
browner under parts. The crested nape is chestnut, varying to
blackish ; the bill and loral region are grey or bluish, the dark-
tipped maxilla being spotted with red ; the pouch is red, or dusky,
like the feet ; the bare orbits are blue. P. conspicillatus of Australia
and Southern New Guinea is white, with black wings and tail and

FIG. 25. — Crested Pelican. Pelecanus crispus. x \.

a yellow wash on the chest ; the bill, feet, and naked parts are
yellowish-white, with a blue tinge on the two first and a similarly
coloured ring round the orbits, which are divided by a feathered
space from the lores. In this Family the sexes are alike ; the
young being usually crestless, and of a brown hue, with yellowish
or dusky pouch and occasionally white mottlings.

Pelicans inhabit not only tidal waters, but also swampy
districts and inland lakes, traversing in some cases vast distances
on migration, and being usually found in company. Though

iv PELECANIDAE 8 5

heavy, and of enormous size, they fly buoyantly and swiftly, with
the neck drawn in upon the shoulders and the feet extended
behind ; while at times they soar in spiral fashion to great
altitudes, and circle around with alternate flapping and sailing
movements. On land the gait is awkward and waddling^and
great difficulty is experienced in rising ; but some species habitu-
ally perch, and all are very proficient in the water, swimming,
diving, or plunging from great heights, according to their various
customs. The food consists almost entirely of moderate-sized
fish taken by the bird either by pouncing down sharply from
above, or, when quiescent on the surface, by immersing the head
or disappearing totally from sight with a somersault. The prey
is chiefly sought in shallows, and is retained in the pouch
until the J3irds return to land, or until it is transferred half-
macerated to the young ; occasionally the adults may be seen
gorged after feeding, sitting upon the water or basking in the
rays of the sun. The deep loud note is very seldom heard.
Pelicans usually breed in colonies in wild districts, though
occasionally near villages,1 the nest, when on the branches of
trees, being of sticks with a lining of twigs or roots, as in P.
pliilippensis ; at other times it is a rough mound of gravel
and rubbish on the ground with a slight cavity above, as is often
the case in the American species, which also lay in mere depres-
sions in the sand, the localities chosen being generally islands in
lakes or rivers ; the European forms amass a pile of reeds and
grasses among aquatic herbage in like places or swamps, while the
Australian constructs a large fabric of sticks and water-plants
in similar spots or on the summits of rocky islets. The eggs,
varying from one to five, but ordinarily two or three in number,
are white or bluish - white with a chalky incrustation, soon
becoming soiled and often stained with blood. The parents are
as a rule shy and easily scared from the nest, where the smell
from the refuse fish and excrement is in many cases intolerable.
Incubation lasts about four weeks. Bands of these birds some-
times unite to systematically beat the water for their prey, stowing
it in the distensible pouch. In India they are used — frequently
with the eyes sewn up — to decoy fish by their oily secretions,2
and in various countries they are slaughtered for the sake of
the latter. The fable of the young being fed with blood from the

1 Jerdon, Birds of India, ii. Calcutta, 1877, p. 860. - Ibid.

86 CICONIIFORMES

female's breast may have arisen from confusion of the Pelican with
the Flamingo, which ejects a blood-like liquid from its mouth.1

Of fossil Steganopodes we have Phaethon from the Pliocene of
India ; three species of Pelecanus from the same formation of the
Siwalik hills, one from the Miocene of Bavaria, one from that of
Allier in France, and one from the Queensland drifts ; while in
England that genus is recorded, on the strength of the humerus,
radius, and ulna from the Plistocene of Norfolk and from the
Isle of Ely. Sula has occurred in the Miocene of Carolina, and of
Auvergne and Bonzon in France ; the giant Pelagornis — akin to
Sula and Pelecanus, but perhaps indicating a distinct family — has
also been found in the Miocene near Bordeaux ; and Argillornis,
related to Sula, in the Lower Eocene (London Clay) of England.
From the same beds we have the remarkable Odontopteryx toliapica,
with coarsely serrated edges to the jaws ; Phalacrocorax has been
met with in the North American Pliocene, the same strata of the
Siwalik hills, the Miocene of Allier and the Oiieannais in France,
and the Pampean of Argentina, Actiornis anglicus of Lydekker
being a close ally from the Hampshire Eocene ; Plotus nanus
has been described from the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius and
from Central Madagascar, P. parvus from Queensland.

The Sub-Oijder ARDEAE contains the Families Ardeidae and
Scopidae, in which the body is often compressed, the head and
eyes are large, and the neck is long. Most members of the former
have a long, straight, sharp bill with rounded culmen and flat-
tened sides, the edges being commonly serrated and the maxilla
notched ; it may be comparatively small, as in Zebrilus, but is
usually stout, and in Cancroma is extraordinarily broad and
depressed, with prominent keel and somewhat dilatable skin
beneath, the form resembling that of an inverted boat. Balaeni-
ceps (Fig. 27) has a huge beak, which is not only flattened and
swollen, but has a ridge on the culmen terminating in a hook, the
maxilla having an undulating outline above and following the
strong upward curve of the mandible below, while its sides are
grooved. So peculiar, indeed, is this bird that it might well stand
alone in a Sub-family Balaenicipitinae, as opposed to the Ardeinae,
if not referred to the Storks, where many writers have placed it.
In Scopus the bill is acute, keeled, greatly compressed, and laterally
grooved, with a small hook at the tip. The tibia is usually bare

1 A. D. Bartlett, P.Z.S. 1869, p. 146.

IV

ARDEIDAE 8/

below, though occasionally feathered, as in Ardetta and Zebrilus ;
the metatarsus being remarkably long, except in such forms as
Nycticorax, Botaurus, and Ardetta. The latter member is covered
anteriorly with transverse or hexagonal scales, which become
smaller or reticulated behind, and show a decided tendency to
fusion in many cases. The toes are long, with a distinct web
between the middle and outer ; the claws are generally short and
curved, though elongated, slender, and nearly straight in Botaurus
and Ardetta ; that of the middle digit being toothed on the inner-
side, save in Balaeniceps. The wing is somewhat rounded, yet long,
and has eleven primaries — reduced to ten in Scopus — and from
eleven to eighteen secondaries ; the fairly even tail is short or
moderate, with from ten to twelve broad stiffish feathers, except
in Botaurus and Ardetta, where the ten rectrices are soft and
abbreviated. The tongue is usually long and pointed, but in Can-
croma, Balaeniceps, and Scopus it is very short ; the lores and orbits
are naked, save in Scopus, as is the malar region in Tigrornis and
Tigrisoma, while the last at times has the throat bare, or merely
feathered centrally. The nostrils are impervious only in Cancroma
and Balaeniceps. The nestlings are uniformly covered with sparse
hair-like down. The state of the chick is unrecorded in Balaeniceps
and Scopus. The furcula is generally V-shaped, the syrinx is
tracheo-bronchial, and an aftershaft is present, the latter and the
syringeal muscles being much reduced in Balaeniceps. Crests
and decorative plumes are common, as will be seen below.

Of especial importance are the large, thick, "powder-down
patches," or greasy yellow spaces covered with tufts of grey or black
filaments, disintegrating into bluish or whitish powder. Balae-
niceps has a big pair on the lower back, Botaurus and Ardetta an
additional couple on the breast, and the remainder of the Ardeidae
two more on the abdomen, except Cancroma which possesses still
another pair on the upper back. In Scopus they are absent. The
use is uncertain, and the occurrence quite irregular.

Fam. VI. Ardeidae. — There are few persons in Britain who are
not to some extent acquainted with the habits of the Common Heron
or Hern, for it may be seen on the coast as well as on inland waters,
and now breeds in more localities than formerly, though in smaller
numbers ; while of the remainder of the Family the Bitterns alone
differ conspicuously in their mode of life. Herons are shy,
solitary birds, frequenting lakes, fens, and rivers, where they

88 CICONIIFORMES CHAP.

may often be seen standing ankle-deep in the water, and watch-
ing with untiring patience for the prey which never seems to
satisfy their appetite. They rarely swim and walk but little.
The majority breed in large colonies ; but Bitterns (Botaurus),
Little Bitterns (Ardetta), and Green Herons (JButorides) are
notable exceptions, being, moreover, skulking and nocturnal in
habit, and agreeing in the latter respect with Mght- Herons
(Nycticorax). The mud-flats commonly found on sandy shores
•provide excellent feeding ground, and thence old and young may
be seen winging their way at considerable altitudes with leisurely
flapping flight — rarely accelerated — to roost at night on the
customary trees or rocks. Bitterns and their nearest allies are
seldom seen far from marshes, flying noiselessly with laboured
action and at a comparatively slow pace ; they are, however,
adepts at running or climbing among the water-plants, and
perch with ease ; while they often assume an upright position with
the bill vertical, and thereby closely resemble the surrounding
reeds, the deception being occasionally enhanced by the bird
turning as if on a pivot and facing the spectator constantly.1
Herons fly with the head drawn back, therein differing from the
rest of the Order, and in some cases roost or bask in the sun on
one leg ; they are usually graceful and stately, the beautiful
Egrets moving more easily on land than their kindred, and being
somewhat less wary. The voice is a harsh croak or guttural
sound, that of the Night-Heron verging upon a quack ; while the
Bitterns, besides the common cry, utter a booming or bellowing
note in the breeding season, generally heard at night or early in
the morning, the method of production of which is not at present
quite clear. Ardetta gives vent to a somewhat similar but
weaker boom or grunt, and most species are noisy at the nest,
hissing or screaming sharply. The diet consists largely of fish,
but is varied by small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,
grasshoppers and other insects, molluscs, crustaceans, and worms,
the digestion being very rapid and the birds seldom gorged. In
the shallows the majority of the family stand motionless, and
spear their prey with the beak as it passes, occasionally mauling
it before swallowing ; but some move from place to place, while
the Buff-backed Heron (Ardea lubulcus) habitually picks insects
from the backs or sides of the cattle. The nest, commonly situ-

1 Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, pp. 103, 104.

iv ARDEIDAE 89

ated on lofty trees, though frequently on low bushes, ivy-covered
cliffs, flat rocks, or reeds and herbage in swamps, is often a large
fabric of sticks without lining or with a slight bedding of grass,
leaves, and the like, but may be a mere mass of rushes and flags ;
the tree-building forms at times resorting to the ground ^and
vice versd. Bitterns generally crush down the aquatic vegetation
and add softer materials on this substructure, depositing four or
five olive-drab eggs ; Ardetta in some cases does the same, but the
eggs are bluish- or greenish-white ; whereas those of the Herons
proper are of a greenish- or whitish-blue colour of varying depth,
and exceptionally amount to six or seven. Butorides not uncom-
monly lays only two. If the first set is removed a second
is often produced after a short interval ; but the young remain
long in the nest. Incubation lasts from sixteen to thirty days.
Herons were of old protected by law, as affording an excellent
quarry for Falcons, while the flesh was highly esteemed ; when
wounded, however, they must be carefully approached, as they use
the bill with deadly effect, and aim at the captor's eye. In India
they are used as decoy-birds with the eyes sewn up.

The following will sufficiently shew the coloration ; the largest
species is Ardea goliath ; Ardetta furnishes the smallest forms.

Botaurus stellar is, the Bittern, which bred so lately as 1868
in Norfolk, and occurs throughout the warmer parts of the Palae-
arctic and the whole of the Ethiopian Eegion, is buff, with black
bars above and streaks below, black crown, nape, and stripes
down the side of the neck, and chestnut bands on the primaries. B.
lentiginosus, distinguished by the nearly uniform brown primaries,
is rarely found in Britain, but inhabits North America, probably
meeting about Nicaragua with B. pinnatus of tropical South
America, which lacks the neck-stripes ; while B. poeciloptilus of
the Australian Eegion has much of the back brown. The neck-
feathers in these birds form an elongated ruff. Ardetta minuta
of Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, and the northern
half of Africa, formerly known to have bred in England, is
greenish-black, with buff neck, wing-coverts, and under surface,
the latter slightly streaked with dusky. These streaks are more
decided in other species, which are often greyer, browner, or
more ruddy above ; A. cinnamomea of the Indian Eegion is
almost entirely rufous, while all have a slight head-tuft. A fuller
crest marks Zebrilus pumilus of northern South America, wherein

90 CICONIIFORMES CHAP.

the upper parts are black with fulvous undulations, and the lower
parts correspondingly mottled. The "Tiger-Bitterns " (Tigrisoma)
extend from Central America to North Argentina, the four or five
forms varying chiefly in the amount of naked skin on the throat.
T. Irasiliense is blackish with rusty vermiculations above, and
reddish-grey below, the head being mainly chestnut, and the tips
of the remiges and spots on the breast white. Tigrornis leucolo-
phus of West Africa has a narrow white crest, the neck-feathers
hanging loosely down, as in Tigrisoma. Zonerodius lieliosylus of
New Guinea is black above with fulvous bands, and has white
bars on the wing ; the rump and fore-neck are white with dusky
markings, the lower parts yellowish-white. The genus Butorides,
connecting the Bitterns and the Herons, exhibits somewhat
elongated plumes on the crown, fore-neck, and scapular region.
These small birds, variegated with glossy green, black, grey, and
chestnut, and often streaked with white, occur chiefly in the
Neotropical and Australian Regions, though B. mrescens at least
inhabits North America and B. atricapilla the Ethiopian countries.
Nycticorax (Night-Heron) is an almost cosmopolitan genus,
remarkable for the long linear blackish or white occipital feathers,
from two to ten in number, apparently lost for a time after breed-
ing. In our occasional visitor, N. griseus, of the Palaearctic,
Indian, and Ethiopian Eegions, and the barely separable N. naevius
of America, the colour is greenish-black, with grey neck, rump,
wings, and tail, white cheeks and lower parts. N. leuconotus of
the Ethiopian Eegion has the neck rufous, the back white, and
the under surface spotted with dusky ; N. (Pilerodius) pileatus of
tropical South America is white with black crown ; N. (Nyctero-
dius) molaceus of the same districts, which extends to the
United States, is plumbeous, with yellowish-white crown and
black stripes above, the scapulars being somewhat decomposed ;
N. pauper, confined to the Galapagos, is very similar ; N. (Syrigma)
sibilatrix of South Brazil, Chili, and Argentina, is grey, with
blackish head and remiges, rufous markings on the face and wing-
coverts, and yellowish -white breast; N. (Gorsachius) goisagi,
ranging from India and the Malay countries to Japan, is red-brown,
with buff and white lower parts, the whole plumage being marked
with dusky ; while N. caledonicus of the Australian Region has the
upper parts rich buff, the lower parts white, and only the head
black. Cancroma cochlearia,thQ Boat-billed Night-Heron of South

iv ARDEIDAE 9 1

America, is blue-grey with white on the forehead and neck ; the
head, crest, and flanks being black, and the belly cinnamon.
C. zeledoni of Central America differs in its reddish fore-neck.

Ardea, another world- wide genus, may be subdivided as below if
desired,1 but the supposed generic characters are hardly satisfactory.
A. (Buphus) bubulcus, the Buff-backed Heron of South Europe,
Africa, and Asia to the Caspian, is white, with buff crown and
nape, and elongated occipital, scapular, and jugular plumes of the
same colour, developed in the breeding season ; A. coromanda,
with orange head, neck, and scapulars, replacing it from the Cas-
pian eastward and reaching Japan. The former has once visited
Britain, while A. (Ardeola) rallo'ides, the Squacco Heron, has
done so frequently. This bird, which ranges from the Canaries
and Central Europe to South Africa and Persia, is warm buff,
with white wings, tail, breast, and belly, the darker back possess-
ing long hair-like plumes which cover the tail, the jugulars being
buff, and the head graced by a tuft of long white feathers, margined
with black. A. (Lepterodius) gularis of tropical Africa and Mada-
gascar, and A. asha, extending from the Persian Gulf to India,
are dusky-slate with white throat, and have moderate scapular
and pectoral plumes, with a nuptial crest. A. (Demiegretta)
sacra, ranging from Bengal to Japan, Australia, and the Pacific,
differs in having only a white streak down the throat, A. greyi
being a white phase. A. (Melanophoyx) ardesiaca of the Ethiopian
Eegion is almost entirely slaty-black, with elongated occipital,
dorsal, and jugular feathers ; A. (Notoplioyx) picata of Australia,
New Guinea, and the Moluccas, is bluer, and nearly white below ;
while A. paciftca of that country is greener, with white head and
rufescent dorsal plumes. A. (Dichromanassa) rufa of the warmer
parts of North America is plumbeous, with reddish head and
neck, its white phase being denominated A. pealii ; here nearly
all the head- and neck-feathers are elongated, and the filamentous
scapulars extend beyond the tail. A. (Hydranassa) tricolor,
found from the Southern United States to Brazil, is grey-
blue, purple, rufous, and white, with shorter seasonal plumes
than the preceding ; A. (Florida) caerulea, with a slightly more
northern range, is slaty -blue, with maroon head and neck, a
variable amount of white when immature, and extremely long
scapulars ; while A. (Agamia) agami of central and northern

1 Of. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvii. 1898-9, pp. 56-59.

92

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

South America is metallic green, with rufous and white throat,
rufous belly, black cheeks and nape ; the very long occipital and
dorsal plumes being grey, as is the fore-neck, and the recurved

feathers of the sides
of the neck reddish.
A. (Garzetta) garzetta,
the "Little Egret,"
which has strayed to
Britain, and extends
from South Europe to
the whole of Africa,
India, and Japan, is
entirely white, with
long filamentous
scapular and moderate
jugular plumes and
two lengthened crest-
feathers, all of which
are said to be tem-
porarily lost after
breeding. A. nigripes,
ranging from Java to
Australia, is barely
distinguishable, but
the American repre-
sentative, A. candi-
dissima, has a large
occipital tuft. A.
(Herodias) alba, the
"Great White Heron,"
another of our rare
visitors, extends from the middle of Europe to most of Africa,
Central Asia, and the Burmese countries, beyond which a doubt-
fully distinct species, with yellower bill, reaches Australia and New
Zealand ; the American A. egretta, however, differs in its black
legs. The breeding adult is white, with very long decomposed
scapular and lengthened jugular plumes, but no crest. The most
typical forms of Ardea are large slaty-coloured birds, varied by
black, rufous, and white, the head being commonly darker and
the lower parts striped ; while two slender occipital plumes are,

FIG. 26. — Common Heron. Ardea cinerea.

ARDEIDAE

93

in most cases, developed in the nuptial period, and the scapular
and jugular feathers are elongated, though not decomposed. The
Common Heron (A. cinerea\ ranging through Europe, Africa, and
Asia, to Japan and Australia, needs no description, but the Purple
Heron, A. (Phoyx) purpurea, though it often occurs in Britain^ is
less well known. It is grey, with black crown and black stripes
down the sides of the buff neck, chestnut scapulars, rufous, grey,
and black jugular plumes, and maroon breast ; the range being from
Central and Southern Europe to South Africa, China, and the
Philippines. A. herodias of North America meets in northern
South America the white-necked A. cocoi, both species resembling
A. cinerea, but the
former having rufous
thighs and edge of the
wing. The white A.
Occident cdis, of Florida
and Cuba,1 was for-
merly thought to be
an instance of dichro-
matism. The African
A. goliath has the
head and neck rufous
and the under surface
chiefly maroon.

The sexes are
usually alike ; but the
female has ordinarily
shorter plumes, and
may be duller, as may
the young, though
the stages of plumage
are not yet com-
pletely worked Out. piQ> 27.— Whale-liead or Shoe-bill. Balaeniceps rex. x T\.
White or rufous mark-
ings are often noticeable, especially in immature specimens of
Ardea; there is little red about the head in those of Dichromanassa,
though in Hydranassa the amount is greater than in the adult ;
those of Florida are generally very white ; and, conversely, white

1 Hidgway, Manual N. Amer. Birds, 1887, p. 128. A. wurdemanni of Florida
is a close ally.

94

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

species often shew grey tints in early life; while immature examples
of Nycticorax differ entirely from their parents, being brown with
white or buff spotting above, and white with dusky stripes below.

The bill, feet, naked lores, and orbits may be reddish, bluish,
green, yellow, brown, or black.

Balaeniceps rex, the Shoe -bill, of the White Nile, has a
short crest, and is brownish-grey with blackish wings, tail, and
feet, the bill being yellow with dusky mottlings. It usually
forms large flocks, and frequents bushy morasses. The flight is
Heron-like, and the birds will often settle on trees ; the young
run about with extended wings and clattering bills.1 The food
consists of fish, frogs, snakes, molluscs, and even carrion. A mere
hole in the dry soil often contains the chalky white eggs, from two
to twelve in number, but a lining of herbage is frequently added.

Fia. 28. — Hammer-head. Scopus umbretta. x $. (From Nature.}
1 Petherick, P.Z.S. 1860, pp. 195-198, and Ibis, 1859, p. 471.

iv SCOPIDAE CICONIIDAE 95

Fam. VII. Scopidae. — Scopus urtibretta, the Hammer-head, of
Madagascar and a large part of the Ethiopian Region, is purplish-
brown, with black tail-bars, wider towards the tip ; the head ex-
hibits a thick erectile crest, generally carried horizontally ; the bill
is black and the feet are brownish. It frequents wooded districts
near water, and is usually found in pairs ; not being very shy, except
when breeding, and being more active at dusk than in the day-
time. At night it roosts in trees. The neck is slightly curved in
flight, but the feet are outstretched, while the gait on the ground
is deliberate. The note is a harsh quack or weak metallic sound ;
the food consists of fish, reptiles, frogs, worms, molluscs, and insects
captured in shallow water, and while feeding the birds have a
curious habit of skipping round each other with extended wings.
The nest is an enormous structure of sticks, lined with roots, grass,
rushes, or clay, having a hole at the side, and ordinarily a flat top ;
it is placed in a tree, on a rocky ledge, or exceptionally on the
ground. Three to five white eggs form the complement. Native
imagination associates this species with witchcraft.

Besides the extinct brevipennate Nycticorax megacephalus of
Eodriguez, known to the first colonists, and the fossil Butorides
mauritianus of the Mare aux Songes, this Sub-Order furnishes Pro-
herodius oiveni from the London Clay (Lower Eocene) ; Ardea from
the Miocene of France and Germany, and the Pliocene of Oregon.

Fam. VIII. Ciconiidae. — Of the Sub-Order CICONIAE, the first
Family is that of the Storks, which have long necks and also long
stout beaks, usually straight and fairly cylindrical, but occasionally
compressed, as in Leptoptilus, upturned towards the tip, as in Myc-
teria, or decurved, as in Tantalus ; in Anastomus there is a wide gap
between the grooved mandibles, the edges of the maxilla possessing
fine horny lamellae. Very remarkable, moreover, are the unprotected
pervious nostrils, which are mere perforations in the bony sheath.
The tibia is partly bare, while the elongated metatarsus is covered
with hexagonal scales, becoming more reticulated behind in Leptop-
tilus and Mycteria ; the partially webbed front toes and flattened
claws are in most cases very short — though lengthened and more
slender in Tantalus — and rest upon horny pads,1 the hallux being
slightly elevated. The wings are ample and fairly long, with eleven
stout primaries in Ciconia and twelve elsewhere, and from fourteen
to twenty-five secondaries, the inner of which are often greatly
1 Ridgway, Bull. V. S. Gcol. Suno. iv. Art. ix. 1878, pp. 249-251.

g6 CICONIIFORMES CHAP.

developed. The short tail is normally even or slightly rounded, with
twelve broad feathers, but in Dissura it is deeply forked l and rigid,
while the unusually stiff coverts extending from beneath are easily
mistaken for rectrices. In Leptoptilus these elongated coverts are
soft, and are the genuine "Marabou feathers." The furcula is
U-shaped, the tongue rudimentary, the aftershaft present or absent,
and there are no powder-down patches; the trachea in the male of
Tantalus ibis has several intrathoracic convolutions,2 while there is
an entire want of syringeal muscles. The adults and young possess
uniform down, that of the nestlings being greyish or whitish.

Storks, though easily tamed, are naturally shy, solitary birds,
which frequent wooded or open country on plains or hills, usually
near inland waters, creeks, or salt-water lagoons ; the White Stork
and the Adjutant are, however, instances of somewhat different
habits, the former showing a predilection for homesteads, and the
latter being protected as a scavenger in some parts of India ;
while Ciconia abdimii is considered a " bird of blessing " by the
natives of Africa. Flocks are occasionally seen. The flight is
graceful and noiseless, but powerful and rapid, the neck and legs
being carried in line with the body, and immense heights being
often attained by soaring and circling movements. No difficulty
is experienced in walking, and many species stalk solemnly about
in pursuit of prey, whether in water or on dry land ; not un-
commonly they rest with the whole metatarsus upon the ground,
or stand on one foot with the bill touching the breast. They
are ordinarily quiescent during the heat of the day, and at night
frequently roost in trees. Mycteria senegalensis and M. indica are
said to dance around their mates, the former skipping and bowing,
and the latter fluttering its extended wings, which touch those of
its partner, while advancing the head and making a clatter with the
bill.3 Generally speaking, this is the only noise Storks produce,
owing to the want of voice-muscles ; but Adjutants are said to utter
a loud grunting croak or bellow, and the young of Ciconia nigra
to give vent to a guttural cry. The food consists of fish, reptiles,
amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs, grasshoppers, and beetles, with
small mammals, or even eggs and young of birds ; but Leptoptilus
is nearly omnivorous and enjoys carrion, including human carcases,

1 Ridgway, Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. iv. Art. ix. 1878, pp. 249-251.

2 Garrod, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 297.

3 Layard, ed. Sharpe, Birds of South Africa, 1875-84, p. 732, and Hume, ed.
Gates, Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, iii. 1890, p. 266.

CICONIIDAE 97

Dissura maguari having like habits. Anastomus is called the
" Shell-Ibis " from its cleverness in extracting Unio and other
molluscs from their shells, and Mycteria thrusts its bill into the
ground in search of grubs. The nests are frequently in tall trees,
but may be on ledges or in cavities of cliffs, or on flat tops of re
hills ; the shallow fabric, often of enormous size, being composed of
sticks with or without a lining of grass, leaves, moss, rushes, feathers,
down, or, exceptionally, clay. Colonies are in most cases formed,
but White Storks occupy separate sites on houses, farms, towers,
or even cart-wheels purposely erected, and Black Storks breed apart
in woods and precipitous gorges. On the other hand, more than
thirty nests of Anastomus have been observed in one tree. The
eggs, numbering from three to six, are white and chalky, and are
stained easily. Incubation lasts nearly four weeks. The adult in-
serts its bill into that of the helpless nestling to feed it, while the
male attends constantly upon his sitting mate ; we may, however,
safely disregard the more fabulous instances of affection recorded.

" Wood-Ibises " are similar in habits, but they are more grega-
rious ; and build smaller nests of twigs lined with moss, laying
as many as eight white eggs, rarely streaked with pale brown.

Tantalus loculator, the " Wood-Ibis " of the warmer parts of
America, is white, with metallic greenish -black remiges and
rectrices, the bare head and upper neck being covered with dusky
corrugated skin, and the crown with a smooth plate. The beak
and feet are lead-coloured, the under wing-coverts pinkish. T.
(Pseudotantalus) ibis of the Ethiopian Region has only the front of
the head naked, but is rosy towards the upper and under wing-
coverts, the smooth face and feet being red and the bill yellow. T.
leucocephalus of the Indian and Indo-Chinese countries differs in its
yellow face, while the Indo-Malay T. cinereus has it red and black.

Anastomus oscitans, the " Open-bill," another Indian and Indo-
Chinese species, is white, with black scapulars, remiges, and rec-
trices, yellow bill and feet ; the Ethiopian A. lamelligerus is metallic
black varied by a little rufous, the shafts of the feathers of the
fore-neck and lower parts in adults expanding into flat shining,
horn-like plates at the tip. Leptoptilus dubius, the " Adjutant "
of the Indian Eegion, is greenish-black above and white below,
the fleshy-red head and neck being naked with a few hairs, and
a white ruff surmounting the shoulders, while a huge ruddy pouch,
communicating with the nasal cavity, hangs below the throat. The

VOL. IX H

98

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

bill is greenish and the feet greyish, the former being yellowish
and the latter black in the two following species. The Ethiopian
L. crumenifer has the bare portions spotted with black ; L. javanicus
of Manchuria and the Indian Eegion has some white on the wing-
coverts, yellow naked parts with a horny greenish crown, a line of
hair on the nape, and a tuft on the fore-neck.

Mycteria americana, the " Jabiru," ranging from Texas to
Argentina, is white, with black head, neck, bill, and feet ; the

FIG. 29.— White Stork. Ciconia alba, x TV

naked head having a hairy patch on the occiput, and the bare
neck a red distensible basal band. The Australian and Papuan
M. (XenorhyTichus) australis is black with purple and green gloss,
except the back and lower surface, which are white ; the head and
neck are feathered, the bill is black, the feet are red. The Indian
M. indica is barely separable. M. (Epliippiorhynclius) senegalensis,
the Ethiopian " Saddle-billed Stork," differs in having a triangular
frontal shield of yellow skin, a naked crimson pectoral spot, a
crimson bill with black median band, and black metatarsi with
reddish joints. Dissura episcopus of the Indian and Ethiopian

IBIDIDAE 99

Kegions is metallic black with white abdomen and under tail-
coverts, downy white head and neck with black crown, reddish
bill and feet. D. maguari of South America has the head and
neck feathered, naked red lores and sides of the throat, white
plumage with black wings and tail, yellowish bill and red feet.^

Ciconia (Abdimia) dbdimii of the Ethiopian Eegion is
bronzy-black with white lower surface ; the chin, membranous
forehead, and tip of the bill being orange -red, the remainder
of the bill greenish and the bare cheeks bluish. C. nigra, the
Black Stork of British lists, is iridescent black, with white breast
and belly, red bill, feet, and orbits ; C. alba, the White Stork, a
much more common visitor here, is white with black wings and
orbits, red bill and feet. The former — reckoning for the irregular
distribution characteristic of the Family — may be said to inhabit
Europe, Palaearctic Asia, and North Africa, wintering southward
to India and Cape Colony ; the latter is more abundant within a
like area, and is represented in East Siberia, China, and Japan
by C. boyciana with black bill and red orbits.

The sexes in this group are similar ; but when immature the
whiter species are often more dusky, and the blacker species brown-
ish, while the bill and legs may then be greenish instead of red, as
in C. nigra, or the head and neck more feathered, as in Tantalus.

The Fossils referred to this Family are Propelargus of the
Upper Eocene of France, Pelargodes, Tantalus, and possibly
Leptoptilus of its Miocene ; Amphipelargus of the Pliocene of
Samos ; Palaeociconia of the Plistocene of Brazil ; Palaeopelargus
and Xenorliynclius of that of Queensland.

Fam. IX. The Ibididae, connected with the Storks through
Tantalus, may be divided into the Sub-families (1) Ibidina'e or
Ibises, and (2) Plataleinae or Spoonbills. In the former the long
bill is weak, nearly cylindrical, and strongly curved ; in the latter
flattened, narrowed in the middle, and dilated into a terminal
" spoon," which finally turns downwards. The nasal grooves are
remarkably elongated, the skull is somewhat square in Thaumatibis
and Graptocepkalus. The tibia is partly bare, the metatarsus of
medium length and often stout, with transverse or hexagonal scales
becoming almost reticulated behind, or even in front in HagedasMa
and Carphibis ; the toes are generally long, with short anterior webs
and variable claws, that of the third digit being sometimes serrated.
The moderate wings have eleven primaries and from fourteen to

100 CICONIIFORMES GHAP.

nineteen secondaries; the tail of twelve rectrices is usually short and
even, or slightly rounded, but may be long, as in Gomatibis, Geron-
ticus, Cercibis, and Theristicus; in the last two of which it is cuneate.
The f urcula is U - shaped, the tongue rudimentary, the nostrils are
pervious, an aftershaft is present, but there are no powder-down
patches or syringeal muscles. Platalea leucorodia has the trachea
convoluted like a figure of 8 in old birds. Adults and nestlings
are uniformly downy, the latter varying from black with a white
band over the crown in Plegadis to white in Platalea.

Sub-fam. 1. Ibidinae. — Ibises are shy birds, which inhabit
not only marshy spots and wooded country, but also the driest of
plains and rocky gorges, being found both in pairs and in flocks.
The flight is tolerably high and rapid, with extended neck and legs,
most species habitually sailing or circling aloft, though Plegadis
rises with a whirr and skims along at no great elevation. On the
ground the gait is graceful, and swimming is certainly practised
at times, nor are perching or roosting on trees or reeds uncommon
habits. The usual note is loud and harsh, Ibis melanocepkala
being said to have a booming call 1 and Inocotis a melancholy
scream 2 ; the food consists' chiefly of aquatic insects, molluscs,
crustaceans, and worms ; but small fish, lizards, newts, frogs, grass-
hoppers, and beetles form part of the diet ; Geronticus, which does
not despise carrion, acts as a scavenger. Most Ibises wade in
pursuit of prey, whether in fresh or salt water, moving the bill to
and fro, and probing the subjacent mud. Some species breed apart,
others in colonies; the nest being placed on trees or low bushes,
and more rarely among reeds, or, as in Geronticus and Comatibis,
in holes in cliffs or on ledges. The structure is not remarkably
large, and is composed of sticks or stems of plants, with or with-
out a lining of herbage, straw, or roots ; the eggs, from two to four
in number, being deep green-blue in Plegadis, pale blue in Grapto-
cephalus, similar or darker in Inocotis, olive-green in Hagedashia,
and greenish-white in Ibis and Eudocimus, or even brownish in the
last-named. In all except the first two there are generally reddish
or brownish markings. Incubation lasts about three weeks.

Eudocimus ruber and E. albus, the Scarlet and White Ibises of
tropical America, are respectively coloured as the names import, the
tips of the longer primaries and of the bill being black, while the

1 Hume, ed. Gates, Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, iii. 1890, p. 227.
2 Jerdon, Birds of India, ii. Calcutta, 1877, p. 770.

iv IBIDIDAE 10 1

bare front of the head and throat, the remainder of the bill and
the feet are red. The former, of more eastern range, strays to the
southern United States, the latter occurring farther north, and
breeding in Florida. Lampribis olivacea of West Africa is coppery
olive-green, with buff centres to the feathers of the loose occipital
crest and under parts, the wings being more metallic, arid the
naked forehead and loral region black. The bill and feet are red.
Plegadis falcinellus, the Glossy Ibis, which occasionally visits
Britain, is found irregularly in Northern Europe and commonly in
the south, extending through most of Asia and North Africa, and
migrating as far as Australia and Natal. It also occurs in the
South-Eastern United States and the West Indies. The head,
neck, mantle, and lower surface are chestnut, the remaining parts
purplish-green and bronzy, with bare greenish lores and blackish
bill and feet ; P. guarauna, which represents the genus from the
Western and Southern United States and the Hawaiian Islands to
Patagonia, having red lores, white feathers round the beak, and at
times red bill and feet. P. ridgwayi of Peru and Chili is purplish-
black below, with reddish-grey bill and black feet. Certibis oxycerca,
found from Colombia to Upper Amazonia, is dark olive-green with
a little purple and blue gloss, the naked face and throat being
pinkish and the bill and feet yellowish. The crest is slight, while
a line of feathers ascends the throat. Lopliotibis cristata, confined
to Madagascar, is reddish-chestnut, with white wings, blue-green
tail, and an enormous crest combining all three colours ; the bill
is greenish, the feet and the bare orbital region are red. Phimosus
infuscatus, ranging from Colombia to Argentina, is bronzy-green
with purple reflexions, the feet, bill, and face being pink, with
papillae on the forehead and cheeks. The slightly crested Harpi-
prion cayennensis, occurring from Panama to South Brazil, is
similarly coloured, but has greenish-grey bill, feet, and naked skin
on the lores, chin, and sides of the throat. Molyldophanes
caerulescens of Brazil and Argentina is greyish-green with dark
bluish reiniges, grey-brown crown, nuchal crest and lower parts,
white frontal band, naked black chin and warty lores, black bill
and yellow feet. Theristicus caudatus of Guiana is greenish-
brown, with orange-buff head and neck, blackish under parts, and
partially white wing-coverts ; the papillose lores, upper throat, and
orbits being naked and black, and a whitish tuft adorning the
chin. The bill is black with greenish tip, and the feet are red.

102 CICONIIFORMES

T. melanopis, differing in its rufous breast, inhabits America
from Peru and Brazil southwards ; T. branickii being probably
identical. Bostrychia carunculata of North-East Africa is greenish-
brown with metallic reflexions and white on the wing-coverts,
the crested head and under surface having whitish margins to the
feathers, and the bill, feet, and a long thin gular caruncle being red.
Hagedashia liagedasli, of the Ethiopian Region generally, is some-
what similar but brighter, with no white on the wing and no
crest or wattle ; the dusky lores are bare and warty, the bill is
black with crimson base to the culmen, and the feet are chiefly
red. Geronticus calvus of South Africa, except for its shorter
crest and greenish-white fore-neck, is not unlike Comatibis comata
of Northern Africa, Arabia, and the Euphrates, which is metallic
greenish-black with a large bronzy-red patch on each wing, a fine
nuchal tuft of narrow feathers, red bill, feet, and bare skin of the
head and throat. There is some question here as to the colour of
the naked spaces. Nipponia nippon, of East Siberia, Corea, Japan,
China, and Formosa, is white with pinkish remiges and rectrices ;
a long pendent crest graces the nape, the bare face is vermilion,
the bill black with red tip, while the feet are lighter red.
Graptocepludus davisoni of the Burmese Countries and Cochin
China and Inocotis papillosus of India are both dusky brown,
with bluish-black wings and tail, a white patch on the wing-
coverts, greyish bill, and red feet ; but whereas in the former the
black naked head is separated by a bare bluish-white collar from
the neck, in the latter the hinder crown is dotted with red
papillae. Carphibis spinicollis of Australia is black with purple
and coppery sheen, the sides of the downy neck, the tail, and the
abdomen being white, and the feathers of the chest, which are
converted into stiff straw-like processes, yellowish. The naked
head and throat are black, the bill is black with brown bars at
the base, the tibiae are crimson, and the metatarsi dusky. The
huge T/iaumatibis gigantea of Cochin China is blackish-brown
glossed with green, and shows much grey on the wing ; the
scapulars are decomposed and the head and upper neck bare ; the
nape is crossed by black bars, and the bill and feet are dull red.
Ibis aethiopica, the Sacred Ibis of the ancient Egyptians, of
which mummies are so often found in the temples, represented to
that people the moon-god Thoth, and is now the Abou-Hannes or
" Father John " of Abyssinia. It inhabits the Ethiopian Region,

IV IBIDIDAE IO3

being most plentiful on the Upper Nile, though wandering to
the Persian Gulf, Egypt, and Algeria. The bare head and neck,
the bill, feet, and tips of the primaries are black ; the decom-
posed inner secondaries and scapulars, which in summer curve
gracefully over the hinder parts, are iridescent black, the re-
mainder of the plumage is white. L bernieri of Madagascar,
and probably Aldabra Island, has white primaries, as has /. mela-
nocephala, ranging from India and Java to Japan. The latter,
moreover, develops in the breeding season a ruff of long plumes
on the fore-neck, similar to that of /. molucca of Australia,
Papuasia, and Ceram, which is distinguished by ten pink bars
crossing the occiput and nape, and pink spots on the crown.

The sexes are similar, but young Ibises are comparatively dull,
and have feathered heads and necks, while crests and ornamental
plumes are generally absent. In immature examples of Ibis and
elsewhere the head and neck are black and white, in Nipponia
the plumage is apparently grey, in Eudocimus chiefly brown.

Sub-fam. 2. Plataleinae. — Spoonbills are shy gregarious birds,
frequenting creeks of the sea or marshes, where they may be seen
wading ankle-deep in water, hunting for the fish, frogs, crus-
taceans, molluscs, beetles, and insect-larvae on which they live, or
searching the ground in drier spots. They walk sedately, and fly
with easy flapping action and outstretched head and legs, now and
then rising spirally to float aloft; while swimming, perching, or
standing on one leg are ordinary habits. In feeding, the beak is
moved from side to side in semicircular fashion, the body acting
in unison. There are no true vocal muscles, the voice being a
harsh quack or deep Heron-like note ; but a clattering of the bill
is heard at times, less noisy than in Storks. The nest, when in
reed-beds, is a mass of twigs, flags, and the like, placed on the
ground or on low bushes ; but it is commonly a large platform of
sticks in a tree, the three to five roughish eggs being dull white
with red-brown spotting. Colonies are nearly always formed.

Platalea leucorodia, the Spoonbill, which once bred regularly
in England, ranges over Central and Southern Europe and
Northern Africa, to Central Asia, Ceylon, and China ; P. regia in-
habits Australia, and probably Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, and
New G-uinea, straying also to New Zealand ; P. minor occurs
in China, Corea, Japan, and Formosa ; P. alia in the Ethiopian
Eegion with Madagascar. The plumage is white, with bare lores,

104

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

orbits, and throat, and a fine nuchal crest in the breeding season,
the fore-neck being tinged with buff, except in the last-named.
P. leucorodia has yellow naked areas, black feet and bill, with
yellow bars and tip to the latter ; P. minor differs in having the

FIG. 30.— Spoonbill. Platalea leucorodia. x £.

neck-feathers produced to a point on the black throat ; P. regia
has the above parts, except a portion of the orbits, black, and P.
alba all of them red. The maxilla is transversely corrugated,
at least in summer.1 Platibis flavipes of Australia is white, with
no crest, but with black outer webs to the decomposed inner
1 For this genus see Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1889, pp. 32-58.

iv PHOENICOPTERIDAE PALAELODIDAE 1 05

secondaries, and elongated straw-yellow plumes on the fore-neck
in the nuptial period ; the naked forehead, ocular region, throat,
bill, and feet being yellow ; while a black line separates the gorge
from the feathered parts in the adult. Ajaja rosea of tropical
America, which reaches the South-East United States, is
pink, with white neck, back, and breast, pinkish-buff tail, and
carmine wing- and tail-coverts ; the bare head is yellowish-green,
the orbits and throat are orange, the bill is greenish-blue with
grey and black base, the feet are crimson, while a curly pink tuft
is developed on the fore-neck in the breeding season.

The female Spoonbill is like the male. The young seem to be
duller, with no crest or ornamental plumes ; in some cases the prim-
aries are tipped with black, in Ajaja the head is entirely feathered.

Of fossil forms, Ibidopsis occurs in the Upper Eocene of England,
Ibis and Ibidopodia, the latter of which connects the Ibises with
the Storks, in the Miocene of France, Ibis also in that of Bavaria,
Protibis in that of Patagonia, Platalea in the Queensland drifts.

Fams. X.-XI. The Sub-Order PHOENICOPTERI, including the
Phoenicopteridae or Flamingos and the extinct Palaelodidae,
stands midway between the Storks and the Geese, having been on
that account termed AMPHIMORPHAE by Huxley, a term equivalent to
the ODONTOGLOSSAE of Nitzsch. The extraordinary Flamingos have
very long slender necks and unwieldy-looking bills, high at the base
and abruptly bent down in the middle, the maxilla being readily
movable and in some cases smaller than the nearly immovable
grooved mandible — a condition of affairs seldom found elsewhere,
and correlated with the peculiar method of feeding. As in the
Anseres, the beak — which is short and straight in the young
— is covered with a soft membrane, and ends in a black nail-like
process rich in nerves, the margins being furnished in the adult
with horny lamellae. The legs are unusually long, with nearly
bare tibiae and laterally compressed metatarsi, covered with
broad scutes which become smaller posteriorly ; the hallux is
absent or somewhat elevated and reduced, while the short anterior
toes are fully webbed and have flat stunted claws. The wing is
fairly long, with twelve primaries and about twenty-two second-
aries ; the tail is even, with fourteen small weak rectrices. The
furcula is U-shaped, the nostrils are pervious, the tongue is thick,
an aftershaft is present, and the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial.

Phoenicopterus ruber, ranging from Florida to Para and the Gala-

io6

CICONIIFORMES

CHAP.

pagos, is light vermilion with brighter wing-coverts, the yellowish
bill having a black tip and the feet being red ; the other forms are
rosy-white with the coverts scarlet, while all have black remiges :
the naked orbits and lores vary from rose-coloured to yellow, P.

FIG. 31. — Flamingo. Phoeni

minor, P. andinus, and P. jamesi having feathered chins. P. roseus,
recorded thrice from Britain and several times from North Germany,
while extending from Central Europe, the Canaries, and Cape Verds
to the whole of Africa, Lake Baikal, India, and Ceylon, has red
feet and a pink bill with black tip ; P. chilensis, of America south

iv PHOENICOPTERIDAE IO?

of Central Peru, Uruguay, and perhaps Brazil, has green-grey
metatarsi with red joints, the black on the bill reaching above the
bend ; P. (Phoeniconaias) minor, of the Ethiopian Eegion, Mada-
gascar, and North- West India, is very like P. roseus. P. (Phoeni-
coparrus) andinus, of the Andes of Bolivia, Chili, and Argentina —
the largest species of the Family — and P. jamesi, of South Peru
and Chili, lack the hallux, and have the base of the bill yellow
and the middle red, with yellow and red feet respectively.

The young are chiefly greyish- or buffish- white, with brown
or black markings, rarely seen beneath, and duller naked parts ;
the adults are uniformly downy, the nestlings white and woolly.

Flamingos are shy birds, sometimes found singly, but usually
in immense flocks, which fly gracefully in V-shaped formations
with alternate flapping and gliding motion, or circle around with
outstretched neck and legs after rising with some difficulty.
They spend their time chiefly in wading, the gait being slow and
stiff; yet they can swim on occasion, and give evidence of their
Anserine affinity by loud harsh cries, much resembling the
" gaggling " of Geese, and by their helpless state in late summer,
due to the loss of the flight-feathers. Very curious is their
method of feeding, the head being completely inverted and directed
backwards, as they tramp about in the shallows and seek for the
aquatic herbage, frogs, crustaceans, molluscs, and so forth, which
constitute their food, the lamellae of the bill acting as a sifting
apparatus. The breeding colonies are situated on some lake, salt
lagoon, or " marisma " of little depth, with bare shores, the conical
or cylindrical mud nests being slightly hollowed at the top and
varying in height from two to fifteen inches according to the
amount of water. Several hundred individuals commonly breed
together, though they not infrequently change their quarters
annually ; they are said to fashion the nest with their feet, and lay
one or two eggs with bluish shell and chalky incrustation, incuba-
tion lasting four weeks or more. Mr. Abel Chapman,1 Sir Henry
Blake,2 and Mr. Maynard 3 have shewn that the bird sits with her
legs doubled under her, and her head directed forwards, though
reliable persons have asserted that the feet hung down, and
Dampier (prior to 1683) alleged that the parent stood erect and
covered the structure with her rump. Eggs are often dropped

1 Ibis, 1884, pp. 88, 89. 2 Nineteenth Cent. xxii. 1887, pp. 886-890.

3 Naturalist in Florida, 1884, No. 1.

108 ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

promiscuously by the hen. The young run from the shell, and
even when fully grown can be driven in flocks by intending captors.
Of extinct forms the allied Agnopterus occurs in the Upper
Eocene of France and possibly of England ; Helornis, with some-
what shorter bones, in the Lower Miocene of France and the transi-
tion beds of the two formations, as well as the Middle Miocene of
Germany ; and several species of Phoenicopterus, in the French
Lower Miocene, the Pliocene of Oregon, and the Mare aux Songes
in Mauritius. Lastly, there are five species of Palaelodus, con-
stituting the family Palaelodidae,1 in which the bill was probably
straight, and the tibia and metatarsus were much shorter than in
Phoenicopterus, but the toes longer. They are found in lacustrine
deposits of the French Lower Miocene and the German Middle
Miocene, while remains resembling them, to which the name Scani-
ornis has been given, are met with in the Chalk of South Sweden.2

Order VI. ANSERIFORMES.

The Order Anseriformes consists of the Sub-Orders PALAMEDEAE
and ANSERES, each containing a single Family, Palamedeidae and
Anatidae respectively. Lying between • the Ciconiiformes and
the Falconiform.es, the connexion of this group with the former
is much the most easily recognised, as it shows decided affinities
to the PHOENICOPTERI, while between the ANSERES and the Birds
of Prey there occurs one of those gaps common to every linear
system of classification. All the members agree in having the
furcula U-shaped and the nostrils pervious. The large spiral
penis is unique among the Carinatae, though comparable with
that of the Eatitae. The down is uniformly distributed in both
adults and nestlings, the aftershaft is rudimentary or absent, the
tongue is thick and fleshy, and has bristly sides in the Anatidae ;
while the possession of two pairs of sterno-tracheal muscles is a
marked point of distinction amongst Carinate Birds. All the
species are aquatic, and live almost entirely on vegetable matter.
The young leave the nest within a few days, or even hours.

Fam. I. Palamedeidae. — In this group the head is small and
the neck long, while the ribs have no uncinate processes, an archaic
feature only found elsewhere among Birds in Archaeopteryx. The

1 Milne-Edwards, Oiseaux Fossilcs de la France, ii. 1868, p. 58.
2 Dames, Svensk. Ak. Handl. Bihang, xvi. 1890, Part IV. No. 1, pp. 4-11.

PALAMEDEIDAE 1 09

bill is short and Fowl-like, with a blunt decurved tip, a covering of
soft skin, and more or less of a cere ; the tibiae are partly naked,
the entirely reticulated metatarsi moderately long and fairly
stout ; the toes are elongated and have strong claws, but only
rudimentary anterior webs ; the wings are ample and somewhat
rounded, with eleven primaries and about sixteen large second-
aries ; the tail has fourteen broad feathers in Palamedea and
twelve in Chauna} Very noticeable are the two sharp spurs on
the carpal portion of each wing, of which the foremost is the
biggest ; while in the even distribution of the body-plumage thi&
Family recalls the Eatitae and the Spheniscidae. The sexes are
alike ; the nestlings, where known, are clad in yellowish-brown and
grey down, the wing-spurs being developed in the earliest stages.
The following account of the habits of Chauna cristata,2 the
Chaja or Chaka, must stand for those of the Family, in default
of further details concerning the more northern forms. This
striking species is a common resident in the swamps and
brackish lagoons of Argentina, where the islands of the intricate
morasses often hold flocks of more than a hundred individuals,
the separate pairs being said to mate for life. The flight is slow,,
with powerful strokes of the wing, the birds being greatly
addicted to soaring in spiral circles until they are hardly
visible, and at times floating lazily upon the breeze. They
rise noisily from the ground with laboured action, and are occa-
sionally seen to perch in trees ; but they are by nature waders
which swim with considerable facility, and, when they do so,
their bodies shew well above the water, owing no doubt to the
same pneumaticity which causes a crackling noise to be heard
when the skin is compressed. The food consists of succulent
water-plants, seeds, clover, and so forth. The loud cry, uttered
with the head thrown back when the performer is on the ground,
may be heard at a distance of two miles, the male giving vent
to a " cha-ha " and the female replying with a " cha-ha-li."
The regular period for reproduction is the southern spring —
September and October — but it is a remarkable fact that breed-
ing takes place also in autumn and even winter ; the nest being
a massive structure of reeds and rushes slightly hollowed above,
and standing some two feet high with its foundations in water, or,

1 Gibson, Ibis, 1880, pp. 165-167 ; Hudson, Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, pp.
119-122. 2 Chauna has a dilatation near the middle of the trachea.

I 10

ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

in exceptional cases, floating. This nest is placed in some narrow
channel or near the side of a lagoon, and contains from four to
six oval bumsh-white eggs. The female rises silently when dis-
turbed, nor do the parents usually attack an intruder; but wounded
birds are dangerous to approach, and make good use of their sharp
spurs. The voice of the young is a feeble chirp ; they are often
trained, as they grow up, to act as guardians to the poultry of their
owners. The flesh is coarse and dark, with a duck-like flavour.
Palamedea cornuta, the Horned Screamer, found from Guiana,
Venezuela, and Amazonia to Ecuador and Eastern Peru, is glossy

black with an admix-

ture of
crown,
coverts,
edge ;

on

the

white
lesser wing-
arid carpal
greyish fore-

neck, white abdomen,
brownish-grey bill, and
ashy feet. The lores
are feathered, and a
long, slender, yellowish-
white horn adorns the
forehead. The female
is said to have buff
on the wing - coverts.
Chauna chavaria (der-
Mana auctt.) occurs in
Venezuela and Colom-
bia ; it is glossy slate-
black with greyer head
and occipital crest,
white cheeks and
throat, and a little
white on the wing.
The naked lores are
pink, the bill and feet apparently red. C. cristata (chavaria
auctt.) differs in being dark grey, with a black ring round the neck
and whitish-grey cheeks and throat. This is the largest form, and
is bigger than a Turkey ; it ranges from South Brazil to Argentina,
and shares with Cariama (p. 258) the name of Crested Screamer.
Farn. II. The Sub-Order ANSERES contains the single cosmo-

FIG. 32. — Chajd. Chauna cristata.

iv ANATIDAE I I I

politan Family Anatidae, with the Swans, Geese, and Ducks ;
where, in spite of many attempts at subdivision, the lines of
demarcation cannot yet be finally determined. Count Salvadori,
however, having lately propounded a carefully-elaborated arrange-
ment,1 I have adopted his Sub-families in the present volume,
viz. (1) Merginae, (2) Merganettinae, (3) Erismaturinae, (4)
Fidigulinae, (5) Anatinae, (6) Chenonettinae, (7) Anserinae, (8)
Cereopsinae, (9) Plectropterinae, (10) Anseranatinae, and (11)
Cygninae.

The skull is short and robust ; while the neck is abnormally
developed, with extra vertebrae, in the Swans, and is usually
long, though less so in the Sea-Ducks ; in the Merginae and
some Fuligulinae the customary posterior notches in the sternum
are converted into two complete fenestrae or apertures. The
bill is almost entirely covered with a soft sensitive membrane,
ending in a horny process termed the nail, the skin being warty
in Anseranas and Chen rossi ; Cereopsis has a large tumid cere ;
both sexes of Cygnus melanocoryphus and C. olor have a knob
at the base of the culmen, as have the males of Plectropterus,
Tadorna cornuta, and the domesticated form of Cycnopsis
cycno'ides ; the same sex of Somateria spectabilis has the posterior
portion of the maxilla spread into a disk ; Oedemia has it con-
siderably swollen even in the female ; Cairina and Plectropterus
have caruncles on the forehead ; Sarcidiornis has a fleshy comb
at the proximal extremity of the beak in the male ; while Biziura
has a dependent flap on the chin, and a small subgular pouch.
The bill is usually broad and depressed, and may be sub-conical,
as in many Geese ; spatulate, as in Spatula and Malacorhynchus;
or somewhat less dilated, as in Chaulelasmus, and so forth. There
is a distinct hook at the tip in Mergus, Dendrocycna, and Aex ;
the culmen is concave in Marmaronetta and Stictonetta ; the nail
is bent inwards in the latter and Erismatura, while the maxilla
may overlap the mandible, or the covering membrane may even
hang over the latter, as in Malacorhynchus, Hymenolaemus, and to
a less extent in Elasmonetta and Nesonetta. The length is very vari-
able, but the thin elongated " sawbill " of Mergus, with its serrated
edges, is especially remarkable. Most characteristic of the Family
is the presence of highly-developed lamellae or transverse tooth-like
processes on both maxilla and mandible, which are visible when

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. 1895, pp. 23, 24.

I I 2 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

the jaws are closed in many cases, and are comparable to the
similar formations in Prion (Procellariidae) and the Phoenicopte-
ridae. They act no doubt as a sifting apparatus, but may
assist in nipping off herbage and gripping fish, the piscivorous
Mergansers having them directed backwards. The metatarsus
is normally short or moderate, though occasionally long, as in
Plectropterus and Dendrocycna ; it may be stout and roundish,
as in Anser, or laterally compressed, as in Fuligula ; and is usually
reticulated with transverse scutellae in front, though wholly
reticulated in the Cygninae, Anserinae, and Dendrocycna. The
anterior toes are fully webbed, Anseranas and Cereopsis alone
having the foot semi-palmated ; the hallux is short and elevated
— except in the former species, where it is long and incumbent
— and possesses a broad membranous lobe in the Merginae, Mer-
ganettinae, Erismaturinae, and Fuligulinae, while a very narrow
membrane may be observed in the Anatinae and Chenonettinae.
The claws are as a rule small and curved, but are long and sharp
in Anseranas, Dendrocycna, Nettopus, and Plectropterus. The
wings vary considerably, but are usually ample and rather long,
though short in Cosmonetta, Erismatura, and TacJiyeres ; the
number of primaries is eleven, and of secondaries from fifteen to
twenty-eight, a horny spur being developed on the pollex, or even on
the index, in. Plectropterus, Sarcidiornis, Chenalopex, and Merganetta.
The tail is, generally speaking, short, and may be narrow and
pointed, as in Anas, Dafila, and Harelda ; in Aex, Querquedula,
Tadorna, and so forth, it is rounded ; in Chenalopex squarer ; and
in Sarcidiornis and Asarcornis more cuneate. In TacJiyeres the
two median rectrices are long and recurved, and in the males of
Harelda and Dafila they are inordinately produced ; while all
the feathers have spiny shafts and narrow webs in the Erisma-
turinae and Merganettinae. The number varies from twelve to
twenty-four, with even more in Swans. In Eunetta the upper
and under tail-coverts exceed the tail itself.

The formation and disposition of the trachea1 are of great
importance. Cygnus musicus, C. 'buccinator, C. lewicki, and C,
colurtibianus have a peculiar cavity in the sternum, while the wind-
pipe, entering in front of the clavicles, traverses and' retra verses
the swollen keel, which in old birds it penetrates to its furthest
extremity, the direction being changed in the two last from vertical

1 For a general account, sec A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1896, pp. 983-985.

ANATIDAE I I 3

to horizontal. Anseranas shews a double loop in this organ.1 and
in the males of many Ducks an enlargement is found at its junc-
tion with the bronchial tubes, consisting of a round bony structure,
termed the bulla ossea or "labyrinth." Similar structures have been
noticed in Chenalopex, Dendrocycna, Chloepliaga, Plectropterus, and
Sarcidiornis ; and in the Fuligulinae they shew apertures with
membranous coverings ; Metopiana peposaca, Mergus merganser, M.
serrator, Tadorna cornuta, Oedemiafusca, and (doubtfully) Oe.per-
spicillata are stated to have an additional bulb, but Oe. nigra has
none. Clangula glaucion and the Merginae have a swelling in
the middle of the trachea.

The headquarters of the Family are in the north, while Dr,
Sclater's calculations,2 though modified by subsequent discoveries,
give a good idea of the distribution. He assigns as residents
about seventy-seven species to the Northern Kegions, forty-one to
the Neotropical, twenty-nine to the Australian, twenty- two to the
Ethiopian, and twelve to the Indian ; twenty Geese out of thirty-
three, seven Swans out of ten, and twenty-six Sea-Ducks out of
thirty-one belonging to the first. Polynesia is especially poor.

The Anatidae are for the most part of similar habits, and
frequent seas, lakes, rivers, and watery spots generally, being found
to a great extent in winter on the shore, especially where mud-
flats are exposed by the ebbing tide, and beds of such food-plants
as Zostera (grass-wrack) are uncovered. Large flocks, which
include many migrants, are formed at that season, and in spring
the ganders and drakes commonly collect into parties while the
female is incubating, which she does during twenty-one to forty-two
days. Later in summer the majority of the Family shed their quills
simultaneously, and conceal themselves until again capable of flight,
the males then becoming dull in colour for several weeks, and re-
sembling the other sex.3 Merganetta is found only on the torrents
of the Andes ; Hymenolaemus and Salvadorina being also residents
on mountain streams. The noisy flight is extremely powerful, and
much swifter than it appears, the wedge-shaped formation which
Geese affect being especially noticeable ; some forms, however, are
practically flightless, such as Nesonettc^ and the adult Steamer-Duck
( Tachyeres). All the Anatidae swim exceptionally well, diving being
carried to its perfection in the marine Fuligulinae ; while the parti-

1 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1882, p. 350.
2 P.Z.S. 1880, p. 533. 3 Supra, p. 4.

VOL. IX I

114 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

ally-submerged position with erect tail when feeding is known
to every one. The various Swans have a whooping, trumpet-like, or
hissing note ; that of Geese is a harsh cackle, a gaggling sound, a
clang or a " honk." Ducks do not always quack, but have whistling
or grating cries in addition. The usual food is vegetable, consisting
of grass, Chara, Zostera, Ulva, aiid other plants ; but Mergansers
live chiefly on fish, and the bill of fare is varied by grain, pulse,
berries, frogs, insect -larvae, worms, molluscs, and crustaceans.
The nest is placed on the ground in thick herbage, or some-
times almost in the water ; holes in banks, hollow trees, or even
branches at a slight elevation being chosen in certain cases : it is
composed of heather, grass, moss, leaves, or rarely seaweed and
twigs, and is lined with down, added gradually from the parent's
breast during incubation. The eggs, which vary in number from
two (Biziura) to about a dozen, are smooth and hard-shelled, with
.a plain white, creamy, or green coloration, and are commonly covered
when left. The young return for a time to the nest at night, and
axe carefully tended by the female, who is occasionally assisted
by the male, especially in Swans. It is not certain how tree-
building Ducks convey the nestlings to the water, though it has
been stated that they are carried in the bill; but it is no
uncommon sight to see ducklings and cygnets climb upon their
mother's back and hide beneath her wings when danger threatens.
The sexes in Swans and Geese are usually alike, though ex-
ceptions occur, as in Chloephaga ; in Ducks the male is generally
much the finer bird, and has peculiar decorations, such as the
elongated scapulars and rectrices of Harelda and Dafila ; the
sickle-shaped secondaries of Eunetta, Jfeniconetta, Arctonetta, and
Somateria ; the stiff feathers on the face in the last three and
Oamptolaemus ; the curly tail of Anas boscas ; the crest, ruff, and
" sail " of Aex galericulata ; or the crests of many Fuligulinae and
Merginae. Some females have similar but less striking adornments.
Among the many instances of fine coloration may be mentioned
the Eed-breasted and Emperor Geese, the Harlequin, Mandarin,
Pink-headed and Shoveller Ducks, the Sheld-Drake (Fig. 34),
and the Goosander ; while most Swans are pure white. The blue,
green, or white speculum — or wing-bar — in various Ducks adds
greatly to their appearance. The young are comparatively dull,
the nestlings being thickly covered with yellowish down, furnished
with barbs and barbules ; the colour is, however, whitish or grey

iv ANATIDAE 1 1 5

in Swans, and occasionally brown, blackish, or greenish else-
where.

Sub-fam. 1. Merginae. — The commonest British species is M.
serrator, the Eed-breasted Merganser, which breeds plentifully
in the Scotch Highlands and Ireland, and ranges over the northern
parts of the globe, extending in winter from the Mediterranean to
China, Japan, and the Bermudas. The head is glossy green-black
with a long hairy crest, the neck is white with a black nuchal line,
the upper parts are chiefly black, the large white wing-patch
is crossed by two black bars, while white feathers edged with
black adorn the sides of the breast, which is rufous with black
streaks, and becomes reddish-white towards the abdomen. The
female is brown, with reddish head and nearly white under
surface. The bill and feet are red in this species and the next. M.
merganser, the Goosander, nests sparingly in North Scotland, and
has a similar range to the above abroad, though less abundant;
it has a green-black head with little crest, a black back, almost
white wings, and pinkish -white lower neck and under parts.
The female has a blue-grey back, and lacks the wing-bars of the
hen Merganser. The American species, with a black alar
band, is separated as M. americanus, and the Central Asiatic
form as M. comatus ; M. australis, of the Auckland Islands, has
a brown head and neck with long crest, a dark grey body with
white bands below, a white speculum, and red-brown bill and
feet ; M. Irasilianus, of Brazil, is black above with two bars on
the white speculum, and white below barred with black, the bill
and feet being greenish-black. The female has the crown and
long occipital feathers brown. M. albellus, the Smew, ranging
from Lapland eastward to Bering Island, but not to North America,
'and found in winter from Britain and the Mediterranean to
North India, China, and Japan, is mainly white, with blackish
cheeks, occiput, back, remiges, rectrices, and two crescentic bands
on each side of the breast, the bill and feet being lead-coloured.
The female has a red-brown head and nape, brownish -grey upper
parts, and a smaller crest than the male. Loplwdytes cucullatus,
the Hooded Merganser of North America, which has strayed to
Greenland and Britain, has black upper and white under parts ;
the dense compressed crest has the posterior part white in the
middle, the white speculum shows a pair of black bars, two black
crescents mark each side of the breast, the long inner secondaries

I 1 6 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

are black and white, the bill is black, the feet are brown. The
female has a red-brown crest, brown chest, and upper surface.

The members of this Sub-family are shy and wary sea-birds,
seldom found on fresh water except during the breeding season ;
they fly well, walk clumsily, and dive admirably, swimming low
in the water. The cry is a plaintive whistle or loud harsh note ;
the food consists of little but fish. The Eed-breasted Merganser
breeds in holes in banks, or among grass and heather, laying up
to ten brownish-green eggs ; the Goosander deposits from eight
to thirteen, of a fine creamy colour, in similar places, or in hollow
trees ; the Smew and the Hooded Merganser prefer the latter,
and lay some eight creamy or ivory-white eggs respectively.

Sub-fam. 2. Merganettinae. — Salvadorina waigiuensis of
Waigiou has the head and neck blackish-brown with paler edges
to the feathers, a white chin, black upper parts barred with white,
and huffish-white under parts with brown abdominal spots ; the
sides are barred with black, and the black and green speculum is
bounded by two white bands. The bill and feet are yellowish-
brown. Hymenolaemus malacorhynclius, the Blue Duck of New
Zealand, is lead-blue, tinged with olive on the head and spotted
with chestnut on the breast, the outer secondaries shewing a little
white and the inner .black. The whitish bill has the dependent
membrane (p. Ill) black, the feet are brown. This peculiar
and tame torrent-duck is rarely seen on the sea, though it can
fly from one gorge to another ; it swims and climbs the boulders
with ease, has a whirring note, and feeds chiefly on insect-larvae.
It deposits five creamy eggs in holes or under tussocks of grass.
Merganetta armata, of Chili, is black above with white edges to-
the feathers, and rufous with black streaks below ; the head and
neck are white, with black crown, vertical eye -stripe, throat,
chest, and streaks down the back and sides of the neck ; the
bronzy-green speculum has a white band on each side, the bill is
yellow, the feet are reddish. M. frenata, of Chili, is very
similar ; M. turneri, of South Peru, has a white throat and rufous
edges to the feathers of the back ; M. leucogenys, of Peru, has a
whitish throat and breast ; while M. garleppi, of Bolivia and
Tucuman, and M. columbiana, of Colombia, Ecuador, and Vene-
zuela, differ but little from the last-named. The females are grey
and black above and uniform cinnamon below. These curious
Ducks are restricted to the torrents of the Andes, where they

ANATIDAE

117

are found in pairs, plunging in the cascades, diving below the
boulders, or stemming the impetuous current with equal facility.
Sub-fam. 3. Erismaturinae. — Biziura lobata, of Tasmania and
Australia — except the north — is brown with buff mottlings, the
bill and its leathery appendage being greenish-black and the feet
dusky. The smaller female has less chin-lobe. This species frequents
the sea as well as lakes, roosts in trees, and when diving remains
long submerged; the food consists of mussels, leeches, and aquatic

FIG. 33.— Musk Duck. Biziura lobata. x f . (From Nature}.

worms ; the note resembles the dropping of water. The nest, plac'ed
on a stump or in a bank, contains two olive eggs ; the musky smell
of the sitting female having suggested the name of Musk Duck.

JErismatura contains seven " Lake Ducks," inhabitants of
fresh - water lagoons, which dive like Grebes, and remain
with only the bill exposed; they are often tame, and when
disturbed splash along the surface like a Moor-hen, to settle
again almost immediately ; in swimming the spiny tail is
carried erect, suggesting a comparison to a " two-peaked saddle."
The note is said to be a curious inward sound ; the food is of fish,

I I 8 ANSERIFORMES

molluscs, and insects ; while the nest, built in rushy places,
contains up to ten coarse-grained white eggs.1 E. leucocephala,
ranging from the Mediterranean to Southern Siberia, and in
winter to North- West India or, exceptionally, to Hollar d, is
rufous-brown with black vermiculations and bars, black crown
and neck-ring ; the rest of the head and neck being white, the
bill blue, the feet dusky. E. jamaicensis, of Central and temperate
North America, E.ferruginea, of Bolivia and Peru, E. aequatorialis,
of Ecuador, E. maccoa, of South and East Africa, E. mttata, of
southern South America, and E. australis, of South and West
Australia and Tasmania, are brown with greyer belly mottled with
dusky ; the head and neck being black, except for the white cheeks
and chin in the first-named and the chin only in the second and third.
E. aequatorialis has white instead of rufous under tail-coverts ; E.
maccoa has white axillaries as opposed to grey in E. mttata; E. aus-
tralis is much deeper chestnut. The females are decidedly duller. E.
(Nomonyx) dominica, of Central, Southern, and, accidentally, Eastern
North America, has the feathers of the back black in the middle and
a white speculum. Thalassiornis leuconota, of South and East Africa
with Madagascar, is variegated with black and ochreous yellow, the
rump being white, the wings, tail, and feet brownish, the bill blue-
grey. It dives much, flies little, and lays about four greenish eggs.
Sub-fam. 4. Fuligulinae. — Somateria mollissima, the Eider
Duck, breeds commonly in Northern Britain, and thence to the
Taimyr Peninsula eastwards and the Coppermine Kiver westwards,
birds from North-East America being separated as S. dresseri ;
while S. v-nigrum, differing in its black V-shaped throat mark,
occupies North-East Asia and North-West America. In winter
the first-named strays as far as South Europe and the United
States ; the second has occurred in Holland. The male Eider has
white upper parts and buff chest, black lower back, abdomen, and
crown, the last showing a white streak ; the wing- and tail-quills
are brown, the stiff nape-feathers green, while the plumage extends
in a peak on the culmen. The female is brown, with blackish
bands or stripes and two white alar bars. The bill and feet are
olive-green. S. spectabilis, the King-Eider of the Northern Arctic
Kegions, rarely wandering in winter to Britain, France, New Jersey,
and California, has the head blue-grey with green and white
cheeks, and a black chevron on the throat ; the remaining portions

1 For notes on the courtship, and so forth, see J. G. Kerr, Ibis, 1890, pp. 359, 360.

iv ANATIDAE I 1 9

being black except for the buff breast, white neck, upper back,
lesser wing-coverts, and a patch on each side of the rump. The
feet and the bill, with its vertical black -edged disc at the base, are
orange. The female is redder than in the Eider, with a more
feathered culmen. These species are essentially maritime, dJiijr—
coming to shore to breed ; they are semi-gregarious, and form a
nest of grass and rubbish, a quantity of down underlying the five
to eight oily-green eggs. Eider-down is chiefly procured from
Iceland, Greenland, and protected islands in Norway. The flight
is low and heavy, the food consists of mussels, starfish, and other
sea creatures. Arctonetta fischeri, the Spectacled Eider of Alaska,
is chiefly white, with dark grey rump and under parts ; the head
being varied with green and decorated with pendent bristly plumes
on the occiput, stiff frontal and loral feathers, and a satin-like
quadrangular patch outlined with black on each side. The tail-
and wing-quills are brown, except the falcate inner secondaries ;
the feet are brownish, the bill is orange in the male. The female
is fulvous and black with bluish beak. Heniconetta stelleri breeds
on the Arctic shores mainly between the Taimyr Peninsula and
Alaska, and has strayed to Britain and even France. The head,
falcate scapulars, and inner secondaries are white with blue-black
outer webs to the two latter, the rest of the wing-quills and tail
brown ; the back, throat, neck, and a spot on each side of the breast
purplish-black ; the lores and short occipital tuft green, the lower
parts mostly tawny. The female is brown with darker markings,
and duller wing-bar. Camptolaemus labradorius, the extinct " Pied
Duck " of .the North Atlantic coast of America, was black, with
white head, neck, chest, scapulars, and most of the wings except
the primaries ; it had a black stripe down the crown and stiff
cheek -feathers. The brownish female shewed a white speculum.
Oedemia nigra, the Scoter or Black Duck, which nests in North
Scotland, ranges over Northern Europe and Asia to the Taimyr
Peninsula, sometimes reaching the Azores and the Mediterranean
in winter. It is black, with a yellow nasal patch and a swollen
base to the culmen, the female being dark brown with greyish
face and throat, and no protuberance or yellow mark. Oe.
americana of North-East Asia and North America, migrating to
Japan, California, and New Jersey, has the knob yellow with
red sides, while the female is grey-brown. Oe.fusca, the Velvet
Scoter, extends from Scandinavia to West Siberia, and occurs

120 ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

exceptionally in Greenland, visiting us in winter, though rarely
reaching Spain and the Adriatic ; it is black with a white speculum
and mark under each eye, the bill being orange with black posterior
swelling and lateral line, and the feet dull crimson-red. The
brownish female has the white speculum, but a brown bill. The
very similar Oe. deglandi, of North-East America, has the base of
the maxilla entirely feathered, as has the still blacker Oe. carlo,
of North-East Asia. Oe. perspicillata, the Surf-Scoter, accidental
in Britain and North- West Europe, inhabits the far north of
America and the Asiatic coasts of Bering Straits, wintering
down to Jamaica and California. The black plumage is relieved
by white patches on the crown and nape ; there is a black mark
on each side of the crimson, scarlet, and orange bill, the feet
are crimson, orange, and black. The brown female has yellowish-
orange feet. Scoters are gregarious birds, usually found some way
from land except when breeding ; the flight is strong ; the note
guttural, but softer in spring ; the food consists of fish, molluscs,
and crustaceans. They nest near fresh-water lakes and pools, among
heather or grass, and lay from five to eight yellowish-white eggs.
Cosmonetta histrionica, the Harlequin Duck of Iceland, North-
East Asia, Arctic America, and possibly the Urals, which reaches
Japan, the United States,' and exceptionally Britain and elsewhere
in winter, is grey-blue, curiously marked with black and white on
the head, neck, wings, and chest ; the superciliary streaks and flanks
are chestnut, the speculum being purple, the bill plumbeous, the feet
brown. The female is brown with whitish cheeks and mottlings
below. The habits of tumbling and diving in rocky torrents have
been well described by Mr. Belding ; l the nest is in banks or under
boulders, and contains seven or eight buff eggs. Harelda glacialis,
the Long-tailed Duck of the Arctic Kegions, which appears to breed
in Shetland, and in winter even reaches the Mediterranean and
China, but more commonly the Caspian, Lake Baikal, Japan, and
the middle United States, is at that season white with brownish
patches on the sides of the neck, brown-black back, wings, central
rectrices, and chest. In summer the crown, neck, and scapulars
become brown, with rufous edges to the dorsal plumage. The bill
is pinkish and black, the feet are bluish. The female is brown, with
white ocular region, neck-ring, and lower parts. This noisy species
is called, from its musical chattering note, " Calloo " in Shetland

1 Water Birds N. Amer. ii. Boston, 1884, p. 56.

IV

ANATIDAE 121

and " Old Squaw " in America ; it flies very swiftly and nests near
water, laying from six to twelve oblong grey- green eggs.

Clangula glaucion, the Golden-Eye, not yet proved to breed in
Britain, though it does so in North Germany, the Caucasus,
Siberia, and Maine, besides the Arctic Eegions generally, is found
in winter to the Mediterranean, and thence to North India, China,
Japan, Mexico, and Cuba. The glossy head is green, with a slight
crest and white cheek-patches; the upper parts are black with
white on the wings and scapulars, the lower surface being white,
the bill black, the iris golden, the feet orange. The female has the
head and back brown, the chest grey. Similar to Fuligula in
general habits, the Eattlewing, as it is often termed from its noisy
flight, is more partial to inland waters in winter, while for breed-
ing it prefers hollow trees, or nest-boxes set up by Lapps and Finns,
the ten or twelve eggs being bright green. C. islandica, the ordi-
nary species in Iceland, differing from C. glaucion in its purplish
head, inhabits Arctic America also, and winters in the United
States, rarely straying to Britain or the rest of Europe. C. albeola,
the Buffel-head, of North America, which has visited the Com-
mander Islands and Britain, has the head purplish-green with a
large white occipital patch, the iris brown and the feet pinkish.
It breeds to the northward, the eggs being whitish.

Tachyeres cinereus, the Logger-head or Steamer Duck, of Chili,
the Falklands, and Straits of Magellan, is grey in both sexes,
with lighter head, rufous throat, white secondaries and belly,
orange-yellow bill and feet. The narrow median rectrices are
curled up, the wings very short ; while the adults apparently lose
the power of flight. Darwin well describes the noisy splashing
action, the rapid and flapping swimming movements, the weak
diving powers, the strong beak adapted for extracting shell-fish,
and the voice like that of a bull-frog.1 From seven to nine eggs
are laid among herbage or low bushes.

Fuligula marila, the Scaup, of Northern Europe, Asia, and
America, which migrates to the Mediterranean and Black Seas,
North India, China, and Guatemala, has the head, neck, and chest
greenish-black, the back vermiculated with black and white,2 the
wings and tail dusky, the speculum and under parts white, the bill
and feet plumbeous. The female is chiefly brown above, with

1 Voy. Beagle (1890 ed.), p. 244 ; cf. Cunningham, Voy. Nassau, 1871, pp. 91-97.
2 Fine alternate dusky and white lines produce a grey effect at a short distance.

122 ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

white round the base of the bill. F. affi-nis, of North America,
has the head purplish ; F. cristata, the Tufted Duck of the whole
Palaearctic area, breeding freely in Britain and apparently in the
Abyssinian highlands, while wintering in India, Japan, China,
the Malay Archipelago and Polynesia, is distinguished by an oc-
cipital crest, and in the male by a black back. F. novae zealandiae,
of New Zealand, the Auckland and Chatham Islands, has a purple
and green gloss above, a few white dots on the back, and rufous-
brown abdominal feathers, the latter being brown and white in
the female. F. collaris, of North America generally, has a violet
tinge on the black portions, a chestnut collar, a blue-grey speculum,
and white under parts barred with dusky ; the bill shows two
whitish bands ; the female has white lores and throat.

Nyroca ferina, the Pochard, which breeds not uncommonly
in Britain, ranges from Iceland to Japan, and in winter to North
Africa, India, and China ; it has a chestnut head and neck, a black
gorget, and upper parts finely freckled with black and white ; the
speculum is grey, the quill-feathers and rump are black, the lower
parts greyish- white; the bill is black, banded with dull blue, and
the feet are bluish. In the female, or Dunbird, the head, neck, and
chest are dull reddish and the back browner. N. americana, of
North America, has a purple shade on the head and neck, a white
belly, and no black at the base of the bill. The female has a grey-
brown head. The larger N. vallisneria, the Canvas-Back of the
same country, which breeds in the north-west, has the crown and
comparatively long bill black. The female has some white on the
head and neck, and is vermiculated with white on the back. N.
laeri, of Eastern Asia, has a green-black head and neck, but is
chiefly brown, with a black-edged white speculum and whitish wing-
quills, the female being duller with a chestnut cheek-patch. N.
africana, the White-eyed Duck of British Lists, breeds from Central
Europe to the Mediterranean basin, and from the Ob Valley to
Kashmir, wintering southwards to the Canaries, Abyssinia, and
Arrakan. It has a chestnut head, neck, and chest, a white spot
on the chin, blackish -brown upper parts, a brown collar, a black-
edged white speculum, a little white on the primaries, and white
lower surface, the bill and feet being plumbeous and the irides
white. The female is duller with browner head. N. innotata, of
Madagascar, has a darker head and no chin-spot. N. australis, of
most of the Australian Kegion, is not dissimilar, but has a brown tip

iv ANATIDAE I 2 3

to the white speculum and some brown on the belly. N. Irunnea,
of South and East Africa, is brown, mottled with grey above, the
head and upper neck being dark purplish-chestnut, the lower neck
black, the speculum white with a black posterior band. Some
white shows on the primaries, and the bill and feet are plumbeous.
The female has white at the base of the bill, on the throat, and
behind the eye. N. nationi, of Peru, is hardly distinct.

The majority of these two genera are wary sea-birds, though
breeding inland ; they feed at dawn or dusk on aquatic plants
and seeds, molluscs, insects, and even small fish and frogs, chiefly
obtained by diving, wherein they are great adepts. Vallisneria
spiralis, a plant largely eaten by the Canvas-Back, accounts for its
specific name and possibly for its flavour. The note is a grating or
guttural sound, varied by a low whistle ; the nest is generally close
to water, and contains from six to thirteen green eggs. N. africana,
JV. australis, and Fuligula novae zealandiae are rather more
skulking species with weaker flight, rarely found at sea.

Metopiana peposaca, of South America, northward to Chili and
South Brazil, is black with grey vermiculations above and on the
belly, the cheeks and upper neck are purplish, the speculum and
inner primaries chiefly white, the bill and its swollen base carmine,
the feet yellow. The female is brown, with whitish under parts and
grey on the wing. It frequents marshes on the Pampas, has a rapid
heavy flight, utters a long hoarse note, and lays a dozen creamy eggs.

Netta rufina, the Ked-crested Duck, found from the Mediter-
ranean to the Caspian and Turkestan, or to India in winter,
rarely occurs in Britain or North Europe, and is recorded once
from America ; it is chiefly greyish-brown above and blacker below,
with a large crest on the chestnut head, white speculum and sides,
red beak and feet. The crestless female is duller, with whitish
cheeks and throat.

Sub-fam. 5. Anatinae or typical Ducks. — Heteronetta atri-
capilla, of South Brazil, Uruguay, Chili, and Argentina, is dark
brown above with black head and rufous vermiculations, and white
below with dusky markings ; the tips of most of the wing-feathers
are white, the bill is blackish with basi-lateral flesh-coloured spots,
the feet are brownish. The female's head is brown. Stictonetta
naevosa, of West and South Australia and Tasmania, is brown with
freckles and spots of white in either sex. Marmaronetta angusti-
rostris, ranging from South Europe and North Africa to India, and

124 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

occurring in the Canaries, is greyish above, with brown and buff
marblings, and whitish below with brown bars. It flies low, utters
a croaking whistle, and lays ten or eleven buff eggs in isolated
tussocks. Both sexes of MalacorJiynchus membranaceus, the Pink-
eyed Duck of Australia and Tasmania (p. Ill), are grey-brown with
lighter dots, and some white on the face, wing, and tail ; the under
parts are whiter with brown bands, while behind each blackish eye-
patch is a pink mark, situated below a dark line running to the
occiput and down the nape. The bill is greenish, and the feet are
emerald-coloured or yellowish. This species is a fearless denizen of
still waters, with a habit of laying its six rich buff eggs in old
Herons' nests, in holes in trees, or on flat branches.

Spatula clypeata, the Shoveller, which now breeds in many
parts of Britain, extends from about the Arctic Circle to North
Africa, Central Asia, and the United States, wintering southward
to Casamance, Somaliland, Ceylon, Borneo, China, Japan, Colombia,
and the West Indies, and visiting the Hawaiian islands, the Gil-
bert Group, and Australia. It is dark brown, relieved by a green
head, white neck, chestnut breast and belly ; the longer scapulars
being black with white median stripes, the wing-coverts pale
blue, the speculum green with white anterior border, the bill
plumbeous, the feet orange. The female is red -brown with
duller wings, while the bill of the young shows the spoon-shaped
form in about three weeks. 8. rhynchotis, of Southern Australia,
Tasmania, and the New Zealand area, has a dark brown crown, and
blue-grey neck, with a white lateral line, the chest being whitish
and the lower parts chestnut, both with black bands ; S. platalea,
ranging from Peru and Paraguay to Patagonia and the Falklands,
is reddish with round black spots, having a black crown and
rump ; whereas S. capensis, of South Africa, has a grey-brown head
and neck, and brown mantle and under parts with darker mottlings.
The wings and scapulars are similar in all the above, except in 8.
capensis, where the latter are dark blue-green. The females hardly
differ from each other, but that of 8. rhyncliotis is darker, that of
8. platalea has a shorter bill, while in both sexes of 8. capensis the
speculum has a blue tinge. Shovellers are somewhat silent birds
with a peculiar habit of swimming and feeding in circles over spots
where Diving Ducks are submerged * ; the diet includes herbage,
worms, molluscs, crustaceans, and insects ; the eggs are pale green.

1 A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1896, pp. 841-842.

iv ANATIDAE 1 2 5

Querquedula circia, the Garganey, which breeds (p. 126) regu-
larly in East Anglia, ranges through most Palaearctic countries, and
extends in winter to North Africa, a great part of the Indian Eegion,
and the Moluccas ; it has a brown crown, back, and chest, the last-
named with darker crescents, a chocolate neck with white flecks, a
white streak above the eye, bluish-grey wing-coverts, green speculum
with white margins, and long black and white scapulars. Q. discors,
its North American representative, reaching Ecuador and Peru in
the cold season, is redder, with lead-coloured head, a white cres-
cent before the eye, and brighter wing-coverts. The brownish
females have a dull speculum. Q. versicolor, of America south of
Paraguay, and Q. puna, of Peru, Bolivia, and Chili, have plumbeous
wing-coverts ; Q. cyanoptera, of western and southern South
America, has the head and lower surface chestnut.

The flightless Nesonetta aucklandica, of the Auckland group,
hardly differs in colour from Elasmonetta Morotis, of the New
Zealand area, which is brown waved with black and rufous above,
chestnut and reddish with black spots below, the speculum being
green and black, the gorget whitish. The female is rufous brown.

Dafila acuta, the Pintail or Sea-Pheasant of the northern regions
generally, reaching North Africa, Ceylon, the Sandwich Islands,
Panama, and elsewhere in winter, has a brown head and nape, a
white line down each side of the neck, grey upper partsvermiculated
with dusky, long black scapulars and rectrices mostly edged with
white, a purple-green speculum margined in turn with black and
white, a cinnamon bar on the wing-coverts, and a white breast. The
female is greyish with brown speculum and ochraceous barring
above, the markings being oblique on the tail. It now breeds in
Scotland. D. eatoni, of Kerguelen Island and the Crozets, has a
grey breast ; D. spinicauda, ranging from Peru and South Brazil
to Patagonia and the Falklands, has a rufous head and blackish
speculum, the sexes being nearly alike, as in the next genus.
Poecilonetta bahamensis of the Bahamas, Antilles, and South
America, P. galapagensis of the Galapagos, and P. erythrorhynclia
of South and East Africa with Madagascar, are somewhat similar
birds, having reddish plumage spotted with black, whitish cheeks
and throat. In the first two the tail is buff, in the third the bill
is chiefly pink, the speculum in all being much as in Dafila.

Nettion crecca, the Teal, extending from Britain over most of
Europe and temperate Asia, and nesting even in the Azores and

126 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

Kuril Islands, winters in North Africa, India, Ceylon, Siam, China,
and Japan, and wanders to North America. The head is chestnut
with a green eye-patch enclosed by a buffish line, the upper parts
are vermiculated with black and white, the speculum is black,
green, and purple with a whitish border, the chest is buff with
black spots, the under parts are white. N. carolinense of North
America, which strays to Europe — including Britain, has a white
crescent on each side of the breast. N. formosum of East Siberia,
met with in winter in China, and accidentally in India, Italy, and
France, has the head varied with black, green, buff, and white, a
bluish wash on the back and chest, a speculum of buff, green, and
white. In these three species the female is mottled with brown
and rufous, and has a duller speculum. N. castaneum of Australia
and New Zealand, recorded from Celebes and Java, the doubtful
N. gMerifro?is of the Malay Archipelago, N, alligulare of the
Andamans, N. bernieri of Madagascar, JVi capense of South and
East Africa, N. flavirostre of America south of Southern Brazil
and Chili, N. andium of Ecuador and Venezuela, JV! georgicum of
South Georgia, N. punctatum of South and East Africa with
Madagascar, N. brasiliense of South America generally, and N.
torquatum of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, complete the
genus. Teal are fresh-water Ducks, feeding chiefly at night
on water-plants, seeds, worms, and insects ; they are rather silent,
and have not the rattling spring-note of the Garganey. The
nest is in both cases usually placed at some distance from water
in grass, rushes, or heather, the eight to ten eggs being greenish
in the Teal and cream-coloured in the Garganey.

Mareca penelope, the Wigeon, which breeds in Scotland, and
ranges across North Europe and Asia to Alaska, occurring in
winter as far south as Madeira, Abyssinia, Borneo, or even
Polynesia, and occasionally on the American coasts, has a rufous
head with buff crown, blackish throat and quill-feathers, white
upper parts vermiculated with black, white wing-coverts and
lower surface, and a green speculum with a black edge. The female
is mottled with brown and rufous above, and has a grey-green
speculum, and buffish lower parts. This species, which has a
whistling cry, whence it is termed " Whew," feeds chiefly by day
on grass-wrack and the like when frequenting the mud-flats in
winter ; the nest is among dry heather or rushes, and contains
from seven to ten greenish-buff eggs. M. americana, of North

iv ANATIDAE I2/

America generally, has a whitish head with black spots, which
cover the crown in the female only. M. sibilatrix, reaching from
Chili and Paraguay to Patagonia and the Falklands, is chiefly
black and white with blue-green nape and black speculum.

Chaulelasmus streperus, the Gadwall, which breeds in East
Aiiglia and South Spain, and is apparently spreading thence, occurs
in the subarctic regions of both Worlds, and migrates to Shoa,
India, China, Mexico, and Jamaica. C. couesi of the Fanning
group may be distinct. The head and upper neck are light brown
with dusky spots; the back is blackish with grey markings,
the rump black ; the lower parts are white with black crescents
on the breast ; the wing-coverts grey, chestnut, and black. The
female is dark brown varied with rufous. The speculum is white.
The habits are as in most fresh-water Ducks, the eggs being buff.

Eunetta falcata of East Asia and Japan is a fine bird with
chestnut crown, bronzy-purple cheeks, green occipital crest, white
neck ringed with green, grey and black upper parts, and lower
surface waved with black and white. The white-margined speculum
is green, the long thin sickle -shaped inner secondaries are black
and white, and a patch on each side of the tail is buff. Both
upper and under tail-coverts exceed the rectrices. The female
resembles that of the Gadwall, but has a black speculum.

Anas boscas, the Mallard or Wild Duck, ranges from about the
Arctic Circle to the Azores, North Africa, Kashmir, and the United
States, being found southward in winter to India and Panama.
The head is green with a white collar, the upper parts are grey and
brown, the rump is black, the speculum purple with margins of
black and white, the breast chestnut, the four curly central rectrices
being black. The female is brown and buff with a green speculum.
In the habits there is little that is peculiar, but the eggs are
greenish. The coloration in the remaining species is usually dusky,
nor do the sexes differ greatly. A. wyvilliana inhabits the
Hawaiian, and A. laysanensis the Laysan Islands; A. melleri
Madagascar ; A. obscura, with its two local forms A. fulmgula and
A. maculosa, Eastern North America; A. diazi and A. aberti Mexico;
A. luzonica the Philippines ; A. superciliosa the ' Malay Archi-
pelago arid Australian Eegion ; A. poecilorhyncha, with red, yellow,
and black bill, India, Ceylon, and Burma ; A. zonorhyneha, where
the bill is yellow and black and the feet reddish, Eastern Asia ;
A. undulata and A. sparsa, also with yellow and black bill, but

128 ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

black and orange feet respectively, South and East Africa; A.
specularis, Chili and Patagonia ; and A. cristata, with a pendent
nuchal crest, America from Peru southwards.

Tadorna cornuta, the Sheld-Drake or Bargander, which ranges
from Britain across Europe and temperate Asia to Japan, and
migrates to the Mediterranean basin, North India, and South
China, has the bill and the basal knob — wanting in the female —
red, the feet pink, the head glossy green ; it shews a white collar
on the lower neck followed by a broad chestnut band ; blackish
outer scapulars, remiges, and tip of the tail ; a patch of chestnut on

FIG. 34. — Sheld-Drake. Tadorna cornuta. x y.

the inner secondaries, a green speculum, and a brown line down the
under parts, the remaining portions being white. This bird fre-
quents sandy coasts and muddy flats throughout the year, nesting
in burrows, or rarely among rocks, masonry, or bushes, and laying-
some ten shiny white eggs. The flight is powerful and heavy ; the
note is a shrill whistle or barking quack ; the food consists of
aquatic plants, molluscs, and insects. T. radjah, of Australia,
Papuasia, and the Moluccas, is white in both sexes, with blackish
scapulars, back, rump, primaries, and rectrices ; the mantle is
vermiculated with chestnut, the similarly-coloured pectoral band
is barred with black, the speculum is green with black posterior
margin, the bill and feet are whitish. It breeds commonly in

IV ANATIDAE I 29

holes in trees, on which it is quite at ease. Casarca rutila, the
Buddy Sheld-Drake or Brahminy Duck of South Europe, North
Africa, and temper ate Asia, which has strayed to Britain and winters
in India, Burma, and Formosa, has a buff head, separated from the
orange-brown body by a black collar in summer, white wing-coverts,
black wing- and tail-quills, purple and green speculum, and black
bill and feet. The female is lighter, with no collar. It frequents
fresh water, grazes. on corn and grass like a goose, and breeds in
holes of any sort. C. cana, of South Africa differs in its grey head,
rufous collar, and black vermiculations above, the female having
the front of the head white. C. variegata of New Zealand is black
relieved by grey, the neck being brown, the anal region and inner
secondaries chestnut, the wing-coverts white, the speculum green.
The hen-bird has the head white, the lower neck, back, and under
parts chestnut, varied with black and white. C. tadorno'ides, of
South and West Australia and Tasmania, has a glossy green head,
white collar, rufous lower neck and chest, black body with fulvous
mottlings, white wing -coverts, chestnut inner secondaries, and
green speculum, the head of the female being brown.

Chenalopex aegyptiaca, the " Egyptian Goose," found in Pales-
tine and Africa, is rusty or buffish-grey, marked above with black,
and with red, white, green, and black on the wing. The nape and
collar are rufous ; the breast shews a maroon patch, the bill is pink
and black, the feet are pink. It has a loud, harsh cry, feeds on land,
and lays rather small creamy eggs in cavities of rocks, on trees, or
even among rushes. C. jubata, of Amazonia and Guiana, is grey,
with greenish-black back, wings, and tail, ruddy mantle and belly,
purplish-green wing-coverts, and white speculum. The sexes are
alike in this genus and the next.

In Dendrocycna, containing the Tree-Ducks, which occur mostly
in the tropics, the main colour is chestnut or dusky-brown, with
dark nape and black rump or belly ; but the head may be lighter,
the throat or wing-coverts varied with white, or the flanks barred
with black and white. D. viduata, of the Ethiopian and Neo-
tropical Eegions, has the front of the head white ; D. autumnalisr
of Central America, and D. discolor, its greyer representative in
northern South America, have red bills and whitish feet ; D.
arborea, of the Bahamas and Antilles, has strongly spotted lower
parts, as has the larger D. guttata, of Mindanao, Celebes, New
Guinea, and the Moluccas ; D.fulva, of the Ethiopian, Neotropical,.

VOL. IX K

130 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

and Indian Kegions, has white upper and under tail -co verts ;
D. javanica, of the latter area only, has them chestnut above and
fulvous white below ; D. arcuata, ranging from the Malay Archi-
pelago to Fiji, has the breast chestnut barred with black ; D.
eytoni, of Australia, which has strayed to New Zealand, has it
yellowish -brown. These birds fly slowly and heavily, and perch
regularly on trees, where they sway awkwardly about upon the
branches ; the note is a clear whistle or a chattering sound ; the
food consists mainly of fish and water-plants, sought at all times
of day. In winter the flocks cause great damage to corn or rice
near the lagoons and other waters they frequent. The nest,
placed in hollow trees, stumps, long grass, or deserted habitations
of other birds, contains from six to twelve white eggs.

Sub-fain. 6. Chenonettinae. — Ohenonetta jubata of Australia
has a brown head, long black feathers on the hind-neck, greyish
upper parts with black tail, rump, and edges to the scapulars, a
green speculum with white borders, a breast mottled with black,
grey, and whitish, and a black abdomen. The female is paler, with
dull speculum and white belly. It lays its creamy-white eggs in the
bush districts in hollow trees, perching even on the tallest of them,
and uttering a barking note. CyanocJien cyanoptera, of Abyssinia
and Shoa, is grey-brown in both sexes, with black wings relieved by
lead-blue coverts, and green speculum tipped with white. Chloe-
pJiaga hylrida, the Kelp Goose of Patagonia and the Falklands,
which lives and breeds on the beach, is white, having a black bill
with basal yellow spot, and yellow feet. The female is brownish-
black with white rump, tail, and anal region, and black lower parts
barred with white ; the neck shews narrow white bands on its
sides, the black and white wing has the greater coverts green, and
the bill is flesh-coloured. C. melanoptera, of Western America
from Peru southwards, is distinguished by brown and white scapu-
lars, black primaries and tail, green and purple wing-coverts, red
bill and feet ; the female being similar. C. magellanica, the Upland
Goose, coextensive in range with C. hybrida, is white, barred
with black above; the rump, four median rectrices, and wings
being grey-black, with green and white on the wing-coverts, and
white secondaries ; the bill and feet are dusky. The female is
rufous and black, with similar wings but yellow feet. C. inornata,
of Chili, Argentina, and Patagonia, differs in having black pectoral
bands and a grey head in the female. C. poliocephala, of the same

IV

ANATIDAE

countries, with plumbeous, and C. rubidiceps, of the Falklands,
with cinnamon head, have in both sexes chestnut and black
plumage, the wing being as in C. magellanica, the bill black, the
feet black and orange. C. melanoptera will nest in holes in cliffs.
Sub-fam. 7. Anserinae. — In this group the female resembles
the male. Nesochen sandvicensis, of the Sandwich Islands, has a
black head and throat, brown plumage barred with whitish and
black, and buff sides of the neck with black stripes. It inhabits
craters and " lava-flows " 011 hills, and is fond of berries. The mem-
bers of the genus Bernicla, or Black Geese, are grey and black,
with a varying amount of white, and have black bills and feet. B.
brenta, the Brent Goose, our commonest winter species, is brownish-
black, with darker head, neck, and breast, white tail-coverts and
lateral neck-patches. It is found in the Arctic Eegions, and migrates
as far as the Mediterranean and the Mississippi. It feeds by day
in shallows on grass-wrack, laver, crustaceans, and insects, has
a loud note, and lays about four cream-coloured eggs. From
western Arctic America to the Lena occurs the form B. nigricans
with white collar and black belly. B. leucopsis, the Bernacle Goose,
migrating to the
same districts as B.
brenta, abounding on
our west coasts in
winter, and occupy-
ing in summer
Arctic Europe and
Greenland, where it
is supposed to breed,
has nested in one
place in Norway.
The front of the head
is white, the crown
and neck are black,
the mantle is laven-
der-grey marked
with black and
white, the under
parts are greyish. Unlike the Brent Goose, it feeds at night.
B. canadensis, of temperate North America, wintering down to
Mexico, has a triangular white patch on each side of the black

FIG. 35.— Red-breasted Goose. Bernicla ruficollis. x 1,

132 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

head, and is comparatively large; B. liutcliinsi is a smaller and
more Arctic form, B. minima and B. occidentalis north-western
races of the same. B. ruficollis, the Red-breasted Goose of West
Siberia, which migrates southwards, strays to Britain, and is por-
trayed in the paintings of Egypt, is black, with white loral patch,
rump, sides and belly, the ear-coverts, fore-neck, and chest are
chestnut outlined by white, and the two wing-bands are grey.

Philcwte canagica, the Emperor Goose of North-East Asia and
North-West America, is blue-grey with black and white bars, the
head and nape being white tinted with orange, the throat brownish,
the bill purplish-blue with white nail, and the feet orange.

Cycnopsis cycno'ides, the Chinese Goose of East Asia, is mainly
grey-brown above and whitish below, with rufous edges to the
feathers ; the head and neck are white with a brown band down
the crown and nape ; the bill is black, or in the domesticated
form red with a frontal knob ; the feet are orange.

Anser cinereus, the Grey-Lag, which nests in North Scotland
and as far south as Spain and Kashgaria, ranges from Iceland
to China, the Eastern race being called A. rubrirostris ; A. albi-
frons, the White-fronted Goose, is found in Britain and most
Palaearctic countries in winter, and chiefly eastward of Norway
in summer ; A. segetum, the Bean Goose, another of our hibernal
visitants, breeds from Scandinavia to Amurland, and migrates
southward to Madeira, North Africa, China, and Japan; A. IracTiy-
rhynchus, the Pink -footed Goose, extends over North Europe,
and is common with us in the cold season ; A. indicus inhabits
Central Asia and North India. A. middendorffi (grandis) of East
Siberia is a large form of the Bean Goose ; while the small A.
erytliropus, once shot in Britain, has a similar range to the White-
fronted Goose, of which both it and the big A. gambeli of North
America may be considered sub-species. The general coloration
in this genus is grey-brown ; in the Grey-Lag the bill and
feet are flesh-coloured with white nail, in the White-fronted Goose-
orange, the latter having a white forehead and white breast
with black bars. In the Bean and Pink-footed Geese the nail is
black, but the bill and feet are orange -and -black and pink
respectively. A. indicus is lighter, with brown hind-neck, and
two black crescents on the back of the white head. All these
" Grey Geese " feed chiefly by day among green corn, stubble, peas,,
beans or clover, retiring at night to sand-banks or mud-flats in

iv ANATIDAE I 3 3

winter ; the note, often syllabled " honk-honk/' is at times almost
a cackle, whence the flocks or " skeins " are called " gaggles."
The nest, placed in herbage or heather, is of grass, moss, twigs, or
aquatic plants, and contains five or more whitish eggs.

Chen hyperloreus, the " Wavy," or Snow Goose, of North-East
Asia and North-West America, with its larger Eastern American
race, C. nivalis, and C. rossi of Arctic America — which wander
south in winter, while the first has occurred in Britain and North
Europe — are white, with black primaries, purplish-red bills and
feet ; C. rossi having a warty base to the maxilla. C. caerulescens,
of eastern North America, is grey-brown, with white head, bluish
rump and wing-coverts. The food is of rushes, insects, and berries.

Sub-fam. 8. Cereopsinae. — Cereopsis novae liollandiae, the
Cape Barren Goose of South-East Australia and Tasmania, is grey-
brown, with large yellow cere, chiefly reddish-orange feet, black
toes and beak. More terrestrial than its nearest kin, it lays similar
eggs. The very large extinct Cnemiornis, of the superficial deposits
of New Zealand, was a close ally, with aborted keel to the sternum
and short wings useless for flight.

Sub-fam. 9. Plectropterinae. — Aex sponsa,} the Summer Duck
of North America and Cuba, accidental in Jamaica and the
Bermudas, has the upper parts mainly glossy green, with purple
cheeks, black neck-patches, and white stripes on the face and
neck ; the breast is chestnut with white spots, the throat and belly
are white, the wing-coverts partly blue, the flanks brown, black,
and white ; the bill is black, white, yellow, purplish, and scarlet ;
the feet are yellow. It has a long occipital crest. The female is
grey -brown with metallic gloss, a white throat and eye -space,
plumbeous and black bill, and brownish feet. This inland species
feeds on insects, seeds, leaves, and acorns, and lays buff eggs in
holes in trees. Aex galericulata, the Mandarin Duck of East
Asia, is somewhat similar, but has a neck-ruff of narrow chestnut
feathers streaked with whitish, a chestnut and black " fan " formed
by the decurved innermost secondary, a copper, purple, and green
crest, and a red-brown bill. The female is brown, grey, and white.

Nettopus pulchellus, of Australia, New Guinea, and the

Moluccas, has the upper parts and neck-collar dark green, the

head browner, the remiges and rectrices black with a white

wing-bar, the cheeks and lower parts white, the sides marked with

1 I can hardly agree with Count Salvador! in placing Aex here.

1 34 ANSERIFORMES CHAP.

green crescentic bands, and the bill and feet black. M coroman-
delianus, extending from the Indian Eegion to Celebes, has a
white neck, a brown band across the breast, and the flanks freckled
with grey ; N. albipennis, of East Australia, is similar but larger ;
N. auritus, of "West and South Africa with Madagascar, has a sea-
green patch on each side of the occiput, the lower part of the neck
and the flanks being rufous. The females are much duller. These
" Pigmy Geese " frequent small lakes and dive admirably ; the
note is a cackle ; the nest, placed in holes in trees or ruins, if not
among grass, contains from six to twelve white eggs.

Pteronetta hartlaubi, of West Africa, is chestnut with black
head and blue wing-coverts in both sexes. Ehodonessa caryo-
phyllacea, of India and Burma, is rich brown dotted with whitish,
the head and nape being pink, the speculum salmon-coloured, the
bill reddish-white, the feet blackish. It lays round white eggs.

Asarcornis scutulata, ranging from East Bengal to Java, has a
black and white head, black mantle and under surface, greenish-
olive upper parts, with black and white on the wings, a blue-grey
speculum, reddish bill and feet. Sarcidiornis mdanonota, of India,
Ceylon, Burma, and the Ethiopian Kegion, is black with metallic
hues above, and white below ; the head and neck are black and
white, the rump is grey, the tail brown, the feet, bill, and its
basal comb or caruncle black. 8. carunculata, of Brazil, Paraguay,
and North Argentina, differs in its black rump. The comb is
largest in the breeding season, and is wanting in females. These
Wattle-Ducks perch on trees and breed in cavities of the trunks,
laying a dozen or more white eggs. The note is harsh and the
flight slow. Cairina moschata, the Muscovy — or more correctly
Musk — Duck of ornamental waters, extends from Mexico to
Argentina ; the crested head, neck, and lower parts are brownish-
black ; the upper surface is glossy green, with purple on the back
and white wing-coverts ; the bill is black and white ; the feet are
black ; and the frontal and orbital caruncles of the male red. It
inhabits forest-swamps, roosts in trees, eats maize, mandioc roots,
and herbage, and nests in holes in trees or between forking
branches. Plectropterus gambensis of Mid- Africa, P. rilppelli of
the North-East, P. niger of the South-East, and P. scioanus of
Shoa, the four hardly separable Spur-winged Geese, are metallic
black, with more or less white on the sides of the head, lesser
wing-coverts, throat, and abdomen ; the feet, bill, frontal knob,

iv ANATIDAE 135

and caruncles on the forehead when present being red. The
female has no knob. They frequent marshes, appear to prefer
running to flying or perching, and lay about eight whitish eggs.

Sub-fam. 10. Anseranatinae, — This contains only Anseranas
semipalmata of Australia and Tasmania, a white bird with black
head, neck, mantle, wings, and tail, reddish beak, and yellow feet.
It haunts swamps, walks easily, and deposits some five white eggs.

Sub-fam. 11. Cygninae. — In this group the sexes are similar.
Coscoroba Candida, of southern South America, is white, with black
tips to the primaries, pinkish bill and feet. It feeds on land, has
a loud trumpeting cry, and a less noisy flight than the true Swans,
from which it differs in its feathered lores. Chenopis atrata, the
Black Swan of Southern Australia and Tasmania, occasionally
domesticated in England, is brownish-black, with white remiges,
black feet, pink lores, and pink bill banded with white, the
scapulars and inner secondaries being curled.

Cygnus musicus, the Whooper, which used to breed in Orkney,
and ranges from Iceland through Arctic Europe and Asia, migrat-
ing to the Mediterranean, Nepal, China, and Japan, and straying
to Greenland, is white with black feet and bill, the basal half of
the latter being yellow, while that colour extends still further on
the sides. The flight is accompanied by a rushing sound, the note
is trumpet-like or whistling, the food consists of aquatic plants, the
five or more white eggs are laid upon a pile of herbage near water.
The smaller C. bewicki, where the yellow on the bill does not reach
the nostrils, inhabits the Arctic districts from the White Sea to
the Pacific, wandering in winter to Britain, the Mediterranean,
South Siberia, China, and Japan. C. columbianus of North
America, said to have occurred in Scotland, has merely a yellow
spot before the eye ; C. buccinator, of the interior of North
America, has a black bill ; while C. olor, the Mute or Tame Swan,
with its variety the Polish Swan, has the fore-part of it orange.
C. olor ranges from South Sweden and Denmark through Central
Europe and Asia, migrating a little southwards. C. melanocory-
plius, reaching from South Brazil and Chili to Patagonia and the
Falklands, has the head and two-thirds of the neck black, with
white eye-streak ; the bill is plumbeous with red base and knob,
the feet are pinkish. The protuberance is wanting in the young,
which are marked with rusty, and have the head brown. Of other
species immature birds are greyish or dusky, with flesh-coloured

136

ANSERIFORMES

CHAP.

.and black beak, except in C. olor, where it is plumbeous. In
habits Swans are much alike, though the notes differ somewhat,
and the Mute Swan merely hisses or croaks in captivity ; the
latter and the Black Swan are noted for the graceful curve of
the neck and their greenish eggs ; while the wing-feathers and
scapulars are habitually puffed out when on the water. Swans
were " Eoyal Birds " in mediaeval England, and a licence was
necessary to keep them, but for this subject and that of the " Swan-
marks " on the bill, as well as for accounts of decoys, hybrids, and

fCC

FIG. 36. Bewick's Swan. Cygnus bewicki. x TV

domestic races in the Family, the reader must be referred to the
works of Professor Newton,1 Count Salvadori,2 and other authors.
Fossil remains of this group are found throughout the Miocene
of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, referred to Anser and
Anas, with Chenornis graculo'ides ; the Pliocene of Oregon has
furnished Branta, Cygnus, and Anser, that of Italy Anas and
Fuligula ; the Plistocene of Malta Cygnus and Palaeocycnus, that
of Brazil Chenalopex. The superficial deposits of New Zealand con-
tain Cnemiornis, mentioned above, as well as CJienopis and Biziura;
the Queensland drifts the last-named, and, it is said, Anas,
Dendrocycna, and Nyroca ; the Mare aux Songes of Mauritius
Anas and Sarcidiornis, Centrornis majori is a remarkable form

1 Cf. Diet. Birds, artt. Duck, Goose, Swan, and the references there given.
2 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. 1895.

iv FALCONIFORMES : CATHARTIDAE 137

from Central Madagascar, found at a depth of twelve to fifteen
feet with another species Chenalopex sirdbensis.1

Order VII. FALCONIFORMES.

Next to the aquatic Anseriformes may be placed the large
and important terrestrial Order Falconiformes, with its Sub- Orders
CATHARTAE and ACCIPITRES. The former contains the New-
World Vultures (Cathartidae or Sarcorhamphidae), possessing
striking differences of structure from their allies ; 2 the latter, the
Secretary-Bird (Serpentariidae), the Old- World Vultures (Vul-
turidae), the Carrion-Hawks, Hawks, Eagles, Falcons and their kin
(Falconidae), and the Ospreys (Pandionidae). All agree in the
strong " raptorial " bill with basal cere, the U -shaped furcula, the
large crop, the carnivorous habits, the great powers of flight,
the superior size of the female, and the long nest-occupation of
the young ; but the Cathartae differ in having pervious nostrils,
no syringeal muscles, less flattened metatarsi, and so forth.

Fam. I. Cathartidae. — These Vultures range from tropical to
temperate America, and are often of immense size ; the bill is
strong, hooked, but blunt; the feet are clumsy with small scales; the
scutellated toes, of which the mid-digit is longest and the hallux
somewhat elevated, are unfit for grasping ; the claws are obtuse
and little curved. The ample wings have eleven primaries and
from twelve to twenty-five secondaries ; the moderate tail is even
or rounded, with twelve rectrices, or fourteen in Pseudogryphus.
The head and long neck are commonly bare, but the latter may be
covered with stubbly down, which in Gyparclius papa extends to
the occiput ; the naked skin is often brightly coloured and accom-
panied by caruncles, while the crop is bare in Sarcorhamphus and
Gyparclms. The eyes are prominent, the cere is horny and some-
times very long, the tongue thick and fleshy, the aftershaft absent.
The sexes are alike in plumage, with evenly distributed down,
and the nestlings soon develop a white or rufous covering.

Though, generally speaking, predaceous, the members of this
Family only attack disabled animals, or often act chiefly as
scavengers, whence the smaller forms are commonly found near
the abodes of man and even in towns. The larger species sail
high above the earth with easy, long-sustained, and majestic flight,

1 Andrews, Ibis, 1897, pp. 344-355. 2 Huxley, P.Z.S. 1867, pp. 463-464.

138 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

accompanied by little movement of the pinions, as they circle over
the plains or mountain-sides in search of prey. In this quest
experiments have shewn that they are little guided by smell ;
rather does some individual; aided by its marvellously keen sight,
spy the carrion from afar, its motives being instantly divined by its
immediate neighbour ; a third bird is next attracted ; and so the
tidings spread, until a greedy crowd meets to dismember the car-
cass, to fight over the morsels, and then to sit stupid and gorged,
with drooping wings, on or near the ground. Except when feed-
ing, the Cathartidae are non-gregarious, though "Turkey-Buzzards"
and " Black Vultures " roost in company ; the latter are said to
take to the wing with ease, eschewing the preliminary hops of
their allies ; while all walk well. The voice is a hoarse sound or
hiss, owing to the absence of syringeal muscles. The nest of sticks
is placed in trees, cavities of rocks, hollow stumps, or on the ground,
and may be bulky or of the slightest description ; the one or two eggs
are white, buff, or greenish, with or without reddish-brown and grey
blotches. The parents regurgitate food — at least occasionally —
for the nestlings, and eject foul-smelling matter when disturbed.
Sarcorhamphus gryphus, the Condor, only equalled in size among
birds that fly by a few Old- World Vultures, and appearing still
larger in clear mountain air, ranges down western South America
and up to the Eio Negro on the east of Patagonia. The head and
neck are bare, with dull red skin, wrinkled in folds on the latter ;
while an oblique ruff of white down surmounts the black plumage,
which shews white edges to the wing-coverts and secondaries. The
male has a fleshy crest extending from the mid-cere to the crown,
a large wattle on the throat, and a small caruncle below ; the irides
being in that sex brown, in the female garnet-red. The bill is
white with brown base. Smaller and browner examples occur in
Ecuador, but larger appendages mark those of Chili and Patagonia.
In the southern portion of their range Condors are found down to
the sea-level, but Mr. E. Whymper l states that in Ecuador they
frequent the Andes up to sixteen thousand feet, and rarely descend
to the plains. Stupid and voracious, they can be lassoed while
feeding, and, though they will attack old horses, calves, lambs,
goats, deer, and dogs, especially when dazzled by the sun, they
seldom risk an assault on mankind. The nest, of a few sticks, is
placed on steep cliffs, and contains two white eggs. A young bird

1 Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, 1891-92, pp. 200-205.

IV

CATHARTIDAE

139

was hatched in London after fifty-four days' incubation, but
apparently nearly a year is taken to gain full powers of flight.
Gyparchus papa, the King Vulture, of tropical America, save the
West Indies, has a small fleshy crest on the cere in both sexes,
but no wattles, though the skin of the sides of the head is
wrinkled; the occiput is hairy, and a ruff of broad plumbeous
feathers surrounds the neck. The rump, tail, and most of the

FIG. 37. — Condor. Sarcorhamphus gryphus ?.

wings are black ; the remaining plumage being creamy white, the
bare throat and back of the neck yellow, the skin of the head and
neck elsewhere orange and red with blue patches near the ears,
the bill orange and black, the irides white. This bird haunts
woods near rivers and marshes, especially towards the coast, and
feeds on snakes and carrion, from which it drives all other species ;
in flight, habit of gorging, and eggs, it resembles the Condor.
Little smaller is the Californian Vulture (Pseudogryplius calif or-
nianus), formerly extending to the Fraser Eiver in British

1 40 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

Columbia, in which the long flat head and neck are bare, smooth,
and orange-coloured, the bill being whitish and the irides carmine.
The plumage is dull black with a whitish wing-band, due to the
margins of the greater coverts and secondaries ; lanceolate feathers
form a basal ruff round the neck, and extend over the lower parts.
The habits are similar to those of the foregoing, but the loose
nest of sticks, placed in cavities of trees or crags, contains one
rough greenish-white egg. The genus Rhinogryphus or Cathartes
(" Turkey-Buzzard ") includes E. aura, of temperate and tropical
America, reaching to Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands, in
which the head and upper neck are naked, smooth, and crimson ;
and R. burrovianus, found from Mexico to Brazil, where they are
orange and the nape is feathered ; the yellow-headed R. perniger,
of Amazonia, being hardly separable. All are black with whitish
bill, red irides, and a tuft of bristles in front of the eye ; but
the first has brown-margined feathers and metallic sheen above. In
common with Catharista, they have the cere very long. During
the day-time these quarrelsome scavengers, ubiquitous but neces-
sary, haunt the house-tops and roadways of towns and villages,
whence they retire at night to groves or forests in company ; other-
wise their habits are those of Vultures generally. They have been
said to pair for life, while they deposit two whitish eggs with red-
brown and lilac markings in some hollow of a crag, tree, or log, often
on or near the ground, adding little, if any, bedding. Catharista
atratus, the " Carrion Crow " or Black Vulture, which ranges from
Argentina and Chili to the West Indies and Carolina, and
occasionally further north, is most plentiful near the coast ; the
fearless demeanour, flight, manner of feeding, nesting habits and
eggs, resembling those of Turkey-Buzzards, though the wing-
action is more laboured, and the gait shuffling. Audubon says
that the males strut and gesticulate like Turkeys when court-
ing, while incubation lasts about three weeks. The colour is
black, the naked head being dusky and the upper neck some-
what corrugated ; the bill is blackish with light tip, the irides
are brown.

Fossils referred to this Family are met with in North and
South America,1

The points wherein the Cathartae differ from the Accipitres

1 Check-List N. Amer. Birds, 1895, p. 344 ; Moreno and Mercerat, An. Mus. La
Plata, Pal. Argent, i. 1891, pp. 67-69, pis. xviii.-xx. See also Dryornis (p. 44 supra}.

IV SERPENTARIIDAE 14!

having been already noticed (p. 137), it only remains to discuss
in detail the several families comprised in the latter Sub-Order.

Fam. II. Serpentariidae. — This contains only Serpentarius
secretarius, the African Secretary-Bird — now generally recognised
as an Accipitrine form — which is most common in the south,

£L£
FIG. 38. — Secretary- Bird. Serpentarius secretarius. x ^.

though extending northwards to the Gambia, Khartum, and
Abyssinia. It was first accurately made known in 1769, from
an example living in the menagerie of the Prince of Orange, by
Vosmaer, who was told that at the Cape of Good Hope it was
called " Sagittarius," or Archer, from its habit of striding like a
bowman about to shoot, and that this name had been corrupted
into "Secretarius." Subsequently — about 1770 — a pair was-

142 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

brought alive to England.1 The appellation is evidently, how-
ever, derived from the nuchal tuft, which bears a fancied resem-
blance to the pen of a clerk stuck above his ear. Standing some
four feet high on very long legs, this bird gives the impression of a
Heron or Crane, and is a striking object on its native plains. The
short strong beak is greatly arched, and is not toothed, the neck
is elongated, the body comparatively small, and the metatarsus
boldly scutellated all round, the short straight toes with their
blunt claws being joined anteriorly by small membranes. The
ample wings have eleven pointed primaries and seventeen second-
aries ; the graduated tail of twelve rectrices has the two obtuse
median feathers drooping and much prolonged. Down is evenly
distributed over the adults, and an aftershaft is present. The
general colour is bluish-grey, with black wing-quills, lower back
and vent ; the loose pendent crest on the occiput and nape con-
tains ten plumes in pairs, the longer being black and the shorter
grey with black ends ; the tail is grey, subterminally barred with
black and tipped with white, which sometimes shews on the short
close flank-feathers. The long cere, naked sides of the face, and
feet are yellow, the irides hazel. The sexes are similar.

In South Africa these useful birds — favoured by a protecting
law — are often brought up tame about the homesteads, where
they kill reptiles and keep off feathered intruders, though they
occasionally tax the poultry -yard themselves ; the food consists
of small mammals, birds, lizards, and tortoises, but above all of
snakes and insects. When the Secretary attacks a reptile, it
advances on foot and delivers a forward kick with its powerful
leg, striking simultaneously with the knobbed wings, which shield
its body ; then it retreats with a bound, as the hissing snake makes
a vicious lunge ; but soon, watching its opportunity, breaks through
its opponent's guard and stands triumphant with crest erect, before
swallowing the disabled foe.2 If, however, the snake touches the
bird's flesh, the result is reversed ; and so well, according to Mr.
Atmore,3 does the latter know this, that it plucks out instantly any
feather that the fangs have reached. Possibly reptiles are occa-
sionally killed by being carried aloft and dropped. Usually seen
stalking easily along, this graceful species can almost out-pace a

1 Cf. A. Newton, Did. Birds, 1894, pp. 822, 823

2 This is abbreviated from the account by J. Verreaux, P.Z.S. 1856, pp. 348-352.
3 Layard, ed. Sharpe, Birds of South Africa, 1875-1884, p. 9.

iv VULTURIDAE 143

horseman, while it will fly when hard pressed, or soar to a con-
siderable height. The huge nest, occupied from year to year, is
placed in a bush or tree, and is composed of sticks and clay with
a lining of wool and hair, the two or three eggs being white with
rusty markings. In six weeks the downy white young are hatched,
which remain some four months in the nest, often uttering a harsh
cry. The legs of both nestlings and adults are very fragile, and
snap if they trip while running.

A fossil form (S. robustus) has been recorded from the Lower
Miocene of Allier in France.

Fam. III. Vulturidae. — The Old -World Vultures have a strong
hooked bill — exceptionally slender in Neophron — which may be
sinuate, but has no tooth. They possess a horny cere ; a compara-
tively short, stout, reticulated metatarsus, often partly feathered ;
scutellated toes on a level, with bluntish slightly curved claws, and
a short membrane between the outer and mid digits. They lack
the bony ridge found over the eye in the Falconidae. The some-
what pointed wings are long and broad, with eleven primaries
and from seventeen to twenty-five secondaries ; the moderate tail,
ordinarily of twelve feathers, is rounded, but varies to wedge-
shaped in Neophron, where, as in Gyps, there are fourteen
rectrices. The plumage is compact ; the crop prominent ; the
head and neck are bare or sparsely-haired in Otogyps and Pseudo-
gyps, more or less downy in Vultur, Lophogyps, and Gyps, and
partly feathered in Neophron ; while a ruff of down or plumes
covers the shoulders. The nostrils are circular in Vultur,
horizontally elongated in Neophron, oval and vertical else-
where ; the fleshy tongue may show bristly or upcurved
margins, and the syrinx has two pairs of tracheo-bronchial
muscles. Uniformly distributed down and an aftershaft charac-
terize the adults, while the white woolly nestling of Gyps is said
to be hatched naked.1 Except as regards Neophron, the habits
resemble those of the Cathartidae, the carrion diet producing a
most offensive odour. The plumage of the sexes is the same.

Vultur monachus (cinereus), the Black Vulture, has its head-
quarters in the Mediterranean Eegion, whence it extends to the
Gold Coast, Nubia, the Lower Danube, North India and China, and
has strayed to Denmark. Not unlike the more sociable Griffon Vul-
ture in general habits, it shows a preference for wooded country,

1 Chapman and Buck, Wild Spain, 1893, p. 207.

144 ALCONIFORMES CHAP.

constructing a bulky shallow nest of sticks, grass, and wool almost
invariably on trees, and laying one, or rarely two, white eggs
blotched *with dark red. The plumage is brownish -black, with a
ruff of lanceolate feathers below the bare neck, and black down
on the crown and throat. The naked skin and cere are of a livid
flesh-colour, the feet yellowish ; the bill is black, the iris brown.
Lophogyps occipitalis, of East and South Africa and Senegal, is dark
brown with blacker remiges and rec trices, and some white on the
wings ; the reddish head and neck are bare, except for white down
on the crown, which thickens towards the occiput ; the ruff is
brown, the abdomen and crop are white, the feet pinkish ; the bill
is orange with bluish cere, the iris brown. Otogyps auricularis, of
North-East and South Africa, called the " Eared Vulture " from the
fleshy lappets (of the same pinkish colour as the naked head, cere,
and feet) on the sides of the neck, is brown, with blackish wings and
tail, varied by white down on the thighs and chest ; a brown ruff
covers the hind-neck, while the bill and irides are yellow. 0. calvus,
the smaller Pondicherry- or King-Vulture of India, Burma, and
Siam, is black. These birds usually hunt in pairs, driving all
intruders except Eagles from their prey : they construct immense
stick nests, often used in successive years, on thick bushes or trees ;
straw, leaves, and the like being added for lining, and one white
egg, often with red-brown markings, deposited. Gyps fulvus, the
Griffon Vulture, which has occurred in Germany, Poland, and once
in Britain, breeds from the Spanish Pyrenees through Southern
Europe and Northern Africa, reaching lat. 50° N. in Eussia, and
extending eastward to North India, by way of Turkestan, where
it overlaps the larger form G. himalayensis. It is fawn-brown
above and streaky buff below, with nearly black wings and tail, the
adults having a downy white ruff, represented in the young by a
brown collar ; the head is thinly covered with white hairs, the
beak is horn-coloured with blue-black cere, the feet are plumbeous,
the irides orange. This active though cowardly species is often
seen basking on rocks at mid-day ; it flies or hovers with easy
movements, and can soar until it almost disappears in the sky. It
has a growling note. The nest, a mass of sticks and grass of vari-
able size, is placed on cliffs, and contains one or even two white
eggs, sometimes with rusty markings. Incubation lasts forty days,
the young remaining three months in the nest. G-. kolbi of South
Africa is much paler ; G. ruppelli, of the north-east and south of

VULTURIDAE 145

that continent, has a yellower head and browner back ; G. indicus
of India and the Indo-Malay mainland, from which G. pallescens
is hardly separable, has a barer head and comparatively t'hin bill ;
the former breeds in trees in place of rocks. Pseudogyps lengal-
ensis, the White-backed Vulture, ranging through India and down
the Malay Peninsula, is black above, but brownish below, with the
thin downy ruff and lower back white ; the bill is greyish, the cere,
feet, naked head and neck are black, the irides brown. This bird
snorts, hisses, or even roars, and walks easily, though awkwardly.
It nests in company on trees, and often lines the large stick-fabric
with foliage, as do so many other Eaptorial forms; the greenish- white
eggs, seldom marked with red, vary much in bulk. P. africanus,
of North-East and West Africa, is decidedly browner.

The genus Neophron contains the smallest Vultures, N. percno-
pterus being called, from its frequent occurrence on Egyptian hiero-
glyphs, the Egyptian Vulture or Pharaoh's Hen. It has wandered
thrice to Britain and also to North Europe, while it breeds from
Savoy and Provence to Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verds,
North Africa, and India, meeting in the last-named the smaller N.
ginginianus ; in winter it visits South Africa, where it is called
the " White Crow." The plumage is white, with black primaries
and partially brown secondaries ; a ruff of lanceolate feathers ex-
tends up to the occiput, the naked head and neck are yellow, the tip
of the bill alone being black ; the feet are pink, the irides crimson.
Often seen striding sedately along in search of animal and vegetable
refuse or dung, this species also follows the plough and devours
worms, grubs, insects, reptiles, and frogs ; while from its alleged
habit of breaking bones left by other Vultures, it is called
" Quebranta-huesos " or " bone-smasher " by the Spaniards.1 The
flight is slow and easy, the voice a croak. The flat nest of sticks,
lined with soft materials, and especially rags, is placed on a crag or
tree, and contains two white eggs with red-brown or claret blotches.
N. pileatus of South Africa — which has a larger north-eastern and
western form — is brown, with black wings and tail, downy whitish
nape, purplish naked areas, dusky bill and feet, and brown irides.

Of fossil forms there are recorded Gyps melitensis - from the
Plistocene of Malta, and Vultur from that of France.3

1 Chapman and Buck, Wild Spain, 1893, p. 206. The Black Vulture, however,
may possibly be meant, as the Egyptian Vulture does not seem to break bones.

2 Lydekker, P.Z.S. 1890, p. 404. 3 Id. Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 29.
VOL. IX L

146 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

Fam. IV. Falconidae. — This group may be divided into the
Sub-families (1) Gypaetinae for the Lammergeiers ; (2) Polyborinae
for the " Carrion Hawks " ; (3) Accipitrinae for the Hawks, with
Circus, Polyboro'ides, and so forth ; (4) Aquilinae for the Eagles ;
(5) Buteoninae for the Buzzards and Kites ; and (6) Falconinae
for the Falcons.

Though the skull is small in Circus and some other forms, it
is usually large and broad, being considerably elongated in the
Aquilinae. The short stout bill is strongly curved, and ter-
minates in a hook, which is often nearly perpendicular, and is
specially prominent in Rostrhamus, Leptodon, Harpyhaliaetus,
Pithecopliaga and Thrasaetus ; the basal third is straight in Eagles,
while the edges of the maxilla are lobed or festooned to a variable
extent, and in the Falconinae are distinctly toothed, or even biden-
tate in the case of Spiziapteryx, Harpagus, and Baza. A bony
ridge over the eye conduces to the fierce aspect, especially in the
larger species. The feet are robust and well-fitted for grasping,
and are enormously developed in Thrasaetus ; the metatarsus is
much flattened, and may be scutellated or reticulated, though the
scales are usually smaller behind ; the tibia generally exceeds it
in measurement, but in Accipitrine forms is nearly equal, giving
them a long-legged appearance. Elongated bare metatarsi are
characteristic of Circus, Polyloro'ides, and the Polyborinae. The
claws are sharp and curved, especially in Rostrhamus ; a short
membrane connects the middle and outer toes, and the inner also
in the Polyborinae; while their under surface is more or less padded,
and exhibits rugose spicules below in Busarellus, similar to those
in Pandion. The powerful wings may be long and pointed, as in
the Kites, Falcons, and Harriers ; moderate and somewhat rounded,
as in the Eagles and Buzzards ; or short and narrow, as in Hawks.
Falconers term the long- winged forms " noble," the short-winged
" ignoble." The tail, usually of medium size, but sometimes very
short, as in Helotarsus and Gypohierax, is decidedly elongated in
the Accipitrinae and Polyborus, and also in Milvus, Lophoictinia,
Elano'ides, and Nauclerus, where it is forked — very deeply in the
two last : it may be wedge-shaped, as in Uroaeius, Thalassaetus,
Harpy haliaetus, and Gypaetus ; rounded, as in Elanus and Hali-
aetus ; nearly even, as in Buteo and Aquila; or emarginated, as in
Ictinia and Rostrhamus. Normally there are twelve rect rices, but
Thalassaetus has fourteen. The colour varies greatly with age,

iv FALCONIDAE 147

and it often takes four years or more to attain maturity, the
markings commonly changing from longitudinal to transverse ;
but the sexes are usually alike, though the Kestrel, Merlin, Ked-
footed Falcon, and many Harriers are well-known exceptions, the
last having generally blue-grey males and brown females. The
occipital feathers are elongated in several of the Polyborinae,
and a full crest occurs in many genera, Lophoaetus, Tlirasaetus,
Harpy 'haliaetus, Helotarsus, Morplinus, and Lophoictinia being
especially noticeable ; Circus has a facial ruff, coupled with excep-
tionally large aural apertures ; the feathers of the neck may be
lanceolate, as in Haliaetus, or those of the nape, as in Aquila ;
and the plumage commonly over-hangs the metatarsus, which is
feathered to the toes in various Aquiline forms, and in Archibuteo.
The nostrils are circular in the Falconinae, oval or nearly linear
elsewhere, with a central tubercle in 'the last-named and the
Polyborinae, seldom found in the other Sub-families : they are
generally in or near the cere, which is almost always fleshy. An
aftershaft is present; the down in adults is uniform; that of
the nestling being woolly and varying from white to grey, buff,
brown, or black. The feet are yellow, red, or brown ; the bill is
ordinarily dark, and the cere yellow ; G-ypaetus, however, has all these
parts bluish-grey, with a crimson sclerotic membrane (equivalent
to the " white of the eye ") round the orange iris, the latter being
yellow or orange in the Accipitrinae, brown in the Falconinae, and
varying to red elsewhere. The syrinx has two pairs of tracheo-
bronchial muscles ; the tongue is thick and often concave ; and
Mtzsch * has recorded single or paired powder-down patches on
the lower back of Mano'ides, Elanus, Eegerliinus, and Circus, with
similar but scattered down-feathers in Gypaetus.

The members of this Family range in size from the mighty
Lammergeier to the tiny Finch-Falcon (Microhierax) ; but they
have many habits in common, though Polyborus and Milvago
are somewhat terrestrial and vulturine, and a few species have
crepuscular tendencies. They are decidedly non- gregarious,
though the Polyborinae, Erytliropus, and Eostrliamus form partial
exceptions ; they pair very early in the year, if not for life, the
larger forms in especial breeding almost before winter is over. Birds
of the mountains, the plains, and the woods, they can bear the
cold of the icy regions or the heat of the Equator, but towards

1 Pterylography (Ray Soc.} ed. Sclater, 1867, p. 37.

148 FALCONIFORMES

either pole the number of species decreases perceptibly. The sight
is exceptionally keen, and the flight generally powerful and rapid ;
Eagles and Buzzards indeed move heavily to all appearance, as
they circle or sail around with flapping action, but the spectacle
of the former in chase of a grouse will quickly disillusion the
observer. Kites are still more versatile upon the wing, nor are
the Polyborine forms always deficient in this respect, while the
dash and speed of Hawks and Falcons in their different styles is
proverbial.1 Harriers and the like may be seen buoyantly quarter-
ing the ground for hours, poising themselves almost motionless
aloft, or gliding in circles to great heights ; and the hovering or
stationary position on the wing, which gives the name of " Wind-
hover " to the Kestrel, is more general than might be supposed
throughout the Family. Taken as a class, few birds can fly so well
or so untiringly, though Vultures, Cranes, Storks, Albatroses, and the
larger Gulls have even greater powers of endurance ; they can, more-
over, perch with great facility, and, while seldom running or walking
fast, can move with freedom upon the ground, where they generally
progress by means of hops, and aid themselves with their wings.
Many of the Falconidae are very quarrelsome, and use their talons
as weapons of offence, this trait being emphasized at the nesting-
quarters, whence feathered intruders are rigorously excluded. The
cry is shrill, but varies in depth ; in the Peregrine Falcon it is a
succession of short notes, in Eagles it resembles a yelp, in Buzzards
a cat's mew, in Kites a whistle, and so forth ; whereas in Melierax
it may almost be called a song. The diet varies considerably, and
consists of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, frogs, tortoises, crabs,
molluscs, and insects. GypoTiierax, Aquila, Ifaliaslur, Milvago, and
Polyborus certainly eat carrion, and the last will attack newly-born
lambs — a grievance made the most of by sheep-farmers in the case
of Eagles ; while the larger forms kill fawns, monkeys, foxes, hares,
and other creatures of considerable size. Buzzards keep down
rabbits, and hunt rats and mice as assiduously as Harriers and the
Kestrel ; the latter devours quantities of insects, as do also some of
the Polyborinae; and the so-called "Honey" Buzzard (Pernis) gains
its name from its fondness for grubs of bees or wasps. Kites
work havoc among poultry ; the Golden Eagle, and still more the
Peregrine Falcon, among moor-fowl ; the last two proving an

1 Falconry is too large a subject to be considered here ; but the reader may be
referred to the works of Salvin and Brodrick, Freeman and Salvin, and others.

IV FALCONIDAE 1 49

advantage in Scotch deer-forests, where the noisy grouse disturb
the stags, but being in peril of extermination on the moorlands ;
yet it is questionable whether more good than harm is not done
by the destruction of weakly game. The Osprey and Sea-Eagle
eat little but fish, though they are not alone in that habit, while
Eostrhamus lives almost entirely on fresh-water molluscs. Most
members of the Family do not alight to capture their prey, but seize
it with their sharp talons either sitting or on the wing, the chief
exceptions being the carrion- and insect-eaters ; it is often con-
veyed to some favourite spot of ground or rock to devour, smaller
objects being transported in the bill and the bigger torn to pieces
and stripped before being swallowed. Large bones may be broken
up, slender bones bolted entire ; but hard substances are always
ejected subsequently as pellets, after the manner of Owls (p. 401),
the nature of the diet being readily detected from these castings.
Exceptionally curious habits are credited to Gypaetus and Gypoic-
tinia, as will be seen below. After a meal, quiescence is the rule,
but none of the tribe gorge like Vultures. The predilections of
species or even of individuals determine the situation of the nest,
Eagles and other large forms preferring rocks in mountain -glens,
lofty cliffs, or trees, for their bulky fabric of sticks, heather, and
the like, which is lined with softer substances, and often bedded with
foliage. The larger Falcons frequently select ledges on sea-girt or
inland crags, and merely scrape a hole in the soil ; but they, in
common with the lesser Falcons, also utilize deserted habitations
of Crows and so forth, or even lay their eggs on level ground or
upon crumbling masonry ; while the American " Sparrow-Hawk "
(Tinnunciilus sparverius) commonly appropriates old holes of
Woodpeckers. Harriers, Rostrhamus, and other forms choose
sites in reed-beds, gorse-coverts, fern, rough grass, or corn, and
eschew hard materials ; Hawks usually construct a flat platform
of branches lined with thinner twigs. The eggs are generally
bluish-, greenish-, or yellowish-white, with fine blotches, streaks,
and spots of red, brown, or claret, chiefly towards the larger
end ; but in Falcons they are more or less covered with ruddy
or orange markings, which often obliterate the ground-colour. Un-
spotted specimens are not uncommon, and in the case of Harriers
we have an instance of a plain bluish coloration, a few rusty
stains being exceptionally visible. Alternative sites are frequently
tenanted, or former nests repaired. Incubation is often of con-

FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

siderable duration, and the young remain long in the nest — four
months, it is said, in the Lammergeier ; the longevity, too, of
Eagles is notorious, a span of a hundred years having been actually
recorded. Unconscious mimicry is shewn by Accipiter pileatus,
which assumes the garb of Harpagus diodon near Rio Janeiro.
Sub-fain. 1. Gypaetinae. — This group apparently links the

FIG. 39. — Lammergeier. Gypaetus barbatus. x £-^.

Vulturidae to the Falconidae, but seems nearer to the latter.
Gypaetus larlatus, the magnificent Lammergeier, is greyish-black
with white streaks, and has a white crown, cheeks with a black band
bifurcating at the eye to meet above, and pale tawny lanceolate
plumage on the neck and lower parts. Dense black bristles cover
the nostrils and lores, and a black tuft, which gives the name of
" Bearded Vulture," projects below the mandible. The sclerotic

iv FALCONIDAE 151

membrane is crimson (p. 1 4 *7 ). The young are chiefly brown and buff.
From Portugal arid Mauritania this species extends through the
lofty mountains of South Europe to the Himalayas and North China,
though practically exterminated in Switzerland and Carinthia ;
G. ossifragus (meridionalis), with no black stripe below the eye,
represents it in North - Eastern and Southern Africa. Avoid-
ing its own kin, the Lammergeier often breeds near Griffon
Vultures ; the large nest of sticks, lined with wool and hair, begun
very early in the year, being placed in some cavity of a cliff or
on a precipitous ledge, and containing one egg — or rarely two —
which appear pale orange owing to the confluent markings. The
flight is majestic and powerful ; the cry weak and querulous, with
a croak when irritated. In parts of Spain arid India, natives
assert that this bird preys only on carcases ; but in Macedonia it
is said to carry off lambs, kids, and fowls, and no doubt occasion-
ally it kills small mammals and birds, though all statements
should be carefully criticised, as it usurps the name of " Grifo "
or Griffon in Spain, and that of Golden Eagle in India ; while
conversely any Eagle is pointed out in the Alps as a Lammergeier.
It has been credited with a habit of scaring young animals over
the cliffs by descending with a sudden rush, but its nature is
cowardly, and it does not seem to attack man ; yet marvellous
tales have been told of its strength and daring, some of which may
in part be true, though the evidence is hardly convincing. Like
Neophron, it is said to carry bones up into the air, letting them
fall to break them, while land-tortoises are similarly treated in
North Africa, and possibly this species is responsible for the death
of the poet ^Eschylus, on whose bare head a tortoise is alleged to
have been dropped.1 Gypohierax angolensis, somewhat approach-
ing the Vulturidae, is white, with the secondaries, most of the
scapulars, the tips of the primaries, and the base of the tail
black ; the bare skin of the sides of the face and the feet are
flesh-coloured, and the beak is grey-blue. Bare in East and South
Africa, though common in the West, it is generally seen on
lagoons, rivers, or sea-shores, sunning itself on some elevation, or
skimming the water with laboured flight in search of fish. It will
attack animals and eat garbage.

Sub-fam. 2. Polylorinae. — Of the American " Carrion Hawks,"
Polylorus tharus is dull black, with whitish neck, back, . breast,
1 Salvin, Ibis, 1859, p. 177 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 3.

I 5 2 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

and tail, more or less barred with dusky, and broad blackish tips
to the rectrices. The bare red skin of the cheeks and throat
imparts a vulturine look, belied, however, by the almost gallin-
aceous feet. It inhabits South America from Ecuador and Guiana
southwards; but thence the very similar P. cheriway ranges to Florida
and Lower California, P. lutosus occurring in Guadelupe Island off
the latter. The Carancho or Caracara, as P. tliarus is called, re-
sembles in habits the " Turkey -Buzzards " (Ehinogryphus), with
which it consorts, though somewhat shy and quarrelsome. Semi-
gregarious, and audacious if unmolested, it passes the hot hours
in the shade, and roosts in company at night ; while the powerful
and graceful night, with its alternate sailing or napping move-
ments, though not rapid, enables it to soar in spirals to a great alti-
tude. It walks or runs with ease. The far-reaching grating note
is usually uttered with the head thrown back ; the food of refuse
and carrion is supplemented by young lambs or alligators, birds,
frogs, reptiles, land-crabs, worms, and insects. When on a tree,
bush, or cliff, the large shallow nest,. often renewed yearly, is made
of sticks and lined with grass, leaves, roots, wool, or scraps of any
sort-; but, when on the ground or in swamps, reeds and herbage
are commonly utilized. The three or four eggs range from white
with red blotches to cinnamon with a few black marks.

Ibycter, Phalcolaenus, and Senex are kindred Neotropical genera
of a greenish-black colour, with a variable amount of white on the
tail, lower parts, and even the wings and nape ; the cheeks and
throat are naked and red in the first, and orange in the second, while
the cheeks only are yellow in the third. Phalcolaenus has a slight
crest, P. carunculatus a fleshy orange caruncle at the base of the
bill, Senex rufous thighs. Itycter ater occurs in Amazonia, /.
americanus from Guatemala and Honduras to Brazil, Plialcolaenus
megalopterus from Chili to West Peru, P. carunculatus in Ecuador
and New Granada, P. albigularis in Patagonia, while Senex
australis is the " Johnny Eook " of the Falklands. Close allies
are Milvago chimachima and M. chimango, ranging from Panama
to Paraguay, and from about lat. 20° S. to Tierra del Fuego
respectively ; the former is brown, with creamy head, neck, tail,
and under-parts, and rectrices barred with brown ; the latter has the
head rufous and black, the lower surface streaky-looking yellowish-
brown, the tail greyer. The lores and naked orbits are pinkish.

These forms are similar in manners to Polylorus, but Milvago is

iv FALCONIDAE I 5 3

metre terrestrial, and chiefly frequents grassy plains ; it is moreover
less energetic, and has an easy and loitering though protracted flight,
with a custom of uttering its whistling or mournful notes in chorus,
the head being thrown hack as in the Carancho. The nest of
sticks, lined with grass, hair, and wool, may be on trees, in grass, or
rushes, Senex preferring sea-girt cliffs ; the eggs, from two to five in
number, are cream-coloured, or reddish with darker markings, and
vary as in Polylorus. Human beings are very rarely molested
by " Carrion Hawks," though birds seem to fear them greatly.

Sub-fam. 3. Accipitrinae. — First of this group may be placed six
genera of " Harrier-Eagles," classed as Circaetinae by the late J.
H. Gurney,1 of which Herpetotheres cachinnans, ranging from South
Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay, is the only American represent-
ative. It is a crested bird, of a brown colour above, relieved by
creamy buff, which extends over the whole under surface, the nape
and face being mostly black. It eats snakes, and sits aloft bob-
bing its head while uttering a gruff "ha-ha." Of the African genus
Oircaetus one species, C. gallicus — Jean-le-blanc of the French —
extends from Southern and Central Europe to Palestine, India,
North China, Timor, and Flores. It is dark brown above, and
white with blackish-brown streaks and bars below, the secondaries
and tail having white tips, and the latter three dusky cross-bands.
This sluggish but bold denizen of the plains may be seen perched
on trees, quartering the ground with heavy flapping flight, or
anon poising itself aloft on motionless wings, the harsh noisy cry
being varied by a twittering note. Snakes form its favourite
food, while frogs and fish from the shallows, small mammals, birds,
lizards, crabs, and insects add to its daily fare. The bulky nest of
sticks, bedded with grass or green leaves, is situated on trees, bushes,
or even rocky ledges ; a single bluish -white egg — or exceptionally
two — being deposited. The female sits very closely, and both
parents sometimes attack intruders. C. einereus, of most of the
Ethiopian Eegion, has the chest brownish-black and the belly
white ; C. fasciolatus of Natal, and the similar C. beaudouini of
Senegal and North-East Africa, have the former part fulvous-brown,
and the latter barred with dusky ; C. cinerascens of the east and
west of that continent is much greyer below, with narrower bars.
Helotarsus ecaudatus of the whole Ethiopian Region is black, with
maroon back and tail, and a broad grey band across the second-

1 A list of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, 1884, pp. 14-18.

154 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

aries : the wide crest, short rectrices, red cere, lores and feet, render-
ing it most remarkable. H. leuconotus is hardly more than a creamy-
backed variety. It sails aloft in powerful style, and dashes like
lightning upon the snakes, mammals, and lizards, which form its
prey ; the nest of sticks is placed in trees or rocks, and contains,
it is said, from two to four white eggs. The crested Eutriorchis
of Madagascar, and Dryotriorcliis of the Gold Coast, short of wing
but long of tail, should probably be placed here. A fine broad
crest also adorns Spilornis, of which genus some seven members
occur in the Indian Region, and the Celebes group. S. undulatus
(chedci), extending from India to China, has the head black and
white, the remaining plumage brown, with whitish markings
above, round white spots below, and a broad light band across
the white-tipped tail. S. sulaensis of the Sula Islands differs in
being barred beneath ; S. holospilus of the Philippines has the
whole body spotted. These arboreal forms live upon snakes, frogs,
insects, and birds, the last of which they hunt in pairs, converg-
ing gradually on the victim from each side : the note is mournful ;
the small nest of twigs, lined with grass or leaves, is placed in
trees ; the two eggs are rufous or white with red markings.

The slender Polyloro'ides typicus, of most of the Ethiopian
Region, combines the appearance of a Harrier with that of a
typical Hawk ; it is grey with white tips to the black remiges and
rectrices, and shews black and white bars on the lower breast and
abdomen. A whitish band crosses the tail, while the naked cheeks
and cere are yellow. P. radiatus of Madagascar is more silvery.
Resembling the following group in habits, these birds prefer grass-
lands, especially when newly burnt, take comparatively short
flights, and rest more frequently on trees or stumps. They are
said to be able to bend the tibio-tarsal joint either way.

Circus, ranging over nearly the whole world, comprises some
seventeen species, in most of which the sexes differ in coloration
— an unusual fact in Raptorial forms. They are graceful and soft-
plumaged, with long legs, wings, and tail, the partial facial ruff
creating a likeness — superficial and not warranted by structure
— to the owls. Non-arboreal and by nature shy, they may be seen
hovering or circling aloft, or systematically beating over the flats
with buoyant untiring flight, the pinions flapping slowly and
regularly, and exposing a broad surface to the air. They can,
however, move with rapidity, and approach their breeding-quarters

iv FALCONIDAE I 5 5

with a fine downward sweep, an exceptionally bold cock sometimes
almost striking an intruder. The cry, chiefly heard during incu-
bation, is shrill ; the food consists mainly of small mammals, but
partially of birds, reptiles, fish, frogs, insects, or even eggs ; the
nest, placed among reeds, corn or herbage, in gorse-coverts or on
heathery or grassy slopes, is, according to circumstances, a pile or
layer of the surrounding vegetation lined with the finer portions,
and contains from three to six bluish-white eggs, rarely blotched
with rufous. Nesting-sites in trees are on record. Three species
still breed in Britain, O. cyaneus, the Hen Harrier, C. cineraceus,
Montagu's Harrier, and C. aeruginosus, the Marsh Harrier or
" Moor Buzzard." The first two are much alike and easily con-
founded, the female in both being brown above and buffish with
dark streaks below, while the tail is crossed by five umber bars.
The male, which is bluish-grey with white rump and abdomen in
the Hen Harrier, but is streaked beneath with rufous in the more
slender Montagu's Harrier, is commonly considered a different
species from the female by rustics, who call it the " Kite." These
forms range over Europe, Asia, and North Africa ; but whereas the
first-named reaches about lat. 69° N. in summer, and occurs from
Morocco and Abyssinia to Canton in winter, its congener is not
found so far north, and migrates down to Cape Colony, Ceylon, and
Burma. C. aeruginosus, now nearly exterminated in Britain, ex-
tends from South Scandinavia and Archangel to Japan, and to the
Transvaal and Ceylon in the cold season. The upper parts are
brown with blackish primaries, the remainder of the wings and
the tail being grey ; the lower surface is buff with brownish stripes.
Old males have the head nearly cream-coloured, while the irides
in the female are rather hazel than yellow. The North American
C. Jmdsonius is very near C. cyaneus ; South America possesses C.
cinereus, and, on the east, 0. maculosus ; C. swainsoni reaches from
South-East Europe to India and China, with Africa in winter ; (7.
ranivorus and C. maurus occupy South Africa ; C. spilonotus and
C. melanoleucus East Asia, the latter being coloured black, white,
and grey ; C. assimilis (jardinii) — marked with chestnut above,
and spotted with white below — inhabits Australia and Tasmania ;
C. gouldi (approximans) the same countries, New Zealand, and
Fiji ; C. wolfi New Caledonia, C. spilothorax Papuasia, C, liumbloti
Madagascar, and C. maillardi (with its variety macrosceles] that
island, Reunion, and Anjuan (Joanna).

156 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

Micrastur, a genus found in Central and northern South
America, somewhat resembles Accipiter, being brown or blackish
above, relieved by rufous or grey and white, and white or reddish
below with or without cross-bars. Geranospizias ranges further
south, G. caerulescens, which is slaty-blue, with a few white bands
beneath, reaching South Brazil and Bolivia, while the Central
American G. niger is nearly uniform black. The thighs are
closely feathered, and the tibio-tarsal joint is said to act doubly.
Five species of Melierax or " Singing Hawk," reside in the
Ethiopian Eegion, especially in the south, where M. canorus is
plentiful. This form is ash-coloured with black primaries, black
and white tail, and white belly with greyish bars. The habits
are bold, the flight is rapid, the food consists of small mammals,
birds, reptiles, and locusts. The haunts are in rocky places or
bush country ; the nest of sticks, lined with wool and feathers,
is placed in a tree, and contains from three to five whitish eggs.
The mellow whistling or piping song is heard chiefly in the
morning and evening, the wide-spread African Asturinula mono-
grammica alone of the Family vying with it in sweetness.

Astur comprises forty or more members, several of which have
exact counterparts in the genus Accipiter.1 The more robust build,
shorter legs, and stouter toes serve as distinctions ; but it must be
noted that short wings, long legs, and bill without a notch mark
all Accipitrine as opposed to Falconine forms. The descriptions
below will be sufficient to shew the coloration, as the species, except
A. novae hollandiae, are very similar. Inhabitants of the wood-
land and river-side, they are nearly cosmopolitan, though absent
in parts of the Neotropical Eegion and in New Zealand ; while
several islands have peculiar races. A. palumbarius, the Goshawk,
called of old the "Gentle Falcon," is now seldom observed in
Britain, though once it nested in Scotland ; it ranges throughout
Europe and Asia to Morocco, and thence to the Himalayas and
Japan, or slightly further south in winter. It is ashy-brown
above, with four dark bands on the white-tipped tail, and is closely
barred with brown and white below. Daring and rapacious, with
marvellous power of steerage, it follows the abruptest turns of its
victims with the greatest ease, gliding after them in a low, per-
sistent style, termed by falconers " raking." The food consists of
small mammals and birds, but A. Radius and A. tachiro will eat

1 J. H. Gurney, Ibis, 1875, p. 468.

iv FALCONIDAE 157

frogs, and the latter limpets ; the large flat nest of sticks, rarely
lined with roots, is placed in trees, the bluish-white eggs, number-
ing from three to five, being occasionally marked with rust-colour.
The barely separable North American A. atricapillus exhibits very
close bars below ; the crested A. trivirgatus, ranging from India and
the Great Sunda Islands to Formosa, is slaty-grey, having a rufous
chest, a white throat with black median streak, a tail with four brown
bands, and white under parts barred with rufous and brown ; A.
Radius, the Shikra, extending in its various sub-species from Central
Eussia, Servia, and Greece to China, and many parts of Africa, is
blue-grey with five or six blackish tail-bands, a less distinct throat-
streak, and salmon-coloured lower surface with narrow white
cross-bars. A. trinotatus of Celebes is blackish-grey, with lighter
head, white spots on the median rectrices, uniform vinous breast,
white throat and vent ; the young are ferruginous-red above with
black markings. Most remarkable of all is A. novae Jwllandiae
of Southern Australia and Tasmania — with its smaller race A.
leucosomus of Papuasia and the Cape York district — pure white
in colour, with black bill, yellow cere and red irides, which some
writers consider a permanent albino of A. cinereus. A. hensti
and A. franciscae are confined to Madagascar, A. Irutus and A.
pusillus to Mayotte and Joanna Islands of the Comoros respect-
ively. Niso'ides moreli, also from Madagascar, a bird with stout
bill and white irides, closely approaches Astur.

Accipiter is a genus of some thirty species, which rival Gos-
hawks in spirit and daring ; they inhabit nearly the whole world,
but hardly extend to Polynesia. The flight is quick and vigorous,
with rapid turns ; the prey being captured with a dash as the birds
skim through the wooded country they frequent ; while it is sub-
sequently devoured on the ground, as is customary among Accipi-
trine forms. The large flat nest of twigs, occasionally lined with
roots or leaves, is placed on a tree or rocky ledge ; about four to
six bluish-white eggs, usually with heavy blotches or spots of red-
brown, being laid in the central depression. Very puzzling are the
changes of plumage, though by no means confined to this genus ;
but the longitudinal spots below in the young are said generally
to change with age to transverse bars, as is the case in the most
typical Falcons.1 The coloration is well shewn by Accipiter nisus,
the Sparrow-Hawk, which breeds throughout Europe, North Africa,,

1 Of., however, Sharpe, P.Z.S. 1873, pp. 418, 419.

i58

FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

and Asia north of the Himalayas; extending further south in winter,
but represented in South Africa by A. rufiventris and A. ovampen-
sis with white-spotted rectrices. It is bluish-grey above, with
white mottlings on the nape and rufous cheeks, the white-tipped
tail exhibiting from three to five dark bands, and the huffish-white
under parts red-brown bars. Other species are blacker or browner,
or more rufous below ; A. rubricollis and A. erythrauchen of the
Moluccas have the nape red ; the latter, A. rlwdogaster of Celebes,

FIG. 40. — Nest of Sparrow -Hawk. Accipiter nisus. (From Poachers.)

A. virgatus of India and East Asia (including A. niso'ides], A.
liartlaubi of the Gaboon, and A. ventralis of Venezuela, Colombia,
and Ecuador, have nearly uniform ruddy under parts ; A. erythro-
cnemis of Brazil and Bolivia, and A. chionog aster, ranging from
Guatemala to Venezuela are almost white beneath; A. licolor of
Central and South America having grey-blue for the white. A.
melanoleucus of North -East, West, and South Africa is deep
black, with brown bars on the rectrices, and some white on the

FALCONIDAE 159

tail-coverts and breast ; A. pectoralis of Brazil is brownish-black
above, slightly relieved by white, the tail being greyish with black
bands, the collar and chest rufous, the fore-neck and abdomen
white, streaked and barred respectively with black. A. minullus
inhabits South Africa, A. madagascariensis Madagascar, A. cir-
rocephalus Australia, Tasmania, and Papuasia, A. chilensis Chili,
A. guttatus Paraguay and Bolivia, A. pileatus Brazil, A. collaris
New Granada ; while the very robust A. cooperi occupies North
America southwards to Mexico, and A.fuscus the same country to
Panama. In A. subniger (tinus\ of Central and South America,
and some other species, the young are red above. ErytJirotriorcTiis
radiatus of East and Central Australia, a rufous bird with dark
markings, which lays an egg like that of a Sparrow-Hawk, may
perhaps be placed here, as may Megatriorchis doriae of New Guinea,
in which the blackish upper parts have lighter transverse stripes,
and the white under parts longitudinal dusky streaks.

Sub-fam. 4. Aquilinae. — The long-legged Morphnus guianen-
sis, ranging from Panama to Amazonia, is black, with three ashy
tail-bars, brown head and chest, and white rufous-banded abdomen ;
the tine crest is brown with black tip, the wing- and tail-coverts
are varied with white. This bird haunts thick woods near water,
and in habits appears to resemble the next two genera, which have
similar soft plumage, short wings and long tails. M. taeniatus of
Ecuador has broader and blacker bars below. Harpyopsis novae
guineae of New Guinea, and Thrasaetus Jiarpyia, the Harpy, extend-
ing from Mexico to Paraguay and Bolivia, have blackish-grey upper
parts with a tendency to darker transverse markings ; the tail shews
six black bars ; and the white under parts exhibit a greyish zone
on the chest. The former species is, moreover, relieved by white
above, while a bifurcated grey crest surmounts the white head
and neck of the latter. Marvellous stories have been told of the
fierceness and strength of the last-named, but despite its huge bill
and legs, it seems never to attack man, though defending itself with
spirit when wounded. Found in low-lying forests and near rivers,
it may be seen wheeling in circles with slow heavy flight, or
digesting its meals on low boughs of trees. The diet consists
largely of mammals, including fawns, monkeys, foxes and peccaries ;
the nest is in high trees or cliffs. The Indians are very proud of
a living specimen, while the down is used for decoration, and the
feathers for arrow-making. Harpyopsis devours wallabies.

1 60 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

Pithecophaga jefferyi, a fine forest Eagle from the Philippines,
with extremely deep and compressed bill, seems to belong here.1

The true Eagles — fierce but seldom courageous — inhabit wild
mountains, plains, or forests ; resembling Buzzards in their slow
heavy flight, and rarely uttering their shrill cry or yelp. The prey
is generally secured by a pounce ; and carrion, if fairly fresh, is
eaten. The nest of sticks or twigs, lined with grass, green foliage,
fur or wool, especially the two first, contains from one to three
large white eggs, with or without red or brownish markings.

The various species of Spizaetus, Limnaetus, Lophotriorchis,
Lophoaetus, Neopus, and Nisaetus, with comparatively short
wings, long tails, and large claws, are sometimes denominated
Hawk-Eagles. Not usually shy, they are essentially denizens
of wooded country, where some prefer the hilly districts, others
the neighbourhood of streams ; the food is extremely varied,
including in different cases, monkeys, bucks, lambs, goats, hares,
rabbits, birds as large as bustards and geese, lizards, frogs, or
even fish ; while the flight is more graceful and Falcon-like
than in the genus Aquila, the note clearer and sharper. The
moderately large nest is composed of sticks, and usually lined
with green leaves or branchlets ; the one or two eggs are white,
ordinarily with light reddish-brown markings. Spizaetus coronatus
of South and West Africa is blackish above, with a little white
on the tail-coverts and remiges, and brownish tips to the triply-
barred rectrices, the buff lower parts being broadly banded with
black. S. tyrannus, extending from Guatemala to Brazil, is black
beneath ; S. ornatus, of Central and South America as far as Para-
guay, has the nape and sides of the neck and chest tawny. These
birds have an occipital crest, as have some members of the hardly
separable Limnaetus, of which L. caligatus, of India and the Malay
countries, deep brown in colour, with ashy inner webs to the remiges,
will serve as an example. L. nipalensis and L. cirratus inhabit
India with Ceylon, and the former Formosa and Japan ; L. pliilip-
pensis the Philippines; L. alboniger Malacca and Borneo ; L. lanceo-
latus Celebes and the Sula Islands ; L. gurneyi New Guinea and
the Moluccas ; L. (Lophotriorchis) kieneri India, Malacca, Borneo,
and Batchian ; L. isidori north-western South America. Lopho-
aetus occipitalis, of Africa south of the Sahara, is brown, except for
a few white marks above, and has shortly-feathered white metatarsi.

1 Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1897, pp. 214-220.

IV

FALCONIDAE I 6 I

Here the crest is extremely long, but in the nearly black Neopus
malayensis, ranging from India to the Moluccas, it is much shorter.
Spiziastur melanoleucus, extending from Guatemala to Brazil, is
brownish-black, with white head, neck, and lower surface, the tail
has four darker bands, and black marks shew towards the crest.
In this species the inner claw and hallux are greatly developed.
Niscwtus pennatus, the " Booted Eagle " of South Europe, Africa,
and thence to India and Ceylon, so called from the feathered
legs, is brown above, with a white shoulder-patch, white tip to the
barred tail, and various buffish markings ; the head, neck, and
under parts are fawn-coloured, with brown streaks except on the
abdomen. N. fasciatus, Bonelli's Eagle, has a similar range, but
reaches China, and not South Africa ; it lacks the shoulder-patch,
but is streaked on the abdomen. N. morphno'ides inhabits Australia
and New G-uinea, JVi spilogaster and N. lellicosus Southern Africa,
the last being slaty-black above, and having a plain brown chest.
The typical Eagle, the bird of Jove, the emblem of Eome and
of St. John, was some species of Aquila. A. chrysaetus, the Golden
or Black Eagle, is exceptionally shot in England in winter —
especially in the north ; but it is the Sea Eagle that occurs most
frequently. In North Britain the former has bred in increasing
numbers since protection has been given in deer-forests, where
it kills the grouse which startle the stalker's game ; a few pairs
remain in North and West Ireland ; while in times past it ranged
to the Peak of Derbyshire or even Snowdon. Abroad it occupies
most of Europe, North Asia to India and China, North Africa,
and North America to Mexico. Powerful and fierce by nature, and
ready to attack animals of considerable size, it never molests man
under ordinary circumstances ; both parents, it is true, circle anxi-
ously round when the young are in danger, but should the nest
contain eggs, the hen, which sits closely, vanishes at once on leaving
them. She does not reappear until all risk seems past, while the cock
is seldom sighted at the eyry, though usually seen in the vicinity.
The prey consists of antelopes, wolves, foxes, fawns, lambs, hares,
rabbits, marmots, geese, ducks, grouse, and so forth, with carrion, if
sufficiently fresh ; the ground is often quartered at a low elevation,
and wonderfully rapid in the chase is the flight of this apparently
slow and ponderous bird, aided by its extraordinarily keen powers
of vision. Solitary individuals may occasionally be approached by
stalking, but in Britain they are generally wary, owing to constant

VOL. IX M

1 62 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

disturbance ; they may, however, often be seen circling aloft or
winging their way to great distances, while they can hardly be
distinguished from Buzzards in misty weather even by experienced
keepers. Captures are made with the talons, but Eagles are com-
paratively seldom trained for Falconry ; yet the present species
has been so used in Europe, as well as by the Kirgiz Tartars, who
-call it " Bergut " or " Bearcoot." The cry is shrill and yelping.
The nest is commonly placed in a tree, though in Scotland such
sites are seldom utilized nowadays, a projecting rock on the side
of some bare mountain-glen or a sea-girt crag being selected instead.
Here a cavity, rather than a ledge, is chosen, and a huge mass of sticks
or heather is collected, with a bedding of hair, fur, wool, moss, dry
fern and an occasional feather, or more commonly of tufts of Luzula
sylvatica, garnished with an odd pine-shoot. Two or three eyries
are often used in turn, the pile increasing on each occasion. At
times the spot can be reached without a rope by a skilful climber,
and in some countries nests have been found upon the ground. The
two or three eggs — four being quite exceptional — are generally
marked with red-brown, crimson, purplish or grey, but, though
fine blotches are usual, one, if not more, of the set is frequently
white. They are laid very early in spring and — as in other Birds of
Prey — not always on successive days. The Golden Eagle is distin-
guished from the Sea-Eagle (p. 1 63)by the feathering reaching to the
toes, which have only the last joint scutellated, and the remainder
reticulated : the adult is normally blackish-brown, with tawny
lanceolate nape-plumes and tail mottled with grey ; the young have
white bases to the rectrices. The colour, however, varies much.
Aquila clanga, the Spotted Eagle of British lists, and its
smaller form, A. pomarina, range across Europe, except the
most northern portions, and extend to North Africa, India,
and North China, their respective distributions being somewhat
uncertain. The colour is brown, with pale nape and light
margins to the feathers of the wings and rump ; the manners
are those of Eagles generally, but the food includes frogs, reptiles,
and grasshoppers, in addition to small mammals and birds.
A. hastata of India is hardly separable, and the African A.
waklbergi is very similar, as is the larger A. nipalensis, the
Steppe Eagle of the former country, Eastern Europe, Eastern
Asia, and, exceptionally, North Africa, a plain brown bird
with a fulvous nuchal patch. It commonly builds its nest

IV

FALCONIDAE 163

upon the ground. A. adalberti, the White-shouldered Eagle
of Portugal, Spain, and North -West Africa — often wrongly
called ." Imperial," — preys upon lizards, snakes, hares and rabbits,
which it usually spies from a perch on some bare tree-top. It is
black, with brownish neck, greyish base to the tail, and a
white shoulder -patch, whereas A. mogilnik, the true Imperial
Eagle, ranging from Central Europe and North-East Africa to India
and China, differs in having the head and neck creamy yellow, and
only the scapulars white. A. rapax (naemo'ides), the Tawny Eagle
of most of Africa, rarely found in Europe, is remarkable for the
parti-coloured feathers of purplish-brown and rufous on the upper
parts ; otherwise it is brown, slightly streaked with fulvous below.
The smaller A. vindhiana and A.fulvescens of India are very like
it, while A. verreauxi of Abyssinia and South Africa is jet black
with white rump and lower back. Uroaetus audax of Australia
and Tasmania is black, and has a wedge-shaped tail, the bright
chestnut nape being streaked with black, and the head with white.
Of the Sea Eagles, characterized by very large bills and nearly
bare metatarsi, the biggest is the fish-eating Thalassaetus pelagicus,
brown in colour, with white cuneate tail, rump, thighs, and patch
on the wing-coverts. It inhabits the coasts, lakes, and rivers of
North East Asia, the Liu-Kiu Islands and Japan, rarely wandering
to America. T. branickii of Corea is slaty-black, with only the
tail and its coverts white. Haliaetus albicilla, the Erne or Sea-
Eagle, of which a few pairs remain in Shetland and the west of
Scotland and Ireland, used to breed at least as far south in Eng-
land as the Isle of Man and the Lake District, while in winter
immature or even adult specimens still frequently occur in
various parts. Generally distributed over the Old World from
Greenland to Kamtschatka, it breeds also in the Danube valley,
Turkey, Greece, and Egypt, migrating to the Canary Islands, North
Africa, Japan, China, and occasionally the Commander Islands. It
is brown with white tail, the full plumage not being attained for
nearly six years ; but very old examples become whitish on the
head and neck. In most of its habits it resembles the Golden
Eagle, though the note is shriller, and the food consists largely of
fish, seized in the talons as it swoops down ; it is said to be very
destructive to lambs, and, as it eats carrion, it is readily poisoned.
In Britain the eyries are now in precipitous sea-cliffs, but of old
inland rocks and trees were utilized, as is the case abroad, while

164 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

in Egypt nests have been found upon the ground in marshes ; the
two or three white eggs, laid early in the year, are rarely marked
with rufous. The representative American species H. leucocepha-
lus, the Bald Eagle, has the head, neck, rump, and tail white, and
ranges from the North to California and Mexico. H. leucocoryplms,
with the middle of the tail and the cheeks white, extends from
South-East Europe to East Siberia, China, and Burma ; H. leuco-
gaster, a greyer bird with white head, neck, under parts, and end
of the tail, occurs from India and China to Australia and the
Friendly Islands ; H. vocifer with white head, neck, breast, and tail,
but chestnut belly, occupies the Ethiopian Region ; H. vocifero'ides
of Madagascar is intermediate between the last-named arid H.
leucocoryplius. The river-haunting Polioaetus iclitJiyaetus, of the
Indian Eegion and Celebes, is brown, with grey head and neck,
white abdomen and tail, the latter broadly tipped with brown ;
P. plumbeus, of similar range, lacks the white base of the tail.
The huge nest is placed in a tree and is often lined with green
leaves, the two or three eggs being white ; the note is loud and
plaintive, and the food consists chiefly of fish.

Sub-fam. 5. Buteoninae, or Buzzards and Kites. — In this group
the Eough-legged Buzzards (Arcliibuteo) are separated from the
genus Buteo on account of their feathered metatarsi. A. lagopus,
well-known in Britain from the numbers which frequently appear in
autumn, is alleged to have bred once in Yorkshire, while in Northern
Europe it is common, extending thence to about the Lena in Asia,
and migrating in winter to South Europe, Turkestan, and even Natal.
At the same season a darker sub-species A. sancti johannis, which
breeds north of the United States, occurs southwards to Mexico.
The former bird is cream-coloured, with brown markings of various
depth, becoming more streaky below ; the tail shews a white base
and three or four dark cross-bars, of which the sub-terminal is
very broad. In Scandinavia, when there is a plague of lemmings,
it is as valuable an ally as the owls ; the habits being identical
with those of Buteo. A. ferrugineus of western North America
has the upper surface and thighs ferruginous with brown streaks,
the head, neck, and tail whiter, and the under parts nearly pure
white. A. hemiptilopus (strophiatus) of Nepal and Tibet is nearly
uniform brown with a white pectoral band.

Buteo is a genus of some thirty species, which together in-
habit nearly the whole globe, except the Australian region ; the

IV

FALCONIDAE 165

only form thence recorded seeming to be B. solitarius of the Sand-
wich Archipelago — the Pandion solitarius of Cassin and so-
called Onychotes gruberi of Mr. Kidgway. All may be represented
both in appearance and manners by B. vulgaris, the Common Buz-
zard, which breeds not uncommonly in a few wild districts of
Britain, chiefly towards the west, and is found on migration in
other parts. Abroad the range includes the Atlantic Islands, West
and Central Europe, whence it strays at times to Eastern Europe,
Asia Minor, and North Africa ; the resident bird of those countries,
however, is B. desertorum. The colour above is brown, with slight
white marks and twelve dusky bars on the tail, the lower surface
being yellowish-white with brown streaks ; but varieties are very
frequent in the genus, and these may be either darker or exhibit
creamy tints, a trimorphic tendency of which the Sandwich
Islands form is a notable instance. The English name Puttock
and the Welsh Cetn appear to be applied indiscriminately to the
Common Buzzard and the Kite. The flight is powerful, though
slow and heavy, nor is it uncommon to see individuals circling
in the air or poising themselves aloft on motionless wings ; when
quartering the ground the movements are not unlike those of
Harriers, but the style is more steady, and the operations less
protracted. Much of the food consists of small mammals, and
especially rodents ; it includes, however, small birds, reptiles,
frogs, beetles, and grasshoppers ; and many gamekeepers now
recognise the bird's utility by protecting its breeding-quarters.
Its congener B. jakal is even more useful, and destroys large or
venomous snakes. Furthermore, the custom of darting upon the
prey from some post of vantage remains to be noticed. The nest,
commonly situated in trees, is equally often in rocks ; those
selected not being necessarily lofty, but frequently mere outcrops
on the sides of hill -valleys, in which case access is easy even
without a rope. The materials used are much the same as in the
case of the Golden Eagle, but finer ; a like fancy being shewn for
green foliage, though ivy and so forth take the place of pine-
shoots, as being more readily obtainable. The eggs are white or
greenish, commonly blotched or spotted to a greater or less extent
with dark brown, red, or lilac ; the hen sits very closely, the
cock meanwhile soaring above the intruder's head, and uttering his
characteristic cat-like mew. B. desertorum, of all Africa, South-
East Europe, and the countries to India inclusive, which has been

I 66 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

recorded three times in England, is smaller and more decidedly
rufous than B. vulgaris, though hardly distinguishable when
immature ; while the bigger B. ferox of similar range, though
apparently limited in Africa to the North, is closely allied ; as are
B. plumipes, extending from India to Japan (of which B. leuco-
cephalus is a large and probably distinct form) and R swainsoni of
North America, which migrates as far south as Patagonia, and has
almost uniform upper parts and chest. B. borealis, the " Ked-
tailed Hawk," occupying with its various races the whole of
North America, has a rufous tail with lighter tip and usually a
single blackish band, the breast being sooty-black or white, with
or without a reddish tinge ; B. albicaudatus, reaching from Texas
to Brazil, is slaty-grey, with rusty markings on the mantle, white
under parts and tail, the latter shewing grey bars and a wide
subterminal black cross-belt ; while B. allreviatus, found from the
southern United States to northern South America, is almost
black, with three broad grey and white zones across the rec trices.
B. augur and B. auguralis, both from North-East and West
Africa, with B. jakal of South Africa, have the upper parts black,
some grey on the wings, and the tail chestnut except near the end.
The first has a black throat with white streaks and white lower
surface, the second a red-brown chest and black spots on the
belly, the third is black below with a whitish pectoral patch.
Finally, omitting several American species from want of space,
B. Irachypterus — a miniature Common Buzzard — is peculiar to
Madagascar, B. galapagensis to the Galapagos, B. exsul to Masa-
fuera, B. poliosomus to Chili, Patagonia, and the Falklands.

Parahuteo unicinctus, ranging from the southern United States
to Chili and Argentina, a sluggish carrion eater, is sooty-brown
with rufous on the wing-coverts and thighs, and a white base and
tip to the tail. Buteola bracliyura and B. leucorrhoa of tropical
America, separated from Buteo by a central tubercle in the nostril,
are black above; the former being white below and having four
dark bars on the ashy tail, the latter only shewing white at
the base of the black rectrices, which are crossed by one grey bar.

Asturina, placed near Astur by some authors, includes two
species with Buzzard-like habits, that build slight nests and lay
greenish-white eggs. A. plagiata, found from the South- West
United States to Panama, is grey, barred with black on the
primaries and with white below, while a white median band

IV

FALCONIDAE 167

crosses the rectrices, of which the coverts are black and white.

A. nitida, reaching from Panama to south-east Brazil, differs in
having white bars above. Rupornis magnirostris of Colombia,
Guiana, and Amazonia — hardly separable from Asturina — has
three black belts on the tail and is rufous instead of grey beneatrT;
R. ruficauda of Central America, R. pucherani of Brazil,
Paraguay, and Argentina, and its Bolivian race R. saturata,
have the chestnut remiges and rufous rectrices crossed with
blackish, and the under surface as in the first-named, but the
second is browner and shows a creamy patch on the prim-
aries ; R. nattereri, of Peru and Brazil, combines the chestnut
primaries with an ashy and black tail; R. ridgwayi, of Haiti,
is chiefly rufous and brown above, and slate-coloured with white
bands below. R. pucherani is very noisy and eats fish.

Butastur teesa (with its sub-species indicus) ranges from
Japan and China to New Guinea and India ; it is reddish-
brown, varied with white on the nape and rump, the tail and
lower parts being rufous, with black and white bars respectively.

B. liventer, found from Burma to Celebes, is ashy below ; B.
rufipennis of North -East Africa, has streaks in place of bars.
The pugnacious Indian form has a mewing cry, feeds upon small
mammals, lizards, frogs, and crabs, and builds its nest almost
entirely of twigs, laying some three bluish-white eggs. Gera-
noaetus melanoleucus of western and southern South America,
the so-called Chilian " Sea-Eagle," is black with grey wings and
white belly, both barred with dusky ; the flight is vulturine with
spiral gyrations, the note is piercing ; the food consists of carrion
from the beach, small mammals, birds, and grasshoppers. The
nest, placed in a tree or crag, is composed of sticks and grass, the
two white eggs being blotched with pale red. It is often seen
inland.

Leucopternis is a genus of eleven members, of which L.
gliiesbregliti, of Central America, is snowy-white, with most of
the wings and a zone on the tail black. The other forms, whereof
three inhabit Brazil, are black or slate-coloured above with
white markings, the lower surface being grey in L. plumbea of
Ecuador and Panama and L. schistacea of Colombia and
Amazonia, but barred with black and white in L. princeps, of
Costa Rica. Urubitinga zonura, a black bird with white tip
and base to the tail, ranges from Mexico to Chili and Argentina ;

1 68 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP.

17. anthracina, found from Arizona and Texas to northern South
America, has in addition a white belt across the rectrices.

The crested Harpyhaliaetus coronatus, extending from Bolivia
and Brazil to Patagonia, a powerful and savage bird with a taste
for carrion, is chocolate-brown, with grey on the wing, and a tail
like that of the last species ; If. solitarius, darker in colour and
doubtfully distinct, reaching Mexico northwards. Heterospizias
meridionalis, of northern South America to Bolivia and Paraguay,
-is mottled with rufous, grey, and black, and has two white bands
on the tail. Buteogallus aequinoctialis, of Guiana and Colombia,
is black relieved with rusty above, and reddish with black bars
below, the remiges ' being chiefly chestnut, and the tail indis-
tinctly barred with white. Busarellus nigricollis, of Guiana and
Brazil, is brighter chestnut with black streaks, the head being
bumsh, the lower throat, primaries, and most of the tail black.
It has a harsh cry, and loves sitting on stumps near water, while
the rugose soles of the feet assist it to secure the fishes and
molluscs on which it — as well as Buteogallus — feeds.

Of the forms with comparatively weaker feet, Haliastur indus,
the " Brahminy Kite " or " Pondicherry Eagle," reaching from
the Indian Eegion to Australia and New Guinea, is chestnut with
darker wings, the white head, neck, and lower parts being
streaked with black; H. sphenurus, of the two latter countries
and New Caledonia, named by colonists the " Whistling Kite," is
ashy-brown, with rufous head and ochraceous breast striped with
brown. The note is shrill, the flight easy and buoyant, the food
composed of garbage, small mammals, birds, lizards, frogs, crusta-
ceans, insects and tl^eir larvae ; while fish are secured by grasping
them with one foot during gliding movements along the surface
of the water. The Australian species attacks poultry, but is of
great utility in devouring caterpillars during insect-plagues. The
nest of twigs, lined with grass, roots, hair, or green leaves, is
adorned with rags and the like, the two or three eggs being
greenish- white, rarely with rusty markings.

Milvus ictinus, the Eed Kite or Fork-tailed Glead of the Old
"World, ranging from the Atlantic Islands — except, perhaps, the
Azores — through most of Europe to Palestine, Asia Minor, and
Northern Africa, but leaving the northerly districts in autumn,
is red-brown above and rusty-red beneath, the lower surface and
the whitish head being streaked with dark brown. It is still

FALCONIDAE

169

known to breed in certain parts of Northern and Western
Britain, though 110 longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the
streets, so common even in London three or four centuries ago.
Bold thefts of poultry from farmyards and linen from drying-
grounds then counterbalanced its utility, but none the less may
we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the
air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the discovery that

FIG. 41. — Red Kite. Milvus ictinus. x |. (From Bird Life in Sweden.}

its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike a
Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, con-
stitutes a clear mark -of distinction; while the broad wings and
long deeply-forked tail bestow such graceful ease of motion and
perfect steerage power as few birds can claim, whether for soar-
ing and circling aloft, quartering the ground for booty, or hover-
ing over the water to fish. It is not always, however, that the
forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully open it
looks square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species

1 70 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

is somewhat gregarious and sluggish, and feeds on offal, small
mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, insects and their larvae.
The riest is a mass of sticks, rags, paper, and rubbish generally,
placed in a tree or rarely in a rock; the three, or exceptionally
four, eggs being like those of the Buzzard, but duller and with
more lilac tints. Milvus migrans, the Black Kite, once recorded in
England, extends throughout Central and Southern Europe, and
probably to China, breeding in North-Western and migrating to
Southern Africa. The upper parts are dark brown, the under
parts rufous, and the head whitish, the two latter being streaked
with dusky; the bill is black and the tail moderately forked.
Barely separable from this bird are Milvus aegyptius of Africa,
Madagascar, South-East Europe, and West Asia, with yellow
bill ; M. . affinis, of Papuasia and Australia, possibly reaching
Ceylon ; M. melanotis, extending from India to Lake Baikal,
China, and Japan ; and the smaller M. govinda of somewhat
similar range. The third and fourth have a white patch beneath
the primaries. The last-named, or Pariah Kite, is the scavenger of
Hindostan, and is even bolder than its congeners ; the habits,
however, are similar, as are those of the Australian Loplwictinia
isura, separated from Milvus on account of its square tail. This
species has a fine crest, and differs, moreover, in its browner crown
and greyer rectrices with whitish coverts.

Gypoictinia melanosternon of Australia has a black head and
lower surface, chestnut occiput, nape, and thighs, and brownish-
or rufous-black upper parts, the wings and rounded tail being
marked with greyish white. Like a Kite in manners, it eats
snakes and lizards, and is said to destroy Bustard's and Emeu's
eggs.1 JElano'ides furcatus, the lovely Swallow-tailed Kite, caught
once in England, and ranging from the Middle United States
to Brazil, is black, with purple and green reflexions, white head,
neck, rump, inner secondaries and under parts, bluish bill and
feet. With splendid powers of wing, it may be seen gliding
rapidly through the air, skilfully quartering the ground, or
circling aloft with its long forked tail outspread, to perform
doublings and evolutions of every description. It catches bees
or other insects in one claw and eats them as it flies, or
snatches up a lizard, snake, or frog, to be devoured at leisure,
small birds and grubs varying the diet. Flocks are often seen, which

1 Cf. North, Nests and Eggs ofAustralian Birds, Sydney, 1889, pp. 11-13.

iv FALCONIDAE I/ 1

hang round a wounded individual like Terns. In the nest and
eggs this species and the last resemble their kin, though using
no rubbish in building. Nauclerus riocouri, of inter-tropical Africa,
a miniature Elano'ides, is grey, with white face and lower surface.

Gampsonyx swainsoni, of Trinidad, Guiana, Colombia, Peru,
and Brazil, is grey, with yellow face, white collar, under parts
and tips to the secondaries ; a black patch relieving each side of
the breast and one of red the upper back. The tail is rounded
in this and the succeeding genus. Elanus caeruleus, the Black-
winged Kite, straying to South-West Europe, but properly ranging
from the South-East to India, Ceylon, and all Africa, is ashy-grey
above with a black patch on the wing- coverts ; the face, lateral
rectrices, and all the lower plumage being white, and the irides
red. A sub-species, E. Tiypoleucus, occupies Borneo, Java, the
Philippines, and Celebes. E. scriptus of Australia, E. axillaris,
extending thence to Java, and the hardly separable E. leucurus
of tropical and sub-tropical America, are marked with black on
the under wing-coverts, while the first has black axillaries also.
These buoyant birds are fond of perching, but soar with ease,
quartering the plains like Harriers, or hovering with uplifted wings
to dart down upon their prey of insects, snakes, small mammals, and
more rarely birds. The cry is mournful ; the small nest, of sticks,
grass, and moss, is placed in trees ; the three, four, or even eight
white eggs being heavily blotched with red. Ictinia mississip-
piensis, the Mississippi Kite, found from the Southern United
States to Guatemala, and represented from Mexico to Paraguay
by the black-winged Lplumbea, is lead-coloured, with black notched
tail and rufous inner webs to the primaries ; its manners cor-
respond to those of Elanvides, but the eggs are white.

That most abnormal form Rostrliamus sociabilis, the Awl-billed
or Everglade Kite, ranging from Florida and Cuba to Bolivia and
Argentina, is slaty-black, with white base and tip to the brownish
emarginate tail, orange cere and feet, and crimson irides. The
extraordinarily slender bill with long terminal hook no doubt
assists greatly in extracting from their shells the molluscs, such
as Ampullaria, on which this species entirely subsists, while its
long legs and sharp talons help to secure the prey in the
muddy swamps it frequents. Mr. Gibson * tells us that it is to
some extent gregarious, and is often seen slowly beating over the

1 Cf. Ibis, 1879, pp. 413, 414.

172 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

marshes, or poised aloft with its broad expanded tail alone in
motion, a " creaking " or " neighing " alarm-note being apparently
the only cry. Twenty or thirty nests are commonly built close
together, and are slight platforms of twigs or plant-stems, with
a lining of aquatic herbage, supported on the reeds or bushes a
few feet above the water. The two or three eggs are whitish
with reddish- or yellowish-brown and grey blotches. The breeding-
quarters are constantly changed.

Machaerorhamphus alcinus, of Tenasserim, Malacca, Borneo,
Sumatra, and New Guinea, is especially remarkable for the wide
gape of the short bill, which recalls that of the Caprimulgidae. All
the tail-coverts are unusually elongated, a fine crest of pointed
feathers adorns the occiput, and the plumage is black with a
chocolate tinge, the throat and middle of the chest being white, with
.a broad black streak down the former. M. anderssoni, of Damara-
Land, the Cameroons, and Madagascar, known to have crepuscular
tendencies and to feed partly on bats, is smaller, and has a white
abdomen ; M. revoili, of Somali-Land, is intermediate.

Pernis apivorus, the Honey-Buzzard, which still breeds occasion-
ally in Britain in June, when the dense foliage easily causes it
to be overlooked, inhabits Europe generally, and probably extends
to Japan, migrating in winter to Madagascar and South Africa.
The extremely complex phases of plumage make it uncertain
whether it shares the Indian Region with the similar but crested
P. ptilorhynchus (cristatus), from which P. tioeeddalii, of Sumatra,
is doubtfully separable. The upper parts are brown, with greyish
head and three or four dark bands on the tail, the lower white
with brown spots and bars. White mottlings usually shew above,
and the female has the crown brown. The shortly-feathered
lores distinguish Pernis from Buteo. Our woodland species feeds
upon the ground, and devours bees, wasps, and grubs — though
not honey — from the comb, together with small mammals, birds,
slugs, and worms ; the cry is shrill, but seldom heard ; the nest,
composed of sticks lined with leaves, contains two or three whitish
eggs with rich purplish-red or brown markings. P. celebensis
differs in the rufous chest, which exhibits black streaks, that are
continued to the white throat with its black longitudinal band ; the
adult closely resembles Limnaetus lanceolatus, both being peculiar
to Celebes. Henicopernis longicaudatus, of Papuasia, is brown
barred with black above, and white streaked with blackish below,

iv FALCONIDAE 1/3

the tail shewing five black bands ; IT. infuscatus, of New Britain,
is a darker 'race. Eegerhinus uncinatus, and the larger E. mega-
rhynchus, found from Central America to Bolivia and Brazil, are
dusky slate-coloured with a white tail-bar ; E. wilsoni, of Cuba,
has a yellow bill ; E. (Leptodori) cayennensis is glossy black, with
grey head, wing and tail-bands, and white lower surface. Immature
birds are brown, with rufous and white streaks or bars below.

Sub-fam. 6. Fcdconinae. — The true Falcons are remarkable for
a notched maxilla, while Harpagus and the crested Baza, aberrant
members of the group, and sometimes classed with the Kites, exhibit
two " teeth." B. lophotes, of India, Ceylon, and the Malay countries,
is greenish-black above, varied with white and chestnut on the
wings ; the fore-neck being white, and the breast shewing a band
of black above one of chestnut, which is barred with buff towards
the black vent. B. verreauxi, occurring from the Zambesi to
Natal, is dark brownish-grey, with four black bars on the white-
tipped tail, and rufous bands across the white breast and under
wing-coverts ; B. cuculo'ides, of West Africa, having the latter plain
rufous. The somewhat similar B. sulcristata occupies North-East
Australia, B. rufa inhabits the Moluccas and Papuasia, B. timor-
laensis Timor-laut, B. erytlirothorax Celebes and the Sula Islands,
B. magnirostris the Philippines, B. borneensis Borneo, B. leucopais
Palawan, B. sumatrensis Sumatra, Tenasserim, and Sikkiin, B.
ceylonensis Ceylon and South-East India, B. tnadagascariensis
Madagascar, and B. reinwardti, with grey-barred breast, the
Moluccas, Timor, and Papuasia. Comparatively little is known of
the habits of these shy forest forms, which occasionally soar, feed
upon the ground on chamaeleons, grasshoppers and other insects,
build small nests, and lay about three whitish eggs with brown
markings. Harpagus diodon, of British Guiana and Brazil, is grey,
with brown wings and tail barred with whitish, white throat
with a black streak, rufous thighs and under wing -coverts.
H. lidentatus, extending from Panama to Brazil and Peru, has
chestnut under parts, H.fasciatus being hardly separable.

Of the tiny eastern " T?iuch-Talcous" Microhierax fringillarius,
inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and Great Sunda Islands, is bluish-
black, with rufous throat and abdomen, the breast, forehead, a stripe
down each side of the neck, and partial bars on the wings and tail
being white. It is a bold dashing species, which feeds upon insects
and birds — even as large as quails, and lays four white eggs in holes

1/4 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

in trees upon a bed of chips, leaves, and insect - debris. M.
latifrons, of Borneo and the Nicobars, has a much wider frontal
band ; M. melanoleucus of Assam and Cachar, M. erythrogenys
of the Philippines, and M. sinensis of China are quite white
below ; but the second has black thighs and the third a white
nape, a character shared by M. eutolmus, ranging from India
to Cambodia, wherein the throat and abdomen are chestnut.
PolioJiierax semitorquatus, little bigger than the foregoing, inhabits
North-East and South Africa, the male being blue-grey with white
forehead, cheeks, nape, rump, under parts and markings on the
remiges and rectrices ; P. insignis of Borneo and Siarn is
larger, with black shaft-stripes, but no white collar. The females
have the mantle, and in the last-named the crown, chestnut. The
African species rarely soars, but haunts low trees and bushes, occa-
sionally nocking, and feeding on mice, small birds, lizards, and
coleopterous insects. Spiziapteryx circumcinctus, of Chili and
Argentina, is brown above and whitish below, with numerous
dark streaks ; the white eyebrows meet at the nape, and white
spots and bands mark the remiges and lateral rectrices.

Dissodectes ardesiacus, of Arabia, North-East and West Africa,
is slate-coloured with dark shaft-stripes, the wing-quills being
brown and the tail interruptedly barred with whitish. D. dickin-
soni of Benguela, the Shire and Eovuma valleys, is brown with
pale head and white rump ; D. zoniventris of Madagascar has
dark bands on the mantle and on the white under parts. Hiera-
cidea (Harpa) novae zealandiae, the Quail Hawk of New Zealand
and the Chatham Islands, is dark brown with rufous and grey
barring above ; the crown and nape being blacker, the tail shew-
ing eight whitish bands, and the creamy- white lower surface and
fulvous thigh -region exhibiting streaks of brown. It may be seen
soaring over the plains and lower hills, hovering with expanded
tail, or pouncing like an arrow on the rodents, birds, and lizards
which form its food. Insects too are captured on the wing, and
poultry fiercely attacked. The cry is screaming; the eggs resemble
those of the Peregrine Falcon, and are deposited in hollows scraped
on rocky ledges, or occasionally in rough nests among thick
creepers. A smaller and bolder race has been termed H. ferox
or Irunnea, the Bush-Hawk. H. berigora of Australia and New
Guinea has brown upper parts, with rufous markings that become
bands on the white-tipped tail, creamy under parts streaked with

FALCONIDAE I 7 5

brown, and chestnut thighs. H. orientalis of the same countries
lacks the red tints, H. novae guineae of New Guinea is less
spotted. These three Kestrel-like birds love swampy districts,
and devour small mammals, birds, frogs, lizards, newts, insects,
and even carrion ; being valuable allies in caterpillar-plagues, but
farmyard pests at ordinary times. The nest of sticks, lined with
bark or leaves, is placed in trees, the three or four whitish eggs
are blotched with reddish-brown.

The nearly cosmopolitan genus Tinnunculus (Kestrel), so
called from its querulous "bell -like" note, is separated from
Falco rather by pattern of colour than structural considerations.
T. alaudarius, the most plentiful of the British Ealconidae —
which is occasionally seen in winter near its breeding-quarters,
though chiefly a summer immigrant — ranges from the Atlantic
Islands and lat. 68° N. in Europe, through Asia to Japan and
China, reaching Fantee and Mombasa in Africa, and having been
once recorded from Massachusetts in America. The sub-species
neglectus, japonicus, and saturatus are darker than the type ;
wherein the male is chiefly bluish-grey above, and buff with black
spots and streaks below ; the chestnut back being spotted with
black, and the white-tipped tail having a broad subterminal black
band. The female has rufous upper parts, with dark bars continued
down the tail. The Kestrel or Wind-hover is a shy arboreal bird
of somewhat crepuscular tendencies, generally observed circling
gracefully aloft in readiness to drop upon its prey, or " hovering '*
with rapid vibrations of the long wings, the tail expanded and
the head to windward. Small mammals and coleoptera furnish
most of the food, a few birds — very seldom game — lizards, frogs,
worms, grasshoppers, and insect-larvae varying the diet. Its
great utility is now generally recognised, while sensible keepers
should be fast learning that all Hawks and Owls are not
" vermin." It rarely builds its own nest, but occupies deserted
habitations of Crows, Pies, and other birds, relined sparingly
with twigs and grass, or scrapes a cup in the soil of some ledge
or cavity of a cliff. At times hollow trees, ruins, and chalk-pits
are chosen, or even level ground in the fens — pellets of bones,
feathers, fur, and beetles' elytra commonly marking the spot. The
four to six eggs are creamy-white, blotched or thickly mottled
with bright or dull red. T. cencliris, the Lesser Kestrel, with white
claws, and unspotted back in the male, has four or five times

I?6 FALCONIFORMES

CHAP,

wandered to England, and ranges from the Pyrenees, Styria, and
the Orenburg district to Bokhara and North Africa. It some-
times occurs further north, and in winter reaches Cape Colony ;
the Indian and Chinese race, distinguished as T. pekinensis, having
strayed to the Transvaal. T. sparverius, the " Sparrow-Hawk " of
America from the Great Slave Lake to Colombia, which occasion-
ally feeds on snakes, and breeds in Woodpeckers' holes, has two
sub-species, T. cinnamominus of Central and South America and
T. carMaearum of the Antilles. T. dominicensis (sparverio'ides)
inhabits Cuba and St. Domingo, and occurs in Florida ; T. isctbel-
linus ranges from Georgia to northern South America ; T. alopex
from Nubia to Bogos-Land ; T. rupicolus and the more northern
T. rupicolo'ides occupy South Africa ; T. gracilis the Seychelles ;
T. punctatus Mauritius ; T. newtoni Madagascar ; T. moluccensis
the Moluccas and the Sunda Islands ; T. cenchro'ides Australia and
Tasmania. It is remarkable that no Kestrel inhabits Jamaica or
Bourbon, though Cuba and Mauritius are respectively so near them.

Erytliropus vespertinus, the Eed-footed Falcon, which wanders
to Britain, but breeds from Eastern Europe and Algeria to Kras-
noiarsk, where it meets the Eastern Asiatic E. amurensis, is
lead-grey in the male, with browner tail, chestnut thighs and
vent region ; the female being barred with blackish above, and
having the head, nape, and under surface rufous. The cere, orbits,
and feet are red. Both forms migrate to South Africa, keeping
more to the west and east respectively ; the latter, which crosses
India and Burma, being distinguished in the male by white under
wing-coverts, and in the female by the absence of rufous on the
head, neck, and brown-spotted breast. In general habits like
Kestrels, these birds are more gregarious, and breed in company.

Hypoiriorchis subbuteo, the Hobby, nests sporadically in Eng-
land, and extends thence to North Africa and Japan, occurring
in the Canaries and migrating to South Africa, North India, and
China. Both sexes are slate-coloured, having buff lower parts
with black streaks, reddish vent, white throat and sides of the
neck, and a black stripe down the latter. This bold and dashing
little Falcon, easily recognisable by the extremely long wings,
which give it a Swift-like appearance, is usually seen poised aloft,
or rapidly pursuing the insects and birds which form its food.
The note is shrill ; the three to five eggs resemble closely
freckled pinkish specimens of those of the Kestrel, and are

iv FALCONIDAE 177

deposited late in the season in disused birds' nests. The state-
ment that it broods on the eggs of the Kestrel needs further
proof. H. eleonorae, the largest Old World species of the genus,
occupying the Mediterranean basin from Spain and the Atlas
to the Levant, while straying to Mauritius, is uniform sooty-
black ; but some individuals never become sooty, and immature
examples precisely resemble the Hobby. The habits are like those
of its congener, but the two or three eggs are larger, and are laid
in holes in cliffs, or upon the bare soil on stony flats of desolate
islands. The very similar IT. concolor ranges from the Red Sea to
Madagascar ; If. cuvieri inhabits the Ethiopian Region ; H. opliryo-
phanes is described from Colonia ; If. severus extends from India
arid Ceylon to New Britain, but not to Australia; H. lunulatus from
Flores to the Duke of York Island, with Australia and Tasmania ;
H. fusco-caerulescens and H. rujigularis from Mexico to Argentina,
the former moreover reaching the southern United States and
Patagonia. The powerful H. diroleucus — perhaps referable to the
genus Falco — occurs from South Mexico to Peru and Brazil.

Aesalon regulus, the Merlin, called the Stone -Falcon from
its habit of perching on rocks, is a lively and interesting
little species, daring yet confiding, which preys chiefly upon
small birds, and flies less swiftly than the Hobby, though both
are used for Lark-hawking. The shrill note is chiefly heard at
the breeding-quarters, which in Britain are generally on steep
hill-slopes, especially where stony outcrops break the heather or
grass; from four to six eggs — duller and less blotched than those of
the Kestrel, being deposited in a hole scraped in the bare ground.
Abroad — and exceptionally in Scotland — old nests in trees or rocky
ledges are utilized, and the bird is perhaps occasionally its own
architect. Fairly common north of Derbyshire its summer range
extends over the moorlands from Shetland to Devonshire, and
includes Ireland, while it visits the sea-coast in autumn. It occurs
accidentally in Greenland, and reaches thence to the Pyrenees and
the Alps, being found across Northern and Central Europe and
Asia, and migrating to North Africa, North India, and South
China. The male is slaty - blue with rusty nape and under
surface, and is streaked with dusky throughout ; the throat is
white, as is the tip of the tail, which, besides six imperfect bars,
shows a broad sub-terminal black band. The dark brown female
has the lower parts white, the rectrices exhibiting eight light

VOL. IX N

178 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

bars. In the very similar Ae. columbarius, the " Pigeon Hawk "
of North America, extending to Venezuela and Ecuador, the tail-
bars in the respective sexes are four and six. This species and
the following usually build in trees, using twigs, roots, grass, and
moss for their nests. Ae. (Chicquera) typus, the Indian " Turumti,"
is a larger bird, both male and female being grey above and white
below, with red head and dark barring nearly throughout, while
the Ethiopian Ae. ((7.) ruficollis is slightly less striped.

The most typical member of the Family is Falco peregrinus
the almost cosmopolitan Peregrine Falcon, of which the sub-species
F. melanogenys and F. ernesti, the commonest forms from the Sunda
Islands to China and Fiji, are more closely barred below, though
not so broadly as F. cassini of the extreme south of America.
The colour is slaty-grey above with darker transverse markings,
the head and a stripe down each side of the neck being blackish,
and the under parts ruddy-white banded with black. Young
birds are browner, and are streaked instead of barred. Barely
separable is the smaller and darker F. minor of South Africa, the
Comoro Islands, and Madagascar, with its larger race F. punicus,
found from Morocco along both sides of the Mediterranean to
Asia Minor. F. barbarus, also of the Mediterranean region,
but chiefly confined to Africa north of the Niger, and the
Soudan, is distinguished by its red nape, brightest in the larger
sub-species, F. babylonicus, which occurs from Babylonia to
North India. The Peregrine Falcon, often erroneously called
" Goshawk " in Scotland — a fact accounting for many British
records of the latter — is for its size the most powerful of the
Family ; and, being one of the " noble " or long- winged forms,
is much used in Falconry, wherein the male is termed " Tiercel "
and the female " Falcon," as in many other species ; while
" Hunting Hawk," " Blue Hawk," and, for the young, " Red
Hawk," are names common to both sexes.

Far the most daring of our Birds of prey, the fierceness and
courage are especially shewn in defence of its nestlings, both
parents dashing angrily at an intruder, and, though rarely touch-
ing him, swooping down in unpleasant proximity, as he clambers
along some narrow ledge or swings upon his rope. Should, however,
the hen-bird, which sits very closely, have fresh eggs, she dis-
appears on leaving them, though her consort flies wildly to and fro
at some little distance, reiterating his shrill cry. Exceptionally

FALCONIDAE 179

savage adults may even strike the person ; nevertheless, Skuas
and certain Owls are decidedly more dangerous, whereas the
ordinary Eagle is mild in comparison. The food consists of ducks,
guillemots, pigeons, grouse, and partridges, varied by rabbits and
so forth ; yet, in spite of the undoubted damage caused to game,
preservers would be wise to spare a due proportion of individuals
in view of their utility in killing off the more weakly and diseased
birds. The two to four eggs, usually finely blotched or thickly
mottled with rich red on a creamy ground — though one is often
paler or yellowish — are deposited in a hollow scraped on some bare
or grassy ledge of a sea-girt or inland cliff ; but occasionally nests
in trees are utilized, or broken ground in northern regions. Two or
more sites are often tenanted in turn. Long distances are traversed
in search of food, the survivor of a pair mating again marvellously
quickly, considering the comparatively scanty supply of partners.

F. peregrinator (atriceps), the Shaheen or Royal Falcon, of
India, Ceylon, and Tenasserim, distinguishable by the deep ferru-
ginous under surface and the general absence of barring, is much
prized by natives for hawking, as is the docile but delicate and
less courageous Lanner (F.feldeggi or tanypterus) by the Bedouins.
The latter is huffish-brown, with ruddy crown and nape, a grey
tinge towards the rufous-barred tail, and fawn-coloured lower parts
with brown spots ; it ranges from Loango and Unyamuesi in
Africa as far as South Europe and Persia, and lays four eggs —
lighter than those of the Peregrine — in rocks, ruins, or disused
birds' nests, the Dashoor Pyramid being a well-known site. F.
biarmicus, a close ally from South Africa, is nearly spotless below.

Of the genus Gennaea or " Desert Falcon," G. sacer (lanarius
or milvipes), the Saker, found from North Africa and East Europe
to North China, has brown upper parts mottled with fulvous,
whitish crown, nape, and lower surface streaked with brown,
and white markings across the tail. A swift and fairly bold
denizen of open country, it is used for bustard- gazelle- or
heron - hawking by Indians and Arabs, while it also preys on
hares, birds, and lizards. It deposits three or four rather pointed
white eggs, blotched or spotted with various shades of red,
in a nest of sticks and grass, normally placed in a tree. G.
jugger, the Luggur of India and Afghanistan, differs in being
greyer above and less streaked below, with rufous crown and
nearly uniform tail, whereas G. mexicana (polyagrus), the Prairie

180 FALCONIFORMES CHAP.

Falcon of Mexico and the western United States, has the head
brown. G. hypoleuca, of Australia, is grey and black, with barred
tail, and dusky shaft-streaks on the whitish lower parts ; G.
subnigra of the same country being almost plain blackish-brown.

Much controversy has arisen concerning the noble Arctic
Falcons (Hierofalco], especially those occupying Siberia and
Northern America; it seems, however, most probable that three grey
forms inhabit the latter and two the former region. In H. candi-
cans, the Greenland Falcon, the prevailing colour is white at all
ages, transversely marked above and spotted below with blackish ;
it occurs in North Greenland, Spitsbergen, Arctic Siberia and
America, the Commander Islands, and Amur-land. If. gyrfalco,
the Gyr- or Jer-Falcon * of Arctic America, Greenland, Scandinavia,
Northern Russia, and possibly North Asia, is like a large Pere-
grine Falcon, but is greyer above and whiter below ; H. islandvs,
the Iceland Falcon, of South Greenland, Iceland, North Siberia,
and Arctic America is paler, having the whitish head streaked
with dusky. If. labradorus, of Labrador, is dark throughout. All
these species move southwards towards winter, the first three
visiting Britain and the Greenland Falcon even Southern France.
They are still valued in Falconry ; but, though more powerful,
they lack the spirit and dash of the Peregrine Falcon. The
food consists of lemmings, grouse, sea-fowl, and the like ; the nest
of sticks, lined with softer materials, is placed on rocks or trees,
and contains three or four whitish eggs mottled or completely
covered with yellowish or cinnamon markings.

Fam. Y. Pandionidae. — This group is especially remarkable
for the reversible outer toe — recalling that of the Owls, the want
of an aftershaft, and the long closely-feathered tibiae. The strong
short beak is arched and decidedly hooked ; the powerful feet are
roughly scaled ; the toes nearly equal, with no connecting mem-
branes, but with spicules beneath ; the claws sharp, curved, and
rounded. The wings are long ; the tail is comparatively short.
The other structural details are as in the Falconidae. The downy
young are dusky, varied with rufous ; the lower breast, the abdomen,
a central stripe down the back, and several on the head, being white.
Pandion haliaetus, the Osprey or Fish-Hawk, nearly cosmo-

1 Professor Newton and other writers seem to consider that the true Gyr-Falcon
only inhabits Scandinavia and H. candicans Greenland and Arctic America ; but this
does not preclude occurrences elsewhere. Cf. however, Ibis, 1889, pp. 143-144.

IV

FALCONIDAE I 8 I

politan in range, though local everywhere, and absent from many of
the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and America
south of Brazil, is dark brown above, with the short crest, head,
nape, and lower parts white ; the crown being streaked with
blackish, and a brown band — which becomes in the male a series
of spots — crossing the chest. The bill is dusky, the cere and feet
are bluish, and the irides yellow. The smaller Australasian P.
leucocephalus and the American P. carolinensis barely attain sub-
specific rank. A migrant to Britain, this bird formerly bred at
TJlles water, and not uncommonly in Scotland, where two or three
pairs still remain. Of old it often occupied rocky islets or ruins
in Highland lochs, but the nest is usually placed in other coun-
tries on trees or sea-cliffs, and exceptionally on the ground ; trees
being the favourite site in America, in which country colonies are
sometimes formed, consisting of even three hundred pairs. The
bulky flattish pile of sticks and turf, lined with moss, grass, or
seaweed, is invariably placed near water, and contains three, or
rarely four, whitish eggs, beautifully blotched or overspread with
dark brown, crimson, or claret-colour, varied with orange, buff or
grey, New World specimens being usually duller. Surface-
swimming fish form the food, and magnificent indeed is the spectacle
when an Osprey, after poising itself vertically aloft, descends with
terrific dash and splashing plunge to rise again with its captured
prey grasped in its roughened toes. The graceful flight is varied
by many evolutions and spiral ascents, while the loud piercing
scream is chiefly heard at the nesting- quarters.

Of fossil Falconine forms, excluding existing species, Lithornis
vultiirinus is found in the London Clay (Lower Eocene) ; from the
Upper Eocene of France comes Palaeocercus cuvieri and Falco —
the former possibly from England also ; from the Lower Miocene of
France Teracus littoralis, Palaeohierax gervaisi, Aquila, Buteo, and
Milvus ; from its Middle Miocene Haliaetus and Aquila. Aquila
also occurs in the American Pliocene of Nebraska and Oregon; Falco
in the Italian ; from the drifts of Queensland we have Necrastur
alacer and Tapliaetus branchialis ; from the Argentine Pampean
of Lujan and the Post-Pampean of Monte Hermoso respectively
Asthenopterus minutus and Foetopterus ambiguus ; while the
superficial deposits and swamps of New Zealand furnish a sub-
fossil Circus and the giant Harpagornis moorii ; and the Mare
aux Songes of Mauritius Astur alphonsi.

CHAPTER V

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

BRIGADE II LEGION I (ALECTOROMORPHAE). ORDERS : TINAMI-

FORMES GALLIFORMES GRUIFORMES CHARADRIIFORMES

Order VIII. TINAMIFORMES.

THE primitive Neotropical Order Tinamiformes, with the Sub-
Order TINAMI, and sole Family Tinamidae or Crypturidae,
is classed here in accordance with Dr. Gadow's carefully- weighed
decision;1 yet the position must not be considered absolutely
certain, most systematists placing it near the Eatitae. The com-
plete fusion of vomer and palatine bones is unique among Birds,
though partially noticeable in Dromaeus and Apteryx ; the con-
formation of the skull, the single head of the quadrate, the
separation of the ischium and ilium, the absence of a pygostyle, the
reduced tongue, the functionless tail, the gait and bearing are
Struthionine features ; but other points of structure, the ptery-
losis and the habits generally, are Galline.

The furcula is U-shaped; the sternum long and slender with
well-developed keel; the head small; the neck thin and elon-
gated with short plumage ; the beak fairly strong, varying in
length, and composed of more than one piece, the culmen being
flattened and usually arched; the moderate metatarsus is
transversely or hexagonally scutellated, and may be rough or
smooth behind, while the hallux — wanting in Calopezus and
Tinamotis — is elevated, and the anterior toes are long or short,
with moderate claws. The short wings are concave and rounded,
with ten primaries and from thirteen to sixteen secondaries ; the

1 Cf. H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil. 1893, pp. 160-164.

TINAMIDAE 183

abbreviated tail possesses ten very weak feathers, hidden by the
coverts in Tinamus, Nothocercus, and Crypturus, and hardly
distinguishable from them in Eliynchotus, Nothoprocta, and
Nothura, the coverts themselves almost forming a train in the
male of Taoniscus. Calodromas has twelve rectrices. The tongue
is small and triangular, the crop is large and globular, the after-
shaft may be rudimentary or wanting; powder -down feathers
occur near the rump, and the down of the adults is sparing, while
that of the nestlings,1 which run from the shell, may be simple
or complex, and is of a bumsh-brown or chestnut colour, often
relieved by black markings and white streaks.

Like Partridges in appearance, and varying from the size of a
large Eowl to that of a Quail, Tinamous are essentially ground-
birds, and rarely perch, some species being solitary and others
forming coveys; they haunt the undergrowth of thick forests,
dry bushy and grassy flats, or — exceptionally — rocky mountains.
The flight is strong and extremely swift, accompanied by quick
vibrations of the wings, occasionally varied by a gliding motion ;
so reckless moreover is the pace that individuals are frequently
killed by striking against the first obstacle they meet on rising. To
flush them, however, is often a vain attempt, as they run with
amazing rapidity, and are readily concealed by the surrounding
vegetation. The voice — a trill or mellow whistle of several
notes — differs somewhat according to the species, and may be
heard even in winter ; the food consists of seeds, berries, roots,
bulbs, spiders, insects and their larvae, maize- and potato-crops
being at times seriously damaged. A hole is scraped under
shelter of a tussock or bush, and scantily lined with dry leaves
or herbage, to receive the eggs, deposited in some districts almost
throughout the year ; these are oval, and so wonderfully burnished
as to be totally unlike those of any other bird. They vary,
according to the species, from reddish-chocolate, wine-purple, or
liver-colour to dark blue, bluish-green or primrose, and number
from four or five to sixteen ; though the smaller figures are perhaps
the most reliable, as larger sets, though not uncommon, may be
the produce of more than one hen. As in the Turnicidae, and to
some extent in the Eatitae, the male alone incubates, sitting about
three weeks, and feigning disablement to decoy intruders from the
nest. The flesh is very delicate. The birds dust themselves daily.
1 Of. W. P. Pycraft, Ibis, 1895, pp. 1, 507.

1 84

TINAMIFORMES

As will be seen from the following examples, the general
coloration is rufous or slaty-brown, which may be relieved by
buff, or barred with blackish above and even below; the under
parts being often greyer, with whitish throat and belly. The sexes
do not differ greatly, but the female is, if anything, the larger
bird. Some six forms occur in Mexico, while of the remainder
Tinamotis ingoufi extends the range to Southern Patagonia.

The genus Tinamus has ten members, T. tao, of South America
north of Bolivia and Brazil, being greyish-olive, with slaty breast
and buff abdomen, wavy blackish markings on both surfaces, black
primaries, black head and neck with white spots and bands on the
sides, and still whiter throat. Of the thirty or more species of
Crypturus, C. tataupa, extending from Peru and Bolivia to Brazil
and Argentina, is plain chestnut-brown, with blackish crown,
grey cheeks, neck, and breast, whitish throat and belly, buffish
flanks with black crescentic bars, red beak, and pinkish feet.

It haunts dense under-
growth in forests, even
near habitations, and
frequently sits bent for-
ward with its " tail " ex-
panded over its back;
its melody consists of
several notes at dimin-
ishing intervals, merg-
ing into a hurried trill,
which is terminated by
a reiterated sound like
"chororo"; its eggs are
of a reddish chocolate-
colour. Hhynchotus
rufescens of the same
countries except Peru,
the " Perdiz grande "
of Argentina, which is
represented in Bolivia
by the similar E. maculicollis, is grey-brown, with blacker crown,
rufous cheeks, neck, and breast, and chestnut primaries ; the
back being barred with whitish and black, and the flanks
with brown and white. This somewhat solitary bird threads

FIG. 42. — Great Tinamou. Rhynchotus rufescens.

TIN AMIDAE I 8 5

the tall grasses of the Pampas like a Bail, and, if unable
to escape by squatting or running, will fly for some thousand
yards, and thrice repeat the effort before becoming exhausted,
the rapid whirring of the pinions sounding like a vehicle driven
quickly over stones. The song, as it may almost be called, con-
sists of five or six flute-like notes, several individuals sometimes
joining in chorus towards evening, when they are decidedly active.
The eggs, which are dark purple, have been hatched in confine-
ment, and attempts at naturalization have been made in Essex
and Herts. Nothoprocta contains eight members, N. pentlandi of
the Bolivian and Argentine Andes having the crown and back
grey, barred with black and buff, and streaked with white, the
remiges blackish and buff, the cheeks and breast grey, the throat,
mid-abdomen and pectoral spots whitish, the flanks grey, black
and white. Its powers of flying and running are comparatively
small, and it will remain stationary for hours among stones or
bushes in ravines, escaping observation by its dull hue. The note
is a full- toned whistle; the food consists of seeds, fruits, and insects;
the eggs are reddish-brown. Of seven species of Notliura, N.
maculosa, the " Berdiz comun," found from South Brazil to Argen-
tina, is yellowish-brown above, barred with black and streaked
with whitish, the throat being white, the wings marked with
fulvous, and the lower parts rusty with brown breast-spots and
curved flank-bands. It is a fearless, solitary, and somewhat sluggish
denizen of grassy plains, which does not avoid habitations, and
may be knocked down with a whip or stone, feigning death when
captured ; the note resembles that of Crypturus tataupa without
the final intonation ; the eggs are wine-purple or liver-coloured.
N. darwini, the shy " Berdiz chico " of Batagonia, is greyer. Calo-
dromas (Calopezus) elegans, the Martineta, ranging from South
Uruguay to Batagonia, has a grey and black head and neck with
long recurved crest, elevated in excitement, two white bands on
each side of the head, rufous and black upper parts, whitish throat
and marks on the primaries, and huffish under surface with cres-
centic black bars and spots. It frequents dry bushy table-lands,
often in coveys of twenty or thirty, which run squealing in single
file before intruders, and utter, in summer only, a long plaintive
whistle, or chorus of notes like those of Rliynclwtus, but weaker.
The flight, accompanied by a wailing sound, is broken by intervals
of gliding ; the four to sixteen eggs are deep green or yellowish.

I 86 GALLIFORMES : MESITIDAE CHAP.

The remaining genera are Nothocercus with five, Taoniscus with
one, and Tinamotis with two species.

Order IX. GALLIFORMES.

The Galliformes, or Gallinaceous Birds, constitute a large
and fairly homogeneous Order, situated between the Tinami-
formes and the Gruiformes, if we assume the former to be classi-
fied in accordance with the views of Dr. Gadow, and not to be
placed nearer to the Katitae ; the Gruiformes again linking
themselves to the Laro-Limicoline section of the Charadriiformes,
and so forth. Opisthocomus, however, though decidedly Galline,
shows considerable resemblance to the Cuckoo-tribe.1 The present
Order may be divided into the Sub-Orders MESITAE, with the
Family Mesitidae; TURNICES, with the Turnicidae or Button-
Quails, and the Pedionomidae ; GALLI, with the Megapodiidae or
Mound-builders, the Cracidae or Curassows, and the Phasianidae
or Game-birds, Fowls, and the like ; and finally OPISTHOCOMI, with
the Family Opisthocomidae, containing but one species, the excep-
tionally curious Hoatzin. Among the Galli, the Megapodiidae
and Cracidae together compose Professor Huxley's group of Peris-
teropodes or Pigeon-footed forms, where all the toes are in one plane;
the Phasianidae standing alone in his Alectoropodes, or Fowl-
footed division, where the hallux is elevated above its fellows.

Excluding Mesites, of which comparatively little is known, all
the members of the Order agree in having a more or less globular
crop, and a somewhat scanty supply of down in the adults, with
a more uniform coating in the young, which becomes thinner in
Opisthocomus ; they may be distinguished from the Gruiformes,
except Rhinochetus, by their impervious nostrils, while the
Tinamiformes differ in the compound structure of their bills, the
primitive sternum, and the invariably weak rectrices.

Sub-Order MESITAE. Fam. I. Mesitidae. — This consists of
a single genus, Mesites, from Madagascar, originally referred by
Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to the neighbourhood of the Pigeons,
and by subsequent writers to that of the Passerine, Ardeine, or
Kalline birds.2 W. A. Forbes 3 classed it next to Eurypyga and

1 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Eeich, Aves, Syst. Theil, 1893, p. 176.

2 A. Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (6) Zool. vii. 1878, Art. 6.

3 P.Z.S. 1882, pp. 267-271.

TURNICIDAE 1 87

Rhinochetus ; but Dr. Gadow, as may be seen from above, places
it in the Galliformes, considering it to be a connecting link
between that Order, the Tinamiformes, and the Gruiformes.

In this curious form the bill is long and slender ; the legs
are rather weak, with the uniformly scutellated metatarsus
shorter than the partially bare tibia ; while the toes, which are
without webs, are on the same level. The keel of the sternum
is short, the anterior extremity hardly reaching beyond the
middle of the breast-bone, and the clavicles are quite rudi-
mentary. The wing is rounded, and has ten primaries and six
secondaries ; the tail is strong and well-developed, with fourteen
(or sixteen) rectrices. Mr. E. Bartlett tells us that the quills
of the soft feathers of the back and rump are so delicate
that the plumage curls forward immediately upon the bird's
death.1 The after-shaft is absent, the pervious nostrils are long
and linear, the lores and bluish orbits are naked. ISTo less than
five pairs of powder -down patches have been ascertained to
exist, of which two couples are dorsal, one adjoins the upper
pectoral muscles, and two are ventral. M. variegatus is cinnamon,
with black and tawny markings, the lower parts being white with
black spots and reddish flanks. The female is mostly rufous below.
M. unicolor is not distinct. Hardly anything is known of the
habits, but the nest is said to be upon the ground.

Sub-Order TURNICES. — This consists of the two Families, Turni-
cidae and Pedionomidae, each with one genus, Turnix or Hemi-
podius, and Pedionomus respectively ; the last-named, moreover,
has but one species. Ortyxelus meiffreni (p. 295), may belong here.

Fam. II. Turnicidae. — In this group the bill is short, but
commonly less stout than that of the Phasianidae, which it other-
wise resembles ; the metatarsus is long, slender, and scutellated, the
hallux is absent, the claws are small, curved, and sharp. The wings
are broad and rather short, with ten primaries and about fifteen
secondaries ; the abbreviated tail contains twelve soft rectrices,
which are not so long as the upper coverts in Turnix ocellata, while
in T. sylvatica and several nearly-allied species the median feathers
are somewhat elongated and acute. The furcula is U-shaped,
and the crop is almost absent, but an after-shaft is present ;
the pointed tongue, the impervious nostrils, and the tracheo-
bronchial syrinx calling for no special remark. Where the sexes
1 P.Z.S. 1877, p. 292.

1 88 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

differ, the female is almost always the larger and brighter-plum-
aged bird, the colours being black, brown, buff, chestnut, and
white in varying admixture, and becoming less distinct with age.

These small, solitary, and non-migratory forms often escape
observation through their shyness, as they run strongly, and are
flushed with the greatest difficulty, dropping quickly into cover
after a short awkward night ; they frequent dry, grassy plains
and localities covered with low trees or dense bushes, and utter
a pleasant ringing or triple grating cry, with a mournful call-note
at dawn and sunset.1 The food consists of seeds and insect-
larvae ; the well-concealed nest is little more than a hole lined
with dry grass, though sometimes domed with similar materials ;
the three to five eggs, shaped somewhat like peg-tops, are buff
or greyish, with spots of pale grey, purplish, or dark brown.
Two broods are raised in a season, and it is a noticeable fact that
the comparatively dull-hued male performs all, or nearly all, the
duties of incubation, sitting very closely, and feigning lameness
when surprised with the young, which run from the shell. The
adults frequently fight, but the sex of the combatants is uncertain.

The genus Turnix includes some twenty "Hemipodes," the
Bustard- or Button-Quails of Anglo-Indians, which range from
South Europe, Arabia, and Africa to India, China, the Liu-Kiu
Islands, and Formosa, as well as to Australia, New Britain, and
New Caledonia. The female is described below, unless otherwise
stated. T. taigoor, reaching from India, Ceylon, and the Malay
Peninsula to the Liu-Kiu Islands and Formosa, is brown above,
with black bars and vermiculations, and buff margins to many
of the feathers ; the forehead and sides of the head and neck
are white spotted with black, the mid-throat and chest are black,
a whitish stripe divides the crown, and the under parts are
buff, banded with black on the sides of the chest and on the
breast. The whole chest is barred in the male, the centre of the
throat being white. Darker birds apparently inhabit wetter
districts.2 T. pugnax of Ceylon and the Great Sunda Islands
is a rufous-naped race. T. fasciata, with a rufous collar, but
grey and black upper surface, inhabits the Philippines and
Palawan ; T. rufilata, of Celebes, has the throat barred with black,

1 Turnix sylvatica is called "Torillo" in Spain from its note, which resembles
the subdued bellowing of a bull.

2 For the entire genus see Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1889, pp. 446-475.

PEDIONOM1DAE 189

and a rufous vent-region, T. powelli of the Lesser Sunda Islands
being similar. The males lack the rufous collar and barred
throat. T. sylvatica, of South Europe and Africa generally, has
in both sexes dull reddish upper parts, barred with black and
relieved by white, grey, and buff, which cause a scaly appearance ;
the browner wings shew white spots, the centre of the crown and
throat are white, the sides of the head, neck, and breast whitish
with black spots, the mid-chest and abdomen ruddy and buff
respectively. T. dussumieri, the smallest species known, occur-
ring in India, Pegu, Hainan, and Formosa, differs in the wide
yellowish margins of the scapulars, a feature found also in the
blacker T. nana and T. liottentotta of Africa, wherein the sides
are barred. The former ranges from lat. 10° S. to the Great
Karroo, and the latter southward of that district. T. llanfordi
is found east of the Bay of Bengal to Siam and Manchuria, T.
tanki in India and eastward . to Tipperah, T. albiventris in the
Andamans and Nicobars ; all being greyish above varied with
black, and having the nape rufous in the female only. T. macu-
losa of Celebes, Southern New Guinea, and Australia, and T. satu-
rata of New Britain and the Duke of York group are similar,
but exhibit yellow -edged scapulars; the latter possessing no
rusty collar, but having a white throat in the male. T. ocellata
of Luzon is a large greenish -brown species vermiculated with
black, in which the neck and breast are bright ruddy, the crown
is blackish banded with white, the throat and cheeks are chiefly
black, and the wing - coverts show black ocelli with whitish
margins. The male has the middle of the throat white and no
rufous collar. T. nigricollis of Madagascar is grey, black, reddish,
and buff above, with much black and white on the head ; and is
uniform grey below, with black mid-throat and more or less
ruddy sides. The throat is white in the male. The female of
T. melanogaster of East Australia has both throat and breast
black, with white markings on the latter, the male reversing the
colours. Other Australian forms are T. varia, with chestnut nuchal
collar, black, white, and rufous upper, and grey and buff under parts ;
T. castanonota, with vinous red upper surface ; T. pyrrhothorax,
chiefly greyish above and rusty buff below ; and T. velox, reddish-
chestnut in colour with nearly white lower parts. In these four
the sexes are alike. T. leucogaster inhabits Central Australia.
Fain. III. Pedionomidae. — Pedionomus torquatus differs in

1 90 GALLIFORMES

structure from Turnix by the presence of a small hind-toe. The
lax upper plumage is, in the female, reddish-brown with black
barring and buff margins to the feathers, the lower parts being
pale buff marked with black. A broad white collar spotted
with black surrounds the neck, while a rust-coloured nape and

FIG. 43. — " Plain -Wanderer. " Pedionomus torquatus. x ^.

chest distinguish the above sex from the male, where the collar is
brown and buff. This curious bird, somewhat smaller than a Quail,
inhabits grassy plains in Southern and Eastern Australia, prefer-
ring the wilder districts. The habits are much as in Turnix, but
the nest seems never to be domed, the four eggs being of a light
stone-colour, thickly freckled and blotched with brown and grey.
Fain. IV. Megapodiidae. — The Megapodes, or Mound-builders,
commence the section Peristeropodes (p. 186) of the Sub-Order
G-ALLI. The bill is short, stout, and arched, though rather slender
in Megapodius ; the feet are exceptionally strong, and enormous
for the size of the birds, Lipoa having the smallest ; while the
metatarsi are usually scutellated, but are reticulated anteriorly
in Megacephalon, which has comparatively short and blunt
claws. The abbreviated wings have ten primaries and some six
secondaries. The tail is long and rounded in Talegallus and
Lipoa, with upper coverts extending to the tip in the latter ;
it is short but still rounded in Megapodius ; long and obcordate
when expanded in CatJieturus, Aepypodius, and Megacephalon. The
rectrices number twelve in Megapodius, sixteen in Lipoa, Tale-

MEGAPODIIDAE I 9 I

gallus, and Aepypodius, eighteen in MegacepJudon and Catheturus.
Aepypodius possesses an erect fleshy frontal crest and a pendent
caruncle at the base of the fore-neck, or even a pair of lateral
outgrowths near the nape ; Catheturus has a vascular neck-wattle ;
and Megacephalon a rounded bony casque with a tubercle behind
each nostril. The fleshy growths are yellow or reddish, the
horny black. In Aepypodius, Catheturus, and Megacephalon the
naked head is clothed with hair-like feathers or papillae ; Lipoa
and some species of Megapodius have a short dense crest ; others
have the head almost entirely feathered, others again nearly
bare except the occipital and nuchal region, as in Talegallus.
The naked skin may be red, yellow, orange, purplish, grey, or pale
blue ; the bill and feet are black, brown, olive, yellow, red, orange,
horn- or parti-coloured. The furcula is Y-shaped, the syrinx
tracheo-bronchial, the tongue sagittate, the gizzard muscular, and
the after shaft small. The size varies from that of a Turkey to
that of a large Pigeon, the sexes being invariably similar.

Megapodes are shy terrestrial birds found in hill -valleys,
among thickets near rivers or the sea, or on gravelly and sandy
beaches. Upon the ground their gait is not ungraceful, while they
run well, and only take to the wing when hard pressed ; if dis-
turbed they usually seek the lowest branches of the neighbouring
trees, hopping gradually to the higher limbs ; the flight is heavy,
but can carry them from island to island. Always difficult of
observation they are rarely seen in company, yet the larger breed-
ing mounds are no doubt used by more pairs than one. Hoarse
croaks or clucks are uttered in the day-time, mewing notes or
noisy cackles at night ; the food consists of fallen fruit, seeds,
berries, worms, snails, insects, and even crabs. The brownish-
red, salmon-coloured or whitish eggs, at least as large as those of
the domestic duck, are deposited either in mounds constructed of
soil and vegetable matter, or in holes made in sandy or shingly
ground ; the decaying vegetation or the sun's heat producing the
effect of an artificial incubator, and making parental aid needless.
The young extricate themselves readily from the superincumbent
soil, being hatched in a feathered condition, and flying almost
immediately. The flesh is dark and usually unpalatable.

Though mainly confined to the Australian Eegion, where it
extends eastwards to Ninafou and Samoa, the Family reaches
westward to the Mcobars, and northward to the Philippines and

1 92 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

Ladrones, replacing the Pheasants within these limits — save for
the Philippines — just as the Cracidae do in Neotropical countries.
No species is yet recorded from Sumatra or Java, and confirma-
tion is needed in the case of the main island of Borneo.

Megacephalon maleo of North Celebes and the Sanghir Islands
is glossy blackish-brown, with salmon-pink breast and belly, a
vaulted tail, a black casque of cellular tissue, and dusky bill and
feet. The Maleo, as it is called, inhabits hilly country, but resorts
in hundreds to sloping gravelly beaches to breed, holes being
scratched or dug just above high- water mark, some four or five
feet in diameter. In these from two to eight pale brownish-red
eggs are laid, about six inches apart — at intervals, it is said, of a
fortnight or so — several females occasionally using one cavity.

Aepypodius bruijni of "Waigiou is brownish -black, with chestnut
rump and breast, dusky bill and feet ; a fleshy papillose crest adorns
the head, and three wattles — one median and two lateral — occur on
the neck, all probably red in life. Ae. arfakianus of New Guinea
is black above and brownish below, with no lateral wattles.

Catheturus latliami, the " Brush Turkey " of Eastern Australia,
is blackish-brown with greyish under surface, shewing conspicuous
light margins to the feathers. It has a bright yellow neck-wattle,
reddish head and neck, black bill and brown feet. This species
forms mounds of earth and decayed leaves, sometimes as much as
six feet high and fourteen feet in diameter at the base, and covers
the coarse outer layecs with fresh leaves and sticks. The central
portion is hollowed out like a cup, successive layers of eggs being
deposited from the circumference inwards in concentric circles, and
the earth gradually filled in above them. Several females some-
times utilize the same mound, each being said to lay an egg every
second day. These eggs, placed with the small end downwards,
number from twenty to nearly forty, and are of a long pointed oval
shape and of a white colour with minute granulations. The site
is usually a level clearing among scrub, whither the materials are
conveyed by being repeatedly thrown backwards by the feet, while
the cock possibly assists in building.1 Talegallus cuvieri, of
Western New Guinea, Salwatti, Mysol and Gilolo, is black with
whitish throat ; the naked parts are red-brown, the bill and feet

1 This species has bred in the Zoological Society's Gardens, where the active young
left the mound within twenty-four hours of being hatched. A. D. Bartlett, P.Z.S.
1860, pp. 426, 427. C. purpureicollis has been recently described from Cape York.

MEGAPODIIDAE

193

reddish-orange and yellow respectively. T. fuscirostris, of South
and East New Guinea, with the Aru Islands, differs in its grey-
black bare areas and brown bill ; T. jobiensis, of Jobi Island and
East New Guinea, has the bill, feet, and naked skin red. The
habits resemble those of Catlieturus : the mounds, which reach
an internal temperature of 93° F., are sometimes eleven feet
high ; the eggs are reddish with a chalky incrustation.

Lipoa, ocellata, the Native Pheasant or Mallee Hen of South
and West Australia, has grey and brown upper parts, with black,

FIQ. 44. — "Brush Turkey." Catheturus lathami.

buff, and white markings, which form eyes on the wings and
back. The breast is grey with a median black and white line,
the remaining lower parts being whitish with a rufous tinge.
The naked parts are pale blue, the bill and feet brown. This bird
frequents both open parts of the "brushes" and dense thickets, while
in manners it differs but little from the members of the last two
genera. The mounds — usually in close proximity — are, however,
smaller as a rule, and are stated to be used by single hens, a fact
no doubt true in many cases. The six to eight eggs, which are
pinkish-white, but become red-brown in a few days, are very
fragile, as in other Megapodes. The natives say that an egg is

VOL. IX 0

1 94 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

deposited daily, the discrepancy between Lipoa and Megaceplialon
being in this respect very remarkable, but conflicting assertions
are only what may be expected where several females lay together,
and further investigation should easily decide the question.

The genus Megapodius contains some fifteen species, about the
size of a small fowl, in which the coloration varies from olive or
chestnut-brown to blackish or grey above, and from red-brown
to pale or dark-grey below, the bill being reddish, greenish, or
yellowish, and the feet black, red, orange, yellow, or horn-coloured.
M. pritcliardi, of Mnafou, alone has white bases to the primaries,
and M. wallacii, of the Moluccas, exhibits bright chestnut bands
on the upper surface. M. duperreyi (tumulus), which ranges
from the Kangeang Islands and Lombok to New Guinea and
North-East Australia, fashions mounds, occasionally ten feet high,
in dense scrub, laying pale coffee-coloured eggs in long burrows
bored laterally, and not in symmetrical circles, as does Cathe-
turus. M. layardi, of the New Hebrides, frequents damp wooded
ravines, and is said to deposit its red-brown eggs among leaves in
hollows. M. cumingi, found from the islands north of Borneo and
Palawan to the Philippines and Celebes, builds mounds of sand,
leaves, and so forth, near the sea, the chalky eggs having a salmon
hue. M. eremita, extending from the Solomon Islands almost to
New Guinea, buries its eggs a couple of feet deep in open sandy spots,
kept clear and fenced into allotments by the natives in Savo and
Guadalcanar ; while M. nicobariensis, of the Nicobars, appears to
flock more than other Megapodes,and to lay its eggs at long intervals.
M. lenimberensis, of the Tenimber Islands, M. sanghirensis of the
Sanghir group, M. lernsteini of the Sula Islands, M. forsteni and M.
freycineti, ranging from the Moluccas to "Western or even Northern
New Guinea, M. macgillivrayi of the Louisiade and D'Entrecasteaux
Archipelagos and Eastern New Guinea, M. geelvinkianus, of the west
of the latter with its islands, and M. laperousii, of the Pelew and
Ladrone groups, are like their congeners in habits and appearance.
Chosornis praeteritus is an extinct form from Queensland.

Fain. V. Cracidae. — These birds are almost identical in struc-
ture with the Megapodiidae, though sharply contrasted in their
arboreal habits and their style of breeding. They may be, divided
into the Sub-families (1) Cracinae or Curassows, (2) Penelopinae
or Guans, and (3) Oreophasinae. Of the first of these, where
the maxilla is higher than it is broad, the genus Crax has a soft

CRACIDAE 195

cere, and nostrils in the middle of the bill, with the addition in
many cases of frontal excrescences and wattles ; Nothocrax, Pauxis
and Mitua have the beak horny and the nostrils basal, Pauxis,
moreover, being distinguished by a large knob on the forehead,
and Mitua by its short, highly-compressed bill with swollen
culmen. The remaining Sub-families have the maxilla depressed
and broader than it is high ; Penelope, Penelopina and Pipile ex-
hibit bare throats with a median wattle, Ortalis a mere band
of bristly -shafted feathers down the middle, and Aburria a
feathered throat and vermiform wattle, while CTiamaepetes shews
neither wattle nor bare skin, and OreopJiasis, the sole tenant of
the Oreopliasinae, a naked crown, surmounted by a cylindrical
helmet. The males of Crax, Pauxis, and Mitua, and both sexes
of Penelope jacucaca, have the trachea looped, and sometimes
extended to the posterior end of the keel of the sternum ; other
forms lack the convolutions, but in several the state is unknown.

The range covers Central and South America, excluding the
Greater Antilles, Chili and Patagonia, but one species (Ortalis
vetula) even reaches as far north as Texas.

These handsome birds, from three feet to a foot and a half in
length, frequent forests near the coast or wooded ravines on rivers,
attaining at times an elevation of several thousand feet. They are
often tame and show great curiosity, Ortalis being commonly grega-
rious and pugnacious ; some forms, moreover, rarely seek the
ground and are only to be seen perched among the branches, but
others haunt the undergrowth in the mid-day heat, and NotJw-
crax is asserted to take refuge occasionally in hollow trees. The
food consists of leaves and fruit, ordinarily procured in the
morning or evening, while various species scratch among the
debris like Pheasants. The flight is generally heavy and rapid,
Chamaepetes in particular descending with a noisy rush and
stiffened wings ; the alarm-note is loud and harsh, and in Penelope
cackling, but the more usual triple cry is clear and ringing, while
Ortalis utters a softer call, and vociferates in rattling chorus.
The carelessly-constructed nest of twigs, grass, moss, and leaves
is of considerable size, and is placed on the horizontal branch of
a tree, in a bush, or on a stump, the two to five eggs — smaller
than those of a hen — being white, with a hard granulated shell.
The young soon climb and hop about the boughs like the adults,
of which the flesh is considered a delicacy. Several species are

196 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

readily domesticated, but rarely breed in confinement. Hybrids
with domestic fowls have been recorded. Except where men-
tioned below the sexes are alike.

Sub-fam. 1. Cracinae. — Crax alector is black with a purplish
gloss, the belly being white, the naked lores and orbits black, the
cere and base of the bill yellow, the tip bluish, and the feet horn-
coloured. Throughout the whole genus, which is Central and South
American, the female has a curly crest barred with white. The re-
maining nine species differ in being greenish-black, and — except
C. fasciolata — have a frontal knob, with or without a basal wattle

FIG. 45. — Crested Curassow. Crax alector.

on each side of the mandible, the colour of these parts varying from
scarlet or yellow to pale blue or purplish-black. The tail may be
tipped with white ; the females often exhibit white barring above,
and have the plumage relieved by buff and chestnut. Notliocrax
urumutum, ranging from British Guiana to the Upper Amazons,
is chiefly chestnut above vermiculated with black, and cinnamon
below ; the wings and tail being blackish with buff markings, the
throat chestnut, the long crest black, the naked lores and orbits
yellow and purplish, the bill scarlet, the feet flesh-coloured. The
female has the lower parts mottled with dusky. Mitua mitu of
British Guiana, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia is blue-black, with chestnut

CRACIDAE 197

belly, white-tipped tail, red bill and feet ; the crest being well-
developed. M, tomentosa, of the first two countries only, has a
shorter crest and chestnut-tipped tail, whereas M. salvini of Ecuador
has a white belly. Pauxis galeata, the Cashew-bird, inhabiting
Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru, is glossy greenish-black with white
abdomen and tip to the tail ; the frontal knob, supposed to re-
semble a Cashew nut, being dull blue. The female shows a large
admixture of chestnut and buff.

Sub-fam. 2. Penelopinae. — The fifteen species of Penelope are
brown or olive-green, more or less varied with chestnut and rufous,
or washed with purple or bronze ; the feathers, moreover, have often
whitish margins, the head in P. pileata and the outer primaries
in P. allipennis becoming almost white. The wattled throat is
generally feathered in P. (Stegnolaema) montagnii, but naked else-
where, the colour being given as carmine in P. cristata, where the
feet are red. The orbits are also bare, the crest is moderate, and the
metatarsus in some cases is partly feathered. Two members of the
genus inhabit Central America. P. olscura, the Pavo del Monte,
alone reaches Northern Argentina, where Crax fasciolata, Pipile
cumanensis, and Ortalis canicollis, the Charata, also represent the
Family. Penelopina nigra, of the Guatemalan highlands, is
greenish-black, barred and mottled with brown and buff in the
female ; the naked orbits are purplish, the bare throat, large wattle,
bill and feet red. Ortalis contains about seventeen forms, some
hardly worthy of specific rank, of which five occur from South to
Central America and one — 0. vetula, the Chiacalaca — extends to
Texas. 0. ruficauda is found in Tobago and the Grenadines.
The coloration is brown or olive, with little or no metallic gloss,
but relieved by chestnut, rufous and grey ; the breast and belly
being occasionally white or buff, the naked orbits and sides of the
throat apparently reddish, and the feet pinkish, grey, or blue.
Pipile cumanensis, of South America northwards from Bolivia and
Brazil, with Trinidad, is greenish-black ; a white crest of pointed
feathers reaches the sides of the neck, some white shews on the
wings and chest ; the cere, naked orbits, lores, throat and wattle
are blue, the feet red. P. jacutinga of South-East Brazil and
Paraguay has a purplish gloss above, and a red wattle ; P. cujubi of
the Lower Amazons a brown crest margined with white. Aburria
carunculata of Colombia and Ecuador is greenish-black, with a
scantily - feathered throat and long thin wattle. Chamaepetes

198 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

goudoti, of the same countries and Peru, is bronzy-brown with
greyish head and rufous under parts ; the Costa Eican and Vera-
guan C. unicolor being nearly uniform greenish-black. In both
these genera the orbits are more or less naked.

Sub-fam. 3. Oreophasinae. — Oreophasis derbianus, the splendid
" Faisan " of the Volcan de Fuego in Guatemala, is greenish -black
with dense velvety plumage extending from the forehead to the
nostrils; the white lower parts become brownish at the sides and
vent, and shew dark streaks ; a white band crosses the tail ; and a
red cellular casque covered with hair-like feathers surmounts the
head. The bill is pale yellow, the feet are vermilion.

Fam. VI. Phasianidae. — Of really distinct Sub-families this
group may be said to possess three, (1) the Numidinae, or Guinea-
fowls, (2) the Meleagrinae, or Turkeys, and (3) the Phasianinae, or
Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse ; it is, however, customary to
class the Grouse apart as Tetraoninae, though a difficulty at
once arises in drawing the line of demarcation. For example,
Huxley * considered Caccabis, Francolinus and Ooturnix Galline,
i.e. Phasianine ; Dr. Gadow 2 makes them Tetraonine ; while Mr.
Ogilvie Grant 3 agrees with the former, but does not make these
genera the link between the sections. Mr. Grant's view may be
conveniently followed, but the division is in any case arbitrary.
As a matter of further convenience a Partridge group (Perdi-
cinae) may be formed, and the "American Partridges " may stand
apart as Odontophorinae.

Passing mention should be made of the economical importance
of this Family as a factor in our food-supply, whether in the wild
state as game, or in the domesticated as poultry ; for almost
inconceivable numbers of birds are bred, exported, or used for eating
in their native countries, while the value of domestic fowls' eggs
can best be estimated by imagining the consequence of a failure in
the production. Man's custom herein is no doubt guided by the
ease with which most of the species are secured or reared, and by the
great development of the pectoral muscles or " flesh of the breast."

The body is decidedly heavy, the head usually rather small,

and the neck fairly long. The bill is comparatively short and stout

— especially in Ithagenes, Dendrortyx, and elsewhere — but may

be more elongated, as in Lophophorus and Euplocamus; the maxilla

1 P.Z.S. 1868, p. 301. 2 Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil. 1893, p. 172.

3 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. 1893.

PHASIANIDAE 199

being curved, and overhanging the mandible, which exhibits
two serrations on each side in the Odontophorinae. The meta-
tarsus is strong and relatively short in Grouse and many Partridges,
but in Pheasants and similar forms it is much longer ; the feather-
ing descends to the toes in the Tetraoninae, except Bonasct and
Tetrastes, the digits themselves being clothed in Lagopus, naked
and pectinate at the sides in the remaining genera. No other
members of the Family shew pectinations or have the metatarsus
feathered, save Lerwa, where it is half covered. The hallux,
invariably elevated, has only a rudimentary claw in Rollulus,
Melanoperdix, and Oaloperdix ; Arboricola, Dactylortyx, and
Cyrtonyx, on the contrary, have particularly long and somewhat
straight claws. Spurs are of frequent occurrence on the feet of the
males, though rare in the females, some species possessing as many
as three pairs ; they are never found in the Tetraoninae or Odonto-
phorinae, and are represented by mere knobs in Acryllium
(Numidinae). The wings are short and rounded, with ten
primaries and from twelve to nineteen secondaries, both decreasing
in length as they near the middle of the wing, which has thus
a bilobed appearance when expanded. The primaries usually
increase in length before decreasing, but in some cases the exterior
quill is the longest, while in Falcipennis two or three of the outer
feathers are sickle-shaped, and in Argus the secondaries are
enormously developed. The tail is extremely variable, being long
and rounded in Lophophorus; long and sharp-pointed in Phasianus
and Centrocercus ; moderate, broad, and rounded in Lagopus,
Odontopliorus, and so forth; similar but more truncated in
Mdeagris; short in most Partridges ; and exceptionally abbreviated
in many Quails. The coverts far exceed the tail in the Peacock,
forming its splendid train, while they are much elongated in
Chrysoloplms, and to some extent in Coturnix, Excalphatoria, and
Ceriornis (Tragopaii). In Pedioecetes the two middle rec trices
surpass the rest and terminate abruptly ; in Lyrurus the exterior
feathers fork outwards ; in Crossoptilon and Gennaeus the
median plumes curve over the others; and in Lobiophasis not
only is this the case, but the rhachis extends beyond the webs,
which are much reduced on the outer side of the lateral quills ;
in Argusianus and Rlieinardtius the middle pair is extraordinarily
lengthened. The whole tail is compressed or "vaulted" to a greater
or less degree in Gallus, Chrysolophus, Lopliura, Acomus, Gennaeus

2OO GALLIFORMES CHAP.

and Crossoptilon. Excalphatoria is remarkable for possessing only
eight rectrices ; ten are found in Microperdix, and occasionally in
Synoecus and Coturnix ; but the usual number is from twelve to
twenty-four, while Lobiophasis has thirty-two in the male and
twenty-eight in the female. The nostrils are concealed by the
feathering in the Tetraoninae alone, the aftershaft is large
except in Pavo, the furcula is Y-shaped, the tongue sagittate, the
syrinx tracheo-bronchial. The globular crop and muscular gizzard
are decidedly characteristic, yet Argusianus has been said to lack
the former, and Centrocercus the latter. In the male of Tetrao uro-
yallus and both sexes of Guttera the trachea has a loop, which in
the latter case passes through a cavity in the head of the furcula.
The plumage is of the most varied description, the winter coat
of Lagopus being commonly white, the males of Lyrurus, Tetrao,
and Melanoperdix nearly black, while the prevailing colours in
Chrysolophus pictus are orange and red, in Gennaeus nycthemerus
black and white, in Eollulus dull green and maroon, in Gallus
orange, red, purple, green, black, and white, in Phasianus metallic
green, orange, and brown. In the Numidinae white or bluish
spots mark the blackish ground-colour ; in the American Grouse
black, brown, yellowish-buff and white occur in varying propor-
tions ; while the Partridges and Quails exhibit, as a rule, still more
sober tints of brown, relieved by dull red or buff. Peacocks,
again, show a combination of beautiful metallic blues and greens
with copper and buff, rarely found elsewhere in the Family ; nor
must Lophophorus, Lopliura, Lobiophasis, and Ceriornis be left
out of consideration. The ocelli or " eyes " on the Peacock's train
hardly require mention ; Polyplectron has similar adornments on
both the tail and the upper parts in the male, on the tail alone in
the female; Argusianus on the secondaries and rectrices in the
male, Meleagris ocellata on the latter in both sexes. The feathers
of the crown are curled in Crossoptilon, Pavo, and Lophophorus
sclateri, and fine crests are by no means uncommon ; the component
plumes being more or less racquet - shaped in Lopliura and
Lophortyx, and in Pavo cristatus consisting of webs at the end
of bare shafts. The crests of Chrysolophus and Gennaeus are
recumbent, those of Rollulus and Rheinardtius upright; while,
among others, the full head-tufts of Ithagenes and most species of
Lophophorus, with the comparatively short ornaments of Haema-
tortyx, Ceriornis, and Callipepla are worth notice. Crossoptilon,

PHASIANIDAE 2OI

Pucrasia, and Phasianus have elongated ear-coverts or feathers
behind the ear, the white plumes of the first-named being
especially remarkable and common to both sexes ; an erectile
cape surmounts the nape in Chrysoloplius; Meleagris has a peculiar
patch of long bristles on the breast, Bonasa a ruff on the sides
of the neck ; Gallus and Acryllium have hackles or lanceolate
feathers in various parts, moulted — in the former at least —
during the summer. All these decorations are absent or less
pronounced in the females, which are, as a rule, dull in colour.

The head is entirely naked in Meleagris, and is covered with
caruncles, an erectile process hanging from the forehead ; a pair
of long fleshy horns above the eyes distinguish Ceriornis, which
has in addition a large wattle on the throat ; a comb of similar
substance is accompanied by a single median or two pairs of
lateral wattles in Gallus ; while the sides of the face, the orbits, or
the fore-neck, are bare in many genera. The male of Lobiophasis
has the head nearly naked, with no less than three pairs of wattles ;
though the female has but one rudimentary pair of the latter, and
only the cheeks unfeathered. In all these cases the skin and
outgrowths are red or blue. The head and neck are bare in the
Numidinae, except for a crest in Guttera, a crescentic nuchal band
of feathers in Acryllium, and a line of plumage down the crown
in Phasidus ; wattles occur at the angles of the gape in Guttera
and Numida, both these and the naked skin being blue and red
throughout the Sub-family, save in Phasidus, where the latter is
yellow, and in Agelastes, where it is red and white. The bony casque
of Numida is red or horn-coloured. The Tetraoninae have merely
a little red or yellow skin over the eye. In females all the fleshy
outgrowths are much smaller or absent, throughout the Family.

Air-sacs of orange skin lie below the side - feathers of the
neck in the males of Centrocercus, Dendragapus, and Tympanuclius,
and become visible when inflated ; they are supposed to produce
the booming ventriloquistic sound, uttered in the breeding season.
Bonasa has a naked space in a similar position, but its drumming
is stated to be caused by the wings. Pedioecetes can hardly be
said to have air-sacs, yet it also drums, while the exact nature of
the corresponding sounds made by Tetrao urogallus and Lyrurus
tetrix is uncertain. The " gobble " of the domestic Turkey is a
parallel instance, in so far as it is uttered during excitement.

The members of this Family, which range in size from the

202 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

splendid Capercaillie (T. urogallus) to the small Quail -like
ExcalpJiatoria sinensis, are all weighty birds for their bulk, rising
heavily and noisily, and travelling with low and steady, though
often laboured, flight ; in many cases the pace is extremely
rapid, but comparatively short distances are covered before
alighting. On the whole, they are certainly partial to dry
localities, which may, however, be prairies and heaths, as in
many Grouse, wooded or open country generally, as in Pheasants,
or stony hill -sides, as in Tetraogallus, Ammoperdix, and some
species of Lagopus and Caccdbis ; yet a few seem to prefer the
vicinity of marshes, and others are constantly met with at con-
siderable elevations. The great facility with which game-birds
run, their frequent custom of lying until they are almost trodden
upon, and that of combining into coveys or packs consisting of
two or more broods, are too well-known to need lengthy descrip-
tion here. The strutting and parading of the cocks of the larger
speciec is fully noticed below, while the habit common to most
forms of dusting themselves, instead of washing, is also noticeable.
Many are almost entirely terrestrial, a love for trees being in fact
exceptional; nevertheless, instances might easily be adduced of
roosting on branches or taking refuge there when disturbed,
and though Lagopus, Francolinus, and Perdix are notoriously
averse to perching, the writer himself has seen five or six
Eed Grouse sitting on low trees, within half an hour. Tetrao,
Lyrurus, PTiasianus, Pavo, and Meleagris well exemplify the
polygamous habits not unfrequent in the Family, the males
in such cases usually deserting their mates during incubation;
Coturnix and Ortyx, moreover, are stated to be not invariably
monogamous. The nest is nearly always on or close to the
ground, and is formed of a few twigs, grass, moss, feathers, and
leaves; the hole, usually scraped as a commencement, being
sometimes barely lined. Polyplectron, as a rule, deposits two
eggs, but the number in most species is much greater, from
sixteen to twenty being not uncommonly found, or even more
where two hens lay together — a fairly ordinary practice in
the group. The colour in Grouse is yellowish or reddish,
either with rufous spots or close blotches of black, purple,
or orange-brown ; in the Pheasant and Partridge it is uniform
olive, and in the Odontophorinae pure white, with or with-
out brown or red markings. Further information is given

PHASIANIDAE 203

below. Few Galline birds, besides the American Partridges,
breed twice in a season. The male has been observed to incubate
in Ortyx, and in this genus and Odontophorus domed nests are
on record, while many species lay their eggs in depressions
under over-arching tufts of heather or grass. Incubation lasts
from eighteen to twenty-eight days, the young running almost
from the shell. The note is shrill in Guinea-fowls, Partridges,
and Quails, somewhat whistling in Polyplectron and Tetrastes,
and generally consists of two or more syllables; but in view
of subsequent details, it is sufficient to particularize the "cok-
cok-cok " of the Grouse, the crow of the Pheasant and the Cock,
the cluck and cackle of the Hen, the scream of the Peacock, and
the gobble of the Turkey. The food is chiefly vegetable, and
includes shoots, buds, leaves, grass, bulbs, seeds, berries and other
fruits, with a certain amount of grit ; but worms, molluscs, ants
and their cocoons, insects and their larvae, swell the list. Juniper
twigs or berries are supposed to give a flavour to the Hazel
Grouse, pine tips to the Capercaillie, whereas the " Sage-brush " of
America (Artemisia tridentata) bestows its name upon the Sage-
cock (Centrocercus), and makes its flesh bitter and unpleasant.
The Pheasant scratches in the ground for provender, as do Turkeys
and Fowls, while Lophophorus, Catreus, Crossoptilon, Gennaeus,
Pavo, and so forth, dig for roots with the bill. American Grouse,
after eating Kalmia shoots, are actually poisonous.

Pugnacious habits are prevalent in the Family, and natu-
rally attain their height in the courting season ; but chief of
all in this connection is the genus Gallus, which will fight at any
time of year, being highly valued by the boatmen of Burma for
the sport it provides. These wanderers commonly keep a cock
tied by the leg in their vessels, or possess a decoy-bird to attract its
wild relatives. Game-birds are easily naturalized or domesticated
owing to their terrestrial habits ; they hybridize readily even in
a state of nature, the offspring being often fertile ; such species,
moreover, as the Pheasant, Partridge, and Eed-legged Partridge
will frequently use a nest in common. Occasionally the female
assumes a plumage like that of the male ; for example, in the
Pheasant, where such individuals are called "Mules," and are
stated to be barren. Further questions of great interest are the
moult, the Grouse disease, the shedding of the claws in the
Ptarmigan, and of the horny fringes of the toes in the Tetrao-

204 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

ninae generally, besides such points as the loss of the Peacock's
train in summer, and the innumerable phases of plumage of
the Ked Grouse, Ptarmigan, and "Bob -white" (Ortyx), none of
which can be usefully discussed in a limited space.

The range of the Family is nearly cosmopolitan ; but the
Meleagrinae only occur in the United States and Central America ;
the Numidinae in Africa, with Madagascar and the neighbouring
islands : and the Phasianinae in the Palaearctic and Indian
Eegions as far eastward as the Philippines, China and Japan,
and — in the case of Gallus — Celebes. The Perdicinae are
found in the Palaearctic, Indian and Australian Eegions, though
becoming decidedly scarce in Oceania ; the Odontophorinae occupy
temperate and tropical America to Bolivia and Brazil south-
wards ; while the Tetraoninae are holarctic, the New World
genera being more numerous than those of the Old World, and
Lagopus alone being common to both hemispheres.

Sub-fam. 1. Numidinae. — Of the curious-looking Guinea-fowls,
or Pintados, Acryllium vulturinum of East Africa has a long, wedge-
shaped tail, and elongated hackles on the mantle, chest, and lower
neck ; the upper neck and head being naked and blue, with a cres-
centic nuchal band of short chestnut feathers, and each metatarsus
possessing four or five knobs in the male. The hackles are black
and white, mostly fringed with blue; the remaining upper parts
and the flanks are black spotted with white, having a purple wash
on the latter ; the breast and belly are cobalt, marked with black
centrally. Gutter a contains four black species with light blue
spots, which show much white on the secondaries. A full and
usually curly black crest adorns the crown ; the bare head and
neck, with its posterior flap of skin, is blue or purplish, and the
throat is red, except in G. puclierani of East Equatorial Africa,
where the hind-neck only is blue, and G. eduardi (verreauxi) of
South Africa, with no bright colours on the head, neck, or throat.
The latter, and G. cristata of northern West Africa, have rudimentary
blue wattles at the gape, coupled with a black collar, which in
G. eduardi extends to the breast and assumes a chestnut shade.
G. plumifera, ranging from Cape Lopez to Loango, has larger
wattles and a thin erect crest ; G. puclierani has the outgrowths
red. This genus and the next have no spurs. Numida, remark-
able for the bony casque surmounting the naked head and
neck, possesses seven or more members of clumsy build, with

PHASIANIDAE 2O5

white spots on the black plumage. N. meleagris of West Africa
and several of its islands, introduced in Ascension and the
Greater Antilles, which is the origin of our present domestic
stock, has the broad gape-wattles and bare tracts red, save for
a blue hind-neck ; the small conical helmet is yellowish, and
a wide grey ring divides the neck from the body. N. coronata
of eastern South Africa, N. reichenowi of East Africa, N. cornuta
of western South Africa, N. marungensis, found from Benguela
to Tanganyika, AT. mitrata of East Africa, Madagascar, and the
islands in the vicinity, and N. ptilorliyncha of North-East Africa,
lack the collar and differ from each other in the shape of the
large helmet, which may be upright or inclined backwards. N. .
ptilorliyncha has the naked parts blue, and a bunch of horn-
coloured bristles at the base of the maxilla ; N. coronata, N.
mitrata, and JV. reichenowi have a reddish casque, a scarlet top to
the head, and blue cheeks and neck ; the wattles being red in the
last, but blue tipped with red in the first two, as in N. cornuta, where
the helmet is vermilion. N. marungensis has a stouter, shorter
helmet than N~. coronata, which it much resembles. Agelastes
meleagrides of West Africa is black vermiculated with whitish,
and has a zone of white feathers at the base of the neck ; the
bare skin of the head is red, of the neck white. The male has
a strong spur on each metatarsus, as has Phasidus niger, ranging'
from Cape Lopez to Loango, which is brownish-black with a
band of feathers from the base of the bill to the occiput ; the
naked head is in this case yellow, becoming orange on the neck.
As regards habits, Numida meleagris may represent the
group. This wild suspicious bird is found in flocks of a dozen
or even a hundred, not invariably of its own species, which
frequent thick bushes, tall grass, or rocky river-sides ; it runs
swiftly and with perfect ease, occasionally travelling twenty
miles a day; while, though the short wings and heavy body
preclude extended flights, it travels with considerable power.
When disturbed it usually seeks the trees, in which it roosts at
night, and under which it shelters from the sun. The food
consists of grass, seeds, roots, bulbs, berries, and insects, the
ground being often torn up in the search ; the noisy cry is
hoarse and discordant, or sharp and metallic ; the nest is a depres-
sion with little or no lining, placed in or under a tussock, and
contains from twelve to twenty yellowish eggs with undecided

206 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

rusty spotting. Phasidus is not gregarious. The rock-loving
Numida ptilorTiyncha attains an altitude of nine thousand feet.

Sub-fam. 2. Meleagrinae. — Of the Turkeys,1 there are only two
species, Meleagris gallipavo and M. ocellata. The former has three
races — distinguished by the tail and its upper coverts being tipped
with white, buff, and chestnut respectively — the united range ex-
tending from Southern Canada to Mexico through the Eastern and
South-Western States. They are coppery-bronze, with purplish-
green and golden sheen and black markings ; the remiges being
brown barred with white, and the tail black and brown with broad
dark sub-terminal band. The reddish head and neck are nearly bare,
shewing wrinkled warty skin and a pendent erectile process on
the forehead ; a bunch of long black bristles decorates the chest
of the male, which has a stout spur on each metatarsus. The
bill and feet are red. M. ocellata of Yucatan, British Honduras,
and G-uatemala, has black plumage, tipped with brassy-green, and
fringed with greenish-copper, that becomes redder below; the rump
region is steel-blue, and brilliant ocelli of green-blue margined with
copper mark the ends of the greyish rectrices and their coverts.
The frontal caruncle and the head are blue, with red tip and ex-
crescences respectively, while the pectoral tuft is absent.

The wild Turkey is wary and extremely quick of foot, spend-
ing the day chiefly upon the ground and roosting high in the
trees ; it frequents wooded country, and feeds upon plants, seeds,
nuts and other fruits, with lizards and insects. In spring the
males fight viciously, and show off before the assembled hens ;
strutting around with erect, outspread tails and drooping wings,
while uttering puffing and gobbling noises. Each cock having
secured a mate or two, breeding takes place, after which the
sexes separate, but combine again in autumn and wander widely
in search of food. A hole, scraped under some log or tuft of
herbage, and lined with dry leaves, receives the yellowish-white
eggs with red-brown spots; the number varying from ten to
eighteen, or even more if several hens co-operate.

Sub-fam. 3. Phasianinae. — Among these a detailed description
is unnecessary of the fine blue, green, and rufous plumage of the Pea-
cock (Pavo cristatus), or of the green, purple, copper, and gold ocelli

1 This name, and the Latin Meleagris, seein to have originally belonged to the
Guinea-Fowl. M. gallipavo, the origin of our farm-yard Turkey, was domesticated
in Europe by about 1530. Cf. A. Newton, Did. Birds, 1896, pp. 994-996.

PHASIANIDAE 207

on its elongated train of erectile tail-coverts; but other striking
points are the bare-shafted crest and naked white face ; while the
comparatively dull-coloured Pea-hen lacks the train of the male and
the spur on each metatarsus. In the wild state these birds are shy,
and run particularly fast, while they occasionally fly in small
flocks ; they inhabit the hill-forests or ravines near water-courses
in India and Ceylon, roosting in large trees, making a slight
nest on the ground, ruined buildings, or more rarely branches,
and laying from four to about ten yellowish or reddish eggs,
sometimes faintly spotted with rufous. The cry is a harsh mew-
ing squeal, or a " cok-cok-cok " when flushed ; the food resembles
that of the Turkey, but is at times varied by fish or flesh ; and,
as in that bird, the males are said to dance or strut around when
courting, each securing three or four consorts. Peafowl are sup-
posed to indicate the proximity of tigers, and are sacred to
various Indian castes, while foolish superstition considers the
" eyed " feathers unlucky ! Introduced to England at some very
early date, they were formerly thought a great delicacy for the
table. P. nigripennis, the "Japanned Peacock," is a species, or
perhaps variety, with deep blue wing-coverts and other slighter
differences, the female being almost entirely greyish- white ; P.
muticus, a valid species from the Indo-Chinese countries and Java, is
distinguished by the golden-green neck and chest and the blue and
yellow skin of the face ; the crest feathers being here fully webbed.
Argusianus argus, the Argus Pheasant, has a short black
crest ; black, rufous, and buff plumage with white barring on the
nape and tail-coverts ; and enormously developed secondaries and
median rectrices, covered respectively with large reddish-yellow
and small white ocelli, which are margined with black ; the
naked cheeks and throat are blue, the bill is bluish -white, the
feet are red. It inhabits the forests of the Indo-Malay mainland
and Sumatra, the cock being said only to meet the hens occasion-
ally, and to reserve an open spot for courting purposes, where
he shows himself off by dancing before them with the tail and
secondaries expanded into a large fan. This bird flies little, but
runs with celerity, having a loud cry, feeding on vegetable
matter and insects, nesting like the Pea-fowl, and laying similar
eggs. A. grayi of Borneo shows white on the mantle and much
red on the breast, A. bipunctatus is only known from an imperfect
primary. The females lack the ocelli and elongated tail. A.

208 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

(Rheinardtius) ocellatus, of the Tonkin highlands, is brown with
reddish markings and minute white dots ; it has a hairy occipital
crest, and exhibits fine red spots, with black white-eyed central
rings, on the very long median rectrices and their upper coverts.

In Polyplectron (Peacock-Pheasant) the male has two or even
three spurs on the metatarsus. P. chinquis of the Indo-Chinese
countries is brown, with whitish dots above and mottlings below ;
the head is black and white with naked yellowish sides; the
upper plumage is adorned with large, round, metallic, purple-
green ocelli, ringed successively with black, brown, and buff, of
which the tail and its upper-coverts exhibit one on each web.
P. germaini of Cochin China has close-set light brown specks
above, and a red face ; P. licalcaratum of the Malay Peninsula and
Sumatra has the latter similarly coloured, with black and buff
upper surface, a narrow purplish crest, and lateral rectrices with
an "eye" only on the outer web; P. schleiermacheri of Borneo
has the crest curled forward, and blackish under parts with a
white median band ; whereas P. nehrkornae of Palawan, and the
doubtfully distinct P. napoleonis, are entirely black below. As re-
gards the duller females, P. chinquis and P. germaini have obscure
ocelli on both webs of the lateral tail-feathers, the other species on
the outer web only ; moreover, P. chinquis, P. schleiermacheri, and
P. nehrkornae have none on the tail-coverts, the latter lacking
the black blotches on the mantle found in P. licalcaratum and
P. schleiermacheri. P. (Chalcurus) inocellatus of Sumatra is
brown and buff, with purple and black tints on the tail. Little is
known of the habits, except in P. chinquis, which is apparently
monogamous, and frequents thick hill-forests up to an altitude of
five thousand feet. It feeds like the Peafowl, has a fine whistling
call varied by a soft cluck, and will take refuge in trees, though
preferring to escape on foot. The cock carries his outspread tail
on one side, while the hen uses hers to shelter the young. The
fairly substantial nest of twigs and leaves, usually containing two
brownish eggs, is placed on the ground.

Of the four species of Gallus, G. ferrugineus (larikiva), the Eed
Jungle-fowl — Bhund Moorg of the natives of India — shewing
much resemblance to the "Black-breasted Game" breed, is the origin
of our domestic stock.1 It has a vaulted tail with long drooping
median feathers, a serrated red comb, naked red face and throat,

1 For a full account see Tegetmeier, Ibis, 1891, pp. 304-327.

PHASIANIDAE 2Op

with a wattle on each side of the latter, a spur on each meta-
tarsus, and ear-lappets, which are whitish in Indian examples,
but red in Burmese and Malay. The crown and the hackles of
the mantle and rump are orange-red, the back is chiefly purplish-
red, and the wings, tail, and under parts are glossy greenish-
black, with yellowish outer margins to the primaries and
brownish to the secondaries. Between June and September the
hackles and long tail plumes are replaced by short black feathers.
The hen has little comb, no wattles, spurs, or elongated rectrices ;
the crown is reddish and the mantle yellowish, both with black
stripes ; the wing- and tail-quills are brown and rufous ; the
remaining plumage being reddish-brown, deeper on the fore-neck
and brighter on the chest, with black mottling above. This
Jungle-fowl ranges from North-Eastern and Central India to
Hainan, and from Sumatra to the Philippines, Celebes, and
Timor ; frequenting thickets and forests up to five thousand feet,
but often flocking to cultivated country, where it feeds upon
leaves, seeds, insects, and especially grain. Pugnacious towards
its kin l it is timid with man, running with great speed or taking
refuge in trees ; the flight consists of alternate periods of flap-
ping and sailing, while the cluck of the hen and the crow of
the cock resemble those of domestic fowls, though the latter is
less prolonged. The nest is a hole lined with leaves, grass, or
plant-stems, containing from seven to twelve buff eggs ; polygamy
being apparently rare. G. sonnerati, the Grey Jungle-fowl of
Southern, Central, and Western India, is distinguishable by the
dilated shafts of the neck-hackles, with their wax-like yellow tips
or spangles ; G. lafayettii (stanleyi) of Ceylon by the yellow comb
with red margin, and the red breast. The former utters a broken
crow, the latter a double note, the eggs in both cases being spotted,
and occasionally whitish in ground-colour. G. varius of Java,
Lombok, and Flores, is greener, with truncated neck-feathers, an
un serrated comb, and a single median wattle of red, yellow, and
blue-green. The hens of G. sonnerati and G. lafayettii have white
breast-plumage, barred and fringed with black, the former shew-
ing black mottlings instead of bars on the secondaries ; that of
G. varius has a buff breast and a blackish back. In these three
species crosses with domestic fowls are said to be usually sterile.
Chrysoloplms pictus, the brilliant Golden Pheasant, has the

1 Cock-fighting in England is beyond the scope of this work.
VOL. IX p

2IO GALLIFORMES CHAP.

crown and full recumbent hair-like crest golden, the fine erectile
cape of truncated nape-plumes orange with blue-black bars, the
mantle dark green and purple, the rump golden, the primaries
brownish, the secondaries purplish with chestnut and black
coverts, the larger tail-coverts and the vaulted tail with its two
very long median rectrices black, with brown spots or stripes,
the scapulars and under parts scarlet, and the cheeks and throat
rufous. There are generally two spurs on each metatarsus, and
the bare orbits are yellowish. The female is brown, relieved by
black and buff, and has a shorter tail, no crest or cape. This
bird, difficult to naturalize in Britain, but easily domesticated,
inhabits wooded mountains in South and West China and East
Tibet, meeting in the last two countries the equally beautiful
Lady Amherst's Pheasant (C. amherstiae), which has dark green
crown, mantle, throat, and chest, blood-red crest, white cape
with blue-black bars, black and buff rump, glossy green and
brown wings, white breast and abdomen, and black and white
tail with scarlet and orange tips to the coverts. The orbits are
blue in both sexes, the female being otherwise as in C. pictus.

The original Pheasant of Britain — probably introduced by the
Romans — was Phasianus colchicus, ranging from the Caspian to
South-East Europe ; but the Ring-necked species (P. torquatus) of
Manchuria, East Mongolia, Corea, Tsu-sima, and Eastern China,
imported towards the end of last century, has interbred with it so
freely that typical examples are now exceptional. The latter form
has a white collar and slaty lower back with dark green barring ;
while the former has the rump feathers buff, with black mottlings
and purplish-red tips. The females, hardly separable from one
another, lack the red face-wattles, the long ear-tufts, and the
pair of spurs of the male. The above-mentioned colour of the
lower back and the comparatively broad black basal tail-bands,
are the distinguishing points of a section, which comprises
P. torquatus, P. elegans of West China, P. vlangali of Tsaidam,
P. strauchi of Kansu, P. decollatus of Western and Central China,
P. satscheunensis of Sa-tscheu, P. formosanus of Formosa, and
P. versicolor of Japan. Another section, more akin to P. colchicus,
contains P. tarimensis and P. zerafshanicus of the Tarim and
Zerafshan Valleys, P. persicus of Persia and Transcaspia, P. prin-
cipalis of North-East Persia and North- West Afghanistan, P.
shawi of East Turkestan, P. chrysomelas of the Amu-Darya, and

PHASIANIDAE 2 I I

P. mongolicus, extending from the Syr-Daria to Mongolia. All
these races have the crown greenish, and differ chiefly in the
colour of the scapulars, breast, rump, and abdomen ; a white
collar occurring in P. torquatus, P. mongolicus, P. satscheunensis,
and P. formosanus, while P. versicolor is green below. Where
two forms meet hybrids are not uncommon. In P. soemmerringi of
Japan, P. ellioti of South-East China, and P. humiae of Manipur

FIG. 46. — Pheasant. Phasianus colchicus. x f .

and Upper Burma the crown is red-brown, the first species
having the lower back maroon with gold reflexions, the two
others a black and white rump, with white and chestnut belly
respectively. P. reevesi of North and West China has the crown
white encircled by black, the nape and throat white with a sub-
jacent black collar, the remaining upper parts yellowish-red and
black, with white and rufous on the wings, the breast black, white,
and chestnut, the abdomen black, the tail is extremely long.

2 1 2 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

Space is wanting to describe the various females, or to discuss
the sport that Pheasants afford ; but the swift flight, the powers
of foot, the polygamous and pugnacious habits, the olive-coloured
eggs, and the immense numbers reared artificially, must be
noticed.1 P. reevesi, Eeeves's Pheasant, P. versicolor, the Green
Pheasant, and P. soemmerringi, the Copper Pheasant, have also been
introduced into Britain, the two latter and P. torquatus into Oregon,
P. colchicus into the Eastern United States ; New Zealand has
received both P. colchicus and P. torquatus, St. Helena and Ascen-
sion P. torquatus only — the former island as early as 1513.

Catreus wallichi of the Himalayas has a brown head with fine
white-tipped crest ; a grey neck, yellowish and whitish upper parts,
black and buff primaries, and a rufous rump, all with black barring ;
the under surface is light buff with black marks, the naked orbits
are red. The male has a pair of spurs and very long median
rectrices ; the female being brown mottled with black and buff,
having a smaller crest, a shorter tail, and at times rudimentary spurs.
Considerable flocks frequent the grassy forest-hills up to an altitude
of eight thousand feet, lying very closely in the day-time, though
running with great speed when disturbed, and flying heavily for a
short way ; they feed towards evening on roots, seeds, berries, grubs,
and insects, reiterating the peculiar call, whence they are named
" Cheer." The slight nest, generally sheltered by a bush or tus-
sock at the base of a hill, contains from nine to fourteen whitish
or pale drab eggs, sometimes sparingly spotted with red-brown.

Pucrasia contains six species or local races of " Pukras " or
" Koklas " Pheasants, with long, black, erectile ear-tufts in the
male, which has a spur on each metatarsus, but no naked cheeks.
P. macrolopha of the Western Himalayas has a well-developed
buff crest, a greenish -black head and neck with a white patch on
each side of the latter, grey upper parts and whitish flanks with
black shaft-stripes, brownish wings marked with buff, chestnut
under parts and median feathers of the elongated, wedge-shaped
tail, and blackish lateral rectrices with white tips. The black
and rufous hen has a white throat, a short crest, and no ear-tufts
or spurs. P. castanea of North Afghanistan and Kafiristan has
the mantle chestnut, P. nipalensis of the Central Himalayas black
varied by grey and reddish ; P. meyeri of South Tibet and the

1 Much interesting information is given in Yarrell's Brit. Birds, ed. 4, iii.
1882-84, pp. 91-104, and Tegetmeier, Pheasants: their Nat. Hist, etc., ed. 2, 1881.

PHASIANIDAE 2 I 3

Upper Mekong possesses a yellow nuchal collar; P. darwini of East
China has grey bases to the outer tail-feathers ; P. xanthospila
exhibiting both. These monogamous birds attain a somewhat
higher elevation than the Cheer, and utter a loud, deep crow^
but otherwise the habits are the same. The five to nine pointed
eggs are buff, speckled or blotched with red-brown.

Gennaeus1 has a long vaulted tail, a fine crest, naked sides to
the face covered with red skin or wattles, and metatarsi with a
single spur in the male. In G. allicristatus of the Western
Himalayas the crest is white, the head and upper parts being black
with purple and blue reflexions and white margins to the dorsal
feathers, the primaries and abdomen brown, and the breast
whitish. The female is reddish - brown, with delicate black
markings on the grey-margined upper feathers, and shews white
below and on the wing-coverts. G. leucomelanus, with blue-black
crest, inhabits Nepal ; G. muthura (melanotus), without white on
the lower back, occurs in Sikkim and Bhutan ; G. horsfieldi,
with black breast, extending from East Bhutan to North Arakan
and Upper Burma. All the above species have the tail black,
or rarely vermiculated with white ; but in G. lineatus of Burma,
Siam, and Tenasserim, and the very similar G. andersoni of
Upper Burma and West Yunnan, it is banded alternately with
black and white, and the median rectrices are even whiter.
G. edwardsi inhabits Annam. G. nyctliemerus, the Silver
Pheasant of South China, embroidered as a badge on mandarins'
dresses, and introduced into England early in last century, has
an extremely long white tail, obliquely marked with black on
the lateral feathers, a purplish-black crown, crest and lower sur-
face, white back of the neck and upper parts with crescentic
black lines on the latter, and naked red face. G. swinhoii of
Formosa is easily distinguished from its allies by the bronzy-
crimson scapulars, white crest, upper back, and median rectrices ;
the remaining plumage being bluish- or purplish -black with
a glossy dark green band upon the wing. The female is mottled
with rufous, black, and buff, and has a short crest, while that sex
of the Silver Pheasant is browner, and exhibits white on the
outer tail-feathers. These " Kalleges " — a name strictly appli-
cable to the first four species only — frequent thin forests in low
valleys, and are but slightly gregarious ; they perch on trees, and
1 Euplocamus and Gallophasis are synonyms of the above.

214 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

fly short distances when flushed; the note is a shrill crow, a
" whistling chuckle " or a " chirrup ; " the food is as usual in
Pheasants. The pugnacious male is said to strut with outspread
tail, and to drum with his wings while courting ; the nest,
formed of dry herbage in a depression of the soil, contains from
nine to fourteen creamy or reddish-buff eggs.

The "Eared" or Snow-Pheasants (Crossoptilon) have a vaulted
tail with decomposed webs to the long decurved median feathers,
fine white ear-tufts, and lax hairy plumage, shorter and curled
on the crown. The naked papillose cheeks and the metatarsi
are red, with a pair of stout spurs on the latter in the male. C.
tibetanum of West China and East Tibet is white, with black
crown, dark brown remiges, and -greenish- or purplish-black
rectrices. C. leucurum of East Tibet has the tail white with
blue-black tip, as has C. manchuricum of Manchuria and North
China, in which the mantle, nape, and breast are blackish-brown,
with a faint white band between the ear- coverts, found also in
C. auritum of West China and Koko-Nor, and well defined in C.
harmani of Tibet. The last two have the nape, back, and under
parts grey-blue. These elegant birds haunt lofty mountain-woods
until cold weather comes on ; they are comparatively tame, feed on
leaves, shoots, roots, fruit, worms, and insects, and lay — at least
in the case of C. mancliuricum — from twelve to sixteen drab
eggs. The plumes are worn by Tartar and Chinese warriors.

Loliophasis bulweri of Borneo is a splendid bird with maroon
nuchal collar and chest, brown remiges, white tail, and black
plumage elsewhere with blue margins to most of the feathers.
The stiff spine-pointed rectrices number twenty-eight in the hen
and no less than thirty-two in the cock, the whole tail being
compressed and the median plumes decurved ; in the male the
skin of the naked front of the head is blue, as are two caruncles
present behind the ears, two smaller processes on the lores, and two
wattles at the gape. The rufous, buff, and black female has only
the sides of the face bare, with diminutive lateral wattles on the
throat. This species skulks in the jungles, and prefers running
to flying, having many of the habits of a fowl, though ranging
up to two thousand feet ; the eggs are stone-coloured.

The magnificent Firebacks (Lophura) have, so far as is known,
similar habits to the members of Gennaeus, though they are stronger
on the wing, and utter mellower notes in their forest retreats ;

PHASIANIDAE 2 1 5

the tail is vaulted, the cheeks exhibit patches of rugose blue
skin — red in L. diardi — while the male has a pair of spurs and
an erect crest with bare-shafted plumes. L. nobilis of Borneo is
purplish -blue with fiery chestnut rump -region, golden lower
breast, black head, throat, and wings, the four median rectrices
being entirely buff and the lateral black with buff markings ; Z.
vieilloti of Siam, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra has the
lower breast black, and the two middle rectrices white, L. ignita
of China differing in its chestnut-spotted flanks ; L. diardi (prae-
lata) of Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin China has a grey and
black mantle, neck, and breast, a golden buff lower back, and
crimson-tipped rump-feathers. The females have the mantle red-
brown or chestnut, and outer rectrices of the latter colour in L,
vieilloti, but black in L. nobilis ; in L. diardi the black wing-coverts
have wide buff bars. This sex of L. ignita seems to be unknown.
Acomus has naked cheeks, but no crest or wattles ; the tail is vaulted,
and a pair of spurs is found in both sexes. A. erythroplithalmus
of the southern Malay Peninsula and Sumatra is chiefly purplish-
or bluish-black with fiery golden lower back, rich buff tail, and white
wing-markings ; A. pyronotus of Borneo exhibits white shaft-
stripes on the breast ; A. inornatus of West Sumatra, of which
the male only has been discovered, has black plumage margined
with dark blue-green, therein somewhat resembling the hens of
its congeners, which are black glossed with purplish-blue. In
habits this genus apparently resembles Lopliura.

Lophophorus contains four gorgeous species of almost unsur-
passable brilliancy, among which the Monal, constantly misnamed
the Impeyan Pheasant, is best known. The tail is rounded, each
metatarsus is provided with a spur in the male, and bare blue
skin surrounds the eye. The Himalayan Monal (L. refulgens)
has a crest like that of the Peacock, uniform in colour with the
purplish-green head ; the neck is purple, coppery, and green, the
mantle golden-green, the lower back white, and the tail chest-
nut ; the wing- and tail-coverts being green or purple with blue
and green reflexions, the under parts black, and the remiges
dusky. Its habits differ somewhat from those of other Pheasants,
a preference being shown for grassy hill-forests not far from the
snow -line ; it roosts in trees, though generally found on the
ground during the day, and is not very wild, trusting to its speed
of foot in open spots, but readily taking to wing in the wood-

2 1 6 GALLIFORMES

lands. The flight is rapid and powerful, while the male is said
to soar without perceptible movement of the pinions ; the usual
cry is a loud melancholy whistle. The long stout beak serves
to dig up roots for food ; but grain, fruit, grass, and insect-larvae
are also eaten. The nest, or sheltered unlined excavation in the
soil, contains from four to six oval cream-coloured eggs, closely
spotted or blotched with reddish-brown. The cocks are reported
to be non-pugnacious, and the hens semi-gregarious while breed-
ing. L. impeyanus of South Kashmir, the true Impeyan Pheasant,
differs in its golden-green lower back and under parts ; L. VJiuysi
of Sze-chuen and Koko-Nor has an ordinary crest, and white
spots on the blue, green, and black tail ; L. sclateri of North-
East Assam has a curly crown with no crest, and white-tipped
rectrices ; the two latter forms being black beneath and white on
the lower back. The slightly-crested females are black, buff, and
white ; the lower back is black and buff in L. refulgens, whitish
mottled with brown in L. sclateri, and white in L. I'huysi.

Of Tragopan (Ceriornis) there are five species, remarkable for
the fleshy blue horn above each eye and the large gular
wattle in the male, who erects the former and inflates the
latter when courting. The fore-part of the head and throat are
naked or merely hairy, while the crested cock-bird possesses a
pair of short spurs, rarely present in his mate. C. satyrus, the
" Horned Pheasant " of the Central and Eastern Himalayas, has
the crown and throat black, the occiput, neck, and lower parts
orange-red with stiff chest-plumes, the back brown, the remiges
and rectrices black and buff. Most of the body-feathers exhibit
black-margined white spots, and the outer wing-coverts additional
red marks ; while the wattle is orange barred with blue. C.
melanocephalus of the Western Himalayas has a longer crest
tipped with red, none of that colour on the occiput, the breast
black and red, and a purple wattle with flesh-coloured sides, blue
margin and spots. C. temmincki of Central and South-West
China has the crest and under parts red, the wattle blue barred
marginally with red, and the characteristic spots grey without
black rings. C. Uythi of North-East Assam and Manipur has
the wattle yellow tinged with blue, and a plain grey breast ;
whereas C. caboti of South-East China has the latter region buff.
The hens are black and buff with whitish spots. These shy
solitary birds occupy the higher hill -forests, being apparently

PHASIANIDAE

217

monogamous, though found in small companies at times ; they
run slowly, take refuge in trees, and fly with a whirring sound.
They roost aloft, but feed constantly upon the ground, eating
grubs, insects, roots, flowers, fruits, and especially seeds or
herbage ; the note is a deep monotonous " bellowing " or " wailing
sound." The fleshy excrescences are said to be chiefly developed in
the breeding season, when the male, who possibly assists in
incubation, struts before his consort like a Turkey. A nest is

FIG. 47. — Cabot's Tragopan. Ceriornis caboti.

(From Nature.)

sometimes formed of twigs, grass, and feathers to contain the
seven or eight whitish eggs with dull lilac spots or red freckles,
Tragopans are mistakenly termed " Argus " by sportsmen in India.
In Ithagenes, or Blood-Pheasant, the bill is short and stout,
the tail fairly long and rounded, the plumage soft and acuminate ;
the orbits are naked and red, and each metatarsus is armed with
two or more spurs, generally absent in the female. /. cruentus
of the Eastern Himalayas and Tibet has a full buff crest, black
forehead and lores, lead -coloured back and wings, brownish
remiges and rectrices with white tips to the latter, and a green

2 I 8 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

wash on the wing-coverts and rump. The cheeks, throat, and
much of the upper and under tail-coverts are crimson, the breast-
is yellow-green with crimson streaks. /. geoffroyi of East Tibet
and West China has a grey head and throat ; /. sinensis of Mon-
golia and North China is similar, with rufous for green on the
wing-coverts. Females are grey, brown, and buff. Found in
flocks of twenty or thirty at altitudes between ten and fourteen
thousand feet, these bold birds have limited powers of flight,
great speed of foot, and a weak cackling note ; they bury them-
selves occasionally in the snow, as do certain Grouse (p. 238),
and feed on grass, insects, berries, and shoots of juniper or pine.

If a Sub -family Perdicinae be admitted, it may be com-
menced 1 with the little known OpJirysia superciliosa of North-
West India, a soft-plumaged greyish-brown species with black
and white markings on the head ; next to which comes Gallo-
perdix, the Spur-Fowl, with a large bare eye-space, and two or
three spurs on each foot in the male, reduced to a single pair in
the female. G. spadicea of India, which has been introduced
into Madagascar, has a brown crown, and chestnut plumage else-
where, with grey margins to the feathers, and black vermicula-
tions on the wing-coverts and rump ; the female being mottled
with black. G. lunulata, another Indian form, has the crown
black with white streaks, the breast buff with black spots, and
black-ringed white ocelli on the mantle ; G. licalcarata of Ceylon
has both mantle and crown black with white stripes, and the
breast whiter. These birds frequent thick jungles near the
coast, or hills up to seven thousand feet, and are extremely wild,
though hard to flush ; they resort to trees in emergencies, and
roost in them at night ; the note is a harsh or plaintive whistle ;
the food consists of grain, insects, and their larvae. Four, five, or
even ten whitish or buff eggs are deposited on a few dry leaves
below some sheltering shrub. The cocks are stated to fight as
viciously as Jungle-Fowl. £ambusicola fytcJiii, the Bamboo-
Partridge, found from North -East India to China, has the
crown and ear-coverts red-brown ; the upper parts olive-brown,
varied in places with black and buff, and longitudinally marked
with chestnut, except towards the rump ; the wing- and tail-
quills reddish mottled with buff; the superciliary stripe, throat,

1 Mr. Ogilvie Grant begins with Excalphatoria. Cf. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii.
1893, pp. 94-95.

PHASIANIDAE 2 19

and breast buff, the chest brown with chestnut and white
blotches, the flanks spotted with black. R thoracica of South
China and B. sonorivox of Formosa have grey superciliary stripes,
and the latter grey ear-coverts. The females only differ from
the males in rarely possessing a pair of spurs. These species do
not form coveys, but haunt long grass and bamboo-thickets on
the hills, being difficult to put up, and uttering screaming
noises ; they readily challenge their neighbours to fight, roost in
trees, and lay from seven to twelve creamy-brown eggs under
shelter of a tussock or bush. Ptilopachys fuscus of the northern
Ethiopian Eegion has brown plumage with white margins, and
vermiculations or darker barring in many parts, the mid-breast
being buff and the naked orbits red. The sexes are similar.
Small parties or pairs frequent rocky hill-sides up to nine thou-
sand feet, and are very pugnacious ; they carry the tail folded, as
do domestic fowls, have a sharp call-note and lay whitish eggs.

In JExcalpkatoria the short tail of eight soft feathers is
entirely hidden by the coverts. E. sinensis, the Chinese or
Painted Quail, the smallest of the Phasianidae, is brown above
with black marking and rufous streaks, a bluish shade appearing
in places, and chestnut patches shewing on the wing-coverts ; the
throat and sides of the neck are black and white, the black
forming a central patch below the chin ; the remaining lower
parts are slate-blue with a median chestnut patch on the breast.
It is found from India and Ceylon to Formosa, and in Celebes ;
a darker race occupying the Philippines, many of the Malay
Islands, and Australia. K lepida of New Britain, New Ireland,
and the Duke of York Islands has no chestnut on the wing, and
little below; E. adansoni, of Africa south of lat. 5° N., is
slaty-brown above, and has chestnut scapulars, wing- and tail-
coverts with grey shaft-stripes. The females have white throats
and rufous breasts barred with black. The Australian form, or
Least Swamp -Quail, abounds in marshes, the Indian frequents
dry ground as well, the coveys being composed of single
broods, which feed mainly upon seeds. The flight is very brief,
the nest a mere pad of grass, on which lie five or six olive-drab
eggs, scantily spotted with purple or red -brown. Synoecus
australis, the Swamp -Quail of Australia, Tasmania, and South-
East New Guinea, is reddish-brown and grey above, with more
or less distinct black mottlings ; the throat is whitish, the under

220 GALLIFORMES

surface is buff, with black chevrons in younger birds. The
female lacks the grey tints, and is more coarsely barred with
black. Gould describes the habits and call as resembling those
of the Common Partridge, but they are better exemplified by
those of Excalphatoria, while the eggs vary from ten to fourteen,
and are creamy or greenish-white, generally closely freckled with
brown. S. raalteni of Timor and Flores has a rufous throat.

Of the true Quails six species may be admitted. Coturnix
communis, the Common Quail, though essentially a migrant in
the north, ranges throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and
breeds not uncommonly in Britain, having also been introduced
into the Eastern United States ; while another African race (C.
capensis auctt.) only differs in its reddish throat. The crown is
dark brown with a light streak down the centre and above each
eye ; the upper parts are brown and black with buff longi-
tudinal stripes, becoming mottlings on the remiges ; the throat is
white with a black median patch connected with the ear-coverts
by two upcurved lines : the breast is reddish-buff, the abdomen
yellowish-white, the flanks are mottled or barred with brown.
The short tail of ten or twelve feathers lies entirely below the
coverts. The hen-bird has black pectoral spots and a perfectly
white throat. C. japonica of East Asia and Japan, occasionally
found in Bhutan and Burma, has a plain brick-red throat, the
sides of which and the chin exhibit lanceolate feathers in the
female. Hybrids between this species and the Common Quail
occur where their ranges overlap ; individuals, moreover, present
great variation. C. coromandelica of India and the Burmese
countries, C. delegorguii of the Ethiopian Eegion, C. pectoralis of
Australia and Tasmania, and the nearly extinct C. novae zealandiae
of New Zealand, have the outer webs of the primaries uniform
brown in both sexes ; the males of the first two have the throat
as in C. communis, with a black patch on the breast, and buff and
chestnut under parts respectively ; the third has the throat plain
brick-coloured ; and the fourth still brighter red. The females
have no throat-mark, the hen of C. delegorguii being blackish -
brown above, and that of C. pectoralis shewing black chest-bands,
which in C. novae zealandiae cover most of the feathers. That
Quails can traverse long distances is evidenced by the migration
of large flocks in spring and autumn ; but, as a rule, their flight is
short, and they rise with great reluctance, though with considerable

PHASIANIDAE 221

velocity. The trisyllabic note of the male is rendered " wet-my-
lips " by country-folk ; the food consists of seeds, slugs, and insects,
sought among the grassy flats in general frequented. From seven
to fifteen yellowish or white eggs, with dark brown blotches or
marblings, are deposited in a hollow lined with bits of herbage, in
standing corn or grass, the hen sitting very closely and feigning
lameness to draw attention from the young. The male appears
to be usually monogamous, while the broods or " bevies " do not
form coveys. Two of these broods are said to be occasionally reared
in a season, but how far such statements are due to the destruc-
tion of the first complement of eggs must remain doubtful, as
in the case of so many other birds that breed on the ground.1

Melanoperdix nigra, of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and
Sumatra, is glossy black with browner primaries, the female
being chestnut, with black markings and a whitish chin. It
inhabits the lowlands and lays five eggs. Rollulus roulroul is a
most remarkable form with a frontal tuft of long black bristles.
In the male the fore-part of the head is black, separated by a
white band from the full hairy crest of maroon, which covers the
occiput ; the upper parts are dark green glossed with blue, the
wing-coverts being maroon, and the quills brown and buff. The
tail and under parts are black, a blue tint shewing on the
breast ; the base of the black bill, the feet, and the naked orbits
are scarlet. The female has a blackish head with moderate
crest, a grass-green body with chestnut wing-coverts edged with
maroon, and a black bill. These birds inhabit the dense forests
of the Malay Peninsula, Tenasserim, Siarn, Borneo, Sumatra, and
Java, up to an altitude of a few thousand feet ; they hunt in
small parties for seeds, berries, and insects, are very shy, quick of
movement and hard to flush, and utter a mellow whistle. Calo-
perdix oculea of similar range to Rollulus — unless we separate C.
borneensis with more chestnut throat — has the crown, neck, and
under parts rufous-chestnut, the back and tail black with cres-
centic white anterior and reddish posterior markings, the wing-
coverts brown with round black spots, the quills brown and
buff, the face and throat buff, a white supra- aural stripe, and
black flanks with whitish bars. The male is only distinguished
by possessing a pair or two of spurs. This bird haunts dense
uninhabited forests, and eats insects, seeds, and berries. Haemat-
1 For more details, see art. Quail, Dresser, Birds of Europe, vii. 1878, pp. 143-154.

222 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

ortyx sanguiniceps, of the mountain-forests of Northern Borneo,
is brownish-black; the slightly-crested head, the throat, upper
breast and under tail-coverts being crimson with black tips to
the last-named, and the metatarsi possessing three pairs of spurs.
The rump -feathers have partly expanded shafts. The female
has the throat rufous, the upper breast deep chestnut, and no
spurs. Arboricola contains nearly twenty species with almost
naked throats, ranging from Northern India to the Indo-Chinese
countries, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Formosa. The following
may be taken as examples of this genus, the sexes being usually
alike. A. torqueola of the Himalayas has a chestnut crown, red,
black, and white nape, olive and black upper parts, varied with
chestnut and buff on the wings, black cheeks, throat, fore-neck,
and superciliary stripe, a white line down the sides of the
throat, a white band surmounting the grey breast, and grey
flanks with chestnut and white markings. In the female the
crown is brown and black, the throat, cheeks, and so forth, rufous
with black spots, the chest-band rusty -red. A. ardens of Hainan,
of which the male only is known, is easily recognised by the
peculiar shining orange-scarlet patch of stiff hair-like feathers
011 the fore-neck. A. javanica of Java has the head rufous with
brownish crown, a black band surrounding the eyes and crossing the
occiput, another encircling the base of the neck, joined to the former
by a black line down the rust-coloured nape, and a third running
from the throat to the sides of the neck. The upper parts are dark
grey barred with black, the wings exhibiting chestnut and olive
tints ; the chest is grey ; the remaining lower parts are chestnut.
A. Moropus of Lower Burma and Cochin China has the crown and
nape brown, the superciliary stripe, throat, and lores black and
white, the fore-neck buff with black spots and margin, the upper
parts and chest brown and black with rufous on the wings and
rump-region, the breast red, the abdomen, sides, and black-barred
flanks buff. In this genus the orbital and even the gular skin is
crimson or purplish, the feet are commonly red, the bill rarely so.
The various species form coveys, which frequent grassy hill-jungles
and wooded ravines up to more than ten thousand feet ; they are
usually unsuspicious, and run before an intruder, but occasionally
perch in trees, and fly rapidly when forced to rise ; the single
whistling note is loud but mellow; the food consists of leaves,
roots, berries, seeds, grubs, and molluscs; the four white eggs, some-

PHASIANIDAE 223

times speckled with grey, are deposited with little or no nest,
at the foot of a tree, or under a tussock among thin scrub.

Microperdix and Perdicula, the Bush Quails of Anglo-
Indians, have a blunt tubercle on each foot in the male. M.
erytJirorhyncha of South and West India has the crown and
cheeks black ; a white frontal band continued down the sides of
the head ; brown upper parts, with round buff black-centred spots
on the back, and black and buff markings on the wings and tail ;
a white throat bordered by black ; and a grey-brown chest and
rufous breast, with black spots on the former arid the flanks.
The bill and feet are red. In the female the crown is brown,
the throat and cheeks being rufous. M. blewitii of Central India
is only slightly different ; but M. manipurensis of Manipur has
a chestnut throat, becoming grey in the hen. These active
Quail-like little birds haunt the lower mountain -thickets up to
perhaps eight thousand feet, forming small coveys, feeding on
seeds and insects, and fashioning a slight nest under some sort
of cover, to contain from ten to fourteen pointed creamy-brown
eggs. Perdicula asiatica of India and Ceylon is brown above,
with wavy black dorsal barring, and black and buff markings on
the wings and tail ; the superciliary stripes and throat are
chestnut with whitish margins ; the under parts white with
black bars ; the feet red. The female is uniform buff below. P.
argoondali of India has dull brick-red in place of the chestnut,
and a whitish throat in the hen. It has been introduced into
Mauritius. The habits are much as in Microperdix, but the
nest is sometimes more elaborate, and the reddish-white or olive-
coloured eggs, with possibly a few faint spots, number from five
to seven. Margaroperdix madagascariensis of Madagascar, im-
ported into Mauritius and Eeunion, has a black head with
reddish-brown sides to the crown, a white stripe from above
each eye running laterally down the neck, two others from the
gape down the margin of the throat, rufous and black upper
parts, with buff bars upon the wings and rump-region, and white
shaft-streaks except upon the quills. The red-brown chest and
black under surface are both margined with grey, and the latter
is spotted with white ; the flanks are chestnut, black, and white.
It is called " Tro-tro," " Timpoy," or " Tsipoy " by the Malagasy,
and inhabits grassy hills, flying rapidly for short distances, and
laying from about fifteen to twenty eggs. Natives say that if

224 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

you break these eggs you cause the death of your father, if you
spare them that of your mother ! l

The genus Perdix contains the Common Partridge (P. cinerea),
so valuable for purposes of food and sport, of which it is need-
less to describe the plumage ; yet attention may be drawn to the
dark chestnut horse-shoe mark on the grey breast, nearly obsolete
in most adult females, and the broad ruddy bars on the sides
and flanks. The hen may be invariably distinguished by wide-
set buff bands on the black scapulars and adjoining wing- coverts,
which in the cock are light brown with black vermiculations
and chestnut blotches. The latter sex, moreover, has grey
instead of brown sides to the neck.2 Great variation is notice-
able in the coloration, specimens from dry soils exhibiting the
richest hues, while some are occasionally obtained with a white
" horse-shoe " mark, and a particularly dark variety has even been
denominated Perdix montana. Hybrids are recorded with the
Bed-Legged Partridge and Red Grouse, but such are quite excep-
tional. Unknown in Shetland, the Partridge has been introduced
with moderate success into the Outer Hebrides and Orkneys ; but
in the Highlands of Scotland the character of the country is often
unsuitable, nor is the bird very plentiful in Ireland. From
Scandinavia it occurs southward to the Douro valley and Naples,
though rarer in Northern Europe, and choosing higher ground
than the Eed-legged species in the south ; eastward it reaches
through Asia Minor and Persia as far as the Altai Mountains.
Pairing even in February, it does not nest until about April, the
numbers of individuals reared being naturally much affected by
subsequent excess of wet or drought. The better the cultiva-
tion the larger the stock, though grassy heaths, gorse-coverts,
tangled hedge-rows and thickets also provide excellent harbour.
Very rarely do Partridges desert the open for woods, or perch in
trees, though during the hot hours they shelter in fields of
turnips, clover, and so forth, emerging at other times to feed on
the grain, seeds, leaves, and insects found among. short vegetation
or stubble. Cover is naturally eschewed when wet. They often
trust to their powers of foot for escape, or crouch motionless
upon soil that matches their plumage, while the whirring noise
with which they rise is familiar to all, as is their heavy rapid

1 Grandidier. Histoire de Madagascar, xii., Paris, 1879, pp. 489, 490.
2 Of. Ogilvie Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. 1893, p. 188.

PHASIANIDAE 225

flight at starting, and their easy gliding motion afterwards.
The well-known crowing note is most commonly heard towards
evening. The nest, a circular cavity lined with grass, is placed
among short herbage, often near a road, the drab-coloured — or,
exceptionally, bluish — eggs varying from nine to twenty or
more in number. Both parents tend the young and employ
many devices to mislead an intruder ; at night the family parties
roost upon the ground, and later in the year pack into larger
coveys. The methods of sportsmen and poachers cannot be dis-
cussed at length in our limited space, but the general adoption
of driving, instead of shooting over dogs — due to improved
systems of farming — should not be left unnoticed.

P. dailrica (barbata), of Asia east of the Altai and Tian-shan
Eanges, exhibits lanceolate feathers on the sides of the throat,
like Coturnix japonica, and a black "horse -shoe" mark on the
golden-buff breast ; the latter part in P. hodgsoniae, of South
Tibet and the extreme north of India, being white with wide
bars and a large basal patch of black ; P. sifanica of North- West
China and North Tibet lacks the black patch, and has less black
on the sides of the head and throat. The two last-named birds
reach the snow-line at about eighteen thousand feet ; the first of
them at least having a nest and eggs like the Common Part-
ridge. Rliizothera longirostris, of the Malay J^enmsJ^, ^Borneo,
and Sumatra, has long sharp curved beak ancwj&werful whitish

metatarsi, provided with a pair of f| pjww, Jfpar's in each sex. The
upper plumage is rich brown witM bla<sk and buff markings ; a grey
shade pervades the neb^^4ltt)wer back, and chestnut tints the
cheeks, throat, and \yih^s ; the under parts are grey, merging
posteriorly into buff. The hen has a chestnut fore-neck, and is
less grey above. E. dulitensis of Borneo is similar.

The genus Pternistes contains the naked-throated Ethiopian
Francolins. P. nudicollis of South Africa is brown above with
black shaft -stripes, the mantle being greyer, the superciliary
stripes and face black, the sides of the neck and lower parts
black with white streaks. The female has a grey and rufous
chest, the male a pair of sharp spurs. The bare orbits and
throat are crimson, the bill and feet orange -red. P. Jium-
loldti of East Africa and P. afer (rubricollis) of western South
Africa resemble the above, but have two pairs of spurs. P.
cranchi differs in having the neck, mantle, and under surface

VOL. IX Q

226 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

mottled with black and white, the breast and abdomen shewing
chestnut markings ; in the similar P. loehmi the naked throat is
yellow. These two species occur west and east of Lake Tan-
ganyika respectively; the female being less black and white
above and less chestnut below in the former, while the sexes are
alike in the latter. P. swainsoni of South Africa is distinguish-
able by its rusty abdomen with black and chestnut blotches, the
latter colour being absent in the hen ; P. rufipictus of East
Equatorial Africa has white neck-feathers, margined with brown
and black. P. leucoscepus of North -East and the darker P.
infuscatus of East Africa exhibit broken stripes of brown and
white down the whole body, with yellowish -red orbits and
throat ; the sexes are alike save for the spurs in the male. In
many districts the members of this genus, as well as the Fran-
colins proper, closely akin to them in appearance and habits, are
denominated " Pheasants." They haunt grassy places and brush-
wood, often on hills near water ; the coveys feeding in the open
on bulbs, seeds, berries, and insects, and roosting upon trees,
preferably those that are leafless. Flying little, but running at
a great pace, they utter harsh notes in the morning and even-
ing, and lay six or more creamy or pinkish eggs, frequently with
chalky spots, in a grass-lined cavity sheltered by coarse herbage.
Francolinus, inclusive of Ortygornis, Scleroptila, Chaetopus,
and Clamator of some writers, contains forty or more species,
ranging over the Ethiopian Region, and from Arabia, Cyprus,
and Asia Minor to Persia, India, and South China. The colora-
tion is rich and varied, and the sexes are commonly alike, while
hybrids undoubtedly occur. Apart from a special study, a general
idea is given by the following descriptions. F. vulgaris, the
"Black Partridge," ranging from Cyprus, Palestine, and Asia Minor
to Assam, formerly occurred in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece, several
of the Mediterranean Islands, and North Africa.1 It has the
whole plumage blackish, with buff markings on the crown, wings,
and mantle, white ocelli on the upper back and flanks, white
barring on the lower back and tail, a white patch below the eye,
and chestnut collar and under tail-coverts. The bill is black,
the feet are orange with a small blunt spur. The collar of the
brownish female is confined to the nape, and the throat is white.
In F. levaillanti of South Africa, the " Kedwing " of English
1 See Lilford, Ibis, 1862, pp. 352-356 ; Dresser, Birds of Europe, vii. pp. 123-128.

PHASIANIDAE 22?

colonists, both sexes have the crown brown, edged with black
.and white, which continues down the nape and widens at its
base ; a black and white band outlines the throat and forms a
patch below it, while the rest of the head is rufous. The upper
parts are black, brown, and buff, with pale chestnut remiges ; the
under parts are of the last colour, varied with buff and black, and
barred with brown on the flanks. Spurs are occasionally wanting.
F. adspersus of western South Africa is very distinct, both male
and female being brown above, with fine black and grey mottlings
and black lores ; the head, neck, and lower surface are white, with
narrow black bars. The spurs are long and sharp. F. alMgularis
of West Africa is grey-brown, with rusty crown, white throat, buff
under parts, and bright bay patches on the wing-coverts, the
upper back and neck exhibiting white streaks edged with black.
The lower back is blotched with black, the spurs are moderate.

Of some five Asiatic species, F. sinensis — introduced into
Madagascar, Mauritius, and Reunion — alone reaches eastward of
Assam to China ; whereas F. pondicerianus has been imported
into Rodriguez and the Amirante Islands.

Francolins are found in family parties rather than coveys,
and prefer localities near water, though these may consist of
Tushy swamps, cultivated lands, stony slopes, or maritime plains.
Dry situations are, however, favoured, a sufficiency of cover being
the chief requisite, and an altitude of six thousand feet being
occasionally attained. Some forms roost upon the ground and
apparently never perch, others — especially in South Africa —
resort habitually to trees at night or when disturbed ; but prob-
ably the style of country and the amount of persecution account
for this difference, while the decrease of the commoner species in
certain parts emphasises the fact that they are an easy prey to
gunners and other foes. These birds run with great rapidity,
and are extremely difficult to flush, still more so for a second
time ; when forced to rise they do so with a whirring noise, and fly
off heavily but swiftly, to pitch again as soon as possible. Kepos-
ing in the shade during the hot hours, they feed in the morning
and evening, at which times the loud, shrill cry of three bell-like
notes, or the " hysterical laugh," may be heard in all directions.
The diet consists of insects, shoots of plants, berries, seeds, and bulbs,
the powerful bill being used for digging. The well-concealed nest
resembles that of a Partridge, the six to fourteen eggs, found in

228 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

autumn as well as spring,1 are olive-brown or buff, occasionally
with small brown spots or a few white shell-markings.

Ammoperdix bonhami of South-West Asia is a desert form of
an isabelline colour, with blue-grey crown and throat, black fore-
head and superciliary stripes, white lores and ear-coverts, a few
black markings near the rump, chestnut hues on the tail and
flanks, and longitudinal black bars on the latter. A. lieyi,
ranging from Nubia to the Jordan Valley and the Persian Gulf,
has no black on the head, the frontal band being white, and the
cheeks and mid-throat chestnut. The rufous and buff females of
the two species are indistinguishable. They inhabit wastes and
stony ravines up to four thousand feet, in pairs or small coveys ;
crouching, to avoid detection, on the ground, which matches their
colour ; flying like Quails ; and uttering a reiterated double
whistle. The eight to twelve eggs, of a plain drab tint, are
deposited among stones or under tussocks, with hardly any nest.

Caccabis rufa, the Eed- legged or French Partridge, intro-
duced into England from France, and inhabiting Western Europe
generally from Belgium and Switzerland to the Balearic Islands,
Corsica, Elba, and South Italy, occurs in the Atlantic Islands,
but not in Africa. The crown is grey, a black band outlines the
throat and reaches past the eyes to the forehead, the upper parts
are reddish-grey or brownish, and the tail is partly chestnut. The
abdomen is bright buff, the chest grey with black margins to
the feathers ; chestnut, white, and black stripes adorn the flanks ;
the bill, feet, and orbits are red. The male is only distin-
guishable by having rudimentary spurs. C. saxatilis, the Greek
Partridge, has the chest plain and the flanks without white.
It inhabits the Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, Balkans, and
Sicilian hills ; the eastern race, C. chukar, ranging from the
Ionian Islands to Aden, Persia, Mongolia, and China, and being
naturalized in St. Helena. C. magna of Tibet shews a double
gorget of black and reddish. C. petrosa, the Barbary Part-
ridge, has a chestnut crown and. collar, with white spots on the
latter; it occupies North-West Africa, Sardinia, several of the
Canary Islands, and Gibraltar. C. spatzi of South Tunis differs
slightly. C. melanocephala of South-West Arabia has a black
crown, bluish upper parts, flanks marked with black and white,

1 The nest is occasionally in a shrub, Hume, ed. Gates, Nests and Eggs of Indian
Birds, iii. 1890, p. 435.

PHASIANIDAE 229

:and a black mark down the fore-neck. The members of this
genus frequent cultivated country, grassy desert-hills, and scrub-
covered ground, up to sixteen thousand feet ; they are unsuspicious
in quiet parts, but such is not the case in England. They
run and fly far arid fast, but are exceptionally hard to flush,
trusting almost entirely to their feet, and occasionally when hard
pressed resorting to trees. The loud note may be syllabled
chuk-chuk-chukar-chukar ; the food consists of leaves, fruits, seeds
.and insects ; the nest is a scantily-lined excavation, containing
from seven to fourteen yellowish-white eggs with reddish specks
or blotches. The pugnacious males are used by the Cypriots to
attract their wild kindred ; but in Britain they have been said
—probably in error — to drive away the Common Partridge.

Tetraogallus tibetanus, the Tibetan " Snow- Cock " or " Snow-
Pheasant," is dark grey above, with buff markings towards the
wings and rump, and black vermiculations ; the under parts
are white, with a grey pectoral band and black streaks pos-
teriorly. There is a yellowish naked patch behind the eye, the bill
is orange, and the feet are red. The sexes are similarly coloured,
but the male has a pair of strong blunt spurs. The range
extends from East Turkestan to West China, where T. henrici
occurs, with a grey chest. T. Jiimcdayensis, found from the
Himalayas to the Hindu Kush and the Altai Mountains, has the
pectoral band and a patch on each side of the head and nape
chestnut, the chest white with black bars, the orbits yellow, the
bill dusky, and the feet orange. T. caspius, extending from the
Taurus to Transcaspia and South Persia, has the upper breast
grey with black spots, and lacks the chestnut on the head; T.
caucasicus of the Caucasus has the occiput and nape rufous, and
the chest black and buff; T. altaicus of the Altai range has the
last spotted with white, but no white bases to the secondaries
as in the two preceding forms. These large active birds haunt
stony hill-sides above the forest-zone and near the snow-line,
being gregarious, yet keeping in pairs ; they are wild and wary,
fly straight and swiftly, utter shrill whistles or cackling notes,
and feed upon insects, buds, roots, grass, moss, and fern. From
six to nine yellowish or olive eggs with reddish or purplish spots,
generally one-third larger than those of the Capercaillie, are laid
in a hollow in the soil, sheltered by a stone or overhanging tuft.
Tetraophasis olscurus of East Tibet is in both sexes brownish-

23O GALLIFORMES CHAP.

grey above, with blackish markings anteriorly, olive tints on
the mantle, and buff on the wings ; the throat and some blotches
on the flanks are chestnut, the breast is grey with black spots,
the abdomen grey and buff, the tail mainly black and white.
The male has two stout spurs. T. sztchenyii of Central Tibet
has the throat fawn-coloured, and the whole of the under parts
blotched with chestnut. The habits are apparently somewhat
similar to those of the last genus. Lerwa nivicola, the " Snow-
Partridge," ranging from the Himalayas to Western China, has
black upper parts with white cross-bars, which become rufous
buff on the mantle and wings ; the under surface is chestnut,
with black and white markings only shewing towards the belly.
A pair of spurs distinguishes the cock from the hen. This species
inhabits broken grassy or heathery sides of mountains in the midst
of snow, up to an altitude of at least fourteen thousand feet ; it
is tamer than the Snow-Pheasant, flies equally well, and nestles
under jutting rocks. The coveys feed on moss, seeds, and insects,
and utter a short double Grouse-like note or a harsh whistle.

Sub-fam. 4. Odontophorinae,1 — The " American Partridges,"
are Quail-like birds, rarely attaining the size of a Eed Grouse, and
readily distinguished -from their kin by the doubly- toothed mandible
and the lack of spurs. The sexes are alike, if not otherwise stated.

Of some four species of Dendrortyx, ranging from South
Mexico to Costa Eica, D. macrurus, of the former country, has
a black head and throat, with a long white streak above and
below each eye, and a rufous tip to the short, full occipital crest.
The neck and back are chestnut and grey ; the rump, wings, and
tail are browner with black mottlings ; the breast is greyish
with rufous streaks. The bill, feet, and naked orbits are coral-
red. Callipepla squamata, of the South-Western United States
and Mexico, has a grey-brown head, with white-tipped crest and
buff throat ; the wings, rump, and tail are brownish-grey with
white inner margins to some of the scapulars and secondaries ;
the mid -breast and belly are fawn-coloured. The remaining
plumage is grey, with black margins to the feathers which
cause a scaly appearance, and shews dusky triangular spots beneath.
Oreortyx pictus of the Western United States possesses two very
long black occipital plumes ; olive-brown upper parts with white
edges to the scapulars and outer secondaries ; slaty head, neck,

1 For further details cf. Gould, Monograph of the Odontophorinae, London, 1850.

PH ASIAN ID AE 231

and lower surface, with chestnut throat and abdomen, of which the
former is laterally margined with white ; a white band from the
chin to the lores ; and chestnut flanks, barred with black and white.
Lophortyx calif ornicus, of the same countries, has the head and
crest of two club-shaped feathers black, a yellow forehead, olive-
grey upper parts, a black throat outlined with white, buff mid-
breast, and chestnut belly, each feather of the last two being
edged with black. A white band connects the eyes and con-
tinues behind them, while white streaks grace the sides and
flanks. The female lacks the black and white pattern on the
head, and has whitish lower parts with yellow-brown throat.
Two other species extend the range to Mexico. PJiilortyx
fasciatus of South Mexico has an olive -brown upper surface,
washed with rufous on the crown and the greyer neck and
mantle, and barred or blotched with black and buff on the lower
back, wings, and tail ; the blackish crest is tipped with red ; the
throat and lower parts are white, with a few median spots and
pronounced black bars on the chest, sides, and flanks, where the
feathers have rusty margins. JEupsyclwrtyx cristatus of Curasao
and Aruba has half a dozen congeners, ranging through Central and
northern South America. It has a buff crest, crown, and throat ;
black and white nape and cheeks; reddish -grey upper parts
mottled and blotched with black and buff; and rufous lower sur-
face, barred with black, and spotted on the chest, sides, and flanks
with white. In the female the black on the head is replaced
by buff. Ortyx mrginianus of the Eastern United States is
rufous and grey above with black blotches, the crown is blackish,
the sides of the head are transversely striped with black and
white, the white throat is margined with black, the lower parts
are reddish-white with black chevrons. The hen-bird has a
buff throat, and shews little black on the cheeks. This genus
contains eight members, often called Colins, which range as far
south as Mexico and Cuba. The three species of Cyrtonyx extend
from the Southern United States to Guatemala ; they all have full
crests, highly-developed wing-coverts, and very short, soft tails.
The sides of the head and neck exhibit a peculiar black and white
pattern, while those of the body are grey, ocellated with white or
varied with chestnut. The females lack the pattern on the head.
As an example, C. montezumae is rufous above, barred with black,
and streaked with buff and white ; the breast being chiefly

232 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

chestnut and the abdomen black. Dactylortyx thoracicus of Central
America has brown upper parts, with black blotches and rufous
and buff mottlings ; the superciliary stripes, cheeks, and throat
are chestnut, with a black patch on each side of the last ; the
under surface is reddish-grey with white shaft-stripes. In the
hen the chestnut is replaced by whitish. The crest is not so
full as in Odontophorus, of which some fourteen species extend
from South Mexico to Bolivia and South Brazil. 0. guianensis,
ranging from Panama to Bolivia and Amazonia, has the head and
throat mainly chestnut, the neck and mantle grey, the lower back
reddish-brown — all except the grey portions being marked with
buff and black ; the mid-throat is grey, the under parts orange-
brown, with dusky barring on the chest and sides. The naked
orbits are reddish ; the bill is black, the feet are rather lighter,
as in the Sub -family generally. Rliynchortyx spodiostethm of
Veragua and Panama has the crown brown, the rest of the head
chiefly rusty -red, the mantle grey and brown, the lower back buff
relieved by grey and black, the wings more chestnut, the lower
parts dark grey, with white and buff centres to the throat and
breast respectively, and black -barred flanks. H. cinctus of
Veragua has a rufous chest and olive-brown cheeks.

As an instance of the habits we may take Ortyx virginianus,
called Bob-white from the shrill triple whistle of the male,
which resembles " Ah-bob-white." It is a wary denizen of
open woods and pastures, found in coveys, and roosting on
the ground, though habitually taking refuge in trees, where
it crouches upon the branches. It runs very swiftly, but rises,
when hard pressed, with a whirring noise to fly for a short
distance. The food consists of succulent shoots, seeds, berries,
acorns, beech-nuts, and insects ; the nest is imbedded in grass or
placed at the foot of a tree, and is made of a little herbage, which
may even arch over it ; the white or drab eggs number from nine
to eighteen. The male is said to assist in incubation, two broods
being occasionally reared in a season. The female utters a clucking
sound, and will feign lameness when with her brood.

Other forms prefer pine-forests, rocky ground, or dry sandy
flats overgrown with cactus and sage-brush ; their cries being in
some cases louder or more guttural, while the eggs may be
blotched or spotted with reddish-brown. Nests have even been
recorded low down in trees. Ortyx virginianus has been intro-

PHASIANIDAE 233

duced into the West Indies and the Old World, though unsuc-
cessfully in the latter ; LopJiortyx californicus into Europe, the
Sandwich Islands, and New Zealand, in the last two of which it
is firmly established. In America, moreover, some species seem to
have lately extended their range. Hybrids are occasionally found.
Sub-fam. 5. Tetraoninae. — Bonasa umbellus, the Buffed Grouse,
which inhabits the greater part of North America, is remarkable
for the frills of black or chestnut feathers surmounting a bare space
on the sides of the neck, and for the partially naked metatarsi. Both
sexes are rufous or greyish above, with buff and black markings,
a short blackish crest, and a black subterminal tail-bar ; the under
parts being buff, relieved by brown and white. Great variation,
however, is shown, and sub-species may be easily differentiated.
When undisturbed, the " Pheasant " or " Partridge," as it is vari-
ously called by local sportsmen, is tame, and prefers undulating
wooded country in the neighbourhood of cultivation, though it is
also found in proximity to the hills. The habits resemble those
of the following species, but the food is somewhat more varied,
and includes beech-nuts, chestnuts, and acorns. In spring the
cock often struts upon some log, and drums after the manner of
other American grouse ; but the habit is not confined to that
season, nor is the sound produced by inflated neck-sacs, but by
the wings. The absence of the hens, moreover, suggests that the
performance is not amatory. From eight to fourteen or more
eggs are laid, of a whitish or buff colour, with or without round
reddish spots. R sylvestris, the Hazel Grouse — the Gelinotte of
the French^is a smaller and darker bird, with white markings
on the wings, and a black throat surrounded by a white line,
which reaches to the forehead. There is no ruff, and the female
differs from the male in her whitish throat. It inhabits hill-
forests in Europe and Asia up to three thousand feet, extending
southward to Northern Spain, North Italy, Transylvania, China,
and Japan, but not occurring in Britain. The food consists of
shoots and buds of birch and hazel, seeds, berries, and other fruit,
worms, insects, and their larvae. The flight is noisy, but not
protracted, the birds resorting to trees and squatting on the
branches. The usual note is a melancholy whistle, followed by
a chirping sound. The slight nest contains from six to fifteen
yellowish eggs, spotted with a little rufous, which are deposited
early in spring, as is. commonly the case in the Family. B.

234 GALLIFORMES CHAP,

griseiventris and B. severtzovi are the representative forms in the
Government of Perm in Kussia, and the districts from Koko-Nor
to South Mongolia respectively. The Old World species, some-
times denominated Tetrastes, are monogamous, and do not " drum."

Different races of Pedioecetes phasianellus, the well-known
" Prairie Chicken," occupy America as far southwards as North
California, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Both male and
female shew black, red-brown, and yellowish tints above, with
white streaks on the scapulars and spots on the wings, the lower
surface being white with dusky markings. The short tail, with
two elongated, but truncated median rectrices, gives it the name of
Sharp-tailed Grouse. This shy denizen of the woods and prairies
extends almost to the Arctic barren grounds in spring, that season
being remarkable for the conduct of both sexes, which meet to
hold regular dances on elevated spots, aptly compared to the
" hills " of Buffs. No doubt the cocks are the chief performers,
but they are said to be monogamous, though their actions resemble
those of their polygamous allies. The flight is strong and rapid,
with alternate periods of flapping and sailing ; the note is a triple
whistle or a " cack-cack-cack." The food includes shoots of plants,
grass, berries, and insects, the last-named being the chief diet of
the young, as in the case of many other American Grouse. About
fourteen eggs are deposited in a cavity scraped amidst rank
herbage, and but slightly lined; their colour is brownish with
darker spots, or occasionally creamy with marks of red.

Centrocercus urophasianus, the Sage -Cock of the Western
United States and the adjoining portions of British America, has
the upper parts mottled with black, grey-brown, rufous, and buff,
the lower parts black, relieved by a white chest. The tail is
long and wedge-shaped, with attenuated feathers ; the sides of
the neck and lower throat possess stiff spiny plumage, and the
former bare orange air-sacs, as in the species next to be mentioned.
The female lacks the black spots on the white throat. This
bird, the largest of the New World Tetraoninae, is generally
unsuspicious, and runs ahead of the traveller uttering cackling
or clucking notes; when hard pressed it rises with fluttering
action, and flies off rapidly to a considerable distance. The food
consists chiefly of " sage-brush " (Artemisia tridentata), but other
leaves and flowers, seeds, berries, grain, and insects vary the fare.
The habits at the mating-time resemble those of Dendragapus and

PHASIANIDAE 235

Tympanuchus, while the eggs, from seven to seventeen in numberr
may be found placed in an excavation of the bare soil, or resting on
a slight lining ; they are drab or olive in colour, with roundish
brown spots. What seems to be the ground colour is easily rubbed
off before incubation commences, a fact noticeable in other Galline
birds and Plovers. The Sage-Grouse reaches a considerable eleva-
tion, as does the sage-brush, which gives its name to the bird.

Tympanuchus americanus, the Prairie-hen, found in the
districts drained by the Mississippi and its confluents, and thence
northwards to Ontario, is brown above, barred with buff and
black, and chiefly paler brown below, marked with white. The
small crest is tipped with white, and a tuft of long, stiff, black
feathers covers the inflatable yellow air- sacs on the sides of the
neck, the sacs being absent and the tufts shorter in females. In
spring parties assemble after daybreak on dry knolls, and conduct
their love affairs after the fashion of the Dusky Grouse (p. 236),
a booming noise being audible from afar, and the skin of the neck
being expanded below the erected tufts. The cocks are most pug-
nacious when the pairing-time is nearly over. Shoots of plants,
berries, grain, acorns, and insects constitute the food. The flight is
powerful and rapid, but individuals often run and squat. For a
Grouse the nest is considerable ; and from eleven to fourteen, or
even twenty, creamy or olive-coloured eggs are deposited, with very
small reddish-brown spots. T. cupido, the Heath -Hen of the
eastern United States, now only found on the island of Martha's
Vineyard, off Massachusetts, has smaller neck-tufts of pointed
feathers, and more conspicuous whitish marks on the scapulars.
T. pallidicinctus, the Lesser Prairie-Hen, ranging from Texas to
Kansas, is barred with brown, margined on each side with black.

Dendragapus olscurus, the Dusky, Blue, or Pine-Grouse of the
Eocky Mountain districts, has black upper parts mottled with
grey and a little brown, and pure grey under surface ; the female
having a considerable admixture of buff, and the male possessing
air-sacs like those of Tympanuchus. A darker race, D.fuliginows,
extends the range to Sitka and California. Another northern form,
which lacks the broad grey tail-band, is termed D. richardsoni.
These birds frequent wooded ravines up to nine thousand feet,
preferring the neighbourhood of water, and feeding as do their
allies. The characteristic booming noise, common to this species
and others, may be heard throughout the day in spring, the male

236 GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

choosing some horizontal tough or convenient spot of ground
whereon to display himself with drooping wings, expanded tail,
and inflated air-sacs. Rarely can an observer gain a view, so
misleading is the ventriloquistic effect of the sound. The nest,
commonly placed beneath a branch or near a tussock, is a mere
depression in the soil lined with herbage, leaves, or fir-needles.
The eight to twelve eggs are creamy-buff, with round brown dots.

Canachites (Canace} canadensis, the Canada Grouse or " Spruce-
Partridge," found from Alaska and British America to the north-
eastern United States, is black, with lead-coloured bars above, and
a white pectoral band below, the tail having a chestnut tip, which
is wanting in the browner C. franklini of the north-western
Rocky Mountains. In the female the grey is chiefly replaced by
orange. It is a tame species, and flies but a short distance before
alighting on some tree. The food consists of " spruce " buds and
larch needles, with berries of Vaccinium (bilberry, cranberry,
etc.), Empetrum (crowberry), and so forth. It is not polygamous ;
but a most curious account of the cock's habits of showing off
and drumming is given by Bendire.1 The hen constructs a nest
of dry moss, leaves, and twigs upon the ground, under shelter of
some overhanging bough, and lays from eight to eighteen reddish-
buff eggs with brown spots. Falcipennis hartlaubi, a very similar
species, distinguished by slender sickle-shaped outer primaries,
occurs in North-East Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Saghalien.

Tetrao urogallus, the Capercaillie, apparently not uncommon in
Scotland until 1770, and exterminated in Ireland about the same
date, was reintroduced at Taymouth Park, Perthshire, in 1838,
and is now fairly plentiful in Central North Britain. Failure has
attended similar attempts in Ireland. The discoveries of bones
in Teesdale and near Torquay shew that this bird's range once
extended to Yorkshire and Devonshire, while similar finds have
been made in Aquitaine and Denmark. At the present day it
inhabits sub-alpine pine-forests from Scandinavia, the Pyrenees,
North Italy, and Greece to Lake Baikal and the Altai Mountains,
being represented in the Urals by a sub-species, T. uralensis. The
male is almost entirely blackish -grey above, with somewhat
darker tail, and black below with greenish chest. The female is
smaller, and is mottled with brown, buff, black, and white, merging
into rufous on the breast, which is barred with black. A variable

1 Life Histories of N. Amer. Birds, Special Bull. i. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1892, pp. 52-56.

PHASIANIDAE 237

amount of white occurs beneath in both sexes. The brown hair-
like feathers on the legs are longest in winter, a fact true also in
the Ptarmigan and elsewhere. A cross between the hen Caper-
caillie and the Black-Cock is known in North Europe as the
Backelhahn (T. medius)} The " lek " or " spel," as the love-
performance is called, has been described in detail by many
authors ; 2 it takes place in spring, and occasionally in autumn,
when the excited male struts with drooping wings and erect out-
spread tail before the assembled females, uttering curious noisy
cries, to which they reply with softer plaintive notes. He is said
to be deaf during the " play." At times he takes up a position on
some lofty bough with the evident intention of challenging his
rivals, who quickly respond to the provocation ; ere long they join
in combat upon the ground, leaping and rushing upon one another
in their blind rage, and using bills, wings, and claws as weapons
of offence. The flight of the Capercaillie is heavy though strong.
The food consists chiefly of young pine-shoots, which are apt to
give the flesh a flavour of turpentine, but includes berries, insects,
and worms. About a dozen yellowish-white eggs, freckled with
dull orange, are deposited in a hole scraped for the purpose near
the foot of a tree, a slight lining being sometimes added. T.
parvirostris (urogallo'ides) of North-East Siberia, with comparatively
slender bill and purplish - green head, and T. Jcamtschaticus of
Kamtschatka, are distinguished by their white-tipped scapulars.

Lyrurus tetrix, the Black Grouse, called according to the sex
Black Cock or Grey Hen, ranges over Europe north of the
Pyrenees and Apennines, as well as through Northern Asia to the
Tian-Shan Mountains and Pekin. It inhabits the wilder moor-
lands of the north and west of England, being much less plentiful
in the Midlands, and very rare in the east. It has, however, been
introduced into Norfolk, and unsuccessfully into Ireland, while it
has been restored to Surrey, Sussex, and Berks, and still occurs
in Wilts, Dorset, Hants, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. In
Scotland it frequents most suitable districts, but does not
reach Orkney, Shetland, or the Outer Hebrides. The male, re-
markable for his lyrate tail with its outwardly curved rectrices, is
black with steel-blue reflexions, exhibiting a little brown in parts,

1 For hybrids of grouse, cf. Meyer, Unser Auer Rackel und BirJcwild. Vienna,
1887 ; and Millais, Game Birds and Shooting Sketches. London, 1892.

2 Cf. Lloyd, Game Birds of Sweden and Norway, London, 1867; and Millais, op. cit.

238 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

a white bar on the wing, and white under tail-coverts. The female
is rufous and buff, barred and spotted with black, and shewing but
little white. This bird is usually found on broken ground or
in open woodlands, where it conceals itself among long heath,
bracken, or grass. The polygamous cocks meet at dawn in spring
to fight for the hens, parading before them in great excitement
with depressed outspread tails, while uttering a drumming or
cooing noise. At other times the call-note is loud and clear.
The flight is powerful but heavy ; the food includes berries, seeds,
grain, shoots, buds, and insects. The nest is merely a scantily-
lined hollow, situated at the foot of a tree, or in heather and the
like, often near plantations. The six to ten eggs have a yellowish
ground-colour, with scattered orange-brown blotches, the markings
being larger than in the Capercaillie. In some winters these Grouse
allow themselves to be snowed up, as occasionally do other species.
L. mlokosiewiczi of the Caucasus has the rectrices only slightly
curved, and black under tail-coverts. Hybrids between the Black
Cock and the Willow Grouse are called Eiporre in Scandinavia.

Lagopus scoticus, the Ked Grouse or Muirfowl, the only bird
entirely confined to our islands, differs from its congeners in never
becoming white in winter. It varies considerably in coloration,1
but is usually considered a local form of the Willow Grouse
(L. allus) of the north of Europe, Asia, and America. The male
in both summer and winter is more or less chestnut-brown above,
with black markings and a reddish head ; the lower parts are
similar, but are usually spotted with white. In autumn the brown
of the upper parts becomes buff, and the lower surface is barred
with buff and black. Mr. Ogilvie Grant 2 recognises three types of
plumage in the male, a red form with no white spots, from Ireland
and Western Scotland ; a blackish variety comparatively rarely
found ; and another largely spotted with white below or even above.
Intermediate specimens constitute the bulk of our birds. The
female exhibits, moreover, a buff- spotted and a buff-barred form ;
but in summer she is typically black above with concentric buff
markings, and buff below with black bars. Her autumn plumage,
which continues throughout the winter, is black, spotted with
buff and barred with rufous. Little need be said of the habits
of this well-known species, nor will space allow of a description of
the methods of killing it by driving and so forth ; but it may be

1 T. E. Buckley, P.Z.S. 1882, pp. 112-116. 2 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. 1893, p. 36.

PHASIANIDAE

239

observed that it utters a clear ringing note, as well as the familiar
" cok-cok-cok," and feeds upon grain and tender shoots of ling
(Calluna) and heather (Erica}, besides other plants. The nest
of moss, grass, and the like is placed amidst heather, and con-
tains from six to ten, or even more, yellowish- white eggs, thickly
blotched and spotted with fine red-brown, purplish, or black. In
England the Eed Grouse is found as far south as Derbyshire and
Shropshire, in Wales to Glamorgan ; while unsuccessful attempts

FIG. 48. — Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus. x J.

have been made to introduce it into Surrey and elsewhere. In
Ireland it is rather thinly distributed, but in Scotland it reaches
the Orkneys, and an occasional brood has been known to be reared
in Shetland, where a few pairs were turned down between 1858
and 1883. It has also been acclimatized in Southern Sweden.
Lagopus albus, the Willow Grouse of Northern Europe, Asia, and
America, termed the " Dal-riporre " in Scandinavia, is completely
white in winter, except for the lateral rectrices, which are chiefly
black; in summer it resembles the Eed Grouse, but is distinguished
.by the white wing-quills. The female is smaller. The habits

240 GALLIFORMES CHAP.

are similar to those of the last-named, but a preference is shewn
for willow- and birch-scrub ; shoots of these trees or of Vaccinium.
with various moorland berries, furnishing the food. A perform-
ance recalling the " lek " of the Capercaillie is said to be given
by the male in spring, a fact also true of the succeeding species.1
L. mutus, the Ptarmigan or Fjeld-riporre, is in summer blackish-
brown with grey and rufous markings, the median tail-feathers,
abdomen, and most of the wings being white. The back becomes
grey in autumn. The female is reddish-buff, barred with black.
In winter both sexes are white, with black and white rectrices, and
in the male with black lores. Nearly all the so-called Ptarmigan
in English poulterers' shops are Willow Grouse. The haunts
are on the higher parts of mountain-ranges, where stony ground
abounds, but somewhat lower altitudes are sought after the
breeding season. The food consists of shoots and berries ; the cry
is croaking, and best heard in misty weather. From five to ten
eggs, with blacker markings than those of Eed Grouse, are deposited
in a hole scraped in the earth, with little or no lining, the nest
being commonly quite exposed, though equally often under shelter
of a boulder. Ptarmigan are decidedly difficult to see among the
similarly-coloured stones. In Scotland they occur on most of the
higher hills from Arran northwards, though no longer in Dum-
fries and Galloway ; while abroad they occupy Northern Europe,
with the Pyrenees and the Alps, and possibly Northern Asia. In
the lighter L. rupestris the adult male never has a black breast
or a grey back in autumn. This form occurs in North Asia and
North America, with Greenland, Iceland, and Japan, many local
races having been described as distinct species or sub-species ;
while the larger L. Jiyperloreus (Jiemileucurus), with a white base
to the tail, inhabits Spitsbergen ; and L. leucurus, with entirely
white rectrices — the smallest member of the genus — ranges along
the Kocky Mountains from British Columbia to New Mexico.

Of fossil forms Coturnix and Palaeortyx occur in the
Upper Eocene of the Paris Basin, Taoperdix in the calcareous
deposits of Languedoc of the same age ; Palaeortyx is again
found with three species of Palaeoperdix, in the Middle
Miocene of France, while Phasianus is not only recorded from

1 Cf. Elliot, Monograph of the Tetraonidae, New York, 1872 ; Dresser, Birds of
.Europe, vii. 1871-81, p. 187. To these books and those mentioned in the note on
p. 237, the reader must be referred for fuller details regarding the Tetraoninae.

OPISTHOCOMIDAE 241

this formation, but from the Upper Miocene of Oeningen and the
Pliocene of Attica, in the latter of which Gallus accompanies it.
Meleagris has been discovered in the Miocene of Colorado, and
the Post -pliocene of New Jersey; Gallus in the Pliocene of
France, Palaeotetrix and Pedioecetes in that of Oregon ; and,
finally, bones of Lagopus have been brought to light in the
French Plistocene, and those of Tetrao urogallus at Kent's Hole
near Torquay and in the caves of Teesdale in England.

Fam. VII. Opisthocomidae. — The curious and highly special-
ized Hoatzin (Opistliocomus cristatus) has been the subject of
much discussion among systematists, as the outcome of which it
is necessary to adopt for it a special Sub-Order OPISTHOCOMI.
Buffon classed it with the Curassows, P. L. S. Mliller and Gmelin
placed it in the Linnean genus PJiasianus ; but Illiger recognised a
genus Opisthocomus, while Huxley and Garrod fully admitted its
claim to higher rank than that of a Family. The habits are to
some extent Ealline, and certain points of structure indicate a
considerable affinity to the Cuculi.

The sternum is utterly unlike that of any other species, the
anterior portion of the keel being aborted, and the posterior
correlated with a flattened area of thick naked skin, on which the
bird mainly rests. These modifications are no doubt connected
with the extraordinarily large crop, which is supported by the
furcula and the fore-part of the breast-bone, being received in a
cavity of the pectoral muscles ; the whole organ is decidedly
muscular, and contains two divisions with a partial constriction
between them. The body is long and thin, the bill is strong
with basal serrations on the maxilla ; bristles surround the gape,
and the eye-lids have distinct lashes — a rare fact among birds.
The reticulated metatarsi are fairly stout ; the toes are long ;
the hallux being unusually developed and the claws slightly
curved. The short rounded wings have ten primaries and nine
secondaries. The nearly even tail is elongated, with ten stiff
feathers. The plumage in both sexes is olive above with white
markings, and dull rufous below ; the long loose crest and the
tip of the tail are yellowish, and a patch of bare bluish-black
skin surrounds the eyes. The tongue is sagittate, the furcula
is Y-shaped and ossifies anteriorly with the coracoids, an aftershaft
is present, the down of the adults is sparing, while a small amount
— of a reddish-brown colour — is observable in the newly-hatched

VOL. IX K

242

GALLIFORMES

CHAP.

young. The syrinx has one pair of muscles inserted on the distal
end of the trachea.

The Hoatzin or " Anna," which is about the size of a Pigeon,
ranges from Colombia to the Lower Amazons and Bolivia, where
it haunts the sides of lagoons, creeks, and rivers covered with a

thick growth of low trees or
bushes, which project over the
stream or the mud left bare by
the tide. In these tangled soli-
tudes it skulks during the heat
of the day, while at other times it
may be observed squatting upon
the branches, mainly supported on
the patch of hardened skin already
mentioned. When disturbed
the bird flies off awkwardly for
some forty yards with a violent
flapping motion, or progresses
by leaps from bough to bough,
erecting its crest and expanding
its wings and tail. The note is
sharp and shrill, and has been
described as a hissing screech.
The food consists of leaves and
fruit of the prickly Drepano-
carpus lunulatus, of the Aroid
Montriehardia arborescens, of
Avicennia nitida, and of a species
of Psidium. The conspicuous
nest, placed on low trees or shrubs,
is a loose platform of spiny twigs
and sticks with a softer lining,
which contains from three to five yellowish-white eggs of a Kail-like
appearance, spotted with reddish-brown and lilac. The young, which
can see and run as soon as they are hatched, have a claw on both
index and pollex, by means of which they creep about the thickets
and hook themselves over the branches, assisted by the bill and
feet. They can also swim and dive. A strong musky odour is given
off by the adults, whence they are termed " Stinking Pheasants "
in Guiana. The male has been asserted to be polygamous.

FIG. 49.— Hoatzin.
Opisthocomus cristatus.

v GRUIFORMES : RALLIDAE 243

Order X. GRUIFORMES.

The Gruiformes, which lie between the Galliformes and the
Charadriiformes, compose a somewhat heterogeneous Order, which
includes forms so different as the Rallidae (Kails), Gruidae
(Cranes), Aramidae (Limpkins), Psophiidae (Trumpeters), Caria-
midae (Seriema and Chunia), Otididae (Bustards), Ehinochetidae
(Kagu), Eurypygidae (Sun-Bitterns), and Heliornitliidae (Fin-
foots). Of these a large number are Waders, but the Land-
Kail, the Wekas, the Kagu, the Bustards, and others, cannot be
classed in this category. All agree in having no true crop, a
tracheo-bronchial syrinx, and an elevated hallux ; while the
front toes are never completely webbed, though nearly so in
Heliornis ; the nares, moreover, are pervious, except in Rhinochetus.
In the last-named the condition of the newly-hatched young is
unknown, in Heliornis they are said to be naked at first, but in
the remainder of the group they are covered with simple down.
In structure the nine Families differ widely, a fact which would
seem a strong argument against combining them under one head ;
but the aggregate of such points must be considered, and in any
linear system the relationships within every Order cannot possibly
be equally close. The present arrangement does not differ greatly
from that adopted by Mr. Sclater, l wherein he accepted the
names Alectorides and Fulicariae, used by Nitzsch, but made
the former to consist of the Aramidae, Eurypygidae, Gruidae,
Psopliiidae, Cariamidae, and Otididae, and the latter of the
Rallidae and Heliornithidae. Some writers, both modern and
ancient, have placed the Otididae in the Limicoline group.

Fam. I. Rallidae. — The Rails constitute a somewhat general-
ized and very homogeneous Family, found in almost all parts
of the world. The body is peculiarly compressed — enabling them
to move with ease in dense vegetation — while the keel of the
sternum is especially reduced in those flightless forms for which the
group is remarkable. The strong bill varies in dimensions, being
long in typical Kails, shorter and thicker in Crakes, decidedly curved
in Himantornis, and reaching its maximum size among the Galli-
nules in Porphyrio and Notornis, where it is subconical. A horny
shield is present upon the forehead in Megacrex, Halroptila, the
Gallinules and the Coots, which is usually rounded or truncated
1 Ibis, 1880, p. 408.

244 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

posteriorly, but is reduced to a point in Porphyriops. This
excrescence is in most cases red, but is sky-blue, light green, or
dusky in Porphyriola, green in Tribonyx, blackish in Megacrex,
white, yellow, or brown in Fulica. The lower part of the tibia
is bare ; the anteriorly scutellated metatarsus is seldom short,
though occasionally very stout ; the toes are long and slender with
the elevated hallux weakest ; the claws are fairly long, curved,
and sharp. Somewhat shorter digits are found in Tribonyx and
Pareudiastes, Fulica has broad lobes of skin along the front toes,
while Porphyriops and G-allinula have narrow entire membranous
margins to them. The wings are generally short and rounded,
with ten or eleven primaries, and from eleven to sixteen second-
aries, all the feathers being obtuse ; but in many species these
members are imperfectly developed, and their coverts actually
hide the quills in such cases as Ocydromus and Notornis. This
retrograde tendency is clearly evidenced in the " Island Hen " of
Tristan da Cunha (Gallinula or PorpTiyriornis nesiotis) and the
" Mountain Cock " of Gough Island (G. comeri), which flutter
along without flying ; in the Moho of Hawaii (Pennula ecaudata),
Ocydromus and Notornis of New Zealand, and Habroptila wallacii
of Halmahera ; not to mention Eulabeornis, Porzanula, Nesolimnas,
Cabalus, Pareudiastes, and the extinct Aphanapteryx, Aptornis,
Diaphorapteryx, and Erythromachus. In several flightless forms,
as in the Dodo, the angle between the scapula and the coracoid is
obtuse. The tail has from ten to fourteen rectrices, the usual
number being twelve ; these are short and usually soft, frequently
with decomposed webs, and may be concealed by the coverts, as in
Megacrex, Amurolimnas, and Pennula. Its form varies from narrow
and pointed to comparatively broad and rounded. A large caruncle
rises behind the frontal shield in Gallicrex and Fulica cornuta, two
knobs being found there in F. cristata : the wing, moreover, is
often armed with a sharp spine. The nasal grooves are commonly
long and deep ; the pervious nostrils being in the hard sheath
of the bill in Gallinules, and partially covered by a bony or horny
growth in Rallicula, Pareudiastes, and Thyrorliina. The furcula
is U-shaped, the tongue lanceolate, the aftershaft very small.
Down is plentiful in both adults and young, that of the nestlings
being commonly black, while the chicks of our Moor-Hen and
Coot have the head adorned with red and blue. Eails, not being
born blind, run from the shell, and swim at once.

RALLIDAE 245

Ralline birds are under ordinary circumstances non-gregarious,
and inhabit tangled marshes or damp localities near rivers and
lakes; but many, and especially the flightless forms, have a predilec-
tion for dry plains, as for instance Pennula of Hawaii, Ocydromus
of New Zealand, Cabalus of the Chatham Islands, Hdbroptila of
Halmahera, TricJiolimnas of New Caledonia, and Pareudiastes of
Samoa. Crex pratensis of the Palaearctic Region also haunts dry
lands. Fulica gigantea occurs only on the lakes in the Andes of
Chili, Bolivia, and Peru. Some species are partly crepuscular,
and in Britain the Spotted Crake is certainly little heard except
towards evening. Rails walk easily with bobbing head and jerking
tail, while they prefer running to flying, as the flight is laboured and
requires continuous action of the wings. As may be readily seen
in the case of Coots and Moor-Hens, some difficulty is experienced
in rising from water, the feet trailing along the surface for several
yards ; but, when once fairly launched in the air, the legs, which
at first hang down, are drawn up below the tail, and a steady
pace is maintained for considerable distances. Most species
swim and dive with facility, and will even remain with only the
bill above water ; perching and climbing, too, are common habits.
Generally speaking, the members of this Family are silent birds,
though they may be constantly heard calling towards dusk ; the
more or less melancholy notes are less varied than in many other
groups, but may be harsh and sonorous, or loud and clear. The
groaning noise uttered by the breeding Water-Rail, the somewhat
frog-like sound made by the Moor-Hen, the continuous craking of
the Corn-Crake, the " cackling " of the Clapper-Rail, the shrill
whistle of the "Wekas, the rasping cry of Ocydromus sylvestris, the
deep trumpeting of the Purple Gallinule, and the clearer call of the
Coot are some of the most notable exceptions. The food consists of
worms, molluscs, insects and their larvae, green herbage, tubers,
roots of aquatic plants and seeds ; Porphyrio and Trilonyx cause
serious damage to potato-, rice-, and corn-crops : while the former
bird is said to have a curious habit of holding the larger edibles
in its claws and nibbling them like a Parrot. Some of the stronger
species occasionally prey on mice, lizards, young birds, and eggs.
The nest may be a large mass of aquatic plants or dry flags, as in
the Coots, or a similar but smaller structure, as in the Gallinules ;
the former being commonly founded under water, though raised
above it, whereas the latter is generally near the bank or — -

246 GRUIFORMES

CHAP.

exceptionally — at the height of a few feet in a tree or bush. Rails
and Crakes make a more or less substantial fabric in sedges,
grass, clover, and so forth, Creciscus and Porzanula a spherical mass
with an entrance at the side ; but Pareudiastes, Cabalus, and Ocy-
dromus are stated to breed in most cases in burrows. Gallicrex
occasionally fashions its nest on floating leaves, and the writer has
seen a Moor-Hen's nest in a similar situation. The eggs, from two
to ten or more in number, are generally white or cream-coloured
with red-brown, olive, or blackish markings, and often with faint
lilac spots ; those of the Coot are stone-drab with small black
specks ; those of Cabalus modestus are white with a few indistinct
rufous and grey flecks ; those of Zapornia parva and Porzana
'bailloni are instances of a thick olive-brown mottling. The adults
are stated sometimes to carry their young in their claws.

Exceptionally the plumage of the Rallidae is nearly black, as
in Limnocorax, Fulica, and Habroptila ; slightly browner, as in
Oallinula ; blue or greenish-blue as in PorpJiyrio : but the
coloration is normally sober, with a tendency to olive, brown,
or chestnut. This may be relieved by stripes of white, especially
on the flanks ; the under parts may be nearly red as in Creciscus
levraudi ; and both surfaces may be spotted with white as in the
male of CoretJirura pulchra, or flecked and barred with it, as in
Rallus maculatus. The sexes are usually alike, but Rallicula,
Zapornia, Gallicrex, and Corethrura are instances of the contrary.

Space, however, is wanting to give in detail a description of
every form, which is the less necessary in view of their general
similarity ; but the following examples will enable a fair idea
to be gained of the group.

Rallus aquaticus, the Water Rail of Europe and Central Asia,
which winters in North-West India and North Africa, is olive-
brown above with darker streaks, and lead-coloured below, the
flanks being barred with black and white. The genus is found
in most parts of the world, with the apparent exception of
North-West Africa and the Australian Region. Rallus elegans,
the King-Rail, R. longirostris (crepitans), the Clapper-Rail, and
R. virginianus are well-known North American species, while R.
madagascariensis is confined to Madagascar.

In Hypotaenidia, which ranges from India and South China
to the Pacific Islands generally, the whole lower parts are barred
with black and white, except in H. striata and H. mulleri, where

RALLIDAE 247

these markings are restricted to the sides and abdominal region,
and in H. hracliypus, where the belly is plain.

Cabctlus modestus and Nesolimnas dieffenbaclii of the Chatham
Islands are curious little brown forms with no visible tail, closely
allied to the next genus, which they resemble in being flightless,
and apparently in general habits. Ocydromus contains the Wood-
Hens, or Weka Bails, of New Zealand, of which 0. greyi of the North
Island is tawny above with dark shaft-stripes or bars, and grey
below with fulvous fore-neck and sides. 0. carli of the South
Island is more cinnamon in hue ; 0. australis, also of the South
Island, is less grey below, and usually has barred flanks; 0.
fuscus of the south-west of the South Island is blacker than the
first-named ; 0. liectori is a paler race of 0. australis. These
Kails are semi-nocturnal, and sometimes excavate burrows, in which,
or in the scrub, they pass much of the day ; the localities preferred
are dry woods, ravines, and sandy shores, 0. fuscus obtaining the
name of Kelp -Hen from the stretches of sea- weed that it frequents.
This species feeds on sea-molluscs, but its congeners will eat young
birds, lizards, caterpillars, worms, insects, and berries. The cry
is a sharp whistle, often preceded by a growl, the birds being
very tame when unmolested. They are pugnacious, inquisitive,
and thievish, stealing articles from tents or houses, attacking fowls,
or sucking their eggs. Their own eggs are from five to seven,
both these and the nest, which is generally in a burrow, much
resembling those of other Rails. Ocydromus sylvestris, of Lord
Howe Island, is nearly uniform rufous above and brownish below,
with barred wings and tail ; it lays similar eggs upon the ground.

The dusky Tricholimnas lafresnayi of New Caledonia is remark-
able for its soft hair-like plumage, and the purplish-brown and
black Gymnocrex rosenbergi of Celebes for its bare yellowish orbits.

Ar amides includes eight species found in Central and South
America, of which A. .ypecalia may be taken as a representative.
It is olive-green above, with chestnut nape, black rump and tail,
and greyish below with white throat and vinous belly ; the bill is
yellow, the feet are scarlet. Cautious when danger threatens, it is
sufficiently audacious to attack poultry ; among its native swamps
it usually walks in stately style or struts on the branches of trees,
though it can run quickly ; while it lies closely when surprised on
open ground, dashing up with the whirring flight of a Partridge.
The alarm -note is powerful, unearthly shrieks being uttered

248

GRUIFORMES

CHAP.

during both day and night. Companies are described by Mr.
Hudson as meeting to dance about with expanded wings and open
beaks.1 Somewhat similar in colour to certain members of the last
genus is Megacrex inepta of South New Guinea, one of the largest
Bails known, which is usually seen running swiftly along water-
courses ; while the black Habroptila wallacii of Halmahera loves
forests. The curious Himantornis Tiaematopus of West Africa is
brown, with black and rufous mottlings above, whitish throat,
stout green and black bill, and red feet. Dryolimnas cuvieri
of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Aldabra Island, and Canirallus
Jciolo'ides of the first-named and "West Africa must be briefly
mentioned, as must Rallina reaching from India to North-East
Australia, which has half a dozen small brown species, with
chestnut on the head and chest, and black and white barring below.
Crex pratensis, the widely-ranging Corn-Crake or Land-Bail,
extends from most of Europe to the north of Central Asia, winter-
ing in Africa, and occurring accidentally in North America, or
even Greenland and Australia. Zapornia parva, the Little Crake,
Porzana maruetta, the Spotted Crake, and P. lailloni, Baillon's

Crake, are some-
what similar
British Birds, the
two latter of which
have bred in our
islands, P. maru-
etta still doing so
in some districts.
This species is
brownish-olive with
white flecks above
and below, grey
belly, and flanks

FIG. 50. — Land-Rail. Crex pratensis.

showing black and white bars. Of its dozen congeners, covering
nearly the whole globe, P. Carolina, the Sora Eail of North America,
is particularly well-known. In the Ethiopian genus Corethrura, ex-
tending to Madagascar, the males are blackish, spotted or streaked
with white, and have fine chestnut heads, necks, or even breasts, the
female being dusky with rufous mottlings : in Eallicula of New
Guinea the chestnut extends over most of the body. Porzanula

1 Argentine Ornithology, ii. London, 1889, p. 153.

RALLIDAE 249

palmeri of Laysan, an interesting little flightless form with a soft
chirping note, which the first discoverer caught with a hand-net,
makes its nest under grass-tussocks. Closely allied to Porzana
is Creciscus, a genus of a dozen species ranging from the United
States to the Galapagos, Chili, and Paraguay ; two at least of
them being remarkable for building a spherical nest with a side
entrance in coarse herbage or low bushes, while one is said to
make a sort of ladder to reach a platform before its porch.1 Lim-
nocorax niger of the Ethiopian Region is a glossy black bird
with red feet and greenish bill, which walks upon the leaves of
water-lilies and such plants, like a Ja^ana.

Amaurornis, inhabiting the Oriental Region and extending to
New Britain, links the foregoing genera to the Gallinules. A.
phoenicura is a dark greyish bird with white under parts and
•chestnut flanks, the other three species being duller.

Tribonyx mortieri, the " Native Hen " of Victoria, South
Australia, and Tasmania, and T. ventralis of considerably wider
range, are respectively ruddy- and olive-brown forms, with blackish
tail and vent, slaty lower surface, and white flank-marks. They
appear at times in flocks, which arrive and depart with equal
suddenness, destroy the settlers' crops, strut about like fowls, and
in many respects resemble Moor-Hens in habits, nests, and eggs.
The legs are unusually powerful.

Gallinula extends over the greater part of both hemispheres,
and is represented in Europe, Asia, and Africa by our common
Moor-Hen (G-. Moropus), dark olive-brown above and grey below,
with white lower tail-coverts, white flank-stripes, red frontal plate,
and scarlet garter on the tibia. G. galeata of most of the New
World differs in the posteriorly truncated shield, but G.sandvicensis
of the Sandwich Islands is barely separable. The smaller African
G. angulata, G. tenebrosa of Australia and New Guinea, and G.
frontata of the two last-named countries, the Moluccas and Borneo,
complete the group ; unless G. pyrrlwrlioa of Madagascar and G.
dionysiana of St. Denys be accounted distinct from G. Moropus.
The flightless G. (Porphyriornis) nesiotis of Tristan da Cunha
a,nd G. comeri of Gough Island have already been mentioned.
Gallicrex cinerea, the " Water-Cock " of the Indian Eegion, which
reaches Japan, is dull black, with lighter edges to the feathers
above, a yellow and red bill, and red frontal shield. A pinkish
1 See Salmon, P.Z.S. 1879, p. 546, andcf. Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 193 ; 1878, p. 65.

250 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

fleshy horn springs from the forehead, said to become very small
in winter, and to be wanting in the female, which is varied below
with white and buff. It has a loud booming cry, and fights like
a domestic Cock, but otherwise resembles the Gallinules in habits.

Porphyrio comprises some dozen fine species with blue plumage,
found in Africa and Madagascar, and from the Mediterranean to
South China and Polynesia ; several individuals, probably escaped
from captivity, being recorded from Britain. P. caeruleus (veterum}
is purplish- blue above with blacker remiges and rec trices, and
purplish-black below with bright blue cheeks, throat, and chest, and
white under tail-coverts ; the bill, shield, and feet are red. It is
chiefly a Mediterranean bird, but reaches Mesopotamia. Others
of its congeners are greener or blacker. The habits, nest, and
eggs are like those of the Coot, whereas the next genus — in
the writer's opinion inseparable — appears more akin in manners
to the Moor-Hen. Porphyriola alleni occurs in Africa, with
Madagascar and Rodriguez, and strays to the Canary Islands
and South Europe ; P. martinica ranges from Florida, Texas, or
even New England, to the West Indies and Brazil ; P. parva,
from the last-named to Amazonia and Guiana. Porpliyriops
crassirostris and P. melanops occupy South America.

Notornis mantelli of New Zealand,1 now probably extinct, was
olive-green above with only a tinge of blue ; the head, neck, and
under surface being dark purplish-blue, the bill, shield, and feet
red. It was practically a gigantic Porpliyrio with very stout legs,
short wings, and soft tail, which was unable to fly, but ran with
great swiftness, being solitary and retiring. Its native name
" Moho " is that also given to other Eails in New Zealand, and
Pennula ecaudata in Hawaii ; it therefore may only mean " Rail."
The white N~. alba of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands certainly
exists no longer.

Fulica includes twelve species, of which the majority are
South American, though the genus extends over most of the globe ;
Polynesia possesses only F. alai of the Sandwich Islands, but
three of the members reach Patagonia. F. atra, our grey-black
Coot, with flesh-coloured bill, white shield and greenish legs relieved
by an orange garter, ranges through Europe and Asia, and to
North Africa and the Philippines southwards ; its habits are well-

1 Dr. A. B. Meyer considers the remains found in the North Island (N. mantelli}
to be distinct from the South Island species, which he names N. hochstetteri.

GRUIDAE 251

known, while the lobed toes are noticed above. The smaller F.
lugubris of Sumatra, Java, and Celebes is hardly distinct ; the North
American F. americana and the Australian F. australis are very
' similar ; the Andean F. gigantea is extremely large ; whilajhe
red frontal caruncles of the Bolivian F. cornuta and of the African
and South-European F. cristata have already been mentioned.

Of fossil Rallidae an extraordinary number are found, ranging
from the possibly toothed Telmatornis of the American Cretaceous
rocks, Gypsornis, Orthnocnemus, ElapJirocnemus, and Tapinopus of
the French Upper Eocene, and Eallus of both Eocene and Miocene
of the same country, to Fulica minor of the Pliocene of Oregon.
Of more recently exterminated forms we have Tribonyx (?) rolerti
from Central Madagascar, the long-billed flightless Aphanapteryx
broecki and Fulica neiutoni from the Mare aux Songes in Mauri-
tius, Porpliyrio caerulescens from Reunion, and the " Poule Eouge "
(Erytliromachus leguati) from Rodriguez. In New Zealand are
found the large Aptornis defossor and A. otidiformis, with two
species of Notornis ; in the Chatham Islands Diapliorapteryx
hawkinsi and Ocydromus insignis — all six flightless ; in the latter
islands, too, an extinct Fulica (Palaeolimnas) occurs, and in Norfolk
and Lord Howe Islands Notornis alba, as above. Queensland fur-
nishes Porphyrio mackintoshi,P.reperta, Tribonyx effluxus,Gallinula
strenuipes, G. peralata, and Fulica prior. The Sandwich Islands
may possibly yet contain fiallus sandvicensis > and Pennula ecau-
data, further instances of flightless species, but this is improbable.

Fam. II. Gruidae. — The Cranes are very old forms, superficially
somewhat like Herons, and often confounded with them in local par-
lance— as is the case in Scotland and Ireland. They are among the
largest of Waders, and are scattered over most of the globe, except
the Malay islands, Papuasia, and Polynesia ; but in the Neotropical
Eegion they are mere migrants from the north, never found
south of Mexico. Their headquarters are in North-East Asia,
while America possesses only three species, and Australia one.

These long-necked and long-legged birds have a moderate bill,
straight and rather compressed, which varies from slender to stout,
with a lateral groove on each side of the mandible and nasal furrows
about halfway down the maxilla ; in Balearica this feature is com-
paratively short. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticu-
lated behind ; the tibia is partly bare ; the toes are short and
stout, the anterior being more or less connected at the base by a

2$2 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

membrane ; the hallux is small, much elevated, and furnished with
& sharp hooked claw. The wings are described by different writers
.as long or moderate, but are certainly ample and rounded, with
.about thirty -three quills, of which eleven are primaries; the
-decomposed inner secondaries exceed the last-named, and are either
lanceolate and drooping, or broad and erectile, while in Bugeranus
.and Tetrapteryx they are extraordinarily extended. The short tail
has twelve rectrices. Anthropo'ides has long silky auricular plumes,
Balearica a bristly crest and a naked gular wattle, Bugeranus a
feathered lappet on each side of the throat, Antigone australasiana
& pendulous pouch, and most species, as will be seen below, a partly
bare carunculated head. The tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils
pervious; while, except in Balearica, the trachea of the adult is con-
voluted within the keel of the sternum, but enters it behind the
clavicles, — which are often ancylosed with it, — arid not in front of
them, as in certain Swans, the development varying according
to the species and the age. In Anthropo'ides the cavity of the
keel is open laterally. The furcula is Y-shaped, the aftershaft
is very small, the down is uniform in both adults and young.

Cranes are inhabitants of morasses and plains, being especi-
ally fond of the neighbourhood of lagoons, tanks, and fields of
corn or rice ; yet they are also found in boggy openings in
forests, on sandy flats, or even on the sea-shore. They are gre-
garious after the breeding season, when they often collect into
flocks of immense size, which pass the night together and traverse
vast distances in company. The northern species all migrate
southwards in winter. Erect and tall, they may be seen strid-
ing swiftly along with head thrown back, or strutting around
their mates ; while in spring they often stand in rows and pro-
ceed to stalk about in single file, or dance to meet one another
with nodding heads, necks advanced, and wings widely out-
spread. Thereafter they bow towards the ground, jump in the
air, and perform graceful antics of all descriptions. The chosen
spot for these dances is commonly near water. The male courts
his spouse in somewhat similar fashion; and twigs or feathers
are often tossed in the air in sport, to be caught again ere they
touch the ground. Eising from a level spot appears to be a
difficult matter, the birds running awkwardly for a few yards, and
labouring heavily with their wings to gain their purpose ; when
once in the air, however, the flight is steady and swift, with head

GRUIDAE 253

and legs outstretched, though this is varied by countless elegant-
evolutions and gyrations, as they rise higher and higher until
they become mere specks in the heavens, and finally disappear
from sight. The characteristic utterance is a harsh guttural or
resonant trumpeting sound, uttered on the ground with the head
thrown back and the bill open, or repeated incessantly at great
elevations ; but the Whooping Crane has a clear, piercing cryr
the Asiatic White Crane a feeble but mellow whistle, and th&
Crowned Cranes a plaintive but fairly sonorous set of notes.
The varying calibre of the voice has been thought to be con-
nected with the convolutions of the trachea mentioned above,,
the young giving vent to a weak pipe or trill. Virgil's lines
concerning the noise made before rain, and the flight, are well-
known to Latin scholars. The food consists of grain, pulse,,
acorns, shoots, flowers, roots, tubers, bulbs, and the like, with the
occasional addition of small mammals and birds, reptiles, amphi-
bians, worms, insects, and even fish ; the members of this Family,,
however, dislike wading, and only swim under compulsion. Feed-
ing chiefly in the morning and evening, when they post sentinels,
as Books do, they often stand or doze upon one leg, with the head
drawn back upon the shoulders. Cranes, which are said to pair for
life, return to the same breeding haunts annually, where they
either construct a large fabric of reeds, rushes, and aquatic
herbage, or use straw and small twigs for their nest. The coni-
cal pile, with its moderate depression on the top, is commonly
placed in shallows, fresh materials being added if the water
rises. Several species, on the other hand, merely scrape a hole in
marshy ground, on dry plains, among standing corn or grass, or
on sandy beaches, while occasionally reed-beds are selected. The
eggs, two, or rarely three in number, are generally creamy
white, olive-brown or buff, with reddish-brown, red, or purplish-
grey spots and blotches ; those of the Indian Sarus Cranes have
a bluish- or greenish-white ground, while those of the Crowned
Cranes are not uncommonly plain bluish-white. The male is
said to incubate in some cases, and both parents tend the young
carefully for a considerable time, though the latter run from the
shell ; the female sits with her head drawn in upon her shoulders^
arid is usually loth to leave her charge. When wounded these
birds are very dangerous, fighting boldly with bill and wings.
They are very palatable when fed on grain, the breast in particular

254 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

resembling beef-steak. Cranes are easily domesticated, and, in
certain districts of India, in Japan, and among the Kalmuks, they
are held in reverence, though elsewhere they are often killed for
the sake of their decorative plumes.

Grus communis, the Common Crane of Europe and Northern
Asia, which used to breed in Britain until the end of the sixteenth
century, and reaches North Africa, India, and China on the winter
migration, is ashy-grey, with white cheeks, nape, and sides of the
neck, black primaries and inner secondaries ; the crown being bare,
with blackish bristles and red warty skin. G. lilfordi of East
Siberia is a lighter race. G. canadensis is a smaller species, hardly
different from G. mexicana, the " Sandhill Crane " of the United
States, which is slaty-grey, with a brownish wash. G. monachus,
another similar form from Eastern Asia, has all the head white
except the bare portion. G. nigricollis of Koko-nor has the feathered
part of the head, the upper neck, the wings, tail, and inner second-
aries black ; G. japonensis of North Eastern Asia is white, with
grey -black throat and fore-neck, the dark colour extending to a
point on the hind-neck. G. (Limnogeranus) americana, the Whoop-
ing Crane of the United States and Mexico, is pure white with
black primaries, the bristly head, lores, and cheeks being bare,
and covered with warty red skin. G. (Sar cog er anus) leucogeranus,
the Asiatic White Crane, is entirely white, except for the black
primaries, and has all the front of the head bare, the red skin
extending beyond the eye, and showing a few scattered hairs.
This bird ranges at certain seasons to South -East Europe.
G. (Antigone) collaris of India and the Caspian is light grey, with
brownish-black primaries, a white ring round the lower neck,
and white inner secondaries ; the grey-green crown is bare, the
occiput and upper neck are red and papillose, with black bristles
on the latter. The Burmo-Malay G. sliarpii is distinguished by the
absence of white ; while both enjoy in common the name
" Sarus." G. (A.} australasiana, the " Native Companion " of East
Australia, has the neck feathered, and possesses a red and green
gular pouch, covered with the same black hairs as the face, the
general coloration resembling that of its congeners. G. (Pseudo-
geranus) leucaucJien, the " Tan-cho " or national Crane of the
Japanese, so often seen in their clever drawings, is grey, with
white hind-crown, nape, throat, and inner secondaries ; the rest
of the wing-quills and the tip of the tail are black, the fore-

GRUIDAE 255

part of the crown and the cheeks bare, warty, and red, with black
hairs. It is found westward to Lake Baikal, and southward in
winter to the Yangtse basin. G. (Bug er anus] carunculata, the
" Wattled " Crane of South Africa, is slaty-coloured, becoming
blacker towards the tail, and browner towards the mantle ; the
cheeks and the whole neck are white, with elongated chest plumes ;

FIG. 51. — Crowned Crane. Balearica pavonina.

a lappet, with white feathering, hangs from each side of the
throat ; and the fore-part of the head is covered with bare red
papillose skin. G. (Tetrapteryx) paradisea, the "Stanley" Crane of
the same districts, is leaden blue, with black ends to the inner
secondaries, and a white crown ; the head is entirely feathered, and
the chest plumes elongated as in the next species. G. (Anthro-
po'ides) virgo, the "Demoiselle" Crane, inhabits South Europe,
and extends to Central Asia and North China, migrating to

256 GRUIFORMES : ARAMIDAE CHAP.

Northern Africa and India in winter. It is silvery-grey, with
white ear-tufts, black sides of the head, neck, chest, primaries,
and tips to the inner secondaries. Balearica, pavonina, the
" Crowned " Crane of the northern Ethiopian Eegion, is greenish-
black above and dark grey below, most of the feathers being
lanceolate ; the neck is delicate grey all round, the secondaries
are chestnut — the inner being somewhat decomposed ; white and
yellow shew on the wing-coverts ; a spreading tuft of twisted
yellow and white bristles with black tips surmounts the occiput,
while the sides of the face are bare — white above and pink
below, and the throat is covered with black down. There is a
very small throat-wattle in this form, but B. chrysopelargus, the
" Kaffir " Crane of South Africa, has it much larger and chiefly
red, differing moreover in its greyer plumage, and white cheek-
patch with only a border of crimson above. In B. gilibericeps of
East Africa, the bare skin of the face extends almost to the nape.
In Cranes the sexes are alike; but the young are browner, with
rusty or buff tips to the feathers, or even with downy instead of
more or less naked heads, as in adults. Immature birds lack the
elongated plumes. The bill is usually greenish-grey, brown, or
black, at times with a little red, but it is yellow in Limnogeranus ;
the feet vary from greyish- or bluish-black to dull green or flesh-
colour ; the iris is generally crimson, orange, or yellow.

The Upper Eocene of Hampshire furnishes the fossil
Geranopsis as well as Gfrus, the Italian Eocene Palaeogrus, that
of Wyoming four species of Aletornis ; Grus occurs, moreover, in
the Miocene of France, the Pliocene of Attica and the United
States, while G. primigenia of the French and Italian Plistocene,
with G. melitensis of the Zebbug cave in Malta, complete the list.
Fam. III. Aramidae. — In this group, as in the Psophiidae (p.
257), the osteology and pterylography are Crane-like, the digestive
organs and style of plumage Bail-like; a link being thus formed be-
tween the two Families. The long, hard bill is slender and com-
pressed, with slightly curved tip ; the tibia is partly bare, the
metatarsus scutellated. The wing has eleven primaries and some
dozen secondaries. The long tongue is said to end in horny
filaments, the trachea is sometimes convoluted in males, the
nostrils are pervious.

Aramus pictus, the Clucking Hen or Limpkin of the Greater
Antilles, South Florida, and Central America, is chocolate-brown

PSOPHIIDAE

257

with white flecks ; the upper parts are glossed with bronzy-
purple, the bill is greenish. A. scolopaceus, the Carau, Courlan,
Lamenting Bird, or Crazy Widow, ranging from Guiana to Argen-
tina, has only the head and neck streaked. Generally solitary
or found in family-parties, these birds conceal themselves by day
among reeds or damp forest-vegetation ; they rise with difficulty
after a preliminary run, and take low, brief nights, the legs hanging
down and the wings flapping slowly, while the latter are elevated
for a descent. They walk quickly and in stately fashion, limping
and jerking the tail ; at night they roost on trees. The resonant,
melancholy wail is varied by a clucking note, or by an angry cry
when breeding. The shallows of streams or marshes are diligently
searched for molluscs, which the formation of the beak enables the
bird easily to open or break, but small reptiles, insects, and
worms are also eaten.
The flat nest of herb-
age, placed among
reeds, contains from
ten to twelve white
eggs, as large as
those of a Turkey,
clouded with pale
brown and purple.1

Earn. IV. Psophi-
idae. — The so-called
Trumpeters form a
single genus of six
species inhabiting
tropical South
America, and some-
what resemble long-
necked and long-
legged Fowls, the
beak being gallin-
aceous and the tibia
partly bare. The
long metatarsi are
scutellated in front ; the wings and tail are short, the ten primaries,

FIG. 52. — Trumpeter. Psophia crepitans.

1 For the habits, cf. Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Ornithology, ii. 1889, pp. 159-
161 ; Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, pp. 355-363 ; Gundlach, J.f. 0., 1875, pp. 353-355.
VOL. IX S

258 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

just equalling the twelve secondaries. The nostrils are pervious.
The downy nestlings are chestnut streaked with grey.

Psophia crepitans, the Agami, ranging from British Guiana
to Amazonia, is a black bird with velvety plumage on the head
and neck, and lax feathering below ; a golden-green and violet
sheen adorns the lower fore-neck, a rusty brown patch crosses the
back and wing-coverts, the bare orbits are pinkish, the beak is
greenish or greyish, and the legs are variously stated to be bright
green or flesh-coloured. P. napensis of Ecuador has the sheen
on the neck dull purple, P. leucoptera of Peru and Upper Ama-
zonia lacks the brown above, and has the inner wing-coverts
and inner secondaries white, these feathers being ochraceous in
P. ochroptera of the right bank of the Rio Negro. P. viridis of
Amazonia — from Para up the right bank of the Bio Madeira to the
Rio Mamore — probably not identical with P. obscura, has the back
and inner secondaries glossed with green. The sexes are similar.

These birds love moist forests, and sometimes form flocks of three
hundred individuals ; they are so sociable and easily tamed that
the natives use them to protect poultry. They perch, but seldom
fly, and run swiftly with a peculiar gait, while they swim on an
emergency. The deep-toned ventriloquistic, but not strictly trum-
peting, cry is uttered with widely opened beak ; the food consists
of fruit, corn, and insects. The nest, said to be at the foot of a tree,
contains creamy- or greyish-white eggs, like those of a Bantam.

Fam. V. Cariamidae. — These birds have given rise to much
discussion, and have been placed by several authors in the Accipitres,
near the Secretary- Bird, which they somewhat resemble in their
erect carriage, general appearance, and habits. The beak is short,
broad, and slightly hooked, the neck is rather long, the legs decidedly
so ; the tibia is partially bare, the metatarsus is entirely scutellated,
the claws are sharp and curved. The wings are short, with four-
teen elongated secondaries and ten primaries ; the long, graduated
tail has twelve rectrices. The nostrils are pervious. The internal
anatomy and pterylosis are Gruine, an aftershaft is present, and
the downy young are either grey and brown (Cariama) or rufous
and black (Chunga). Cariama, cristata, the Seriema, or Crested
Screamer (p. 110), extending from Pernambuco to Paraguay and
Matto Grosso, is ochreous-grey above with zigzag umber markings,
and whitish below with brown stripes. Vertical feathers on the
lores form a conspicuous crest, while those of the neck and throat

CARIAMIDAE 259

are long and loose ; interrupted white bands cross the remiges, and
the bases and tips of the lateral rectrices. The iris is yellow, the
beak and feet are red, the naked orbits greenish. The female is
yellower, and exhibits less crest. Chunga burmeisteri, the Chunia
of Tucuman and Catamarca in Argentina, is smaller and darker,

FIG. 53. — Seriema. Cariama cristata. x f .

with shorter legs and little crest ; it has a broad white superciliary
streak, and two wide black bars on the tail-feathers, except the
median pair. The bill and feet are black, the iris is grey.

Both species are chiefly diurnal, the former frequenting the
high grass of the open " campos " in pairs and parties of five or
six, the latter forests or bushy districts ; they roost on trees,

260 GRUIFORMES CHAP.

stalk about in stately fashion, stoop when running, and fly a little
when hard pressed. The barking or screaming cry is chiefly heard
towards dusk ; the food consists of small mammals, snakes, lizards,
snails, worms, insects and their larvae, as well as berries, Cliunga
preferring the insect diet. Easily domesticated, and in Brazil
protected by custom, these birds will guard their owners' fowls;
while the male at times incubates and shews off to the females in
spring, like a Bustard. Cariama builds a nest of twigs in low trees or
bushes; Chunga generally chooses the ground; but in either case the
young soon leave their quarters ; the two eggs have a pale ground-
colour with rufous blotches, as in so many Bails. The Seriema
has been hatched in the Zoological Society's Gardens in London.

The fossil Phororhachos and certain others of the so-called
Stereornithes (p. 44) probably belong here.

Fam. VI. Otididae. — The Bustards are here admitted as a
Family of the Gruiformes, though many writers have preferred
to refer them to the Limicolae, and the question is by no means
finally settled. The head is flat, the neck thick, the bill some-
what blunt and depressed, being either short, as in Otis and
Trachelotis, or longer, as in Neotis and Lissotis. The meta-
tarsus varies much, the length for instance being comparatively
great in Houbaropsis, and small in Otis tetrax, while both
surfaces are covered with reticulated scales; the short, stout
toes have flattish nails, and the hallux is absent, as in many
Limicoline forms. The wings are moderate, with the
secondaries almost equal to the primaries, the latter — which
are acuminate in Syplieotis — being eleven in number, and
the former about twenty ; the tail, of medium length, has a
more or less rounded outline, and possesses from fourteen to
twenty rectrices. Ornamental plumes are characteristic of this
group, and take the form of decided crests on the crown and
nape, or on the latter alone, in all the genera except Otist Neotis,
Lissotis, Trachelotis, and Sypheotis ; the last-named, however,
has elongated cheek -feathers with bare shafts and spatulate
webs. The plumes of the throat and fore-neck are lengthened
and shield the breast in Houbaropsis and Eupodotis, those of the
sides of the neck form a ruff in Honiara ; while Otis is remark-
able for the prolonged ear-coverts, and for the tuft of long bristly
feathers on each side of the base of the mandible in the male.

The nostrils are pervious, the tongue is sagittate, the furcula

OTIDIDAE

26l

is Y-shaped, and often ancylosed with the sternum, the syrinx is
tracheo-bronchial. An after-shaft is present, and the down, which
is uniform in the young only, is in them mottled with black and
lighter tints. A most remarkable phenomenon, moreover, is
the gular pouch, opening under the tongue, found in the male of
some examples of Otis tarda during the breeding season. This
pouch becomes very small or vanishes altogether at other times of

FIG. 54.— Great Bustard.

the year, and seems to be restricted to adult birds. Similar,
but smaller, processes have been observed in Eupodotis kori,
E. edwardsi and, it is said, Otis tetrax ; while dilatations of the
oesophagus have been recorded in E. australis and Neotis denhami.
Otis tarda, the Great Bustard, which, as a native, only became
extinct in Norfolk about 1838, used to extend from East Lothian
to Dorset, but is now merely an occasional visitor to Britain.
The upper parts are mottled with rufous, buff, and blackish-

262 GRUIFORMES

brown, the head is blue-grey, with long white bristles at the base
of the mandible, the lower surface is white, relieved in the male by
a tawny gorget for a short time during the breeding season. The
primaries are black, most of the secondaries and wing-coverts
white. Some other Bustards seem to have a similar vernal change
of plumage. The female is smaller and has no bristles. 0. tetrax,
the Little Bustard, a straggler to our shores, is somewhat like
the last species in colour, but has the cheeks and throat grey,
bordered by a white line, and below this comes a broad black collar
divided in front by a median white band in the nesting time.
The female is brown and black, with white breast and no collar.
The remaining members of the Family vary considerably in
pattern of colour, being spotted, streaked, or vermiculated above, and
being occasionally very dark ; the head and the lower parts, more-
over, are not uncommonly quite black, or the latter may be greyish-
blue, as in Trachelotis coerulescens. The bill and feet are usually
yellow, more seldom greyish or dusky. Females and young exhibit
a more uniform mixture of brown, black, and buff, while rufous
bases to the feathers are characteristic of the group.

Bustards are Old World birds, reaching eastwards to Aus-
tralia, where Uupodotis australis is called the " Native Turkey."
E. edwardsi inhabits the plains of India, E. arabs extends from
Arabia to North Africa, and E. Jcori from the East to the South
of that continent. Otis ranges over South and Central Europe,
and thence to North Africa, inhabiting also Mid- Asia to North-
West India, the Yangtze-Kiang Biver and Japan. Houbdra
undulata, the African B-uffed Bustard, reaches from the Canaries,1
through the Mediterranean basin to about Armenia ; its congener
IT. macqueeni, which strays westward to Britain, being resident
in Persia, North India and Central Asia. Hoularopsis bengalensis
and Sypheotis aurita are the Florican and Lesser Florican of
India ; Lophotis, Compsotis, Hetero tetrax, Neotis, Lissotis, and
Trachelotis inhabit the Ethiopian Kegion. The members of the
Family are to some extent migratory, and perhaps the Great
Bustard was partly so of old in Britain.

The members of this Family flock in winter, and occasionally
form small parties at other seasons, the males being very possibly
polygamous, though the fact is hardly proved. Typically inland
birds, they haunt dry grassy and sandy plains, or cultivated ground

1 Mr. Rothschild has separated the Canary Island race as H. fuerteventurae.

RHINOCHETIDAE 263

where the crops are low, yet sometimes they choose more bushy
flats, or stony tops of elevated ridges. Their flight is prolonged
and often rapid, though invariably heavy, the neck and legs being-
outstretched ; the Great Bustard rises from the ground slowly,
the Little Bustard with a rattling noise, but they are frequently
loth to leave it, crouching to escape detection on the similarly
coloured soil. They stalk about rapidly and run with ease, being
shy, wary, and far-sighted, while they are more easy to approach
when they resort to water. The quill-feathers are said to be lost
after breeding.1 In spring the pugnacious cocks strut around the
hens, swell out and partially reverse their plumage, and inflate
the gular pouch ; the head meanwhile is thrown backwards, the
wings droop, the tail is usually erected and outspread, and boom-
ing or crooning utterances with leaps diversify the performance.
At times the notes are described as scolding, drumming, craking,
and clucking, or resemble " cok-cok " or " prut-prut." The diet
consists chiefly of juicy plants, such as young corn and turnips,
clover and plantains, but it includes berries and seeds, insects and
their larvae, molluscs, myriapods, frogs, or even small reptiles and
mammals. The Gom-Paauw 2 (Eupodotis kori) is so-called from its
love of mimosa gum. The eggs, varying from two to four or five
in different species, are deposited in an excavation in the soil —
sometimes lined with grass — under shelter of a bush, tussock, or
growing crop ; they are oily -green, olive, drab, red-brown, or ex-
ceptionally bluish-green, and are generally blotched, clouded, or
zoned with purplish or dull red. The hen sits very closely.
Bustards can be circumvented by riding round them in constantly
diminishing circles, and they are also captured with Falcons.3

A fossil Otis is recorded from the Miocene of France and
Germany.

Fam. VII. Rhinochetidae. — This contains only one species,
Rliinoclietus jubatus, the Kagu of New Caledonia, a very old and
generalized form, somewhat bigger than an ordinary fowl, which
was originally referred to the Herons and then to the Cranes, but
is undoubtedly nearly allied to the latter, and approximates rather
closely to Eurypyga* The head and eyes are large ; the neck is

1 Chapman and Buck, Wild Spain, London, 1893, p. 342.

2 The Boers of South Africa term all Bustards Paauw, i.e. Peacock (Pavo).

3 Dresser, Birds of Eurojje, vii. 1871-81, pp. 388, 394.

4 W. K. Parker, Tr. Zool. Soc. London, vi. p. 501 ; x. p. 307 ; Murie, op. cit.
vii. p. 465 ; A. D. Bartlett, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 218.

264 GRUIFORMES

strong ; the bill is Heron-like, but somewhat flat above, with a
wide nasal groove. The sternum is weak and narrow, having no
posterior notch; the furcula is U-shaped ; the legs are moderately-
long and slender, the toes Kail-like, with curved claws ; the tibia
is half bare, the metatarsus scutellated, with smaller scales behind.
The wings are moderate, broad, and rounded, though less developed
than in Eurypyga, the primaries being ten in number, and the
secondaries — of which the inner exceed the primaries — thirteen;

FIG. 55. — Kagu. Rhinochetus jubatus. x |-.

the tail is fairly long and ample, with twelve rectrices. The
aftershaft is large ; the nostrils are impervious, contrary to
the rule in the Order, being severally overhung by a peculiar
rolled-up membrane, said to protect them when the beak is thrust
into the soil ; the tongue is lanceolate. Powder-down patches
are profusely distributed over the whole body, except towards
the remiges and rectrices. The plumage is slaty-grey, with
indistinct dark bars on the wings and tail ; but when the former
are expanded, rufous and white bands appear, varied by black
markings ; while a long, erectile whitish-grey crest adorns the
occiput and nape. The bill and feet are orange-red. In adults
down covers the whole surface. Possibly the chicks remain a con-

EURYPYGIDAE 265

siderable time in the nest, but this is by no means certain ; those
of Eurypyga do so, it is true, but those of Cranes and Eails do not.
Immature specimens are more rufous, with black bars above.

Though formerly the Kagu was not rare in its native island,
it is now restricted to the wilder portions, where it is to be
met with among the rocks of craggy ravines or near stagnant
waters, sleeping throughout the day and issuing from its conceal-
ment towards evening. It walks quickly, yet in a stately manner,
often coming to a standstill or crouching, and remaining motion-
less for a long period ; but it can also run rapidly with the head
and neck outstretched, and the body carried after the manner
of a Kail. The habits in confinement, however, make it some-
what doubtful whether the bird is as nocturnal as is asserted, for
in the daytime it is quick and lively in its motions, chasing its
fellow-captives, dancing round with the tip of its outspread wing
or tail held fast in its bill, tossing about dry leaves or pieces of
paper, spreading out its wings and thrusting its beak into the
ground, kicking with its legs, and finally tumbling about as if in a
fit. The note is guttural and rattling, or almost a scream ; the
food consists of molluscs, worms, and insects, sought for among the
grass or in crannies, while the bill is often plunged into the soil,
and worms pulled out, shaken and swallowed. When in quest of
food the bird often paws the earth with gentle strokes, and snails
are usually beaten upon the ground to break the shell. It will
bathe in captivity, and is said to like wet weather in its native
haunts. The nest is unknown, but eggs laid at the Zoological
Society's Gardens in London are reddish -buff with brown and grey
markings, and recall those of the Woodcock or Corncrake.1

Fam. VIII. Eurypygidae. — Two species of Eurypyga are
comprehended herein, namely, E. helias of the countries from
Venezuela to Bolivia and Central Brazil, and E. major of Central
America, Colombia, and Ecuador. These are, like the Kagu, very
ancient types, but whereas that bird shows some affinity to Scopus,
these trend rather towards Nycticorax, both being, however, essenti-
ally Gruiform. The neck is long and thin, the bill rather slender,
with grooves on the maxilla and mandible : the whole leg and
foot are as in RJiinochetus, but shorter, weaker, and reticulated
behind; the wings and tail are even more ample, while the number
of primaries and rectrices are the same, but the secondaries are only
1 Layard, Ibis 1882, pp. 534-535 ; Bartlett, P.Z.S. 1862, pp. 218 ; 1868, pp. 114-116.

266 GRUIFORMES

CHAP.

eleven, and the inner feathers comparatively short. The nostrils
are pervious, the tongue is lanceolate, the furcula is U-shaped,
the after-shaft is diminutive, and the powder-down patches are
abundant, though writers differ as to their extent. E. helias —
as Prof. Newton says in his excellent account1 — is not to be
described in a limited space otherwise than generally ; it has a
black head, with a white stripe above and under each eye, and a
white throat : the remaining plumage " being variegated with black,
brown, chestnut, bay, buff, grey, and white — so mottled, speckled,
and belted either in wave-like or zigzag forms, as somewhat to
resemble certain moths. The bay colour forms two conspicuous
patches on each wing, and also an antepenultimate bar on the tail,

FIG. 56. — Sun-Bittern. Eurypyga helias. x \.

behind which is a subterminal band of black. The irides are red ;
the bill is greenish-olive ; and the legs are pale yellow." E. major
is larger and more uniform in colour. Both adults and nestlings
have copious down, that of the latter being lightish brown with
lines and spots of darker brown and white. The sexes are similar.
The " Sun-Bittern," to use its common but misleading name, is
found on the larger rivers, where the banks are wooded and
swampy ; it is shy but easily tamed, and, according to Bates, is
kept in captivity by the Brazilians. It walks quietly and cir-
cumspectly with horizontal body and outstretched head, and
probably flies but little. Like the Kagu, it executes a fantastic
dance, but in this case the wings and tail form a semicircle which
nearly conceals the body. The note is a soft or plaintive long-

1 Diet. Birds, 1896, pp. 923-925.

IIELIORNITH1DAE 267

drawn whistle, the food consists mainly of small fish and insects,
which the bird spears by darting out its head quickly. The nest, said
to be made of sticks, grass, and mud, with a lining of the latter,
is placed on low branches, and contains several eggs similar to those
of the Kagu, but smaller. Both parents incubate and attend to
the young, which have several times been reared in the Zoological
Society's Gardens in London.1

Fam. IX. Heliornithidae. — The Finfoots, comprising three
genera and four species, now generally coupled with the Eallidae,
have been placed near the Divers and Grebes by several authors.
The head is small, the neck thin, the bill Rail-like and fairly stout ;
the metatarsus, which is scutellated anteriorly and reticulated pos-
teriorly, is short, twisted outwards, and deeply grooved ; while the
toes have short, sharp claws, and broad scalloped webs, extending
in Heliornis to most of their length. The long pointed wings
have twenty-one remiges, of which eleven are primaries, and are
armed with a curved spine ; the tail consists in Podica of eighteen
elongated, stiff, ribbed rec trices, which are narrow arid pointed, and
in Heliopais and Heliornis of rather soft, short, rounded feathers.
The plumage is close, but not glossy as in Grebes ; there is no
after-shaft, the U -shaped furcula ancyloses with the sternum, the
tongue is lanceolate, and the nostrils are pervious.

These birds, which frequent the swamps or rocky streams of
inland woods, are very shy ; their flight is heavy, and they rise
with difficulty from the surface of the water, aiding themselves
by their feet. They swim and dive well, and will remain half-
submerged for hours, or will sit upon a low branch over a stream,
dropping down and scrambling up the bank when disturbed, or
hiding at its base. They are said, moreover, to run swiftly on land.
The note of Heliornis fulica is like a dog's bark ; the food is in all
cases of small fish, crustaceans, insects, and seeds. The nest and eggs
are unknown, but in the species just mentioned the nestlings are
stated to be naked. This form, about thirteen inches long, which
ranges from Guatemala to Paraguay, is olive-brown above, the
black head and nape being separated by a white band down each
side of the neck from a blackish line which encloses the white
throat ; the chest is buff, the sides are brown, the remaining under-
parts whitish ; the bill is red, the feet are yellow, banded with
black. Podica senegcdensis of West Africa, and the doubtfully dis-

1 P.Z.S. 1866, p. 76.

268 CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

tinct P. petersi, reaching from the Lower Congo to South East
Africa, are larger forms, with round ochreous spots above, and red
feet. Heliopais personata, extending from Assam to Sumatra,
has a black throat, orange bill, and light green feet.

Order XI. CHARADRIIFORMES.

The Charadriiformes are here taken to consist of five Sub- Orders.
Of these the LIMICOLAE contains the Families Charadriidae (Plovers,
Sandpipers, Snipes, and so forth), Cliionididae (Sheath-bills), Glareo-
lidae (Pratincoles, Coursers, and Crab-Plover), Thinocorytliidae
(Seed -Snipes), Oedicnemidae (Stone -Curlews), and Parridae
(Ja^anas) ; the LARI possesses one Family, Laridae (Gulls, Terns,
and Skuas) ; the ALGAE only the Alcidae (Auks) ; the PTEROCLES,
the Pteroclidae (Sand -Giro use) ; but the COLUMBAE may be divided
into Dididae, Didunculidae, and Columbidae. The first three may
again be combined into a Laro-Limicoline group, and the last two
into a Pteroclo- Columbine, in accordance with their affinities.

In structure the LIMICOLAE are sufficiently uniform to be con-
sidered simultaneously.

The bill furnishes a useful means of subdividing the Chara-
driidae. It is hardest in Haematopus, Ibidorliynchus, Strepsilas,
and so forth, being in them bony throughout. In Charadrius,
Aegialitis, Lobivanellus, Vanellus, and the like, it has a hard tip,
but is comparatively flexible towards the base. These may com-
pose Sub-family (1) Charadriinae. In Totanus, and its nearest
allies, it is still hard at the tip, but more flexible at the base.
In Tringa, and similar genera, it ceases to be hard at the tip, and
is slightly endowed with nerves. These may constitute Sub-
family (2) Tringinae. In Scolopax, Gallinago, and RJiynchaea it
becomes highly nervous at the tip, and therein differs from that
of all other birds. These form Sub-family (3) Scolopacinae. In
Himantopus and Recurvirostra the bill is so attenuated as hardly
to be called hard at the tip, but it has no nerves there. The form
of the beak varies greatly, being asymmetrical and twisted to the
right in AnarJiynchus, up-curved from the middle in Avocetta,
wedge-like in Haematopus, much flattened in Tringa platyrhyncha,
spade -shaped in EurynorTiynchus, arched in Numenius, and
strongly decurved in Ibidorhynchus. In the Chionididae a horny
sheath covers the base of the maxilla, and is indicated by faint
lines in the young ; in Glareola the bill is short, curved, and very

v CHARADRIIFORMES 269

deeply split, making a wide gape ; in Dromas it is hard, deep, and
compressed ; in Cursorius thick and little bent ; in the Thinocory-
thidae Fowl-like ; in the Oedicnemidae short, stout, and blunt ; in
the Parridae narrow and pointed, with a skinny frontal plate, and
occasionally with rictal wattles. The nasal grooves are very long
in Ibidorhynchus, Totanus, Scolopax and elsewhere.

The tibia is often partly bare, and the metatarsus is ex-
tremely variable ; the legs are longer in Himantopus than in
any other bird of its size, and long also in Eecurvirostra, Cur-
sorius, Dromas, the Parridae, and so forth, while Haematopus,
Aegialitis, Scolopax, Glareola, Chionis, Tringa, and the Thinocory-
thidae are instances of the contrary. Both the front and back
of these members are scutellated in most Scolopacinae and Trin-
ginae, but the Charadriinae differ considerably in this respect ; in
Glareola the fore-part only is transversely scutellated, in Cursorius,
Dromas, the Thinocorythidae and Parridae the whole of the surface,
while in the Chionididae and Oedicnemidae both aspects are reticu-
lated. The anterior toes are ordinarily free, or have the third and
fourth digits slightly connected ; but Dromas and Eecurmrostra
have them partly webbed, as to some extent have Himantopus,
Totanus semipalmatus, and a few other forms, while in Phalaropus
the metatarsus is much compressed, and the toes have lobed
margins. The hallux, normally set rather high, is frequently
aborted, as in Charadrius, IbidorJiynchus, Calidris, Cursorius and
Oedicnemus ; in the Thinocorythidae and Glareola it is very
small, in Dromas larger ; in the Parridae all four digits are on a
level and abnormally long, as are the claws, so that the birds
walk easily on floating vegetation. The nail of the mid -toe is
pectinated in the Glareolidae, recalling that of the Caprimulginae
(Night-jars). The digits are often somewhat fleshy, Oedicnemus
moreover, has an enlarged tibio-tarsal joint.

The wings are usually long, having a bilobed appearance owing
to the equality of the inner secondaries and outer primaries ;
Himantopus, Dromas, Glareola, and the Thinocorythidae have them
much elongated, Phegornis and some other forms very short, while
in Vanellus the expanse is most noticeable. In this genus, Lobiva-
nellus, Hoplopterus, the Chionididae, and the Parridae, is found a
carpal spur, often large and sharp ; Metopidius, and, apparently,
Hydralector have the radius dilated into a sub-triangular lamina 1 ;
1 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1881, pp. 646, 647.

2/0 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Hydrophasianus has peculiar filamentous appendages to the first
and fourth primaries ; Scolopax minor has the three exterior of the
normal eleven primaries particularly attenuated. The secondaries
in the Limicolae vary from ten to twenty.

The rectrices are usually twelve; though Rhynchaea and the
Parridae have ten, while Scolopax stenura and S. megala possess
twenty and twenty-six respectively, the outer of which are exceed-
ingly stiff and narrow — not to give further instances. The tail in
Glareola is deeply furcate and Swallow-like, in HydropJiasianus it
has the four median plumes very long and decurved in the breeding
season ; but it is often quite short, as in Scolopax. The form may
be slightly forked, as in Chionis ; somewhat graduated or cuneate,
as in the Thinocorythidae, Totanus hypoleucus, and Oedicnemus ;
rounded, as in Cursorius ; or almost even, as in Vanellus.

The tongue is rather long and pointed, being, however, rudi-
mentary in Numenius ; the nostrils are pervious, except in the
Thinocorythidae, Glareolidae,and perhaps Dromas, and have at times
a leathery operculum in Plovers ; the syrinx in tracheo-bronchial,
the furcula U-shaped ; Parr a has a decidedly muscular gizzard,
and the Thinocorythidae possess a globular crop. The convoluted
trachea of Rhynchaea, the papillae on the orbits of Chionis, the
caruncles on the face of Machetes, and the loral wattles of Loliva-
nellus are fully described below. The aftershaft is very small in
the Parridae, rather large elsewhere. In adults the down is spar-
ing ; in the young it is short, thick, and commonly of a yellowish
hue, with brown longitudinal stripes; though it may be grey, as in
Chionis and Haematopus ; mottled with reddish and white, as in
Snipes ; or with black, orange, yellow, and white, as in Phalaropes.

The plumage is usually plain brown or grey, with an ad-
mixture of white, or less commonly chestnut ; Vanellus, Loliva-
nellus, and Cursorius chalcopterus, however, exhibit metallic hues,
and Chionis is white. Eed or yellow beaks or feet adorn many
forms. Crests occur in certain species of Vanellus, Hoplopterus,
and Lobivanellus ; the male of Machetes (Ruff) is most remark-
able for its lateral head-tufts and fine neck-frill, developed for the
breeding season ; Numenius tahitiensis has peculiar bristly-pointed
flank-feathers. In Scolopax the large eyes are set unusually far
back in the skull. The sexes are generally similar, but in Eu-
dromias? Phalaropus, and Rhynchaea the female is brighter than
1 Sie/however, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiv. 1896, p. 741.

CHARADRIIFORMES

the male, as well as larger, the latter fact holding true of a con-
siderable number of the Tringinae and Scolopacinae, and of the
Parridae, though a special study of the subject is still needful. In
several species the breeding plumage differs remarkably from
that of winter.

The Limicolae often flock together in the cold season, but are
by no means uniform in their habits, and divergencies will be noticed
under the various genera. They run well, often bobbing the head
up and down, and fly strongly, wheeling round sharply in the air ;
while some Snipes rise in zigzag fashion. Typically waders, many,
if not all of them, can swim on emergency, but few habitually do
so, like Phalaropes. Exceptionally they perch on trees, or soar.
Swamps, river-sides, and in winter the sea-coast, are the general
haunts ; but Coursers, Stone-Curlews and " Seed- Snipes " frequent
arid or stony localities, Dromas sandy islets or shores, Chionis
maritime rocks. Vanellus cayennensis and Parra jacana are said
to indulge in dances, while Lapwings and other species feign to
be wounded if their young are in danger. The food consists of
crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and insects ; rarely of small fish or
eggs of other birds ; but not uncommonly of vegetable matter, on
which the Thinocorythidae entirely subsist. The usual note is
shrill, but the " scape, scape " of the Snipe, the melancholy whistle
of the Curlew, the yelp of the Godwit, the reiterated scream of
the Oyster-catcher, and the sweet song or trill of Temrninck's
Stint and of the Green Sandpiper should be noticed among the
exceptions. Usually four pyriform eggs, varying from brownish
or olive-green to stone-colour, with double markings of lighter
and darker shades, are arranged in a hole scraped in the ground,
with or without lining, the small ends pointing to the centre.
Those of Oyster-catchers and Stone-Curlews are more oval, while
the Dotterel and some other species lay only three, and Stone-
Curlews two. The Parridae amass a considerable pile of water-
plants, Chionis usually breeds in holes among rocks, the Green
and the Wood-Sandpiper often use deserted nests of other birds.
The young run almost from the shell, the Stone-Curlews and
Dromas, which lays a white egg in sandy burrows, being to some ex-
tent exceptions. The male performs most of the duties of incuba-
tion in Rhynchaea, Phalaropus, and apparently the Dotterel, Bar-
tailed Godwit, and Purple Sandpiper — if not elsewhere ; while the
Buff is well known to be polygamous. Stone-Curlews and Wood-

2/2 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

cocks are certainly somewhat crepuscular, and the drumming of
the Snipe (p. 291) must be mentioned in passing. Nearly all Limi-
coline birds are migrants, and may frequently be heard overhead
at night, when on passage. The flesh is generally excellent.

Fam. I. Charadriidae. — Sub-fam. 1. Charadriinae. — The
Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus), breeds on the fells and tundras of
Northern Europe and Asia, as well as on the mountains of Scotland,
Transylvania, Styria, and Bohemia — if not still in the English Lake
District ; in winter it migrates to Palestine and North Africa. The
colour is ashy-brown, with black crown and nape, towards the latter
of which the white superciliary streaks run down ; the throat is
whitish, the fore-neck brown, divided by a white gorget from the
orange-chestnut lower breast ; the abdomen is black, the lateral
rectrices are tipped with white. The young are more rufous above,
and grey and white below. Three olive eggs with brown blotches
are laid in a depression of the mossy ground, the parents being
tamer than most Plovers at the nest. E. veredus inhabits Mongolia,
wintering in the Sunda Islands, the Moluccas, and Australia ; E.
australis is confined to the last country ; E. (Zonibyx) modestus, the
only four-toed species of the genus, ranges from Tarapaca and Buenos
Aires to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. Charadrius
pluvialis, the Golden Plover, breeds on the higher British moorlands,
and reaches from Northern Europe to the Lena in Asia, overlapping
about the Yenisei C. fidvus, with grey instead of white axillaries,
which extends to Bering Sea and — as the stouter, shorter-toed
race C. dominicus — to Greenland. Both the latter have occurred
in England. The plumage is black, densely spotted with yellow
above, the forehead and superciliary streaks are white, as are the
sides of the body. In winter the under parts are nearly white.
At that season the various species migrate southwards as far as
Cape Colony, India, Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, and Chili.
The loud clear whistle of the Golden Plover is a characteristic
sound in summer on our sub-alpine hills, where the bird deposits
four rich olive-brown eggs in a hollow in the herbage ; it is very
wary at the nest. The Grey Plover, Squatarola helvetica, with a
distinct hind toe and black axillaries, is browner than the fore-
going three-toed species in summer, and greyer in winter ; it
visits us from autumn to spring, but breeds in the far north of
Eastern Europe, Asia, and America, reaching Cape Colony, Ceylon,
and Tasmania on migration. Erythrogonys cinctus of Australia, and

CHARADRIIDAE

273

the long-billed Oreophilus ruficollis of South America from Peru
and Argentina to Patagonia and the Falklands, are nearly allied
forms ; while the rufous New Zealand Charadrius (?) obscurus
apparently somewhat resembles the Dotterel in its habits and eggs,
Aegialitis hiaticola, the Einged Plover, Sand-Lark, or Stone-
runner, mistakenly called the " Eing Dotterel," which is common
on the British coasts and even inland, extends from Smith's-
Sound eastwards to Bering Strait, and migrates to South Africa,
North India, or accidentally, Australia. It breeds as far south as
the Atlantic Islands, North Africa, and Turkestan. The plumage
is light brown, with white forehead, post-ocular streak, upper
neck, alar bar, outer
rectrices, and under
surface ; the crown,
lores, cheeks, and a
collar — broader in
front — being black.
The young lack the
black crown. The
habits and "peep-
ing " cry hardly
require description.
When nesting on
the warrens of the
Eastern Counties it
is called the Stone-
hatch because it FlG' 5^.— Ringed Plover. Aegialitis hiaticola. x

there lays its black-spotted drab eggs in a hole paved with small
stones. Ae. curonica, the Little Einged Plover, which strays to
Britain, the Faroes, and Iceland, breeds on inland waters from
Scandinavia to Japan ; reaching southwards to North Africa,.
Turkestan, and China, and on migration to the Gaboon, Mozam-
bique, Ceylon, and New Guinea. It is distinguished from the
last species by the shafts of all the primaries, except the outer
one, being dusky. Ae. cantiana, the Kentish Plover, which still
nests in Kent and Sussex, occupies Europe — though very locally —
North Africa, and Central Asia to China and Japan ; it compara-
tively seldom breeds inland, and is found in winter as far as South
Africa, India, and Australia. The collar is incomplete in front, the
female has no black crown, while the black legs distinguish it from

VOL. IX T

2/4

CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

the Einged Plover. Ae. semipalmata, with a 'distinct web between
the outer and middle toes, replaces the latter in North America,
ranging in winter to Peru and Brazil ; whereas Ae. placida repre-
sents it in China, Japan, and India. The place of the Kentish
Plover is taken in western North America by Ae. nivosa — with
white lores instead of black — which migrates to Chili. Ae. voci-
fera, termed " Kill-deer " from its cry, inhabits North America, and
extends in winter to northern South America, while it has been
shot even in the Scilly Islands ; the lores are brown, and the
fore-neck exhibits two black bands. It nests in the interior on
grass or ploughed fields. In Ae. monachus of Southern Australia,
the breeding male has a perfectly black head ; in Ae. asiatica of
Central Asia, which has wandered to Britain, the head is brown,
and the breast shews a black-edged chestnut band, somewhat
similar to that in Ae. bicincta of the Australian Region, and other
species; Ae. bifrontata of Madagascar has grey lores, and two black
bands on the breast. Space fails to mention all the species of
this large three-toed genus ; but Ae. (Thinornis) novae zealandiae
of the New Zealand area, Ae. falklandica of America from Chili
and Argentina southwards, and Ae. sanctae helenae, the " Wire-
bird " peculiar to St. Helena, should be noticed.

AnarhyncJius frontalis, the Wry-bill of New Zealand, is grey,

with a black gorget and
whitish lower parts ; the
habits are as in Aegia-
litis, but the laterally-
twisted bill enables the
bird to pick up insects
from around stones with
the greatest ease.

Thirteen species may
perhaps be included in
Lobivanellus (Wattled
Lapwing) ; but here, as
in the next genus, Van-
ellus, there are many diversities of opinion. The two groups are
fairly similar in habits, nests, and eggs. Some have a hallux, some
not. L. pectoralis of Australia and Tasmania, L. indicus, ranging
from Arabia and Mesopotamia to Cochin China, L. cinereus of
China and Japan, which migrates as far as Bengal, Z. melano-

FIG. 58. — Wry-bill. Anarhynchiis frontalis.

CHARADRIIDAE 2/5

cephalus of North-East Africa, L. superciliosus, extending from West
Africa to Lake Tanganyika, and the crested L. (Sarciophorus)
tectus, found from Senegal to East Equatorial Africa and Arabia,
have small loral wattles ; L. (Lobiylumci] malabaricus of India,
Ceylon, and Burma, Z. miles, reaching from Timor Laut to New
Guinea and Australia, L. cucullatus of Sumatra, Java, and Timor,
L. lobatus of Australia, accidental in New Zealand, L. lateralis
of the southern, and L. senegalensis of the northern Ethiopian
Region, with L.' albiceps of West Africa and the Upper Congo,
have large wattles, and, except the first, a wing-spur. L. lolatus
is olive-brown above, with black crown, nape, and wings; the cheeks,
tail-coverts, and lower parts are white; the tail is white with black
tip ; the bill, wattles, and spurs are yellow, the feet purplish-red.
Vanellus comprises the true Lapwings; it is a closely allied genus
to the last, and varies as to the possession of a hind-toe. V. cristatus,
the English Peewit or Green Plover, has the upper parts and motile
crest bottle-green, with a purple and copper gloss ; the throat and
upper breast black ; the cheeks, sides of the neck, base of tail, and
under surface white ; the upper and lower tail-coverts bay. The
slow flapping flight and shrill cry are as familiar to us as are the
cock's aerial evolutions, and the habit of tumbling on the ground
with an apparently broken wing to decoy intruders from the brood.
This species frequents alike cultivated ground, marshes, and wastes,
depositing its four olive eggs with black markings in a scraping in
the soil lined with a little dry herbage ; towards autumn it feeds
in large flocks upon the shore, being semi-crepuscular, as might
be expected from the large eyes. Breeding in most of Europe,
Northern Asia, and even North Africa, it strays to Greenland and
Jan Mayen, occurs plentifully in Japan, and at times in Alaska,
and migrates as far south as Barbados, North India, and China.
The somewhat similar Teru-teru ( V. cayennensis)^ with long crest
and large blunt yellow spur, occupies the east, and the larger V.
chilensis the west and south of South America ; V. resplendens
inhabits the Andes of North Chili, Peru, and Ecuador ; V. coronatus
South and East Africa ; V. melanopterus, the latter and Arabia ;
F. inornatus West and South-East Africa. - The long legged Chet-
tusia gregaria, which, like the next genus, possesses a hallux, has
occurred in Britain and South -West Europe, but breeds from
South-East Europe to Lake Saisan, and migrates to North -East

1 For this bird's "dances," see Hudson, Argentine Ornithology, ii. p. 167.

2/6 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Africa, India, and Ceylon. C. leucura, of similar range, winters
in North-East Africa and North India. Defilippia crassirostris of
North-East, and D. leucoptera of South-East Africa, with very long
toes and much white on the wing, are nearly akin to the above.
Hoplopterus spinosus, the three-toed Spur -winged Lapwing of
Egypt and the northern Ethiopian Kegion, which wanders to
South-East Europe and Persia, is a crested black and white species
with a brownish back. The Arabs call it " Zic-zac " from its cry,
while it attacks birds on the wing with its spur. H. speciosus
occupies South Africa, H. cay anus most of South America, H.
ventralis ranges from North and Central India to Hainan.

Strepsilas inter pres, the Turnstone, has the head, rump, tail,
and remiges black and white, the upper parts varied with chestnut
and black, the breast black, the belly white, and the feet orange,
with the hind toe turned inwards. In winter the coloration is
chiefly grey and white. From its extensive migrations, it is
possibly the most cosmopolitan of Birds, while it breeds in
Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and as near us as Denmark,
though not proved to do so in Britain. In autumn and spring
this lively little species frequents our muddy shores or seaweed-
covered rocks, often turning over the pebbles in search of food ;
the note is a twitter or whistle ; the nest a slightly-lined excava-
tion under shelter of some maritime shrub or stone, containing four
grey-green eggs, marked with olive-brown. 8. melanocephalus, of
the Pacific coast of North America, lacks chestnut tints. Apliriza
virgata, the Surf -bird, a brownish species with white alar bar,
rump, and abdomen, found from Alaska to Chili, may perhaps be
placed here. The position of the scarce Patagonian Pluvianellus
sociabilis, which is chiefly grey above and white below, is equally
doubtful. Both species lack the hallux. Haematopus ostralegus,
the Oyster-catcher, inhabits Europe and Central Asia, extending
— as the form H. osculans — to China and Japan ; in winter
it reaches Senegambia, Mozambique, Ceylon, and South China.
From the black head, neck, and mantle, white lower back, under-
parts, wing-bar, and base of tail, it is called the Sea-Pie ; while
a habit of opening mussels with the long wedge-shaped bill gives
it the name of Mussel-picker. Oyster-catcher seems a misnomer,
but worms, crustaceans, and so forth vary the diet. It frequents
shores and inland rivers, depositing three, or rarely four, oval drab
eggs, with blackish and grey markings, on sand, shingle, or rocks.

CHARADRIIDAE

The scream in the breeding season is often quite deafening, but at
other times these wary birds are seldom noisy. Their flight is
powerful, and they can swim and dive. The bill is orange and the
feet flesh-coloured in this species, as well as in H. longirostris of the
Moluccas, Papuasia, Australia, and New Zealand, with longer bill
and entirely black primaries. IT. leucopus of Chili, Patagonia, and
the Falklands, has a black lower back and pale feet ; If. palliatus
(with its races frazari, galapagensis, and durnfordi\ ranging from
Nova Scotia and California to Patagonia, has a brown mantle. Of
the perfectly black or brownish-black species, H. niger, of both
coasts of the North Pacific, has pale flesh-coloured feet ; H. moquini,
of the Ethiopian Eegion, the Canaries, and Madeira, has them deep
red ; If. ater, found from Peru to Patagonia and the Falklands, has
the scarlet bill compressed and upturned ; If. unicolor of Australia
.and New Zealand has the feet brick-red. This genus has three
toes, as has the remarkable Ilidorhynclms struthersi, with long
decurved red bill and greenish-grey feet, found from Turkestan to
China, and in the Himalayas. The front of the head is black,
margined laterally with white ; the upper parts and neck are grey,
with white on the wings and outer rectrices, and black undulations
on the tail, which has the tip and coverts mostly black ; the under
parts are white with a black gorget. The bill is black in the young.
The note is whistling, the habits are like those of an Oyster-catcher,
while islands in stony or sandy rivers furnish breeding sites.1

Himantopus contains the extraordinarily long-legged Stilts,
of which H. candidus visits Britain and Northern Europe, but
breeds only in the southern parts, including Hungary. It also
nests in India and Ceylon, and in Africa — though chiefly in the
north. In the cold season it reaches Timor, New Zealand, and
elsewhere. The head, long neck, lower back, and under surface
are white, the remaining parts greenish-black ; the iris is carmine,
the legs are pink. Females are browner above, while immature
males have the crown and nape black or brownish. The note is
clear and reiterated, the habits are Plover-like, but the nest, placed
on mud or in grass-tufts, is more substantial than in those birds,
and contains four olive eggs with black scrawls or blotches.
Whether searching the shallows for insects or other food, hover-
ing overhead with dangling feet, or flying with them outstretched,
the appearance is equally remarkable. H. mexicanus of temperate

1 See W. W. Cordeaux, Ibis, 1894, p. 374 ; 1897, pp. 563-564.

2/8 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP,

ISTorth America, migrating to Peru and Brazil, has a black occiput
and nape ; H. Jcnudseni of the Sandwich Islands has the sides of
the neck also black ; H. brasiliensis of southern South America
has the nape only black, with a white collar below ; H. leuco-
cephalus of Australia and New Zealand, which visits the Malay
Islands, the Philippines, the Moluccas and Papuasia, is similar,
but the black does not reach the eye ; H. melas of New Zealand
is uniform black. If. (Cladorliynclius) pectoralis of Southern
Australia has webbed feet like the four-toed Avocets, though itself
three-toed like other Stilts, from which a bay pectoral band
distinguishes it. Of the Avocets with their curious up-curved
beak, Recurvirostra andina, of the Chilian Andes, alone resembles
the Stilts in possessing a black mantle. R. avocetta, which bred
in England until at least 1824, now ranges from Denmark and
Holland to Mongolia and South Africa, though decidedly local ; in
Asia it migrates southwards to Ceylon and Hainan. The plumage
is white, with the crown, nape, inner scapulars, and part of the
wings black, the legs light blue. It is called Cobbler's Awl, from
its long, flexible bill, or Yelper, from its loud .clear cry. Its general
habits and slight nest recall those of Plovers, though the eggs are
larger ; while it seeks for aquatic creatures, in shallows or pools
left by the tide, with a curious scooping sidelong action of the
beak. R. americana, with a pale rufous head and neck, inhabits
temperate America, extending in winter to the West Indies and
Guatemala: A. rubricollis (novae hollandiae), with those portions
chestnut, ranges from Australia, where it breeds, to New Zealand.
Sub-fam. 2. — The Tringinae of the present work — four-toed
unless otherwise stated — are often separated into the groups
Phalaropodinae, Totaninae, and Tringinae proper ; the first being
remarkable for the Coot-like digits with lobed webs. Phalaropus
fulicarius, the Grey Phalarope, which visits us in winter, and
has even reached Chili and New Zealand, breeds in Spitsbergen,
Iceland, Greenland, Arctic America, and Asia. It is blackish and
chestnut above and rufous below, with a little white on the face,
wings, and tail ; but the plumage differs remarkably in winter, the
upper parts becoming grey with a black nuchal patch, and the lower
white. As in all the genus, the female is said to court the male,
which is duller, and performs most of the duties of incubation. The
eggs are larger and rounder than in the next species, the nest less
concealed. P. (LoUpes) liyperloreus, the Eed-necked Phalarope,

CHARADRIIDAE 279

with more tapering bill, breeds in Scandinavia, Kussia, and Siberia,
as well as from Alaska to Greenland, Iceland, Shetland, Orkney,
and the Hebrides; ib rarely migrates to Western Europe, but reaches
India, New Guinea, Guatemala, and Peru. It has dark grey tind
rufous upper parts, a white alar bar, throat, and belly, a grey breast,
and chestnut sides of the neck nearly meeting in front. By winter
the red tints have vanished and the white has increased. This
attractive little bird is often so tame that it will feed at the feet of
an intruder, or will even proceed to settle itself on its small and
rather deep nest, placed in some tuft of herbage ; the four eggs are
greenish-olive with black markings. When disturbed from them it
flies around with a shrill reiterated " tweet." It breeds in swamps
or by hill-lakes, and can swim well, but is not found so far out to
sea as the Grey Phalarope. P. (Steganopus) wilsoni, of temperate
North America, migrating as far as Patagonia and the Falklands,
is a larger, longer-billed bird, with a white nape and a black stripe
down each side of the head and neck.

Tringa alpina, the Dunlin or Oxbird, is familiar to most
autumn visitors to our natter coasts. Breeding not uncommonly
in Britain, though chiefly in the north, it is found in the colder parts
of both the Old and the New World, while exceptionally its eggs
have been obtained in Southern Spain ; in winter it extends to the
Canaries, Zanzibar, India, China, California, and the West Indies.
When first they arrive on the shore the large flocks are remarkably
tame, and allow even gunners to walk among them, as they
forage with head bent down over the mud or sand, or rise with a
cheeping cry, only to alight again at close quarters. The slight
nest, placed amongst heather or short grass on some moory hill-
pasture or seaside marsh, contains four greenish-white eggs with
brown or rufous spotting. The plumage exhibits a mixture of
rufous, grey, and black above, and is chiefly white beneath, with a
large, black, pectoral patch ; the decurved bill and the feet are black.
Most of the rufous and all the black disappear in winter. T.
minuta, the Little Stint, a miniature Dunlin with no black on the
breast, and a short, straight bill, visits Britain regularly on passage,
and breeds from the coasts of Northern Norway and Eussia to
Arctic Asia, a red-throated species or race (T. ruficollis) occurring
east of the Lena; in winter the birds reach South Africa, the
Indian Region, Australia, and Tasmania. T. minutilla, the darker
American Stint, with olive feet, which occupies the Arctic New

280 CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

"World, has been obtained in England, and migrates at least as far
as Ecuador and Brazil ; the very similar Eastern Asiatic T.
sulminuta reaches Bering Island, and winters southwards to
the Indian Eegion and Australia. The habits and eggs of the
Little Stint resemble those of the Dunlin, but the latter are
smaller ; the note, too, is more like the twitter of a swallow. T.
temmincki is greyish-brown above and more buff below, with dark
markings throughout, white belly, alar bar and four outer rectrices.
In winter the dusky markings vanish, and the birds resemble
miniature Common Sandpipers. They frequently visit Britain,
and breed in Northern Europe and Asia, chiefly beyond the limits
of forest growth ; migrating southwards to Senegambia, North-
East Africa, India, the Malay countries, and China. Temminck's
Stint has a hovering, butterfly-like flight, and habitually perches
on posts and the like, uttering a continuous trilling note or song ;
the four buff or greyish-green eggs with their brown spotting are
deposited on a little herbage among sedge or grass. T. subar-
quata, the Curlew-Sandpiper, is grey, black, and rufous, with chest-
nut under surface and black bars on the white rump, both these
parts becoming white in winter ; the bill is long and decurved.
As far as is yet known, the breeding- quarters lie in the far north
of Asia, eggs having recently (1897) been taken near the mouth of
the Yenesei : but the bird occurs in Arctic Europe in spring and
autumn, and visits our shores irregularly in company with other
small waders in autumn, wandering occasionally to Eastern America
and Alaska, and migrating to Cape Colony, India, and Tasmania.
T.fuscicollis, Bonaparte's Sandpiper, with white upper tail-coverts,
but dusky rump and short bill, inhabits Arctic America, reaching
the whole of South America in winter, and even straying to Britain.
It has also occurred in Franz Josef Land in summer. It somewhat
resembles the Dunlin in appearance, and the Purple Sandpiper
in habits. The closely allied T. lairdi of nearly all America,
which breeds towards the North, is distinguished by the median
tail-coverts being brownish ; it has once been observed in South
Africa. Another dark-rumped species is T. maculata, the Pectoral
Sandpiper, blackish-brown and rufous above, and buff with dusky
streaks beneath, the belly being white. It has occurred several
times in Britain, but inhabits the " Barren Grounds " from Alaska
to Hudson's Bay, and migrates as far as Patagonia. Four greenish-
buff eggs with brown blotches are deposited in dry grassy spots.

CHARADRIIDAE 28 1

The male is especially remarkable for his habit, apparently
unique in the Family, of inflating the oesophagus during his court-
ing performances, until it hangs down like a bag ; meanwhile he
takes short nights or rises with stiffened wings in the air, uttering
a muffled booming note.1 The Old "World form, T. acuminata,
extends from East Siberia to Alaska, migrating to the Malay
Archipelago, New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand ; it differs
in its white chin and distinctly streaked flanks. T. maritima or
striata, the Purple Sandpiper, is brownish-grey above, with rufous
spotting on the blacker mantle, and some white on the wing ; the
throat and breast are greyish with dusky streaks, the abdomen is
white. In winter, when the upper parts are purplish-black and
the breast is unspotted, it occurs from Scandinavia and temperate
America to the Mediterranean and the Bermudas, arriving in
Britain later than its congeners, and frequenting spray- washed, sea-
weed-covered rocks in search of small molluscs. It is usually
tame, can swim well, and utters a soft low note. The eggs, often
of a very green ground-colour, are deposited in mossy or grassy places
on hill-tops, from the Faroes northwards, though in the more Arctic
regions of Europe and Eastern America the bird breeds at the
sea-level. It nests in Franz Josef Land, but is rare in Asia. The
Prybilof Island form has been called T. ptilocnemis, the Alaskan
T. couesi. T. canutus, the Knot, possibly, but not probably, named
after Canute, has in summer a reddish head and neck, black, cinna-
mon, and white upper parts, chestnut under surface, and white tail-
coverts barred with black. The plumage varies greatly according
to age and season, but the winter adult is grey above and white
with dusky flecks below. While no absolutely identified eggs
exist, this species undoubtedly breeds on the North Georgian
or Parry Islands, Melville Peninsula, Grinnell Land, Smith's
Sound, and Lady Franklin Bay, but apparently not in Arctic
Europe, though possibly in Asia. Large flocks migrate to our
shores, and some individuals reach Brazil, Damara-Land, the
Indian Region, Australia, and New Zealand ; they are tame on
arrival and used to be netted for the table in England. In
Arctic America Saxifraga oppositi/olia and Algae vary the diet of
insects and molluscs, but other Sandpipers are known to eat plants.

1 Adams, P.Z.S., 1859, p. 130 ; Nelson, Auk, 1884, pp. 218-221 ; id. N.H. Colled.
Alaska, Washington, 1887, pp. 108-109 ; Murdoch, Rep. Polar Exped. Pt. Barrow,
Washington, 1885, p. 111.

282 CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

The East Siberian T. crassirostris, with no chestnut beneath,
migrates to Japan, the Indian Kegion, and Australia.

Ereunetes pusillus, called the Semipalmated Sandpiper from
its partly webbed toes, resembles the western form of the Little
Stint in coloration ; it breeds in the extreme north of America,
and has reached Patagonia in winter. Eurynorhynclius pygmaeus,
the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, on the other hand, is coloured like the
eastern red-throated Little Stint, but is especially remarkable for
its large, broad, shovel-shaped bill. The breeding grounds are not
known, but it has been obtained on both sides of the North Pacific,
and on migration in Japan, China, India, and Burma. Calidris
arenaria, the Sanderling, easily recognisable by the want of a hind-
toe, is rufous and black above, and white below, having a chest-
nut throat spotted with black. It reaches us in August, while
some individuals remain throughout the winter, being at that season
uniform grey with white under surface. The eggs, which have a
peculiar greenish tint, and are* like those of the Curlew in minia-
ture, have been taken in Greenland and Arctic America, but,
except perhaps in Iceland, never yet in Northern Europe or Asia.
Sanderlings are almost as cosmopolitan as Turnstones, and on
migration are commonly observed running at the edge of the
surf, uttering a weak, shrill cry. ' Limicola platyrhyncha, the
Broad-billed Sandpiper, has a wide flat beak with the pointed tip
slightly decurved ; the upper plumage is mottled with dark brown,
rufous, and white; the breast is reddish-white, spotted with brown ;
the abdomen white. It occasionally visits Britain, and breeds on
the fells of Norway, the fens of Lapland, and thence eastwards to
Russia, but is rarely met with in Asia until the Sea of Okhotsk is
reached ; in winter, when it becomes grey above and white below,
it resorts to North Africa, Madagascar, Ceylon, the Philippines, the
Moluccas, and China. It soars like a Snipe, utters a rapid, double
note, and is somewhat skulking. The parent sits very closely on
the eggs, in which the greenish or buff ground-colour is commonly
nearly hidden by chocolate or rufous markings. Tryngites rufescens,
the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which has wandered to Britain and
Heligoland, breeds in the extreme north of America, and just reaches
East Siberia ; in winter it ranges to Peru and Argentina. Light
brown and black above, and reddish-buff with a few black spots below,
the distinctive black marblings beneath the quills are well seen as
the bird, according to its habit, runs along with one wing raised.

CHARADRIIDAE 283

Here may be mentioned Aechmorliynclius cancellatus (par-
mrostris), of Christmas and Paumotu Islands in the Pacific, which is
rufous-brown with white under surface mostly barred with brown ;
and Prosobonia leucoptera, Latham's White- winged Sandpiper, from
Tahiti and Eimeo, with brown head and mantle, chestnut rump
and lower parts, white wing-patch and superciliary streak — species
of doubtful affinity, which are both presumably extinct.

The large genus Totanus is more inland in its haunts during the
breeding season than Tringa. T. calidris, the Kedshank, is resident
in Britain, and ranges through Europe, the Mediterranean, and
Asia south of lat. 60° N., migrating to South Africa, the Indian
Kegion, and Japan. The upper parts are light brown with darker
bars and streaks, the primaries being black ; the rump, second-
aries, tail, and lower surface are white, but the two latter are
barred with blackish and necked with brown respectively ; the
feet are orange-red, or yellowish in the young. In winter the
colour is ashy-grey, with nearly white under parts. This bird breeds
in salt marshes or swamps, not uncommonly far inland, and deposits
four buff eggs with reddish or purplish-brown spots in grass or rush-
tufts, making little or no nest, but drawing the herbage together
over the spot to conceal it. Both parents usually rise a long
way ahead of the intruder, and fly wildly round, uttering their
shrill whistling cry of " pitotoi." Eedshanks are especially wary
on the coast in winter, and, like Curlews or Lapwings, are the bane
of the shooter ; they can swim and dive, and not uncommonly
perch on trees ; the food, procured on sandy spots or sea-weed-
covered rocks, consists of molluscs, crustaceans, worms, and aquatic
insects. T.fuscus, the Dusky or Spotted Redshank, a scarce visitor
to our shores, breeds in Europe and Asia, chiefly north of the Arctic
Circle, and has a similar winter range to its congener. It generally
nests in forest-clearings some way from water, and lays fine greenish
eggs, blotched with varied browns. The female sits very closely.
Less noisy than its kindred, unless accompanied by young, it flies
comparatively strongly, perches on trees, and recalls the Greenshank
by its habits. The plumage is black, with white spots above,
white rump and barred tail ; in winter it resembles that of the
Redshank, and the crimson legs become orange-red. T. flavipes,
the Yellowshank, which has wandered to England, inhabits the
colder parts of North America, and migrates as far as Patagonia ;
it is black, grey-brown, and white above, and white with dusky

284 CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

markings below, the legs being bright yellow. T. melanoleucus,
of the same districts, is similar, but larger. T. guttifer is a rare
North Pacific species, recorded in winter from Calcutta and
Burma. It is not unlike T. glottis, the Greenshank, which ranges
over Northern Europe and Asia, and extends in winter to
•Cape Colony, the Indian Eegion, and Australia. This bird has
wandered to America, and breeds in the hill-districts of Scotland,
resembling the Dusky Redshank in its selection of dry nesting
sites, habit of perching, and so forth. It is, however, much more
noisy, uttering a strident note, or one dimly recalling a Woodpecker,
while it lays large, buffish-white eggs with rich brown blotches.
It sometimes eats small fish, as does its congener T. incanus. The
plumage is grey and black above in summer and grey in winter,
with white rump and tail, the latter being barred with dusky ; the
white breast is spotted with brown in the breeding season ; the
slightly up-turned beak is blackish ; the legs are olive. T. stagnatilis,
the Marsh Sandpiper, a miniature Greenshank of somewhat similar
winter range, occupies South Europe and Central Asia. T. glareola,
the Wood Sandpiper, is olive-brown above, with small whitish
spots and white rump ; the white cheeks, fore-neck, and breast are
heavily streaked with brown; the tail-feathers and axillaries are also
white with black bars and brown flecks respectively, the feet are
olive. The nest has once at least been found in Britain, whence
the bird ranges over North Europe and Asia ; it has apparently
bred in Spain and Italy, and migrates to Cape Colony, the
Indian Eegion, and Australia. In this species and the following
the note is shrill and often tremulous, while the former occasion-
ally, and the latter habitually, lays its greenish eggs with reddish-
brown spots in deserted nests of other birds near inland waters,
instead of on the ground. T. ocliropus, the Green Sandpiper, which
is less spotted above, has much wider black tail-bars, and blackish
axillaries with white chevrons. It has been suspected of breeding
in Britain, and occupies a similar though somewhat more northern
range than the last-named, but does not reach Australia. T.
solitarius, with almost uniform brown median rectrices, inhabits
temperate, and migrates to tropical, South America ; it has been
shot in the littoral marshes of western England. T. (Symphemia)
semipcdmatus, largest of the genus, the Willet of temperate North
America, which extends to Brazil in winter and wanders to
Europe, is brownish-grey with black mottlings, the outspread

CHARADRIIDAE 285

wing shewing a white patch, and the white under parts brownish
streaks. In the cold season all the dark markings vanish. T.
(Heteractitis) incanus, having uniform grey upper, and white
under surface, closely barred in summer with dusky, is founcL_
through the Eastern Pacific Islands, and on the mainland from
Alaska to the Galapagos. T. brevipes, with white-banded upper
tail-coverts, occurs from Kamtschatka and East Siberia to the
Malay Islands and Australia. Both breed to the northward.

Machetes pugnax, the KufF — with its consort the Eeeve —
was formerly well-known in England from the large num-
bers netted or snared for the table. Our nesting birds are
now reduced to a few pairs, but considerable numbers visit
us on passage, while they breed through northern Europe
and Asia, and migrate to South Africa, the Indian region,
and Japan, wandering rarely to Iceland and Eastern America.
The Kuff's nuptial plumage, which varies extraordinarily and
individually, may be chiefly black, white, chestnut, buff, grey and
white, and so forth, often with metallic hues or concentric barring.
A tuft of stiff curled plumes springs from near each ear, the
feathers of the face are replaced by yellowish or pinkish tubercles,
and an ample distensible ruff overhangs the breast. Males regain
the same colours annually, but after breeding become like the
females, which are dark brown and buff, and one-third smaller.
The polygamous tendencies and habit of " hilling," i.e. sparring
on some slight eminence for the Reeves, have been frequently
described ; * the note, though seldom heard, is said to resemble
ka-ka-kuk ; the food includes seeds, insects, and worms ; the nest,
placed among herbage in the drier parts of a swamp, contains
four greenish, snipe-like eggs, with rich brown blotches. The
Buff performs many antics while courting, but leaves all the work
of building, incubation, and the care of the young to his mate.

Bartramia longicauda, which accidentally visits Britain, Conti-
nental Europe, and even Australia, inhabits North America, and
migrates southward to Chili and Argentina. It is light brown
above, varied with black, buff, and white, the long wedge-shaped
tail and the under surface of the wing are barred, the rufous lower
parts spotted, with black. The throat and belly are white. In
winter it is a shy bird, crouching, running with jerks of the tail,
or taking short flights ; it utters a soft whistle, and lays pinkish-

1 See Yarrell's Brit. Birds, 4th ed., iii. 1882-84, pp. 426-434, and elsewhere.

286 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

yellow eggs with brown spots in a slight nest on cultivated
lands.

Actitis liypoleucus, the Common Sandpiper, breeds in many
parts of Britain, and ranges from the Arctic Circle in Europe
and Asia to the Atlantic Islands, the Mediterranean, the
Himalayas, and Japan ; it leaves us before winter, however, and
migrates to most of the Ethiopian, Indian, and Australian
Kegions. The coloration is greenish-brown above, with dusky
markings, and some white on the wings and tail ; the breast is
grey with dark streaks, the belly white. In winter the upper
parts are more uniform. Eapid pebbly streams with islands, or
flat stretches of sand are the birds' favourite resorts, where their
shrill whistle and somewhat Wagtail-like habits make them very
conspicuous ; they fly, run, perch, or swim with equal ease. The
nest, usually partly sheltered by rough vegetation or drifted
rubbish, contains four reddish-buff eggs with brown and lilac
spotting. A. ?nacularius, the Spotted Sandpiper of North America
generally, found in winter southwards to Amazonia and Brazil, is
smaller, with round black spots beneath in summer ; it lacks the
nearly white eighth and ninth secondaries of its congener.

Terekia cinerea, with the up-curved beak of a Greenshank, but
the habits and eggs of the last genus, breeds from Archangel
eastward to the Pacific, leaving these haunts for the Indian Kegion
to winter, when it is also found in South Africa and Australia.
It is grey and black above, with white on the secondaries, and
black scapulars, and white below streaked with dusky.

Micropalama himantopus, the long-legged Stilt -Sandpiper,
inhabits the extreme North-East of America, migrating to Peru
and Argentina. It has black, rufous, and greyish-white upper
parts, white tail-coverts, and under parts with blackish bars ; in
winter the back is grey, while the bars nearly disappear beneath.
The habits, nest, arid eggs are much as in other Sandpipers.

The God wits (Limosa) have long legs and bills, the latter being
slightly up-curved. L. belgica, the Black-tailed Godwit, nested
regularly, up to about 1824, in the eastern counties of England,
and, like the Buff, was netted for eating. It now breeds from
Iceland, the Faroes, and Holland to Siberia and Amurland, the
smaller eastern form being sometimes denominated L. melanu-
roides; the winter range reaches to the Atlantic Islands, Abys-
sinia, Ceylon, the Malay Islands, Japan, Australia, and Polynesia.

CH ARADRIIDAE 287

The breeding plumage is reddish-brown and black above,
with rufous crown, neck, and breast, marked with dusky ; the rump
and terminal portion of the tail are black, the basal portion, tail-
coverts, alar bar, and belly white : in winter the upper parts are
brownish, the lower grey. The American representative, Z.
hudsonica, occupies the barren grounds of the north, and migrates
to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands ; it has black instead of
nearly white axillaries. Though rarer in Britain than the suc-
ceeding species during the passage in autumn and spring, small
flocks of fairly tame Black-tailed Godwits then frequent our muddy
shores and sands — especially in the south ; the summer note, or
yelp, is louder than the winter cry. Four elongated pear-
shaped eggs, of a dull olive shade with brown markings, are
deposited in a slightly lined hollow in some grassy marsh. The
males of Godwits constantly incubate. L. lapponica, the shorter-
legged Bar-tailed Godwit, inhabits the countries from Finmark
eastward to about the Taimyr Peninsula, where it meets the race
L. uropygialis, which extends to Alaska. The western form
migrates to the Gambia, Somaliland and North India, the
eastern through Japan and China to the Malay Archipelago,
Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, rarely occurring in south-
western North America. In summer the mantle is rufous-brown
and black, the head and under parts are chestnut, with dark
markings from the crown to the sides, the rump is' white with a
few dusky streaks, the tail and axillaries are white barred with
brown : in winter the upper surface is chiefly grey, and the lower
white. L. uropygialis has the rump also barred. The nest of
the Bar-tailed Godwit is usually in comparatively dry spots, or
£ven on forest -clear ings, the eggs being brighter green and more
finely marked than those of the Black- tailed species. L. fedoa,
the Marbled Godwit of northern North America, which winters
southwards to Central America and the West Indies, is dis-
tinguished by its large size and buff axillaries.

The almost cosmopolitan genus JVumenius is remarkable for
its prolonged decurved bill, and its elongated legs. N. arquata,
the Curlew or Whaup, breeds freely on the moorlands of Britain,
and extends throughout Northern Europe and Asia to Lake Baikal ;
after breeding it visits the Atlantic Islands, the whole of Africa,
and the Indian Eegion. The plumage is pale brown with darker
streaks, the rump, tail, and axillaries being white, and the two

288

CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

latter barred with dark brown ; the belly is white, the breast
nearly so in winter. Found on our shores from autumn to spring,
its wary habits are as well-known as its wild rippling note ; the
food consists of insects, worms, berries, and so forth ; while four
large pear-shaped olive-and-brown eggs are deposited in an ample
depression formed on boggy or heathery ground. N. cyanopus, a
distinct East Siberian form, met with in Australia and occasionally
from New Guinea to Borneo in winter, has the rump-region brown

FIG. 59. — Curlew. Numenius arquata. x -?.

and black. N. tenuirostris, of the Mediterranean and South Eussiar
resembles the Curlew, but is much smaller ; JV. longirostris of
temperate North America, migrating to Central America and the
Antilles, has cinnamon axillaries — like all the New World mem-
bers of the genus — and a dark rump. The remaining species, or
Whimbrels, have a pale central streak down the crown, less dis-
tinct in N. borealis, the Eskimo Curlew, which has rufous axillaries
barred with brown, and a rump like the back. This bird wanders to
Britain, but breeds in the extreme north of America, and in winter
reaches the south of that Continent. N. phaeopus, the typical Whim-

CHARADRIIDAE 289

brel or May-bird, nests in the Shetlands and perhaps still in the
Orkneys and North Eonay in the Hebrides ; in summer it takes
the place of the Curlew in the Faroes and Iceland, strays to
Greenland, and occupies Northern Europe and Asia ; while it
visits the Azores, the whole of Africa, the Indian Kegion, and
Australia in winter. Specimens from Eastern Asia, with more
streaked rumps, have been separated as N. variegatus. In general
plumage and habits the Whimbrel resembles the Curlew ; it is,
however, much smaller, the cry consists of sharper and more quickly
repeated notes, and the parents, though anxious, are less shy at
the nest. They often descend in a gyrating fashion, closing one
wing. N. hudsonicus, of Arctic North America, which winters
throughout South America, and has once occurred in Spain, re-
sembles N. borealis in its cinnamon axillaries, but is larger and
less ruddy beneath. N. tahitiensis, common in the Pacific Islands,
and probably breeding in Alaska, is recognisable by the bristly-
pointed flank-feathers ; N. minutus, ranging from East Siberia in
summer to the Malay Islands and Australia in winter, has the
back of the metatarsus as well as the front scutellated.

Sub-fam. 3. Scolopacinae. — Macrorhamphus griseus, the
"Dowitcher," breeding in the extreme north of North America, and
its larger and brighter western race, M. scolopaceus, are rufous birds
with darker variegations, the lower back and tail being white, but
the latter and its upper coverts shewing blackish barring. The
bill is widened towards the tip, while in winter the plumage is grey
and white. One form or the other has strayed to Britain, Western
Europe, and Eastern Asia, the range on migration reaching
Brazil and Chili. The habits resemble those of Eedshanks. M.
taczanowskii, with black-mottled rump, occupies East Siberia, and
winters in India, Borneo, and thence to China.

Scolopax rusticula, the well-known Woodcock, brown, grey, and
buff in colour, with blackish vermiculations and blotches above
and bars below, has two transverse buff stripes on the black hind-
crown. It inhabits Northern and Central Europe and Asia —
with the Atlantic Islands and Japan — and migrates to the Mediter-
ranean, Persia, India, Ceylon, and China, or even strays to eastern
North America. Breeding freely in Britain, where large additional
flocks arrive in autumn, it frequents leaf- strewn woods in which
marshy spots or rivulets alternate with dry ground ; the food
consists of worms, small molluscs and insects, the first being
VOL. ix u

290 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

obtained by probing the soil with the long sensitive beak. The
flight is rapid and steady, the note — not uttered when flushed —
is whistling ; while during incubation a curious habit prevails
among the cocks of " reading " or traversing fixed routes at twi-
light, and uttering hoarse notes. The nest is a depression, usually
lined with dry leaves ; the four eggs, much larger and rounder than
those of the Snipe, are creamy -buff with pale brown, grey, and lilac
markings. The young are often carried by the parents between
their thighs, the bill probably aiding to steady them. Woodcocks l

FIG. 60.

are now seldom snared or netted in England. $ saturata of Java
and North- West New Guinea is a darker bird with almost uniform
black primaries, and a white abdomen with dusky bars. S. rochusseni
of the Moluccas has partly bare tibiae, like many Snipe, and a nearly
plain buff breast. The Woodcock of eastern North America is
Philohela minor, which has the three outer primaries curiously
attenuated.

The genus Gallinago differs from the above in having longi-
tudinal stripes on the head. G. caelestis, the Common or Full
Snipe,1 breeds in Northern and Central Europe and Asia, and
even in North Italy ; it is recorded from Greenland and the
Bermudas, and migrates to the Atlantic Islands, the Gambia, the
Upper Nile, and the Indian Eegion. Its brown, black, and buff
plumage, with three buff streaks on the head, is well-known,
while there are normally fourteen rectrices. G. sabinii is merely
a dark form. As regards its autumnal influx and food the Snipe
resembles the Woodcock, but the cry of " scape-scape " and twisting
1 For the nerves of the bill, see Yarrell's Brit. Birds, 4th ed. iii. 1882-84, pp. 346, 347.

CHARADRIIDAE 291

flight on rising, remain to be mentioned, while the alternate zig-
zag rise and fall of the bird when circling in the air near its
nest, with the curious drumming or bleating noise produced at
each descent must not be omitted. The method of production of
this sound is still uncertain, but is either due to the vibration
of the wings, or more probably to that of the webs of the outer
rectrices. The slight nest is formed in a tuft of herbage in some
marshy place, the four pointed eggs being olive, with spots and
oblique blotches of brown. Snipe occasionally perch on trees or
squat upon the ground until touched. The very similar G. delicata
(wilsoni), breeding northwards from the northern United States,
and migrating to northern South America, has usually sixteen
rectrices, as have the six following species. G. major, the Double
or Solitary Snipe, nests as far south in Europe as Holland and
Poland, and reaches the Yenesei ; it is known from the Tian-Shan
Mountains, Turkestan, and Persia, and winters even in Natal and
Damara-Land, visiting Britain annually on passage. It rises
silently and heavily when flushed, is to some extent nocturnal,
and drums when on the ground. The three outer tail-feathers
are chiefly white.1 G. frenata, ranging from Argentina and Tara-
paca to Venezuela and Guiana ; G. nobilis of Colombia and Ecuador,
G. paraguaiae, reaching from Amazonia and Bolivia to the Falk-
lands, G. macrodactyla (bernieri) of Madagascar, and G. aequa-
torialis (nigripennis), of the Ethiopian Eegion generally, conclude
this section of the genus. G. australis is similar to our Snipe,
but larger ; it breeds in Japan, and migrates through Formosa to
Australia; G. nemoricola, the "Wood- Snipe of the hills of India
and Burma, has the lower parts distinctly barred ; G. solitaria,
breeding at considerable elevations from Turkestan to Assam and
Japan, and wintering in those countries and China, exhibits dis-
tinct white streaks above. In the three last-named species the
rectrices number about eighteen, in the next six they may be as
few as fourteen. South America furnishes five forms somewhat like
Woodcocks in their habits and eggs, namely, G. gigantea of Brazil
and Paraguay, the largest of the Snipes; G. undulata of Guiana; G.
jamesoni, ranging from Colombia to Bolivia ; G. imperialis of the
former country ; and G. stricklandi of Chili and Patagonia. All
these recall the Common Snipe by their coloration, as does the
small short-winged G. aucklandica, which, with its different races,

1 For habits, see Dresser, Birds of Europe, vii. 1871-1881, pp. 635-637. •

292 CHARADRIIFORMES : CHIONIDIDAE CHAP.

occupies the Auckland, Snares, Chatham, and Antipodes Islands,
and has visited New Zealand. G. stenura, the Pin-tailed Snipe,
with twenty-six rectrices, the eight outer of which on each side
are stiff and attenuated, breeds from the Yenesei to the Pacific,
and winters in the Indian Eegion ; G. megala, with twelve of its
twenty tail-feathers narrowed, inhabits East Siberia and passes
through Japan to China, the Philippines, Borneo, and the Moluccas
in winter. G. (Limnocryptes) gallinula, the Jack Snipe, found in
Britain from autumn to spring, breeds from Scandinavia to Siberia,
and migrates to North Africa, the Indian Eegion, and Japan. The
upper parts show a greenish and purple gloss, while it has only
twelve rectrices. Like G. major, it frequents drier spots than the
Common Snipe, and rises without a sound in the shooting season,
the flight being butterfly-like ; the habits in summer are similar to
those of the last-named species, and the eggs even larger for its size.

Of the so-called Painted Snipes the female of RJiyncJiaea or
Rostratula capensis has a brown head with chestnut cheeks and
collar, a brownish-green back with blackish freckling, scattered
golden-buff ocelli and streaks on the upper parts, a black fore-neck,
a white under surface and ring round the eye. The male is duller,
without the chestnut tints. This species inhabits the whole Ethio-
pian and most of the Indian Region, as well as Egypt, Arabia,
and Japan ; the larger R. australis, with only a chestnut patch
on the nape, occupies Australia. R. semicollaris of Chili and
Patagonia, which visits Peru and Brazil, shews no chestnut collar,,
but has black upper wing-coverts with round white spots ; the
sexes being alike. In mature females of the Old World forms
the trachea extends in a loop or loops over the furcula, or even
over the pectoral muscles.1 The habits of these birds are Snipe-
like, but the flight is slower, and the hen's note purring ; the whitish
eggs with plentiful black spots are somewhat Plover-like, while R.
semicollaris apparently lays only two. The Indian species is said
to hiss at intruders, with its wings and tail expanded into a disc.

The short-winged Phegornis mitchelli, which lacks a hallux, is
brown above, and white with very close dusky bars below ; the
head is black, save for a white band which surrounds the occiput ;
while a neck-collar is formed by a fine orange patch behind and a
white area in front. It inhabits the Andes from Peru to Chili.

Fam. II. Chionididae. — This group — with Dromas — possibly

1 Wood-Mason. P.Z.S. 1878, pp. 745-751 ; Gould, Birds of Australia, ii. 1865, p. 275.

GLAREOLIDAE 293

connects the Charadriidae and the Laridae. The peculiar bill and
short, entirely reticulated metatarsus have already been mentioned
(pp. 268-269), while both sexes are pure white, the downy young
being grey. Chionis alba, the " Kelp Pigeon " of the Falklands,
which inhabits the Straits of Magellan, New Year Island, South
Georgia and Louis-Philippe Land, and has once been shot in Ireland,
has the bill pinkish or yellowish with a black tip and flat sheath ;
the bare face is covered with whitish papillae, and the feet are bluish.
C. minor, of Kerguelen Land, Prince Edward and Marion Islands,
and the Crozets, has the sheath protuberant, the bill and facial
caruncle black, and the feet pinkish. There is said to be a blunt
black carpal spur, less prominent in the female. Both species
are often found at sea, flying strongly, or sailing with outspread
wings ; but on land their appearance, gait, and manner of court-
ing are curiously like those of Pigeons. The note is a gentle
chuckle ; the food consists of mussels — which they break with
ease — crustaceans, sea- weed, and even eggs of other birds ; their
own eggs, two or rarely three in number, are of the Oyster-
catcher type, but commonly redder in the markings, so that they
recall those of the Razor-bill or Tropic-bird. When the flocks
separate into pairs for breeding, they are tame and inquisitive,
while they fashion a nest of dried plant-stems in hollows among
rocks, or occasionally in Petrels' burrows.

Fam. III. Glareolidae. — Of these Old World forms Sub-fam 1,
Glareolinae, includes the genera Glareola, Cursorius, Pluvianus, and
perhaps Ortyxelus, the first two having the middle claw pectinated,
and Glareola. a, short, stout bill with wide gape, a forked tail, and long
pointed wings. G. pratincola, the Pratincole, which occasionally
visits Britain by way of Western France, breeds in Southern
Europe and North Africa, and extends to Sind and the Tian-Shan
Mountains in Asia, migrating to other parts of India and to
South Africa. It is brown above, with blacker wings and tail,' the
secondaries having white tips, and the rectrices white bases and
coverts ; the throat is buff, surrounded by a black line, the breast
brownish, the abdomen white ; the axillaries and inner under
wing-coverts are chestnut, the bill and feet blackish, with red base
to the former. G. orientalis, found from Mongolia to Ceylon, the
Malay Archipelago, and North Australia, has the tail less forked
and little white on the secondaries ; G. ocularis, of Madagascar,
recorded from Mauritius and East Africa, has a pale chestnut

294 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

breast, and the outer pair of rectrices white with broad black
ends ; G. melanoptera (nordmanni) of South-East Europe and "West
Asia, migrating to South Africa, has black axillaries and under
wing-coverts, as have the long-legged G. grallaria (isdbella) with
slightly forked tail and chestnut flanks, which breeds in Eastern
Australia and occurs from New Guinea to Borneo, and the small
grey-backed G. lactea of India, Ceylon, and Burma, with much
white on the wings. The other species have reddish feet, fading to
yellow ; G. cinerea, ranging from the Niger to the Congo, possesses
a rufous nuchal collar and white axillaries ; G. nuchalis of the White
Nile, and the hardly separable G. emini of Foda in Equatorial
Africa, have a white collar and grey axillaries ; G. megapoda, ex-
tending from Liberia to the Niger, shews a rufous collar and
grey axillaries. The last five forms, and G. ocularis, have the tail
merely emarginated. Pratincoles have a shrill, screaming note
and Swallow-like flight, insects, on which they feed, being ordinarily
captured on the wing ; but the general habits are those of Plovers,
the birds running very fast, and the parents often swooping down
upon an intruder, or cowering on the ground to draw attention
from their brood. They frequent sand-banks, lagoons, bare
plains, or coast-lands, laying two, three, or rarely four oval
greenish-buff or greyish eggs, with purplish -black, brown, and
grey marblings, without any nest, on the sun-baked mud.

The genus Cursorius, or Courser, inhabits the hotter portions
of the Old World. C. gallicus, the Cream-coloured Courser, which
visits Britain and the southern half of Europe irregularly, is met
with in the Canary and Cape Verd Islands, North Africa, and the
countries from Arabia to Northern India. The brown bill is thick
and decurved, the whitish legs are long ; the plumage is buff, with
slaty nape, black remiges, axillaries, under wing-coverts, and sub-
terminal tail-bar ; the face is white with a black post-ocular streak.
Seldom found in flocks, this bird frequents dry sandy plains and
deserts, crouching to avoid notice, running with extraordinary
speed if approached, but rarely rising on the wing. The flight,
however, is at times protracted. The food consists almost entirely
of insects, such as grasshoppers, yet it includes small molluscs ;
the note is harsh ; while two, or exceptionally three, round stone-
coloured eggs with grey and brown markings are deposited on the
bare ground. The axillaries and under wing-coverts are greyish-
buff in C. somalensis, of Somaliland, but brownish-grey in C.

GLAREOLIDAE 295

rufus, of South Africa, which has a black abdominal patch.
C. temmincki (senegalensis), of most of the Ethiopian Region, and
C. coromandelicus, of India and Ceylon, are similar, but have the
nape black and white, the latter possessing white tail-coverts.

In the remaining species (Bhinoptilus of some authors) the
bill is almost straight. C. licinctus of South Africa is mottled
with brown above, having much chestnut on the wings, white
tail-coverts, and buff under parts crossed by two black pectoral
bars. C. lisignatus, ranging from East Africa to Benguela, and
C. hartingi of Somali-Land, are hardly more than races of the above.
C. cinctus of East Equatorial Africa, and the barely separable C.
seebohmi of South- West Africa, are easily recognised by the four
bands on the white lower surface, the highest and lowest being
brown, and the two intermediate black, with a streaky buff space
between them. C. chalcopterus, of the Ethiopian Eegion generally,
and C. albifasciatus with a more distinct white alar bar, are plain
brown birds with metallic purple hues on the black primaries, white
post-ocular streak and throat, and white belly surmounted by a
black band. C. bitorquatus, of the districts near Madras, differs in
shewing below three successive bands or gorgets, one of rufous and
two of brown, separated by white. Though all Coursers agree in
general habits, the last three seem to prefer bushy ground, and
C. rufus will perch in trees.

Pluvianus aegyptius, apparently allied to Cursorius, inhabits
West and North-East Africa, wandering to Palestine and South
Europe, and being even recorded from Sweden. The head, nape,
and long mantle-feathers overhanging the grey back are glossy
black ; the wings and tail are black and white varied with grey,
the lower parts rufous-white with a black pectoral band, while a line
of white encircles the crown. This bird, called " Zic-zac " from its
noisy chattering cry (cf. p. 276), is usually seen skimming swiftly
over the water, or running and feeding along the shores. The
yellowish stone-coloured eggs, with umber and grey markings, are
commonly found buried in the sand, but so are those of the Einged
Plover in wind-swept spots. Probably this species, and not Hop-
lopterus spinosus, is the r/oo^/Xo? of Herodotus, the Crocodile-bird
of later writers, which enters the Crocodile's mouth to feed.

Here may possibly be placed the mottled rufous, black, and
white Ortyxelus meijfreni of West and North-East Africa.1

1 Cf. Sharpe, Ibis, 1892, p. 543 ; but it seems nearer to Turnix (p. 187).

296 CHARADRIIFORMES : THINOCORYTHIDAE CHAP.

Sub-fam. 2. Dromadinae. — This contains only Dromas ardeola,
the curious Crab-Plover, with its straight, hard compressed bill,
long legs, webbed toes, and pectinated middle claw. It is white,
with the elongated dorsal feathers and most of the wings black,
the tail chiefly grey. Found from the Eed Sea to Natal, and
through the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal, it haunts sandy
islands or sandbanks on the coast, flying, running, or walking with
equal ease. This bird feeds on small crustaceans, and breeds in com-
pany, depositing a single large white egg on the bare sand in a
deep burrow, where the young remain for a considerable time.

Fam. IV. Thinocorythidae. — The so-called South American
" Seed -Snipes" are a generalized group of somewhat Fowl-like
birds, with long wings and short legs. Thinocorys rumicivorus,
of Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Argentina, and Patagonia, is yellowish-
brown and black above, with whitish tips to the dark remiges and
rectrices, and creamy white below with a black pectoral band,
which sends a streak upwards to bifurcate round the white throat.
The female has a less extensive band, and an ashy-brown fore-neck.
T. orlignianus, of Peru, Chili, and Bolivia, differs in its grey
breast with no central streak ; it has a black border to the throat,
and a grey nape, which is absent in the female. Attagis gayi, of
the same countries, has grey and rufous upper parts with black
spots and vermiculations, and pale cinnamon under parts, with a
greyish fore-neck shewing fine black lines. A. chimborazensis of
Ecuador is blacker above and darker below ; A. malouina, of the
Straits of Magellan and the Falkland Islands, has a white lower
surface and a rufous chest with round black spots. These forms
usually frequent hill-country, and to the north of their range even
haunt the higher Andes, living on vegetable substances, and especi-
ally seeds of docks and other plants. They run with great celerity
over the stony ravines or grassy plains, but they often squat or creep
away from intruders ; when flushed they rise sharply with twisting
flight like the Snipe, and utter a similar cry. On the ground they
make curious hollow or whistling noises, the flocks answering one
another as they sit, and being very hard to distinguish, from
their earthy coloration. The nest of Thinocorys is a depression
slightly lined with grass, and contains some four drab or pinkish-buff
pear-shaped eggs, thickly speckled with chocolate and purplish-
grey, which the female is said to cover when she leaves them, while
the male anxiously keeps watch from some neighbouring stone.

v OEDICNEMIDAE — PARRIDAE 2Q/

Fam. V. Oedicnemidae. — Of these birds, which lack the hind
toe, Oedicnemus scolopax, the Stone-Curlew, or Norfolk Plover, a
summer visitor to the warrens of East Anglia, and the downs or
stony flats of the South of England, ranges from our shores _and
the Atlantic Islands through temperate Europe and North Africa
to Lake Saisan and Burma in Asia. This largest of European
Plovers is light brown above and buff below, with blackish streaks
throughout ; the throat, belly, a line below the eye, and two narrow
alar bars are white, the remiges otherwise black, the tail brown,
black, and white. The feet, base of the bill, and very large iris
are yellow. This skulking semi-nocturnal species flies strongly,
though it prefers to squat or run, and takes to the wing reluct-
antly ; towards winter it is gregarious, as are so many of the
Charadriiformes. The mournful whistling cry, more mellow than
that of the Golden Plover, is chiefly heard at twilight, when the
bird feeds upon worms, insects, molluscs, or even reptiles, frogs,
and mice. Two oval stone-coloured eggs, blotched or scrawled with
black, are laid on bare ground or among stones, and in India some-
times under bushes ; while the newly-hatched young are decidedly
torpid, contrary to Limicoline custom. Other species with streaked
breasts are Oe. senegalensis, of West and North-East Africa, with
only one white wing-bar ; Oe. vermiculatus, of East and South
Africa, with vermiculated upper parts ; Oe. capensis, of much the
same districts, with coarse blotches and bars above ; and the large
Oe. grallarius of Australia with a broad brown stripe down each
side of the neck. Oe. affinis of North -East Africa is barely dis-
tinct from Oe. capensis. The forms with almost uniform breasts,
and a black patch or line over the eye, are Oe. bistriatus,1 ranging
from Mexico to North Brazil, with mottled, and Oe. superciliaris
of Peru with vermiculated, back; as well as two fine birds separated
as Aesacus. Ae. recurvirostris, of India, Ceylon, and Burma, has a
stout, slightly recurved bill and nearly plain upper surface ; Ae.
magnirostris, extending from the Andaman Islands to the Philip-
pines, Australia, the Solomons, and New Caledonia, differs in its
straight bill and blackish lores. The former breeds on sand-banks
up rivers, the latter on sea-beaches, both feeding upon crustaceans
and molluscs. Some of the Family occasionally frequent low
hills, and Oe. bistriatus is kept to destroy insects in Nicaragua.

Fam. VI. Parridae. — Of the extraordinary long-toed

1 Oe. dominicensis of St. Domingo may be distinct from the above.

298 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Parra jacana, ranging from Ecuador and Guiana to Bolivia and
Argentina, has a red frontal lappet, bilobed posteriorly, a red wattle
at each side of the gape, an orange bill, olive feet, and a well-devel-
oped yellow carpal spur. The plumage is chestnut, with greenish-
black head, neck, and under parts, maroon sides, and yellow remiges,
the wing- and tail-quills being tipped with brownish-black. P.
melanopygia of Panama and Colombia is darker and more maroon
above; P. nigra, of those countries and Venezuela, is entirely
greenish-black, except for the wings ; P. gymnostoma (variabilis),
found from South Texas to Costa Rica, with Cuba, Porto Rico,
and Haiti, has the frontal lappet trilobed, lacks the rictal wattles,
and in colour resembles P. melanopygia, though the maroon ex-
tends to the belly. The young in this genus are chiefly bronzy-
brown above and bumsh-white below ; and the nestlings — at least
in P. gymnostoma — are curiously marked with tawny, black, buff,
and white. Metopidius indicus, occurring from India to Cochin
China, and in Sumatra, Java, and Celebes, has a large blue frontal
shield, small blunt spurs, and no rictal wattles ; the bill is pink,
blue, and green ; the feet are slaty. The head, neck, remiges, and
under parts are greenish-black, varying to purple, the chin and
superciliary streak are white, the mantle is bronze, the lower' back
maroon, and the tail chestnut. The young are much greener above
than in the last genus. M. albinucha of Madagascar and M. afri-
canus of most of the Ethiopian Region have a smaller shield, loosely
connected behind, which is grey in the former, leaden blue in the
latter, as are the bill and feet. The cinnamon-brown plumage is
varied in the first-named by a black occiput and throat and white
nape, in its congener by a white neck, black nape, and golden upper
breast. The tail is chestnut and the primaries black. The very small
Microparra capensis, of South and South-East Africa, has no shield or
wattles, and is greyish-brown, becoming orange on the crown, rump,
and tail ; the nape and upper mantle are purplish-black, the wings
blackish with a white alar bar, the under parts white with golden
sides to the neck. The bill and feet are brownish, the spur in
this genus and the next being as in Metopidius. Hydralector
gallinaceus, ranging from Borneo and Celebes to New Guinea and
Australia — if If. novae guineae be not separated — is chiefly black ;
the back being greyish-olive, the throat and abdomen white, the
cheeks, with the sides and front of the neck, golden. A red lappet
with an erect central protuberance covers the forehead ; the bill is

PARRIDAE

299

red, yellow, and black ; the legs are red and olive. Young birds
are mainly reddish-brown, with white below. Hydropliasianus
chirurgus, of most of the Indian Eegion, is bronzy-brown above
and purplish-black below, with no fleshy outgrowths, but a large,
sharp spur. The head is white with black occiput, the neck
golden behind and white in front, with an intervening black lateral
stripe ; the wings are mainly white, with curious filamentous
appendages to the attenuated blackish outer primaries ; the four
median feathers of the dark brown tail are enormously elongated
and decurved. The winter and immature plumage is almost

FIG. 61. — Indian Jacana. Hydrophasianus chirurgus. x J.

entirely bronzy-brown, with white under surface crossed by a
black gorget ; but the young have a rufous head.

All the members of this Family frequent lakes and swamps,
whether inland or near the coast, Hydrophasianus chirurgus occur-
ring at considerable elevations ; while at least that species, Parra
jacana, and Metopidius indicus, are gregarious in winter. On their
favourite lagoons, bordered by a dense fringe of aquatic plants,
these active birds may be seen gracefully striding or running
upon the floating leaves of water-lilies and like plants, as their
long toes easily enable them to do. When danger threatens they
crouch or submerge themselves partially, Hydralector being
perhaps the best diver, where all are good. Tame when un-
molested, they rise reluctantly, scuttling over the water with

300 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

trailing legs after the fashion of a Moor-hen, or fluttering and
gliding in turn to the nearest shelter at a good pace. On the
ground the gait is easy. Small parties of Parra jacana are said
to gather together when feeding, and to utter quick, excited cries,
while going through a singular performance or dance, with out-
stretched, agitated wings and alternate slow and fluttering move-
ments.1 Some species are especially quarrelsome ; Microparra has
a habit of bobbing its head up and down like a Ployer; the male of
Parra jacana is particularly sedulous in warning the female from
the nest ; and both parents commonly "sham wounded" to protect
their young. The cry is loud and harsh, or mewing in Hydro-
phasianus ; the food consists of insects, molluscs, seeds, and roots ;
the nest is a small cup, or not uncommonly a large mass, of
aquatic herbage, placed in grass or rushes, or on floating vegetation.
The four beautiful eggs are more or less pear-shaped, and are glossy
buff, olive, green, or brown, thickly covered with fantastic scrawls,
and occasionally with black or brown blotches. Metopidius
indicus, however, is said to lay as many as ten, while those of
Hydrophasianus are plain brown or green.

A fossil Limicoline form, Palaeotringa, occurs in the Cretace-
ous rocks of New Jersey ; France furnishes Limosa and Tringa
from the Eocene, Camascelus (allied to the Plovers) from the
transition beds, Milnea (near Oedicnemus), Tringa, Himan-
topus, and Numenius from the Miocene. The same formation in
both France and Germany provides Helornis (akin to Limicola),
and Totanus; the Pliocene of Italy the latter; G-allinago is found
in the Chatham Islands ; Cliaradrius in North America.

Fam. VII. Laridae. — This consists of four Sub-families (1)
Stercorariinae or Skuas, (2) Larinae or Gulls, (3) Rhyncliopinae
or Skimmers, and (4) Sterninae or Terns. Mr. Saunders 2 is, how-
ever, probably right in distinguishing a second Family, Stercora-
riidae ; and possibly a third, Rhynchopidae, might be admitted.

In the Larinae the strong, horny bill is of moderate length,
though exceptionally small in Rhodostethia, the maxilla being
curved, but hardly hooked ; in the Stercorariinae there is a distinct
hook, and the base is covered by a cere, said to be hard or soft
according to the season, and possibly shed after the manner of
certain Auks.3 In the Sterninae the beak is nearly straight and

1 Hudson, Argentine Ornithology, ii. London, 1889, p. 163.
2 Cat.BirdsBrit.Mus. xxv. 1896, p. 3. 3 Stejneger, Stand. N.H. iv. Boston, 1885, p. 75.

LARIDAE 3OI

pointed, while comparatively slender ; in the Rhynchopinae, the
maxilla, which moves vertically with ease, is much shorter than
the mandible, and both are compressed anteriorly until they
resemble truncated knife blades. The tibia is generally partly
bare ; the metatarsus is fairly long in the first two Sub-families,
and is scutellated in front, being usually smooth behind, though
rougher in Pagophila ; the anterior toes are fully webbed, with
claws which vary from weak to moderate, or even to strong and
hooked, as in the Stercorariinae. The elevated hallux is joined
by a membrane to the inner toe in Leucophaeus, and is rudimen-
tary or absent in Rissa. In the Sterninae and Rhyncliopinae the
metatarsus is short — especially in the latter, where the web
between the inner and middle digits is deeply incised, as are both
webs in Hydrochelidon and Gygis ; the claws are long, slender, and
curved. The pointed wings, excessively lengthened in the two last-
mentioned Sub-families, have eleven primaries, of which the outer is
particularly small, and from fifteen to twenty-three secondaries.
The tail may be nearly even as in Larus, deeply forked as in Sterna
generally, less excised as in Xema, Hydrochelidon, Naenia, and
Rhynchops, graduated or cuneate as in Rhodostethia, Anous, and
Gygis ; all the twelve feathers being rounded or acute : in the
Stercorariinae the two central rectrices project beyond the others,
being decidedly pointed in Stercorarius crepidatus and S. para-
siticus, but rounded and twisted in the shaft until the webs are
vertical in S. pomatorhinus. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx
tracheo-bronchial, the tongue lanceolate, the nostrils are pervious ;
an after-shaft is present, while both adults and young have abund-
ant down, that of the latter commonly shewing a mixture of white,
with grey, yellowish, slaty, or brown. Naenia has elongated plumes
at the gape, and a few Terns have slight nuchal crests.

Gulls and Skuas are widely-ranging and essentially marine
birds, even those species which nest inland being commonly
observed near salt water, and seeking the coast when incubation
is over. They are always inclined to be gregarious, and are more
or less resident in Britain, but the undoubted influx of birds from
abroad in autumn makes it difficult, or even impossible, to deter-
mine their exact status in every case. Their untiring and easy
flight is only second to that of the larger Petrels ; the majestic style
of the Great Black-backed Gull, and other forms, being a great con-
trast to the wavering but graceful movements of the Kit ti wake or

3O2 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Bonaparte's Gull. All walk well, though sedately, swim to per-
fection, and rise easily both from land and water, usually break-
ing into a run before taking to the wing from the ground ; while
they almost invariably alight with uplifted pinions. The wild
characteristic note varies less than in most large groups, that of
the bigger species being harsh and querulous, that of the smaller
" laughing " or screaming ; the lesser Skuas give vent to a
curious mewing cry, and the Great Skuas to a similar but deeper
sound. At the breeding-quarters the utterances are naturally
more agitated and shrill, and the parents hang excitedly above
a visitor's head. The food consists mainly of fish, molluscs,
crustaceans, and worms, but is varied in the stronger forms by
small mammals, young birds, and eggs : the Great Black-backed
Gull undoubtedly attacks lambs and weakly ewes ; carrion is
not uncommonly devoured ; and Larus maculipennis acts as a
scavenger at Buenos Aires, besides clearing the country of grass-
hoppers, and robbing the Cayenne Lapwing of its insect booty.
Skuas give chase to their smaller kin, and force them to disgorge
the fishes they have just caught, while even Solan Geese are
sometimes victimized ; Larus scopulinus, moreover, which robs the
Oyster-catcher of New Zealand, is a further instance of parasitic
habits. Insects and their larvae, turnips, berries, and grain are
also eaten by these omnivorous but useful creatures. Their main
sustenance is naturally derived from the ocean, or its oozy shores ;
but flocks are commonly seen on pastures and arable lands near
the beach, or following the plough further from the sea, though
not being of the species which breed in the interior, nor
driven inland by stress of weather. At times Gulls almost, if
not quite, disappear below the water when swooping on their
prey, and Kittiwakes have been said to pursue it beneath the
surface. A common habit is that of preening and washing the
plumage in company at favoured spots, while one that is less well-
known is that of casting up the indigestible parts of the food in
pellets, as do many other birds. The nesting sites are very
frequently precipitous rocks and stony islands, but inland
marshes and lakes accommodate many species, while in certain
localities trees as high as thirty feet are selected. Skuas breed
on moors or hills near the sea in Scotland, on the fells of Scandi-
navia, and on the tundras and barren grounds of the Arctic Eegions,
the nest being a mere depression in the herbage or moss; the

v LARIDAE 303

remainder of the tribe generally collect a mass of grass, moss,
flags, sedges, heather, twigs, or sea-weed, though a mere hollow in
the soil or sand often serves their purpose. The eggs vary in
number from two in the case of the Ivory Gull and the Skuas to
three or exceptionally four ; they are brown, drab, or green, with
blotches and spots of brown, black, grey, and lilac, and recall those
of Plovers. Both sexes have been said to incubate in Larus minutus
and Rissa Irevirostris ; the young are comparatively helpless for a
few hours or perhaps days, and are at first fed by the parents.

Terns resemble Gulls in many of their habits, but are more
cosmopolitan, and decidedly migratory in Britain; they are
essentially marine, yet some species breed on inland waters in
summer. Particularly slender and graceful, these long- winged birds
may usually be distinguished by their irregular or hovering flight,
and are known as Sea-swallows ; while their method of beating
up and down maritime streams or shallows, singly or in pairs,
in search of fish, is quite peculiar to themselves. At such times
they make constant plunges into the water, often completely
immersing their bodies, or occasionally discontinue their opera-
tions to engage in trivial and seemingly amicable quarrels. The
note, though hoarse in some cases, is usually a squealing or
grating sound, the latter especially when disturbed ; the food con-
sists of fish and crustaceans, insects — said to be sometimes taken on
the wing — frogs, newts, locusts, grasshoppers, caterpillars, leeches,
molluscs, and medusae. Terns are wary but bold, commonly
circling around a wounded companion until several are shot ; the
Noddies (Anous), however, are much more sluggish and silent. On
the ground all move with comparative ease. The nest of Hydro-
clielidon is a mass of water-weeds placed on some tussock in a wet
inland swamp ; that of Anous, when situated on trees, bushes, or
rocky ledges, is composed of twigs, sea- weed, and like materials ;
but most species merely make a hole in the sand or soil, with little
or no lining. Depressions on level rocks, the surface of prostrate
plants, and heathery, grassy, or muddy flats are often utilized as
alternatives, while colonies are usually formed. Two or three olive,
reddish-brown, green, or stone-coloured eggs, with blotches, spots,
scrawls, or oblique streaks of black, brown, grey, or lilac, are deposited;
the Noddy and Sooty Terns, however, have a single white egg with
red markings, and Gygis one, which is buff, marbled, spotted, or
often scrolled with brown and grey, and is laid on any slight cavity of

I

304 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

a branch, a broad leaf-stalk, or a coral reef. The nesting habits of
Naenia are unknown, but it frequents rocky, cavernous shores.

Eliynchops has a peculiarly low flight, rapid and gliding, with
many a turn and twist, which has gained it the name of Skimmer.
The food, often sought towards evening, appears to consist of small
fish and crustaceans ; it is procured by keeping the bill wide open,
with the long mandible ploughing through the water or mud, and
leaving a distinct furrow in its track. The cry is a low harsh
scream or shrill twittering note. A hollow in some sandy river-
bank or island serves to contain the three or four grey, green,
buff, or white eggs, with blotches and streaks of purplish-grey
and dark brown. The female is said to sit only at night or in
stormy weather, and the young to be unable to fly for several
weeks,1 but the remaining habits resemble those of Terns.

The sexes in the Laridae are invariably similar, the plumage
being grey and white, or more rarely blackish or brown, details
of which will be found below. The young are duller, being
mottled with brown or black in immature Gulls. The frequent
black or brown heads, often lacking at certain ages or times of year,
the seasonal changes generally, the neck-collar of Xema sabinii and
Ehodostethia, and the rosy tint on the breast in the latter species,
Lames franklini, and Sterna dougalli may be noticed in passing.
The members of the Family range in size from the Glaucous
to the Little Gull ; the largest Tern being the Caspian, and the
smallest, as its name indicates, the Least Tern.

Sub-fam. 1. Stercorariinae. — Of this widely spread but curi-
ously distributed group, Megalestris catarrhactes, the Great Skua or
Bonxie, a fine rufous-brown species, with a white wing-patch which
is very conspicuous in flight, breeds in Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland,
and possibly north of Hudson Strait, occurring in South Greenland
and Norway, and reaching New England and Gibraltar in winter.
It nests in colonies, though each pair occupies a distinct area, which
the parents defend with exceptional boldness, swooping down swiftly
with a heavy rush, and dropping the feet when at close quarters,
as if to strike an intruder. Unlike their smaller kin, which will
attack a man from any side and hit him with their wings, these
birds commonly aim directly at the face, and their onslaught, if not
averted, is really dangerous, while they only just clear the head
when threatened with a stick. The two eggs, deposited in a depres-

1 Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water Birds N. Amer. ii. 1884, p. 194.

LARIDAE 305

sion in the herbage, are dull brown or greenish, with somewhat
indistinct umber markings. The food consists chiefly of fish,
which the smaller Gulls are forced to disgorge, while Kittiwakes and
the like are themselves occasionally devoured in default of other prey.
M. chilensis, spotted with chestnut above, and more rufous below,
occupies America south of Eio de Janeiro and Callao ; the sooty-
brown M. antarctica — the stouter-billed Port Egmontor Sea Hen —
replacing it from the Falklands to the Australian and New Zealand
seas, and reaching northwards to the Comoros and Madagascar. In
the Antarctic Victoria Land occurs a paler form, M. maceormicki.
Stercorarius pomatorliinus, the Pomatorhine Skua, breeds on
the tundras of Siberia and possibly from Greenland to Bering Sea,
migrating to Britain and as far as South Africa, North Australia,
and Peru. The plumage is brown, with blacker head and gorget,
white breast, and acuminate white neck-feathers tipped with yellow.
The projecting median rectrices with their vertically twisted vanes
are mentioned above (p. 301). Uniform brown specimens may be
immature. S. crepidatus, the Arctic Skua, is smaller, and nests as
far south as Northern and "Western Scotland, but properly occupies
Arctic and sub- Arc tic Europe, Asia, and America ; in winter,
it reaches South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. The
elongated rectrices are not twisted, but are pointed, while a uni-
form dark phase — the true S. richardsoni — is common to both sexes.
S. parasiticus, Buffon's Skua, distinguished from the last-named by
its extremely prolonged rectrices and greyer upper surface, breeds on
the Scandinavian fells and throughout the Arctic tundras and barren
grounds, migrating as far south as Gibraltar and lat. 40° N. in
America. The habits of the members of this genus are similar
to those of Megalestris, but their quicker flight enables them to
rob even Terns, and the mewing cry is most peculiar, while the
eggs are intermediate in style between those of Whimbrels and
Gulls. These small Skuas often destroy Lemmings.

Sub-fam. 2. Larinae. — Rissa tridactyla, the Kittiwake, breeds
from the circumpolar regions southwards to the Kuril Islands, the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and North- West France ; in winter it reaches
western North America, the Bermudas, the Canaries, the Mediter-
ranean, and the Caspian. The feet are black, the • hind-toe is
absent or rudimentary. From Larus canus, which it closely
resembles when flying, it can be distinguished by the absence of
white spots at the ends of the primaries. The young bird, or
VOL. ix x

306 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Tarrock, is much variegated with dark grey or black, and has a
blackish tip to the tail, as is the case in most fresh-water Gulls.
Many fine colonies inhabit the loftier cliffs of Great Britain, the
nests of sea-weed and grass being closely crowded together, and
the eggs exhibiting softer colours than is usual in the Sub-family.
The darker E. Irevirostris of Bering Sea has red feet.

PagophUa eburnea, the Ivory Gull, seems truly circumpolar,
while it accidentally visits Britain, Northern Europe, and New
Brunswick. It is pure white, with black feet, the young shew-
ing grey and black variations. It will eat whale- or seal-offal.

Leucopliaeus scoresbii, of South Patagonia, the Falkland
Islands, and the neighbouring Antarctic seas, has a crimson bill,
'coarse red feet, with somewhat excised webs, a dark hood in
immature examples, and a white tail. Gabianus pacificus of
Australia and Tasmania is somewhat like Larus marinus, but
has a very short stout bill and a black-banded tail.

In the genus Larus, as throughout this Family, the arrange-
ment followed is that of Mr. Howard Saunders,1 much of whose
admirable work is here incorporated. His first section com-
prises species with a white tail but no hood, the young having
the head striated. Of these, L. glaucus, the Burgomaster or
Glaucous Gull, and L. Uucopterus, the Iceland Gull, are the only
members of the group with nearly white primaries, the former
being larger, with proportionately shorter wings. In summer
the former is circumpolar, and the latter occurs from Jan Mayen to
Greenland and perhaps the west side of Baffin. Bay ; in winter
both visit Britain, but the latter only reaches the Gulf of Gas-
cony, and Boston in America, whereas its ally extends to the Medi-
terranean, the Caspian, Japan, California, and the Bermudas. At
this season the head shows brown markings ; while the young are
entirely mottled, though they apparently become creamy white
just before assuming the grey mantle. L. glaucescens of the
North Pacific, L. nelsoni of North- West America, and L. kumlieni
of Cumberland Sound have the quills chequered with grey, and
connect the above with the following or blacker-quilled group.

L. argenlatus, our Herring Gull, has a blue-grey mantle ; the
black primaries shew white tips and "mirrors" or round white marks,
as well as a grey wedge on the inner web ; the feet are flesh-coloured,

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. 1896 ; J. Linn. Soc. xiv. pp. 390-406 ; P.Z.S.
.1876, pp. 638-672; 1878, pp. 155-212.

LARIDAE 307

the orbits yellowish. In winter the head is streaked, and in the
young the plumage is mottled with brown. This species -extends
over Northern Europe and most of North America, ranging to the
south of those countries in the cold season ; its representative in
the Mediterranean and Central Asia is L. cachinnans, with yellow
feet and red orbits, and in Arctic Siberia L. vegae, chiefly differing
from the last-named in its pinkish legs. L. audouini of the Western
Mediterranean has blackish feet, and a crimson bill with black band.
L. canus, the Common Gull, found throughout Northern Europe and
Asia, and migrating to the Mediterranean, the Nile, the Persian Gulf,
and China, has white mirrors on the first three primaries, yellow
bill, and greenish-yellow feet. It has occurred in Labrador, and
breeds in North Britain on islands, lakes, and flat stacks, though
rarely, if ever, on cliff-faces ; the shrill note is more like that of the
Herring Gull than the harsh cry of our Black-backs. The smaller and
darker L. bracliyrJiynchus occupies North- Western America, reaching
California in winter ; the paler L. delawarensis, with a subterminal
black band on the yellowish bill, frequents lakes and marshes in
North America, and breeds towards the north ; L. cali/ornicus, with
little black on the beak, inhabits western North America.

Of the Black-backed Gulls, L. marinus, the Great Black-back,
largest of the Family except L. glaucus, is found from Arctic Europe
to North-East America, migrating as far as the Mediterranean, the
Canaries, and Florida ; it has a grey wedge on the primaries
like the Herring Gull, and pinkish feet. Somewhat scarce in
Britain in summer and comparatively non-gregarious, it is noted
for its fierceness, and will even attack sheep. The smaller
L. dominicanus, with olive feet, ranges from lat. 10° S. in South
America to South Africa and New Zealand, with the correspond-
ing Antarctic Seas; L. scliistisagus of the North Pacific being
intermediate between this and the next species. L. fuscus, the
Lesser Black-back, found both on our shores and inland, has
yellow feet ; its main range covers North Europe, excluding Ice-
land ; but it even breeds in Morocco and on the Eed Sea, extend-
ing in winter still further southwards. The similar L. ciffinis of
North Poissia and West Siberia, with coarser feet, migrates to
Somaliland, India, and occasionally other districts ; the very
stout-billed L. occidentalis represents our species on the Pacific
-coast of North America.

Mr. Saunders's next section contains five Gulls resembling

308 CHARADRIIFORMES

the last group in having no hood and a white tail ; but here the
young have the head and tail-coverts unspotted. To this belong
L. bulleri of New Zealand, the Chatham and Auckland Islands, with
black bill and feet, which haunts inland rivers ; and also four
marine forms with crimson bill and feet. These are L. scopulinus
of New Zealand, the Chatham and Auckland Islands ; the larger
L. novae hollandiae of Australia, Tasmania, and New Caledonia ; the
South African L. hartlaubi, found in Madagascar; and L. gelastes,
ranging from North-West Africa and the Mediterranean to the
Caspian and Sind, which lays its Tern-like eggs on sand-banks.

The third section differs in having a subterminal black band
on the tail, and, in the young, an irregularly striated hood. L.
crassirostris, of the Chinese and Japanese Seas, has the base
of the tail and the under parts white, the bill yellow, banded
with red and black, the feet yellowish ; L. belcheri, of Peru and
Chili, has a blackish mantle and stouter beak ; L. heermani of
western North America has the tail black except for a white tip,
a grey lower surface, red bill, and black feet ; L. modestus, also of
Peru and Chili, differing in its decidedly grey tail and black beak.
The last-named is a connecting link with the fourth section,
containing the Hooded Gulls ; that is, those with hoods in mature
plumage, but no marked hood in the young. Of these, all except the
first three have the mantle grey and the head more or less white in
winter ; they are rather small birds, which chiefly inhabit the north,
commonly breed in marshes, and utter a shrill querulous cry.

L. fuliginosus of the Galapagos, and L. leucophthalmus of the
Eed Sea and Gulf of Aden, are deep lead-coloured above with black
head ; but the former is grey below with no admixture of white,
while the latter has a white nuchal collar, as has the much
browner L. Tiempriclii, extending from East Africa to Bombay.
L. cirrocepJialus of Brazil, Argentina, and West and Central East
Africa, which occurs in Peru and Natal, has a pale grey head ;
whereas a brown hood distinguishes L. brunneicephalus of Central
— and in winter Southern — Asia, L. maculipennis, ranging
from Brazil to Patagonia and Chili, L. glaucodes of Chili,
Patagonia, and the Falklands, and L. ridilundus, the British
Black-headed or Peewit Gull, which occupies Europe and tem-
perate Asia, migrating to North Africa, India, and China.
These four differ considerably in the pattern of the primaries,1

1 See Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. 1896, pp. 171, 200-219.

LARIDAE

309

but all have red bill and feet. The colonies of our marsh-
breeding species supply large quantities of eggs for eating.

Of the black-hooded, grey-mantled forms, which have as a
rule red bill and feet, L. atricilla, the Laughing Gull, of-the
Atlantic coast of North America and Western Mexico, alone has
black outer primaries ; this species and L. franklini, of the in-
terior of sub-Arctic America, having exceptionally dark mantles,
and the latter pinkish under parts. Both migrate south in winter.

FIG. 62.— Great Black-headed Gull. Larus ichthyaetus. x T%.

L. Philadelphia, Bonaparte's Gull, of all North America, which, like
its two following congeners, strays to Britain, has the bill black ;
L. melanocephalus, of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, has a jet
black head, a partly red bill, and nearly white quills; the very large
L. ichthyaetus ranging from the Black Sea and the Levant to Tibet,
and wintering in Southern Asia, has the bill almost orange. L.
saundersi, a slender-legged stout-billed bird, inhabits the rivers
and coasts of China and Mongolia; L. serranus of the Andes
from Ecuador to Chili being a near ally. Z. minutus, the Little
Gull, frequenting marshy districts in sub- Arctic and temperate

310 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP,

Europe and Asia in summer, and reaching the Mediterranean
in winter, is quite the smallest of the genus.

The lovely Rhodostethia rosea, or Wedge-tailed Gull, of the
North Polar seas, supposed to breed on islets north of Asia and
America if not of Franz Josef Land, is easily distinguished by its
small black bill, red feet, black collar, and rosy lower parts. One
specimen is on record in Britain. Xema sabinii, or Sabine's Gull,
which nests on maritime marshes from Greenland westward to
the Taimyr Peninsula, wanders to Britain, France, the Bermudas,
and Texas, and annually visits Peru ; it may be recognised by its
plumbeous head, black collar, and forked tail. Of the larger
collarless X. furcatum, with a white basal band on the maxilla,
the only five examples known are from the Galapagos and Peru.

Sub-fam. 3. Rhyncliopinde. — Of this group the curiously com-
pressed beak and the habits have already been described (pp. 301,
304). The sole genus RliyncJiops, or Scissor-bill, contains five
species, of which R. nigra is black, with white forehead, cheeks, and
lower parts ; the wing-quills being also broadly tipped, and the
tail-feathers varied, with white. The bill and feet are red, with
a black end to the former. In winter the nape is whiter, while
the young are buff and blackish above. Breeding from New
Jersey to Florida, this bird strays to New Brunswick and
migrates to Trinidad, occurring also in South- West Mexico.
R. intercedens of South Brazil and Argentina, and the larger
R. melanura, of the North and West of South America, have
nearly uniform brown rectrices, but the latter has little white
on the secondaries. R. flavirostris, extending from Senegal to
Damara-Land, and from Egypt and the Eed Sea to Nyassa-Land,
has a red and orange beak ; R. allicollis, of India and Lower
Burma, differs from it in having the back of the neck white.

Sub-fam. 4. Sterninae. — The Terns may be commenced with
the snow-white Gygis Candida, which ranges from the islands east of
Brazil to Ascension, St. Helena, Madagascar and its vicinity, the
Indian Ocean, the Malay countries, Australia, the Ladrones, the
Sandwich Islands and Polynesia generally. The form and habits
have been already noticed (pp. 301, 303). The smaller slender-
billed G. microrhyncha seems to be peculiar to the Marquesas.

Anous stolidus, termed with its congeners the " Noddies " from
their stolid indifference at times to man, chiefly frequents tropical
and sub-tropical regions, and has occurred once in Ireland. It is

LARIDAE 3 I I

sooty-brown, with whitish forehead, grey head, black bill and lores,
and reddish-brown feet ; A. galapagensis of the Galapagos being
entirely sooty-black above. A. (Micrcmous) leucocapillus, with a
weaker bill and a white crown, has a somewhat more restricted
range ; A. (M.) tenuirostris, with grey lores, ranges from the
neighbourhood of Madagascar to Australia ; A. (J/i) hawaiiensis,
with lighter upper parts, occurs around the Sandwich Islands.
These species make a large flat nest of twigs, leaves, grass, and
sea- weed, on trees, bushes, or even on the ground, laying one huffish-
white egg with scattered red-brown markings. Several pairs often
use one tree. A. (Procelsterna) cinereus, extending from Australia
to Chili, and A. (P.) caeruleus of Central Polynesia, are nearly
grey above, but the former is white beneath. The egg is ordinarily
deposited with little or no nest on a bare rock or on sand

In all the rest of the Sub-family the tail is forked instead
of graduated, though less markedly in Naenia inca of Peru
and Chili, which is leaden -grey, with curling white plumes
below the eye, red bill and feet.

The genus Sterna contains the more typical Terns or Sea-
Swallows, of which the coloration — unless subsequently mentioned
— is grey above, and white or lighter grey beneath and on the tail.
S. trudeaui of Brazil, Argentina, and Chili, which strays to the
United States, and S. melanauchen, ranging from the Amirante
and Seychelles Islands to the Liu Kiu group and Polynesia, are
the only two species with the crown white in place of black in
the breeding season ; the former bird has a black streak through
the eye, the latter a band from the lores to the nape.

S. minuta, the Lesser Tern, breeds in many parts of Britain,
and extends from about lat. 60° N. in Europe to the Medi-
terranean, the Caspian, and North India, migrating to South
Africa, Burma, and Java. It has a white forehead and belly, black
lores, orange feet, and yellow bill with black tip. The two or
three whitish or drab eggs, marked with grey and black, differ
strikingly from those of the Common Tern and its allies. The
larger S. sinensis occurs from Bengal and Ceylon to Japan, New
Guinea, and Australia ; the greyer-rumped S. antillarum, the
Least Tern, from northern South America to California and New
England, or exceptionally to Labrador and West Africa; S.'saundersi,
with nearly black outer primaries, from East Africa to Burma.
S. superciliaris, with yellow beak, is peculiar to eastern South

3 1 2 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

America ; S. lorata, with grey belly, to Peru and Chili ; S. nereis,
with white lores, to Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia ; S.
lalaenarum, with black forehead and base of bill, to Southern Africa.

S. fuliginosa, S. anaestheta, and S. lunata are the Sooty
Terns, so-called from their dark upper surface ; the second being
browner and the third greyer than the typical species, wherein
alone the young differ from the adults in having brown lower
parts instead of white. The forehead is white, the bill and feet
are black, while immature birds show whitish markings above.
These Terns frequent the tropics, but 8. lunata only occurs from
the Moluccas to Laysan, the Sandwich Islands, and elsewhere in
Polynesia. S. fuliginosa has been obtained three times in Eng-
land, occasionally on the Continent of Europe, and in America
northwards to Maine. The single egg, like that of the Noddy,
but with finer red, grey, and lilac markings, is laid on sand or flat
rocks ; descriptions of the colony, or " Wideawake Fair," on Ascen-
sion having been given by several writers.1 S. aleutica of Alaska,
Bering Sea, and Japan, with a slate-grey mantle, white forehead
and rump, connects the above with the next section.

The remaining species, with white foreheads, are the large S.
lergii, ranging from East and South-West Africa to Japan and
Polynesia, excluding New Zealand, and S. bernsteini of the Sey-
chelles, Eodriguez, Diego Garcia, arid Halmahera, both of which
have elongated nape-feathers and a yellowish bill, but grey and
white rumps respectively. S. frontalis, of the New Zealand and
Australian Seas, has a black bill.

Of large forms, with black foreheads, black feet, and length-
ened nuchal plumes, S. cantiaca, the Sandwich Tern, breeding
from Britain and the Mediterranean to the Caspian, and from
New England to Honduras and both coasts of Guatemala, pos-
sesses a black bill. It migrates to Cape Colony, Sind, and Brazil.
The large S. maxima, and the similar but smaller S. elegans,
have the beak red ; the former extending from about lat.
40° N. in America to Peru and Brazil, and in winter to West
Africa ; the latter from California to Chili. S. eurygnatha, found
from Venezuela to Patagonia, only differs in its yellow bill ; but
S. media, ranging from the Mediterranean and East Africa to
Australia, has the tail grey instead of white. In this section
the richly marked eggs have often a creamy ground.

1 Cf. Sperling, Ibis, 1868, pp. 286-288 ; Collingwood, Zoologist, 1867, pp. 980-983.

LARIDAE 3 I 3

One only of the smaller species allied to the last group has black-
ish bill and blackish-red feet, namely S. longipennis,1 occurring from
Lake Baikal and Ceylon to Kamtschatka, Japan, and New Guinea.
Of the remainder the Common, Arctic, and Roseate Terns breed in
Britain, though the Roseate is decidedly scarce there. S. flumatilis,
the Common Tern, occupying the coasts and inland waters of Europe,
temperate Asia, and temperate America — chiefly on the eastern
side in the last case — and migrating to South Africa, India, Ceylon,
and Brazil, has red feet, and red bill with horn-coloured tip, the
lower parts being vinaceous grey. 8. macrura, the Arctic Tern,
frequenting the northern regions of Europe and America from

FIG. 63. — Common Tern. Sterna fluviatilis.

lat. 82° to 50°, and 42° K respectively, has the bill entirely
red, the metatarsus comparatively short, and the breast French
grey. The two or three brown-spotted eggs vary from olive to
green, and are frequently ruddier than those of the Common
Tern. S. dougalli, the Roseate Tern, differing in the nearly
black bill, the white tips to the inner webs of the primaries,
and the evanescent pink tinge on the under parts, is widely dis-
tributed from lat. 57° N. in the Atlantic to New Caledonia, but
is apparently wanting in the Eastern Pacific. Its cry is
peculiarly grating. S. albigena, ranging from the Red Sea to
the Malabar coast, is much darker, and has orange feet ; while
S. hirundinacea, extending from Brazil and Peru to the regions
south of Cape Horn, S. vittata of St. Paul's, Amsterdam, Inacces-
sible, Tristan da Cunha, and Kerguelen Islands, and S. virgata
of Kerguelen Island and the Crozets are closely allied forms, of

1 Mr. Barrett-Hamilton, however, calls the feet red in life.

314 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP,

which the last two are said to lay a single egg. S. allistriata,
with but slightly elongated outer rectrices, yellow bill and feet,
inhabits New Zealand and strays to Norfolk Island; S.forsteri,
with white under parts, orange bill, and reddish feet, inhabits
most of North America. S. melanogaster of India, reaching
northwards to Afghanistan and Bhutan, has a black belly.

Of forms with much stouter bills than Sterna, Seena aurantiar
of India, the Burmese countries and Yunnan, has the bill and
feet orange ; Hydroprocne caspm, the Caspian Tern — largest of the
Sub-family — has a very short tail, red bill,* and black feet. The
latter occupies most of the world, except tropical South America,
and the Pacific Islands, visiting Britain, and breeding as near
to it as Sylt. Gelochelidon anglica, the Gull-billed Tern, with a
long metatarsus, reddish-black beak and feet, occurs in Britain
and is found through the temperate and tropical parts of the Old
and New Worlds, but not in South Africa, and rarely in Western
America. Phaethusa magnirostris, of the warmer portions of
North America, has a short tail, yellow bill, and olive-yellow feet.

The genus Hydrochelidon, or Marsh Tern, is distinguished by
a short tail, a comparatively small bill, and feet with much in-
dented webs. The note is shrill ; the food consists of aquatic
insects, varied by frogs, newts, and small fish : the nests, placed
in close proximity on swamps or pools, are formed of water
plants and are sometimes mere floating masses of them ; the three
eggs are often very dark olive or brown. H. nigra, the Black Tern
or Blue Darr, ranges from Europe south of lat. 60° N. and the
Mediterranean to Turkestan, wintering as far as Loango and
Abyssinia. It bred in the east of England up to 1858, since
which date a nest is quite exceptional, while its two congeners are
only chance visitors. The colour is lead-grey, with blacker head,
black bill and reddish-brown feet. The darker race H. surinam-
ensis inhabits temperate America from Alaska and Canada south-
wards, migrating to Chili and Brazil. H. leucoptera, the White-
winged Black Tern, is found in Central and Southern Europe, tem-
perate Asia and North Africa ; reaching accidentally to America,
and in winter from Cape Colony to Australia and New Zealand.
It is chiefly black, with white carpal region, rump, tail, and vent,
the bill and feet being red. If. hylrida, the Whiskered Tern, has
a similar range, but breeds also from India to Australia. The
main colour is slate-grey, the head and nape being black, the bill

ALCIDAE 3 I 5

and feet red, and a white streak marking each cheek. In the
winter and immature plumage the under parts are entirely, and
the head partially white, throughout the genus.

Of fossil Laridae Haley or nis occurs in the Lower Eocene of
England, Aegicdornis * in the Upper Eocene of France ; while
the Lower Miocene of the latter country, the Middle Miocene
of Germany, and the Pliocene of Oregon furnish Larus.

Fam. VIII. Alcidae. — The Sub-order ALCAE contains only
this Family, or the Auks, wherein the body is heavy and compact,
the head large, the plumage close and elastic. The stout bill
varies extraordinarily, as will be seen under the various species.
The abbreviated metatarsus is reticulated, usually with a row of
scutellae in front ; the long anterior toes are fully webbed, the
hallux is absent or rudimentary, the claws are stout, acute, and
slightly curved. The wings are very short, and the Great Auk
was absolutely flightless ; but most species fly strongly and rapidly
to varying distances, the pinions not being flipper-like as in the
Penguins, to which these birds have no affinity; like them, however,
they commonly sit upright upon the metatarsus, and walk awk-
wardly from the feet being placed so far back, while they swim and
dive to perfection. The primaries are eleven, the secondaries from
fifteen to nineteen. The short tail may be rounded as in Uria,
or graduated with pointed rectrices as in Alca ; the quills num-
bering twelve, except in A. impennis, which has eighteen. The
furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue
lanceolate ; the nostrils — covered with feathers in Alca, Uria and
Mergulus, and with a horny membrane elsewhere — are pervious.
An after shaft is present, and down is plentiful on both adults and
nestlings, being in the latter fluffy, and of a black, grey, or
brown colour, sometimes relieved by white. Elongated feathers,
crests, and horny outgrowths are common, as described below.

Auks are entirely pelagic birds, breeding from the Polar Seas
southwards to Japan, Lower California, Maine, and the Berlengas
off the Tagus, while wandering further in winter ; but the North
Pacific may certainly be considered their headquarters. In the
case of the British species a small proportion remain near shore
after the autumn, but it seems to be quite uncertain where the
majority spend the colder months. The members of this Family
can hardly be called gregarious, except in the breeding time,

1 Since referred by Milne-Edwards to the Cypselidae as Tachyornis.

3 1 6 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

when vast flocks arrive with great regularity, or even to an exact
day. In England this occurs at the end of March or beginning
of April, the latter part of August or the first week of Septem-
ber being as punctually observed for departure. Except for
purposes of procreation, or during violent storms, individuals are
rarely seen on land, as might be expected from the clumsy
style of gait ; yet Puffins and Black Guillemots are fairly
good walkers, and the former fly particularly straight and
swiftly. Auks either splash along the surface of the waves
before diving, or plunge suddenly, and when immersed use their
wings much as if flying. The usual voice is a harsh-toned croak
or grunt, but in addition Simorhynclius is said to chatter, Cydo-
rliynchus to whistle ; Ptychorhamphus utters a musical ringing
sound, the Little Auk a wild cry, and Black Guillemots a shrill,
plaintive note. Fish, crustaceans, worms, and the like, with
chance ship-refuse, compose the diet ; the birds frequently dis-
gorging it when scared, and sometimes in order to feed the young.
The great pear-shaped egg of the Guillemots proper, and the
more oval one of the Razorbill, is deposited on some bare ledge
of a cliff, on a stack, or on an island rock. In the case of the latter
bird the egg is usually in a crevice, being white or buff with
black or brown markings, and generally, if not invariably, green
inside. Guillemots' eggs vary from white or buff to brilliant
green or blue, and are spotted, streaked, or covered with intricate
wavy patterns of black, brown, or rufous ; the same bird prob-
ably always producing similar specimens. The Black Guillemots
lay two greenish -white eggs with blotches of brown, rust-
colour, and grey, under close-packed boulders or in holes low down
in cliffs ; that of the Little Auk is pale bluish-green, with or
without faint rufous stains, and is found in similar, but commonly
much higher, situations ; SyntJiliborhampTius and various other
forms use burrows in the turf, like Petrels, as an alternative to
chinks in rocks; but the first-named produces two buff eggs, spotted
with brown and grey, while the remainder lay only one, which
is either white, or very indistinctly marked. Of these, Puffins
fashion a considerable nest of dry materials. In some instances
at least, both sexes incubate, the period being nearly five weeks.
When hatched in holes the young remain there for a considerable
time, otherwise they are soon assisted by their parents to reach
the sea. Where unmolested, Auks are sufficiently tame ; Puffins,

ALCIDAE 3 I 7

Razorbills, and so forth, however, bite severely if handled, and
the first-named will fight with each other to the death.

As will be seen, the colour of both sexes in summer is black
or dusky, varied by white, and occasionally brown ; the winter
plumage being duller and less decorative, and resembling the
garb of the young. The size varies from that of the Great
Auk to that of the Least or Knob-billed Auklet, the Family being
confined to the Palaearctic and Nearctic Eegions.

Lunda cirrata, the Tufted Puffin, ranging from South
California to Japan, arid straying to Eastern America, is sooty
above and greyish below ; the sides of the head being white
anteriorly, a " rosette " of naked red skin adorning the gape, and
a nuptial tuft of long straw-coloured feathers hanging from above
each eye. The feet are red, and become flesh-coloured in winter.
The highly compressed bill is red in front and yellowish behind ;
while its base consists of three portions, separated from each
other and from the transversely grooved fore-part by furrows,
which deepen until the pieces become detached and expose a
soft brownish skin, that hardens again towards spring. Fratercula
arctica, the Puffin, occupies in vast numbers many of the pre-
cipitous coasts and islands of Britain, laying its large, dull white,
granulated egg — faintly marked with brown and speedily be-
grimed— in a rock-crevice, or a burrow, of ten made by the bird itself.
The upper parts and gorget are black, the cheeks greyish, the lower
surface white, the rosettes yellow, and the feet orange-red. The
base of the huge compressed and grooved bill, blue, yellow, and red
in colour, is shed in nine pieces towards winter, when the cheeks
become white, the rosettes reddish, and a blunt, fleshy, horn-like
appendage on the upper eyelid also disappears. This species
breeds northwards in the Atlantic, from the Bay of Fundy and the
Berlengas off the Tagus, and (as the larger form F. glacialis)
eastwards to Novaya Zemlya, migrating a little further south : in
the Pacific, F. corniculata, with longer horns and more developed
deciduous bill-sheath, takes its place.

Cerorliynclia- monocerata, the Rhinoceros Auklet of the
North Pacific and western North America, has a stout, curved
orange and black bill, with a large compressed horn between the
nostrils, and an accessory piece on the mandible ; the upper parts
are dusky, the lower whitish with plumbeous cheeks and throat,
while a row of narrow white feathers decorates each side of the

3 1 8 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

head. In winter the horny processes disappear, but not the
plumes. PtycliorhampJius aleuticus, Cassin's Auklet, of the
Pacific coast of North America, is black above and white below,
with a lead-coloured throat, a white iris, and a bill which is
mainly black, and becomes wrinkled in summer. Cyclorliynclms
psittacidus, the Parrot Auk of the North Pacific, has an extra-
ordinary compressed orange-red beak, to which the blunt decurved
maxilla and narrow up-curved mandible give a rounded appear-
ance ; the upper parts and the throat are dusky ; the lower
surface, the iris, and a row of filaments behind each eye are white,
as is the throat in winter. Three species of Simorhynchus,
from the North Pacific, have a stout orange-red or purplish
bill, a white iris, and black upper parts. S. cristatellus, the
Crested Auklet, has several deciduous plates at the base of
the beak, including a round piece at each side of the gape ; the
lower parts are grey ; a tuft of dusky plumes curls over the
forehead, and a line of narrow white feathers stretches across the
ear-coverts — both being permanent : in winter the bill is horn-
coloured. S. pygmaeus, the Whiskered Auklet, is without
conspicuously deciduous plates, but has an additional patch of
white plumes, reaching from the beak above and below the eye
at all seasons. S. pusillus, the Least Auklet, has on the short
maxilla a small compressed basal tubercle, which is shed in
winter, but exhibits no crest. The scapular region shews a good
deal of white ; filamentous white feathers grace the forehead, lores,
and ear-coverts ; and dusky spots mark the lower parts, in summer
only. Syntlili~bor~hamplius antiquus, of the Pacific north of
Vancouver Island and Japan, but accidental elsewhere, has a
short, compressed, yellow and black beak, with plumbeous upper
and white lower parts ; the head and throat are black with a
white line on each side of the occiput, the upper back is streaked
with white. In winter all the stripes vanish, and the throat is
white. S. ivumizusume, of the Eastern Asiatic seas southward
to Japan, has a nuptial crest of long narrow plumes, but no
streaks on the back. In the cold season the whole malar region
and throat are white. BracJiyrhamphus marmoratus of the
North Pacific, reaching California in winter, has a small slender
black bill, dusky upper parts barred with rufous, and white under
parts varied with brown ; B. kittlitzi, of the Aleutian Islands
east to ITnalashka, Kamtschatka, and North Japan, is thickly

ALCIDAE 3 I 9

spotted with buff above ; R hypoleucus and B. craveri of Lower
California are plain slate-coloured with white lower surface, the
former having white and the latter grey wing-lining. The first
two species have a white nuchal collar and irregular white
markings above in winter, with nearly white lower parts.

Cepphus grylle, the Black Guillemot of the Atlantic north-
wards from Britain and Maine, and of the Arctic coasts of
Europe, is black with a white wing-patch, the feathers of which
are black at the base; in winter the plumage is white, relieved above
and sometimes below by black, and the red feet become pinkish.
The compressed pointed bill is always black. C. mandti, occupy-
ing, as it seems, the North Polar seas generally, and breeding as
far south as Labrador, has a more slender bill, and no black wing-
patch. C. columba, ranging from Bering Strait and Japan to
California, has a large wedge-shaped black mark on the white
wing-patch ; C. carlo, of North-East Asia, Japan, the Kuril and
Bering Islands, shews no white except round the eye. All these
forms wander southwards in winter. The Black Guillemot or
Tystie still breeds in the Isle of Man, and sparsely on the East of
Scotland and Ireland, in the north and west of which countries
it is not uncommon. It is remarkably tame when it breeds
in the wilder districts, uttering a plaintive cry, and making its
way to land in the face of an intruder. The two whitish or
greenish eggs, beautifully spotted with black, brown, and grey,
are deposited among large boulders, or in holes at the bases of
cliffs, without any nest.

Of the last group of Auks, with feathered nostrils, Urici troile,
the well-known Common Guillemot, Willock, or Murre, breeds
numerously in Britain, where the cliffs are suitable ; it extends
from Bear Island near Spitsbergen to the Magdalen Islands in
America and the Tagus in Europe, occurring on migration south-
wards to the New England States and the Canaries. The plumage
is dusky above and white below, with a brownish head and white
alar bar. The throat, cheeks, and a few feathers on the head
are white in winter ; the long pointed bill and feet are blackish.
The Einged Guillemot is a mere variety with a white ring
round the eye and a streak behind it ; but U. calif ornica, with
stouter bill, from the Pacific coast of North America, may be
considered a sub-species. U. briinnichi, distinguishable by its
blacker crown, and deeper beak with a white edge to the maxilla,

320 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP,

ranges from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Iceland to the Arctic
Seas of both worlds in summer, moving further south in winter ;
the North Pacific race being denominated U. arra. Descriptions
of the colonies of Guillemots in the icy seas, and of the smaller but
equally crowded stations in Britain, have been too frequently
given to need repetition here; but it may be mentioned that
during incubation, which lasts about a month, the parent holds
the egg between its thighs, and not unfrequently carries it off

FIG. 64.— Great Auk. Alca impennis. x £. (After Hancock.)

a ledge, when suddenly scared. On flat-topped stacks these eggs
(p. 316) often lie in the closest juxtaposition.

In Alca the black bill is deep and highly compressed, with a
curved culmen; and shews oblique or transverse grooves, which are
wanting in the young. A. torda, the Eazorbill, less common in
Britain than the Guillemot, ranges from Jan Mayen and Greenland
to Maine and Brittany, visiting North Carolina and the Canaries
in some winters. It is greenish-black with brown throat-region
and white lower parts, a white line stretching from the top of the

PTEROCLIDAE 3 2 I

beak to the eye, and another crossing both mandibles in the
adult only. The tips of the secondaries are white, forming an
alar bar, the feet are black. The throat and cheeks are white in
the winter and immature plumage. A. impennis, the extinct
Great Auk or G-arefowl, inhabited the North Atlantic, chiefly
in the neighbourhood of Iceland and Newfoundland, but ap-
parently never reached north of the Arctic Circle. Remains
have been found in the kitchen-middens of Denmark, North and
West Scotland, and North and South Ireland ; in a cave on the
coast of Durham ; and abundantly on Funk Island in the New-
foundland Seas, where the bird was called " Penguin " ; that name
being subsequently transferred to the Spheniscidae. The last two
living examples were obtained at the isle of Eldey, off Iceland, in
1844, while 1812, 1821, and 1834 are the last dates of capture
in Orkney, St. Kilda, and Ireland respectively, allowing for a
possible instance in St. Kilda (Borrera) in 1840. This species,
extirpated chiefly by the persecution of fishermen, but subsequently
by collectors, resembled a flightless Razorbill, though double the
size ; it had no white stripes on the head or bill, but shewed a
large white patch before each eye. The huge egg was white or
buff, with scattered round spots or plentiful fine scrawls of
black or brown ; about seventy of these eggs, and a somewhat
greater number of birds, existing at present in collections.1

Mergulus alle, the Little Auk or Rotche, occurring on
migration in Britain, and occasionally in the Canaries, Azores,
and New Jersey, breeds from Greenland and the Kara Sea to
North Iceland. It is black above and white below, with a spot
over the eye, streaks on the scapulars, and an alar bar also of
white ; the throat is black in summer only. The short, broad,
arched bill is black, the feet are brownish. The single greenish-
or bluish-white egg, often shewing faint rufous markings, is de-
posited in a deep crevice of a cliff, or among boulders on beaches.

As regards fossil forms, Uria has been found in the Miocene
of Maine and North Carolina, and in the Pliocene of Tuscany.

Of the second or Pteroclo-Columbine group of Charadriiform
Birds (p. 2 6 8) the Old World Sub-Order PTEROCLES contains only—

Fam. IX. Pteroclidae, or the Sand-Grouse, equally interesting
as regards their structure and their habits. Originally considered

1 For the literature, see A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1893, pp. 220-221, 303-308.
VOL. IX Y

322 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

akin to Grouse, they have since given rise to much discussion ;
Dr. G-adow's view — here adopted — being that they are highly
specialized forms, analogous to the Galli in their digestive
organs, but homologically constituting a link between the
Limicolae and the Columbae.1 From the Pigeons they certainly
differ remarkably in the condition of the chicks, which are
covered with brown, creamy, and black down, and run almost
immediately from the shell ; yet they agree with them in most
points of osteology, myology, and pterylosis, while the eggs recall
those of Rails, and the flight resembles that of a Plover.

The body is compact ; the bill short, arched, and fairly stout ;
the metatarsus abbreviated and feathered anteriorly, or entirely
in Syrrliaptes. In this genus, moreover, the hallux, much re-
duced elsewhere, is totally absent ; and the short front toes are
enclosed in a sort of casing, which is covered as far as the thick
claws with hairy plumage, the whole forming a padded foot unique
among Birds. The long pointed wings have sixteen or seventeen
secondaries, and eleven primaries, of which the outer has its
shaft produced into a thin filament in Syrrhaptes paradoxus ;
the wedge-shaped tail has sixteen rectrices, the median pair
being elongated and pointed in that genus and Pteroclurus (Pin-
tailed Sand -Grouse), if the latter be allowed to stand. The
furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue
lanceolate ; there is a small aftershaft, and a large crop ; while
the down of the adults is sparingly distributed.

Sand -Grouse are true desert - birds, affording excellent in-
stances of protective coloration in their buff or brownish tints,
slightly varied with grey, black, orange, and white ; Pterocles
fasciatus and P. lichtensteini, however, prefer bushy and rocky
ground to bare, sandy, or stony plains. Gregarious yet mono-
gamous, they are shy and wary, but very pugnacious among
themselves ; their flight is swift, strong, and noisy ; their powers
of walking and running good, though rather clumsy, owing to the
extremely short legs. All the species lie closely until flushed, and
are fond of basking in the sun on their sides, in holes scraped out
for the purpose. Migration probably prevails to some extent
throughout the Family, while the irruptions of Syrrhaptes para-
doxus into Europe (p. 324) are quite unparalleled. The cry,
often uttered upon the wing, is a piercing whistle, or a twittering

1 P.Z.S. 1882, pp. 312-332 ; Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, pp. 207-209.

v PTEROCLIDAE 323

or clucking sound ; though that of Syrrhaptes appears to be
hoarser, and has been syllabled as " truck-turuck " and " caga-
caga " in S. paradoxus and S. tibetanus respectively. The alarm-
note is of a croaking nature. The food consists of seeds, tender
shoots, bulbous grass-roots, and insects, or even of berries, peas, and
beans ; while the birds flock to drink at certain favourite spots, and
are variously stated to take continuous or interrupted draughts.
The nest is a mere hollow in the soil, frequently lined with a
little grass ; the three oval, but peculiarly cylindrical, eggs vary
from whitish to buff, or greenish in Syrrhaptes, and are marked
with brown, reddish, and violet. Both sexes assist in incuba-
tion, which lasts from twenty-five to twenty-eight days. Opinions
vary as to the edible quality of the flesh.

FIG. 65.— Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes paradozus. XT%.

Pterocles arenarius, ranging from the Canary Islands, North
Africa, and Madagascar to South Europe and Central Asia, has
dark grey upper parts, with orange-yellow markings, except on
the white - tipped primaries and tail ; the chestnut throat
surmounts a black patch, which is succeeded by a breast of the
same dove-colour as the head, crossed by a black band ; the belly
being black also. The bill is horn-coloured, the feet are greyish.
The female is buff, barred above and spotted below with black ;
her throat is yellowish-white, and the black areas on her lower
surface are as in the male. P. decoratus of East Africa, P. Ucinctus
and P. variegatus of South Africa, P. coronatus and P. lichtensteini,
extending from the Sahara and Kordofan respectively to North-
West India, P. gutturalis of East Africa, P. personatus of Mada-
gascar, P. fasciatus of India — the only species peculiar to Asia

and P. quadricinctus, found from Senegambia to Abyssinia, are
fairly similar to the above, though chiefly sandy in some cases.

Pteroclurus alchata, absurdly termed " Perdrix d'Angleterre '*

324 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

in France, and Eock-Pigeon in India, is grey above, with yellow
tips to the dorsal feathers ; it has black, brown, and greyish-white
wings, shewing chestnut and yellow on the coverts ; yellowish
rump and long median rect rices barred with black. The cheeks
are orange, the throat is black with a little yellow beneath, the
upper breast is chestnut-red, bordered by a black line above and
below, the remaining under parts are white, the bill and feet
brownish. The female differs in her white throat, and in her upper
surface irregularly marked with buff, grey, and black. This
species occurs in South Europe, North Africa, and South- West
Asia ; P. namaqua inhabits South Africa ; P. exustus ranges
from Senegal to the Pangani Eiver in East Africa, and through
Palestine to Central Asia and India ; while P. senegallus extends
from the Sahara to Palestine, Arabia, and North- West India.

Syrrhaptes paradoxus, Pallas's Sand-Grouse, has buff upper
parts barred with black ; mainly blue-grey wings and tail, with
black and chestnut markings on the former, and white tips to
the lateral rectrices ; dull yellow crown and cheeks ; orange nape
and throat ; greyish-buff neck and breast, white abdomen and
metatarsal plumage, an interrupted black gorget, and a broader
black band towards the belly. The female has less elongated
median tail-feathers, black streaks on the buff head, a black bar
across the throat, and is duller generally. S. tibetamis, with
entirely white belly, the largest of the Family, extends from
the Sutlej and South Kashmir to Koko-Nor; but its congener
reaches from the Lower Yolga or the Kirghiz Steppes to the
north of Lake Baikal and North China, while some erratic
impulse of uncertain origin causes it to invade the plains of
China and the whole of Europe at irregular intervals. One
specimen was obtained at Sarepta on the Volga in 1848, and
again in 1860, when flocks visited Pekin ; in 1859 a few ex-
amples occurred on the Continent, and between July and November
three wandered to Britain; while in 1863 some 700 individuals
reached our shores by May 21, straying as far as Ireland, but
vanishing towards autumn. Several pairs bred on the sand-hills
of Holland and Jutland. In 1872 and 1876 small parties visited
us; and in 1888 another and incalculably larger invasion took
place, which extended farther southward than that of 1863, and
after entering Europe before the beginning of April, occupied
Britain between May 6 and May 15, to remain there throughout

COLUMBAE 325

that year and the succeeding. Besides breeding in Denmark,
Holstein, and no doubt elsewhere on the Continent, two pairs
nested in 1888 in the east of Yorkshire, and one or more on the
Culbin Sands in Moray, whence in 1889 Professor Newton
received on August 8 a chick of two or three days old. This
was exhibited at the Newcastle Meeting of the British Associa-
tion, and subsequently figured .in The Ibis.1 Doubtless the
above were not the only cases of reproduction in England, and it
was hoped that a protective Act, which came into force in
February 1889, would lead to permanent colonization; but by
1890, or, according to some, 1892, all the birds had disappeared.
As a fossil, Pterocles occurs in the Eocene and Miocene of France.

The Sub- Order COLUMBAE must certainly be divided into the
Families Dididae for the Dodo and Solitaire, and Columbidae for
the Pigeons, while a third, Didunculidae, may be added to contain
the Tooth-billed Pigeon of Samoa, to which Otidiphaps of Papu-
asia is possibly allied. For convenience sake we may accept four
Sub-families of the Columbidae, namely (1) Gourinae, (2) Peris-
terinae, (3) Columbinae, and (4) Treroninae, though the arrange-
ment is somewhat arbitrary. Dr. Gadow2 segregates Caloenatinae,
but not Peristerinae, while he and Count Salvador! 3 agree in con-
sidering Didunculus merely on a level with these subdivisions.

Throughout the group the body is compact, while the bill
varies from stout to slender, being swollen and hardened at the
decurved tip, which forms a hook in the Dididae and Didunculidae.
The base of this feature is covered with a soft skin or cere,
containing the nostrils ; Globicera, Vinago calva, and Ptilopvs
insolitus have a fleshy or bony knob at the posterior part of the
culmen, said to be most prominent in the breeding season ; and
Didunculus has the mandible toothed and truncated. The
metatarsi, reticulated in the Gourinae, but scutellated elsewhere,
are usually partly feathered, especially in Fruit-Pigeons; some
species of Columbigattina, however, have them naked ; Drepanoptila
has them entirely covered; and in many domestic breeds the
plumage extends over the toes, which are all on the same level,
and possess moderate claws. The skin is more or less expanded

1 For further details see A. Newton, Ibis, 1864, pp. 185-222 ; 1890, pp. 207-214 ;
Diet. Birds, 1894, pp. 805-810 ; cf. also Zool. Rec. 1888-89.
- Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Tkeil, 1893, p, 210.
3 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxi. 1893, p. 3.

326 CHARADRIIFORMES

CHAP.

on each side of the digits. The rounded wings are commonly
long, but are short in Ground -Pigeons, and aborted in the
flightless Dididae, the primaries numbering eleven and the
secondaries from ten to seventeen ; the former are bifurcated at
the tip in Drepanoptila, attenuated in some members of Ptilopus,
Oxypelia, Peristera, and Leptoptila, while one or more of the
three outer feathers is not uncommonly scalloped. The tail
varies considerably in form and dimensions, being wedge-shaped
in Sphenocercus, rounded in Zenaida, Pliabotreron, and Megaloprepia,
acuminate in Ectopistes, long and graduated in Oena, Macropygia,
and Reinwardtoenas, and so forth. The rectrices range from
twelve to twenty, sixteen being the normal number in the
Gourinae, twelve in the Columbinae, and fourteen in the
Treroninae. The neck-feathers may be bifurcated, as in Alec-
toroenas, Columba guinea, and occasionally in Turtur, or those
of the breast, as in some species of Macropygia, Ptilopus, and
Phaenorrkina ; the neck, moreover, is hackled in Caloenas and
Lopholaemus, and the body -plumage is ger orally narrow with
widely-separated barbs in Chrysoenas. Five members of Plilo-
goenas have a patch of stiff feathers over the crop ; while the
splendid decomposed crest of Gfoura is exceptionally striking, and
more ordinary tufts grace the head in Lopholaemus, Coryplioenas,
Lophophaps, Ocypliaps, and elsewhere. The forehead is sometimes
nearly bare, as are the lores and eyelids in Gymnophaps ; naked
red or yellow orbits are found in Gymnopelia, JKeinwardtoenas,
Macropygia, Turcwoena, Didunculus, and Columba gymnophthalma,
not to mention other instances; while the tendency reaches its
height in the huge circumocular wattles of several fanciers' races.
In Serresius a feathered " saddle " extends over half the culmen.

The furcula is U-shaped, being much reduced in the Dididae ;
the syrinx is remarkable for the asymmetrical union of the
sterno-tracheal muscles ; the tongue is lanceolate ; the impervious
nostrils are linear in the Columbidae and Didunculidae, oblique
in the Dididae. The crop is more highly developed than in
other Families. The gizzard of Caloenas is remarkable for an
indurated horn-like patch on each side of the epithelial lining,
that of Oarpophaga latrans has the interior beset with similar
conical prominences, correlated with a diet of hard fruit. Phaenor-
rkina has these cones still more developed, and Ptilopus agrees with
Drepanoptila in possessing four pads in the above organ instead

COLUMBAE 327

of two, the regular number in Birds. The after-shaft is rudi-
mentary or absent, the adults have no down, the young are hatched
blind and naked, and remain for a long time in the nest. The
plumage is commonly dull blue or brown, with an iridescent sheen ;
but remarkably brilliant purple, red, yellow, and green hues mani-
fest themselves in forms such as Ptilopus, Chrysoenas, and Caloenas
from the islands of the Eastern Seas, the headquarters of the
Family. Though smaller, the female usually resembles the male ;
but Turturaena, Oena, and Peristera are examples of diversity, while
immature examples are duller than adults. Goura approaches the
size of a goose, whereas Columbigallina is little larger than a
sparrow. Of domestic Pigeons the Rock-Dove is undoubtedly
the origin, but the breeds are now infinite in their variety.1

Omitting the abnormal Didine Birds, the habits of the
members of this group are fairly uniform, the majority of them
inhabiting wooded country ; while even those like Phaps, LopJio-
phaps, and Geophaps, which occupy the arid plains of Australia,
are to be found at times where vegetation is plentiful ; and in all
cases the proximity of water seems indispensable. Fruit-Pigeons
frequent trees, and the most typical Columbine forms are found in
woods or among rocks, though the smaller Doves naturally prefer
the lower bushes. Wood-Pigeons towards winter, and Passenger-
Pigeons when nesting — not to mention other instances — gather in
large flocks ; in some cases, however, the parties only number about
half a dozen, and more solitary habits are by no means uncommon.
The flight is strong, rapid, and direct, though the Ground-Pigeons
remain a comparatively short time upon -the wing, and some species
prefer to run unless forced to rise, Oena being an especially good
walker. The well-known " homing " powers of trained birds, the
curious backward somersaults of the Tumbler, and the sudden rise
and clap of the wings so noticeable in the Wood-Pigeon when
courting, merit a passing mention. Every member of the Family
perches, and many delight to bask in the sun. The note is always
of the nature of a coo, but is especially loud and deep in Myris-
ticivora, Megaloprepia, and some members of Carpopkaga, guttural
in Haplopelia, mournful in Peristera and Zenaidura, harsh and
trumpet-like in Goura; the voice of the Turtle-Dove suggests a
purr, while Tympanistria and Starnoenas possess powers of ven-

1 See Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, i.
London, 1868, pp. 131-224; Tegetmeier, Pigeons, their Structure, etc. London: 1867.

328 ' CHARADRIIFORMES

triloquism. The food of the Wood-Pigeon is grain, beech-mast, acorns,
turnips, and tender shoots of plants ; that of Fruit-Pigeons consists
of figs, palm-nuts, grapes, and so forth, plucked from the tree, and
in the case of Myristicivora Tricolor and Globicera myristicivora,
largely of the mace which encases the nutmeg ; Ground-Doves
and other small forms subsist mainly on seeds of grasses ; and it
may be safely inferred that in most cases the diet varies consider-
ably. Turturoena is stated to eat Cicada larvae; Leucosarcia those
of Diptera ; Goura and Otidipliaps worms, snails, and insects.
Pigeons, unlike birds generally, take continuous draughts of water,
immersing the bill to the base. The nest is usually a slight
platform of sticks, placed aloft on a branch or in a bush ; but our
Rock-Dove and Columba pkaeonota of South Africa breed in caves
or holes in rocks ; the Stock-Dove prefers hollow trees, rabbit-
burrows, and the like ; Geopliaps the bare soil ; and so forth.
Pliaps, Peristera, and Zenaida nest either on the ground or in
bushes, but the latter appear to be almost invariably chosen by
Ground-Doves like Columbigallina and Geopelia. The white eggs
are two, or exceptionally three, in number ; the Dodo, however, laid
only one, and so do Caloenas, Ectopistes, Didunculus, and some
species of Carpophaga and Columba, as well as Goura, where it is
larger than that of a tame Duck. Societies, such as those of
Ectopistes and Caloenas, are most unusual. Some Pigeons breed
three times a year, the male commonly assisting in incubation,
which lasts from fourteen to twenty-eight days. The members
of this Family are shy, but readily tamed ; yet the Collared Turtle-
Dove is perhaps the only really good cage-bird. Most of them
are excellent for the table, Leucosarcia, Geophaps, Goura, and the
Treroninae being accounted particularly delicate, while the Wood-
Pigeon and the domestic breeds speak for themselves. The great
damage, however, done to crops, such as turnips, peas, or barley, by the
nocks counterbalances their economic value to a considerable extent,
the most typical forms being undoubtedly the worst offenders.

Fam. X. Dididae. — This consists of three extinct species —
Didus ineptus, the Dodo of Mauritius, D. borbonicus of Reunion
(Bourbon), and Pezophaps solitarius, the Solitaire of Rodriguez.

The Dodo, familiar to all by name, if not by pictures, was an
immense Pigeon-like bird bigger than a Turkey, with an aborted
keel to the sternum and the wings also aborted. The coracoid and
scapula met at an obtuse angle, as in many other flightless species.

DIDIDAE

329

The huge blackish bill terminated in a large horny hook, the
cheeks were partly bare, the short yellow legs were stout, scaly, and
feathered on the upper portion; the plumage was dark ash-coloured,
with whitish breast and tail, yellowish-white wings, and black
tips to their coverts. The short rectrices formed a curled tuft,
and the first four primaries were directed backwards.

This uncouth and unwieldy species, of which a full account
will be found in the works mentioned below,1 which have been
largely utilized here, was noticed as early as 1598 by the Dutch,

FIG. 66.— Dodo. Didus ineptus. (After Savery's Vienna picture.)

who called it Walghvogel, or Nauseous Bird, from their dislike of
its flesh, and the island, where it was then found abundantly,
Mauritius. The earliest representation was given in 1601 by
De Bry, who stated that an example was brought alive to Holland.
Other . Dutch fleets subsequently visited the island, and several
sketches of the Dodo were made, while one of the captains records
that it was indifferently called Dodaars or Dronte. Eoelandt
Savery of Courtrai (1576-1639) painted the Dodo — probably
from life — more than once, pictures by him still existing in

1 Strickland and Melville, The Dodo and its Kindred, London, 1848; A.
Newton, Diet. Birds, 1893, pp. 155-161, 215, 216 ; E. Newton and H. Gadow, Tr.
Zool. Soc. London, xiii. 1893, pp. 281-302.

330 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Berlin (1626), Vienna (1628), the Hague, Pommersfelden,
Stuttgart, and London, the last-named belonging to the Zoological
Society. The British Museum also possesses an undated picture,
another is at Haarlem, a third at Oxford ; while one by Goiemare
at Sion House (dated 1627), and one said to be by Hoefnagel in
the library of the late Emperor of Austria (circa 1620) were pos-
sibly taken from living birds. In 1628 Englishmen appeared on
the scene, Emanuel Altham having sent a specimen home alive to
his brother, while Herbert, accompanying the same fleet, mentioned
the Dodo and figured it. About 1634 an example was given to
the Anatomy School at Oxford by a Mr. Gosling, and some four
years later Sir Hamon Lestrange saw a captive bird in London.
Finally, we may note that individuals existed in Mauritius until
1681, as proved by the journal of Benjamin Harry.

In 1865 the discovery of a large quantity of remains in the
Mare aux Songes, by Mr. G. Clark, enabled Owen and others to
confirm the suggestion of the Danish naturalist, Reinhardt, of
the Dodo's affinity to the Pigeons ; while in 1 8 8 9 M. Sauzier,
acting for the Government of Mauritius, sent to the late Sir
Edward Newton a series of bones from the same spot, enabling
the first correctly restored and properly mounted skeleton to be
returned for the museum of that island, and the important paper,
noticed above, to be published by the last-named and Dr. Gadow.
Nearly perfect specimens exist at Cambridge, in the British
Museum, and at Paris.

The Dodo is said to have inhabited forests, to have swallowed
pebbles, to have uttered a cry like that of a gosling, and to have
laid one large white egg on a mass of grass. Hogs and other
imported animals seem to have conduced to its extermination,
as well as the hand of man.

Didus lorlonicus had white plumage, varied with yellow, the
first four primaries being directed forwards and downwards. It is
mentioned by Tatton (.1625), Du Bois (1669), and Carre (1699) ;
while Bontekoe (1646) gave a figure apparently intended to
represent it, and another by Pierre Witthoos (ob. 1693) was in
existence a few years ago. It was originally called the Solitaire,
but this name was also applied to Pezophaps solitarius of Rodriguez
by the Huguenot exile Leguat, who described and figured the
latter about 1691. Pezophaps was subsequently briefly noticed
by D'Heguerty (1751) and again by Pingre (1761), who heard

DIDUNCULIDAE 331

that it still existed in inaccessible districts; while it is also
mentioned in an anonymous manuscript discovered at Paris,
written perhaps about 1729. Remains came into the hands of
Desjardins in 1789 (not fully recognised until 1832), and others
were forwarded to England ; but much the most important finds
were those of the late Sir Edward Newton in 1864, followed up
by Mr. Jenner in the succeeding years, and of Mr. H. H. Slater
in 1874.1 In 1875 two complete skeletons were obtained, and
fairly perfect specimens of those of each sex are at Cambridge,
with others elsewhere.

This Solitaire was larger than a Swan, the male standing about
2 feet 9 inches, and the female 2 feet 3 inches high ; the colour
of the former was brownish-grey, but the latter varied from the
hue of " fair hair " to brown, and had a whitish breast. The
slightly-hooked, elongated beak had a feathered ridge or peak at
the base of the culmen, the neck was elongated and straight, the
legs were longer and weaker than in the Dodo, the wings were
rudimentary, the hind part (pelvis) was rounded, the tail was
hardly noticeable, and the thigh-feathers were thick, and curved
" like shells " at the end. A spherical mass of bone, " as big as
a musket-ball," was developed on the wings of the males ; and
they used it, in addition to the beak, as a weapon of offence, while
they whirled themselves about twenty or thirty times in four
or five minutes, making a noise with their pinions like a rattle.
The mien was fine and the walk stately, the birds being seen
singly or in pairs ; the nest was a heap of palm-leaves a foot or
more high, the single large egg was incubated by both parents.
The food is said to have consisted of seeds and leaves, and a
stone as big as a hen's egg was often found in the stomach.

Fam. XI. Didunculidae. — Didunculus strigirostris, the Manu-
mea or Ked Bird of the islands of Upolu, Savai, and Tutuila in
the Samoan group, is glossy greenish-black, with chestnut back,
rump, wing-coverts, tail and under tail-coverts, but browner wing-
quills and abdomen. The hooked and toothed bill is orange, the
feet are reddish, and the naked orbits red. The sexes are similar,
the young entirely brown. First made known by Strickland on
the strength of its discovery in the autumn of 1839 by Peale

1 Phil. Trans, clix. 1869, pp. 327-362 ; clxviii. 1879, pp. 448-451. Further
details will be found in Strickland and Melville's work The Dodo and its Kindred.
London, 1848, pp. 46-56 ; A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1896, pp. 887-892.

332 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

during the United States Exploring Expedition under Com-
mander Wilkes, it has since been met with by several travellers
and missionaries, three living specimens having been exhibited
in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London. By 1863
it was regarded as nearly extinct on Upolu, where it was formerly
abundant, though it still held its own on Savai ; but in 1874
an increase was reported from the latter island, which was
attributed to a change of habits, the birds having become
arboreal instead of terrestrial.

The oldest accounts, derived from native sources, stated that
Didunculus was essentially a ground species, living on thickly-

FIG. 67. — Manu-mea or Tooth -billed Pigeon. Didunculus strigirostris. x £.

wooded mountain-sides in flocks of about a dozen, and feeding on
berries, plantains (bananas), and yam fruit, while it roosted on
low stumps, and bred on the ground, being rather shy, and
taking to flight noisily with much flapping of the wings. Mr.
Whitmee * and others, however, tell us that it now feeds almost
exclusively on high trees, roosting aloft, and building in the
forks. But as early as 1852 Lieutenant Walpole 2 asserted that
the bird bred among rocks, perched and fed on trees, and flew
from wood to wood, or even from island to island, so that it is
not impossible that, its supposed affinity to the Dodo led writers
astray, and that its fondness for the ground was greatly exagger-
ated. No doubt danger from introduced cats and rats would
force the nest to be placed higher.

1 P.Z.S. 1874, pp. 183, 184. 2 Op. cit. 1852, p. 87.

COLUMBIDAE

333

The Tooth-billed Pigeon was usually found in pairs or small
parties, and was in great request for food among the natives,
who, moreover, kept individuals tethered to sticks as pets, while
the chiefs erected small huts in which to feed the flocks. They
were often attracted by decoys, and caught with bird-lime. The
habits are diurnal, or somewhat crepuscular ; the note apparently
varies from deep and guttural to low and plaintive ; and breeding
takes place from May to September, the single egg being white.
The birds are decidedly pugnacious in captivity, and occasionally
nibble their food in Parrot fashion.

Fam. XII. Columbidae. — If we omit the Arctic and Antarctic

FIG. 68. — Crowned Pigeon. Goura coronata. x -J-.

countries, this group forms a remarkably cosmopolitan Family,
though with an irregular distribution. Eoughly speaking, there
are recognised some dozen Palaearctic, and still fewer Nearctic
species, with about seventy Neotropical and forty Ethiopian ; India
possesses about thirty, the Malay Archipelago perhaps a hundred
and twenty, New Guinea and the Moluccas a hundred. Many island
forms occur in Polynesia, but Australia can barely claim twenty, the
New Zealand seas only furnish two, and the Sandwich Islands none.

334 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Sub-fam. 1. Gourinae. — This contains seven species of Gourci
— G. coronata of Western New Guinea, Waigiou, Batanta, Sala-
watti, and Mysol, G. cinerea of the Arfak Mountains, G. sclateri
of Central and Southern New Guinea, G. allertisi of South-East
New Guinea, G, scheepmakeri, probably from South-West New
Guinea — all of which have the erect crest-feathers with entirely
decomposed webs — G. victoria of Jobi and Mysori, arid G. leccarii
of Central and North New Guinea — which have them with spatulate
tips. The first of these, discovered by Dampier in 1699, is bluish-
slate-coloured, with darker wings, and some black on the chin and
sides of the head; a broad chestnut band crossing the back, one of
white shewing conspicuously on the wing, and one of grey termin-
ating the tail. The other species differ in the amount of chestnut
above, the wing-bar being grey and the breast chestnut in some
cases. These birds are found near open or cultivated lands, ranging
from the coast regions to an altitude of a thousand feet ; they feed
in small flocks, and eat seeds, berries, and other fruits, buds of plants,
worms, and insects. The usual note is long, harsh, and trumpet-
like, the love-call a short mournful coo. When disturbed they
take to cover, and pitch upon low branches, where they also
roost; in the heat of the day they lie in the shade with out-
spread wings and tail ; and in the courting-season the cocks
fight savagely for the hens. The nest, a careless platform of
sticks, contains one large white egg. .

Sub-fam. 2. Peristerinae. — This ranges over both the Old and
the New World, Zenaida, Peristera, and their closest allies being
confined to the latter, while Turtur, Phaps, and so forth belong
to the former.

Group (a). — Caloenas nicolarica, which extends from the Nico-
bar Islands through the Malay Archipelago to the Solomons, is a
metallic-green bird, with bronzy reflexions and blackish head, neck,
and upper breast, most of the remiges being black, arid the tail
with its coverts white. The long narrow neck-hackles, the roughly-
scaled legs, and the black knob at the base of the bill are also
remarkable features. Partly but not entirely terrestrial, it walks
at a great rate, feeds mainly upon the ground on seeds, utters
a croaking note, often builds in societies on trees, and lays one
white egg. C. pelewensis, of the Pelew Islands, is smaller and bluer.

Group (&). — This section of the Sub-family contains several
robust forms, with fairly long, stout legs, and short, rounded wings.

COLUMBIDAE 335

Otidiphaps nolilis of Western New Guinea and Batanta, 0. cervi-
calis of South-East New Guinea, and 0. insularis of Fergusson
Island, are greenish-black, chestnut, and purple, with the bill red,
the feet reddish with rough yellow scales, and the nape green,
grey, and black respectively. They have no less than twenty
rectrices, while the first two have an occipital crest. These
Pigeons, said to resemble Megapodes in habits, frequent hills or
dense thickets, often near the sea-coast, but are difficult of observa-
tion, owing to their shyness ; they run swiftly with erect out-
spread tail, perch on low boughs, and have a harsh cry, varied by a
plaintive note ; the food consists of fruits, roots, and snails. The
nest, containing one egg, is said to be placed at the foot of a tree.
Starnoenas cyanocepliala, of Cuba and the Florida Keys, is brown
above and purplish-rufous below, with a blue crown surrounded
by black, a black throat with a white basal line, a white stripe
across each cheek, and red bill and feet varied with bluish.
This bird, the " Perdiz " of the Cubans, frequents wooded hills
and has somewhat gallinaceous habits ; the food consists of
seeds, berries, and snails, the hollow note having the effect of ven-
triloquism. Another long-legged, terrestrial genus from New
Guinea is Entry gon ; E. terrestris being olivaceous lead-coloured,
with rufous outer margins to the brown remiges, while E.
leucopareia has a reddish hue on the wing-coverts. Leucosarcia
picata, the white-fleshed Wonga-wonga of Eastern Australia, is
blue-black with white forehead, pectoral band, and central
abdomen. It inhabits the brushes, and feeds chiefly upon the
ground on seeds, fruits, and insect-larvae; the flight is of short dura-
tion and the habits somewhat Pheasant-like ; the nest is in a tree.
Phlogoenas contains a score of members ranging from the Philip-
pines and Timor to the Society Islands. P. luzonica of Luzon
has purplish upper parts, a greyish -blue head, and yellowish-
white lower parts, with a patch of stiff red decomposed feathers
over the crop ; the inner webs of the remiges are more or less
rufous, a characteristic found also in Chalcopelia, Columbigallina,
Scardafella, and Leptoptila, from very different parts of the
world. P. rufigula, of New Guinea and the islands to the north-
west, has the crop-patch yellowish -ochre ; P. tristigma of North
Celebes is perhaps most striking of all, with its yellow breast
and forehead, green head, purple nape, and green and purple
tints on the brown upper back ; P. stairi of the Fiji and Tonga

336 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Islands has a greenish-grey head and brownish upper surface,
with brilliant violet-purple on the wings and a vinous breast,
while the female differs in being olive-brown, with the head and
breast dull cinnamon. P. kubaryi of the Caroline group is almost
entirely violet-purple above, the head being grey, the forehead,
sides of the neck, throat, and breast white. Geotrygon with some
dozen and a half species extends from South Mexico to Paraguay,
several of them being peculiar to the West Indies. G. montana,
the " Mountain-Partridge," ranges from Key "West and Cuba to
Paraguay. It has a purplish -rufous upper surface, while the lower
parts are whitish-fawn colour, with a purplish breast. The female
is olive with a tinge of gold above, and chiefly buff below, with
browner breast. G. chrysia of Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and
the Florida Keys has reddish-brown upper parts, with reflexions
of brilliant purple, green, and gold, and vinaceous-white lower
parts. G. violacea of Central America and Brazil, G. cristata, the
" Mountain- Witch," of Jamaica, G. linearis of Colombia, and other
species, bear a general resemblance to the above. These birds
frequent thickly- wooded districts or mountainous tracts, where
they feed upon the ground on seeds, fallen berries, snails, and
slugs. They often have recourse to running, yet the flight is
rapid and whirring; the note is a moaning coo, the nest a slight
structure on bushes, trees, or even the ground. Osculatia pur-
purea and 0. sapphirina are two beautiful Ecuadorian Pigeons,
of which the former has a rich purple crown and occiput, a
purplish -violet mantle with duller wings, a violet rump, a
bronzy-green hind-neck, a white forehead, throat, and abdomen,
a greyish breast, and white cheeks with a black transverse stripe
below. The latter has the crown grey, the occiput golden-green.
Leptoptila (Engyptila of some authors), distributed from Texas
to Argentina, contains about seventeen somewhat similar forms,
which have olive-brown upper parts, with red, green, and dove-
coloured reflexions, and usually pinkish-white or greyish under
parts. The wing-quills almost invariably shew some cinnamon
on their inner webs, while in L. rufinucha the region of the
nape is rufous. The White -bellied Pigeon of Jamaica (Z.
jamaicensis) is an unsuspicious bird which habitually lives on
the ground in woods, eats seeds and fruits, runs, walks, or flies
for short distances, and sometimes uses straw instead .of sticks
for its nest. The genus Haplopelia is restricted to the Ethiopian

COLUMBIDAE 337

Region, H. larvata of South Africa, H. bronzina of Abyssinia
and Shoa, H. principals of Prince's Island, H. simplex of St.
Thomas, If. johnstoni of Nyassa-Land, and If. inornata of the
Cameroons, being all much alike. The first-mentioned — common
in woods near Cape Town — is plain brown, with green and
purple gloss on the crown and nape, a white forehead and throat,
and vinaceous breast with coppery reflexions. It is the Cinnamon
or Lemon Dove of the colonists, and feeds chiefly on berries,
obtained upon the ground.

Group (c). — The third section of the Peristerinae is confined
to the Old World, and shews metallic blue or green wing-spots
or patches. Ocyphaps lophotes, the swift Crested Bronze-wing of
the interior of Australia, is found in flocks, especially near water,
and has a remarkable habit, when alighting, of erecting its long,
black crest and elevating its tail until they almost meet. It is
a grey bird, possessing bronzy-green wing-coverts tipped with
white, a metallic purple gloss on the secondaries, and peacock-
blue outer rectrices. LophopJiaps plumifera of North -West
Australia, which has a western race, L. ferruginea, and a southern,
L. leucogaster, is a terrestrial species, frequenting creeks in the desert,
and running on the ground like a Quail. The nest is a mere
hole in the ground lined with a little grass ; the eggs are said
to be creamy-white. The Plumed Bronze-wing, as it is called,
has the general plumage and full crest pale cinnamon, the throat
white, with a black median stripe, a black gorget, a crescentic
band of grey on the chest with a black line below, and a few
purple spots on the secondaries. Geophaps scripta, the Partridge
Bronze- wing or Squatter of North- West and East Australia, has
a peculiar habit of squatting on the ground or on the branches of
any tree in which it takes refuge. It is light brown above and
grey below, with curious black and white markings on the sides
of the head and throat ; the wing-coverts have pale tips, and
the innermost of the greater series greenish-purple outer webs.
G. smithi of North -West Australia is browner. From, the
same parts comes Petrophassa albipennis, which frequents rocks,
though its nest has not yet been recorded ; it is a reddish-brown,
bird with greyer head, grey centres to the feathers, and concealed
purplish spots on the wing-coverts; the throat is black and white,
the primaries brown with white bases. Histrioniphaps kistrionica,
of the interior and North- West of Australia, has brown upper
VOL. ix z

CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

and grey under parts ; the head is finely varied with jet-black and
pure white, the secondaries shew patches of metallic -purple,
and the primaries have white tips and partly rufous inner webs.
The female is much duller. It is essentially a Ground-Pigeon,
and breeds 011 the bare soil of the plains; but the flight is
much stronger than might be expected, as is also the case with
Geophaps. Phaps chalcoptera and P. elegans, of Australia and
Tasmania, in their mode of life resemble the preceding, though
the latter species is the more terrestrial, while both usually build in
low trees or bushes. P. chalcoptera, the Common Bronze-wing,
is extremely handsome, the greyish-brown upper surface being
relieved by a purple band on the crown and most brilliant bronze
and green spots upon the wing ; the breast is pinkish, the
throat white, and the forehead white with a wash of yellow.
The inner webs of the remiges are partly rufous. P. elegans, the
Brush Bronze-wing, is a shorter-winged bird, with chestnut
throat and grey breast. Henicopliaps albifrons of New Guinea
and the adjacent western islands has the forehead whitish, the
neck and under parts rich reddish-purple, the back blue-black, the
wings glossed with golden-green and bronze, and their coverts
margined with chestnut. The beak is longer and stouter than
in the allied forms, and the bird is partly arboreal. Calopelia
puella of West Africa is a fine cinnamon-coloured bird, with
blue head and iridescent green spots on the wings. Of Chalco-
pJiaps, ranging from India, Burma, and South China, through the
islands to Australia and the New Hebrides, Count Salvador! makes
two divisions, though the species are little more than local races.
Of the first of these, with golden-green mid-back and scapulars,
C. indica, the Emerald Dove or Beetle-wing, may be taken as
typical ; the head is blue with white forehead and sides, the
upper back is purplish, the wing-coverts golden-green, the lower
back bronzy with two grey bars, the rump nearly black, and the
under parts purplish-pink. The female is brown and somewhat
redder below, with grey forehead. This species covers nearly
the whole range of the genus, but only stretches eastward to
Geelvink Bay in New Guinea. C. chrysodilora reaches from
Timor to the New Hebrides; C. sanghirensis occurs in Great
Sanghir Island ; C. natalis in Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.
C. stephani, of Celebes and Papuasia, and C. mortoni, of the Solomon
Islands, constitute the second division, where the mid-back and

COLUMBIDAE 339

scapulars are reddish-cinnamon. These Pigeons frequent bushy
districts, feed on the ground on seeds and fruits, run fast, and
fly swiftly for short distances. They have a mournful note,
breed on low trees, and make a fairly compact nest of roots,
grass, or twigs. Chalcopelia afra inhabits Africa south of
Abyssinia and Senegambia. It has olive -brown upper parts,
with two black stripes across the lower back, and a few large
spots of brilliant purple and green on the wing; the under
parts are pinkish, and the inner webs of the primaries and
their coverts bright rufous. C. clialcospilus, with the spots
golden -green, is probably a variety. They inhabit bushy
country in pairs, the flight, food, note, and nest being similar to
those of ChalcopTiaps. Tympanistria Tricolor is a similar but greyer
bird, with the purple spots almost black and the lower parts
white ; it inhabits Southern Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros,
and Fernando Po. The very long-tailed Oena capensis is pale
brown above and white below, with black face and throat, grey
crown, two black bands across the lower back, and steel-blue
patches on the wings. The inner webs of the primaries and their
coverts are cinnamon. The female has a white face and throat.
It is a bird of rough bushy country, which is seldom found in
flocks, utters a deep plaintive note, and breeds in low trees.
This species walks with the utmost rapidity, and feeds upon the
ground on seeds of grasses and grain. It is found in tropical
and Southern Africa, in Madagascar, and at Aden and Jeddah.

Group (d). — The most typical Peristerinae constitute a fourth
section, usually with metallic wing-spots, restricted to America.
Metriopelia melanoptera and M. aymara range from Ecuador and
Peru respectively to Chili and the borders of Argentina. The
former is greyish-brown above and vinaceous below, with black
wings and tail, the latter has golden spots on the wing-coverts.
They are found in small flocks in the valleys of the Andes, and
in winter on the coast, being called by the natives " Tortola
cordillerana," or " Cordillera Dove." Peristera cinerea is bluish-
grey in the male, with lighter under parts, black remiges and outer
rect rices, some velvety black spots being very conspicuous on the
wings and scapulars. The female is brown, with cinnamon wing-
spots. This species ranges from South Mexico to Paraguay ;
while P. yeoffroyi, with white-tipped lateral tail-feathers and a
grey breast, inhabits South-East Brazil ; P. mondetoura, with

340 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

chestnut breast, occurs from South Mexico to Peru. They frequent
wooded and hilly districts, forming small flocks and uttering a cry
resembling " huup-huup." Oxypelia cyanopis, of the interior of
Brazil, and Uropelia campestris, of that country and Bolivia, link
the above genus to Columbigallina, which contains six species.
C. passerina extends from the southern United States and the
West Indies to Peru and Paraguay ; C. minuta occupies a similar
range, except for the United States ; and C. cruziana reaches from
Ecuador to North Chili — all with naked feet ; C. luckleyi inhabits
Ecuador and Peru ; C. talpacoti, most of South America north of
Paraguay ; C. rufipennis ranges from Mexico to the north of South
America, these three having the metatarsi feathered laterally. (7.
passerina is olive-grey, with violet spots on the wing and purplish
coverts ; the feathers of the forehead and under parts being vinous,
with dull brown centres to the latter, and those of the hinder
portion of the head bluish, with dusky margins, which cause a
scaly appearance. The female lacks the purple and red tints. C.
minuta, the most diminutive Pigeon known, — though Oena would
be smaller but for its tail, — is uniform below. The other species
differ but little, though only C. rufipennis has, like the above, the
under surface of the wing cinnamon. Flocks of the Ground-Dove
or Tortolita, as C. passerina is called, are found amongst open woods
and pastures, running about with elevated tails, and feeding chiefly
upon the ground on seeds, berries, peas, and grain ; if disturbed,
they betake themselves with low and noisy flight to a tree ; but
they are usually very tame, and may often be heard uttering their
mournful notes on the roofs of outbuildings. The nest, placed in low
bushes or on the ground, is carefully constructed and lined with
grass, two or three broods being reared in the season. The hen
is said to feign disablement at its nest like a Plover, while the
birds apparently dust themselves in gallinaceous fashion. Colum-
bula picui, distinguished by a blue band on the wing-coverts,
occurs in South America from Bolivia and Chili eastward.

Group (e~). — The fifth section of the Peristerinae exhibit no
metallic spots or lustre, while the wings are rounded and the tail is
rather long. Gymnopelia erytlirotlwrax, of the mountains of Peru,
Bolivia, and North Chili, is brown, with vinaceous head and
breast, and remarkably large naked orbits of orange margined with
black. Scardafella has crescentic black edges to the feathers, the
upper parts being brown and the lower pinky white, while the

COLUMBIDAE 34!

primaries have cinnamon inner webs. £ squamosa, of Brazil,
Venezuela, and Colombia, has a white wing-patch, absent in
£ inca, extending from Texas to Nicaragua. These " Scaly
Doves," as they are called, seem to be essentially terrestrial?—
Geopelia humeralis, of Australia and Southern New Guinea, is
brown above, with black scale-like markings, a rufous nape, a
bluish forehead and chest, a pinkish breast, and, a white mid-belly.
The remiges are rufous on the inner web. G. cuneata, of
Australia only, has small white wing-spots, and no black marginal
markings on the feathers. G. tranquilla, of the same country, G.
striata, ranging from South Tenasserim to the Philippines and the
Moluccas — introduced into Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands,
and St. Helena — and G. maugii, found from the Timor group to
the Ke Islands, are distinctly banded with black and white, the
first round the neck only, the other two on the breast also. These
long-tailed species, resembling miniature Turtle-Doves, frequent
grassy plains, thickets, or swampy river-sides in small flocks, and
flit tamely from tree to tree, alighting with upturned tail ; the
" coo " is rarely loud ; the food consists of seeds and berries,
usually obtained upon the ground ; the nest, placed rather low,
is of twigs or grass.

Group (/). — Turtur contains twenty-eight Old World forms,
reaching eastward to Japan, the Ladrones, and the Moluccas.
In habits resembling the members of the genus Columba, they are
browner in coloration, and about three quarters of the size ; while
some exhibit lateral patches of dark feathers tipped with blue, grey,
or white on the neck, the plumage whereof in other species is
bifurcated and spotted with rufous or white. Many have a black
nuchal collar, and a few somewhat fawn-coloured upper parts ; the
lower surface is more or less vinaceous, and the rectrices, except
the two median, are tipped with white or grey. The following
may exemplify the range of this sixth section of the Peristerinae: —
Turtur communis, the Turtle-Dove of Europe, winters in Northern
Africa and Western Asia ; T. douraca or risorius (our common
cage-bird), extends from Turkey to India and Japan ; T. orientalis,
accidental in Europe, only from India to Japan ; T. tigrinus from
the Malay countries to the Moluccas ; T. dussumieri from Borneo
to the Ladrones; T. semitorquatus, T. isabellinus, and so forth,
inhabit Africa ; T.picturatus Madagascar, T. aldabranus, T. comor-
ensis, T. coppingeri, T. allotti, and T. rostratus the neighbouring

342 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Islands. The African T. senegalensis is found in the Canaries, and
several introduced species occur in Madagascar or Mauritius.

Group (#). — The seventh section of the Peristerinae is character-
ized by metallic spots near the ear-coverts and an iridescent gloss
on the sides of the neck. Melopelia leiwoptera, found from Texas
to Costa Eica and the West Indies, and the very similar M.
meloda of Peru and Chili, have a white wing-patch. One of the
notes resembles a cock's crow. Nesopelia, of the Galapagos, links
these closely to Zenaida, with six members, found from the Florida
Keys, Yucatan, and the Antilles, through South America to Pata-
gonia. Z. amabilis, the Pea- or Mountain-Dove of the islands
from the Florida Keys to Antigua, is reddish-olive, with vinous
head and breast, two peacock- blue ear-spots, black blotches on
the scapulars and wing-coverts, black remiges, and a white band
across the secondaries. Chiefly terrestrial, it roosts and nests
either on trees or on the ground, the flight being swift, and the
note very soft. Zenaidura carolinensis, the Mourning-Dove of
North America, including Southern Canada, is not unlike the
above, but has the crown, sides of the body, and edges of the
wings blue, and in the male the breast purplish. Small flocks
often frequent the neighbourhood of houses, while the flight is
strong, the note guttural and melancholy, the food of grain,
berries, acorns, shoots of plants, and apparently worms. The
nest is placed indifferently on the earth or aloft.

Sub-fam. 3. Columlinae. — Ectopistes migratorius, the well-
known Passenger-Pigeon, breeds in eastern North America, chiefly
in Canada and the adjoining United States, and wanders to the
Pacific and Cuba. Its immense colonies are seemingly a thing
of the past, though as lately as 1888 a northward flight crossed
Michigan, where in 1878, at Petosky, the "roost," or area
occupied, is said to have been twenty-eight miles long by three
or four broad. The trees were often laden with nests, and
during a stay of five weeks several millions of birds are stated
to have been captured, chiefly by means of nets and decoys ;
though earlier authors, such as Wilson, mention many different
methods of slaughter. The parents were very noisy, and covered
vast distances in search of food ; but, save for the sharp call-note,
and the single egg, the other habits were as in most arboreal Pigeons.

Coryphoenas crassirostris, of the Solomon Islands, a slate-
coloured species with brownish head and crest, resembles in its

COLUMBIDAE 343

very stout bill and long graduated rectrices Eeinwardtoenas rein-
ivardti, ranging from Celebes to Papuasia, and E. browni, of the
Duke of York Island and New Britain. In the two last-named the
head is grey, the under parts are white, and the naked orbits red,
the former having the back chestnut, the latter black. Closely
allied are the two dozen Pheasant-like members of Macropygia,
with elongated wedge-shaped tails, from the Indian and Australian
Eegions, which have rich chestnut, purplish-brown, or cinnamon
plumage, with darker shading and iridescent sheen, chiefly con-
fined to the upper surface. The head is usually lighter, the under
parts are often buff or vinaceous, and the irides parti-coloured ; the
naked orbits vary in tint. Inhabiting bushy country or hills up to
about eight thousand feet, they fly but short distances, feeding upon
the ground on seeds and berries, and uttering a loud monotonous
note. M. tusalia, the Cuckoo-Dove, occurs from North India to
West China ; M. leptogrammica inhabits the Malay Countries ;
several other species carry the range to the Moluccas ; M. tenui-
rostris occupies the Philippine and Sulu Islands ; M. phasianella
the eastern half of Australia ; M. doreya and so forth New Guinea
and its islands ; M. rufa the New Hebrides; M. rufo-castanea the
Solomons. The two last-named have bifurcated breast-feathers.

Turacoena menadensis, of Celebes, the Togian and Sula Islands,
is slate -black with golden-green occiput, neck, and breast, white
face and throat, and naked red orbits ; T. modesta, of Timor, has
the orbits yellow, and lacks the white. Turturoena delegorgii, of
Natal, is slaty -black, with a chestnut mantle surmounted by a
white band, lilac and green reflexions on the occiput, neck, and
chest, vinous under parts, and bare pink orbits. The female is
brownish-grey, having a cinnamon head and nape glossed with
green, but no white collar. T. sharpii, of East Equatorial Africa,
differs in its green crown and nuchal region ; T. iriditorques, found
from the Gaboon to Liberia, lacks the white band, and has the
lateral rectrices tipped with buff; Nesoenas mayeri, of Mauritius,
is reddish-brown, with pink head, neck, and lower surface.

The cosmopolitan genus Columba contains nearly sixty
members, of which comparatively few inhabit the Palaearctic
and Nearctic Eegions ; the general coloration is blue, relieved by
black and rufous, or a metallic red and green sheen. Want of space
forbids a description of every form, and the following are in no
definite order : but C. pcdumlus, C. laurivora, C. lollii, C. trocaz,

344 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

C. leucocephala, and so forth, are Wood - Pigeons ; C. livia, C.
schimperi, C. affinis, C. intermedia, and C. leuconota are true Rock-
Pigeons ; C. oenas and its nearest allies being somewhat inter-
mediate. C. rufina, extending from Guatemala to Peru and Brazil,
and C. speciosa, ranging further north to Mexico, are especially
ruddy ; C. ianthina, of Japan and the Liu-Kiu Islands, is unusually
metallic ; C. grisea, of Borneo and Sumatra, is mainly light grey ;
C. polleni, of the Comoro Islands, olive-brown ; C. arquatrix, of
Eastern and South-Western Africa, is necked with white above
and below ; C. speciosa, only on the hind neck ; C. guinea, of
Western and North-Eastern Africa, has bifurcated neck-feathers
and triangular white wing-spots ; C. leucocephala, of the Florida
Keys, Bahamas, Antilles, and Honduras, and C. leucomela, of East
Australia, have the crown, and the latter the neck and under parts
white ; C. leuconota, the " Snow-Pigeon " of Kashmir, Yarkand,
and Tibet, has the neck, lower back, and breast white ;
C. palumbus, our King-Dove, Wood-Pigeon, Cushat, or Queest,
the habits of which are universally known, extends through the
Palaearctic Region from Madeira and the Azores to Persia ; it
differs from the smaller and darker Stock-Dove (C. oenas), of the
same Region eastward to Turkestan, by the white patches on the
sides of its neck and the white wing-bar. C. livia, the Rock-
Dove, from which our domestic races have sprung, is easily
distinguishable from other British species by the white rump and
the two black alar bands. The breeding habits of our native birds,
and the damage done by flocks of Wood-Pigeons, partly composed
of immigrants, have already been mentioned (p. 328). Columba
laurivora and C. bollii, which lays but one egg, are peculiar to
the Canary Islands ; C. trocaz to Madeira, C. jorringtoniae to Ceylon,
C. palumbo'ides to the Andamans and Nicobars, C. metallica to
Timor, C. gymnophtlialma, apparently to Curasao, Aruba, and
Bonaire, and several forms to Samoa, the Liu-Kiu, Bonin, Fiji,
and other groups. C. araucana reaches the Straits of Magellan.

Cfymnophaps albertisi, of New Guinea, is grey, with whitish
breast, purplish-chestnut under parts else where, and naked red orbits.

Sub-fam. 4. Treroninae. — This includes the Fruit-Pigeons in
the widest sense, natives of the Old World, of which the bigger are
contained in the first eight genera. Hemiphaga novae zealandiae,
of New Zealand, is green, with brilliant coppery reflexions,
brownish -purple back, and white abdomen ; H. spadicea, of

COLUMBIDAE 345

Norfolk Island, and H. ckathamensis, of the Chatham group, have
greyer wing-coverts and green nape. Lopholaemus antarcticus,
of Eastern Australia, is grey, with a fine rufous crest, black
remiges, black rectrices banded with grey, and bare reddish
orbits ; the neck-feathers being hackled as in Caloenas. In
Myristicivora the general plumage is white, but M. licolor, of
the Malay Archipelago, has black wing-quills and tip to the tail ;
the similar M. spilorrhoa of Australia and Papuasia, the yellower
M. sulflayescens of New Ireland, and the blacker-tailed M. melanura
of the Moluccas, have black spots near the vent ; M. luctuosa, of
Celebes and the Sula Islands, has the remiges nearly grey.

Phaenorrhina goliatli, of New Caledonia and the Isle of
Pines, is slaty-black, with maroon patches on the wing-coverts
and abdomen, black quills, and a broad chestnut tail-bar.

The forty to fifty species of Carpopliaga range from India to
Hainan and Fiji. C. concinna, found in the Moluccas, Tenimber,
Ke, and Aru Islands, is metallic bronzy-green with grey head
and lower surface ; C. aenea, extending from India and Ceylon
to Hainan and Flores, has more vinaceous lower parts and greener
tail ; C. latrans, of Fiji, is nearly brown above ; C. zoeae, of
Papuasia, has a chestnut mantle and black pectoral band.
C. griseipectus, of the Philippines, has a grey back with blackish-
green spots, and a chestnut lower breast ; C. basilica, of the
Halmahera group, has a pinkish-white head and upper breast, a
rufous lower breast, and a broad grey tip to the tail ; C. cuprea,
of Southern India, is brown, with white throat, greyish-pink
head, neck, mantle, and under parts ; C. poecilorrlwa, of North
Celebes, is glossy greenish-black above with grey head, mantle,
and chest, and brown breast with ochre markings ; C. pinon,
of New Guinea and the Western Papuan Islands, is slaty-grey
with a white forehead, a ring of white feathers round the
naked red orbits, and a purplish-chestnut lower breast. Large
flocks commonly gather after breeding. The seven species of
C. (Glolicera}, remarkable for a fleshy knob at the base of the bill,
may be represented by C. (£.) pacifica, ranging from New Guinea
to Samoa, and C. (G.) rubricera, of New Ireland, New Britain, New
Hanover, and the Duke of York Island. The former has a grey
head, bronzy-green upper parts, bluer remiges and rectrices and
pinkish lower surface, the knob being black. The latter has a
vinous head, grey mantle, chestnut abdomen, and red knob.

346 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

Serresius galeatus, of the Marquesas Islands, noted for the feathered
skin or " saddle " covering half the culmen, is deep glossy green,
with dark grey head and under parts. All these Fruit-Pigeons
feed and build on lofty trees, and seldom, if ever, descend to
the ground — possessing short legs and broad-soled grasping feet ;
they have a powerful rapid flight and utter varied notes, occa-
sionally deep and booming like a wild beast's roar; they eat vast
quantities of fruit, and some are very fond of mice ; while they
normally lay two eggs, but exceptionally one.

The five splendid species of Megaloprepia occupy the Northern
Moluccas, Papuasia, and Eastern Australia. M. magnified of
the latter country has a greenish-grey head and neck, golden-
green upper parts with an oblique yellow band on the wing-
coverts, rich purple breast and abdomen, and yellow vent. M.
formosa of the Halmahera group lacks the yellow on the wings
and has, in the male only, a crimson patch on the greenish breast.
The other three species are barely separable. The habits re-
semble those of Carpophaga, the note being peculiarly hoarse.

Alectoroenas comprises four remarkable forms from Madagascar
and the neighbouring islands, of which A. nitidissima of Mauri-
tius has become extinct within historic times, three specimens
being still extant at Port Louis, Paris, and Edinburgh respec-
tively. This species, called " Pigeon hollondais " from its colours,
which are those of the Dutch flag, is indigo-blue, with white head
and neck, vermilion tail-coverts and tail edged with black, and red
carunculated orbits, lores, and forehead. A. madagascariensis, of
Madagascar and Nossibe Island, has most of the neck slaty-grey,
but the head blue, and the tail crimson with a wash of blue and
green at the base, while the naked skin only surrounds the eyes.
A. pulclierrima of the Seychelles, to which the name of " Pigeon
hollondais " has been transferred, has the neck and breast grey,
the upper parts, including the tail, black with blue reflexions, the
crown crimson, the orbits, lores, and forehead wattled. A. sganzini
of the Comoro Islands differs in having a grey head and only
the orbits bare. Throughout the genus the long, loosely webbed
and bifurcated neck-feathers resemble hackles in appearance. The
members are, according to circumstances, tame and stupid, or shy
and wary ; they are arboreal and fly powerfully, while they feed
on dates, figs, berries and grain, the flocks being very destructive
to rice-crops. Drepanoptila liolosericea, of New Caledonia and

COLUMBIDAE 347

the Isle of Pines, with its feathered white metatarsi and fork-
tipped primaries, is green, with grey wing- and tail-bars, white
throat and yellow abdomen, the last being divided from the breast
by a yellowish-white and a black band.

Of the smaller Fruit-Pigeons, which differ but little in habits
from the larger, the lovely genus Chrysoenas is confined to Fiji. C.
luteovirens has an olive-yellow head, and a bright yellow abdomen
and collar; the remaining plumage being yellow, more or less tinged
with green, especially on the wings and tail. The feathers of the
neck and back are narrowly lanceolate and the tail-coverts long.
The female is green, with a yellow wash below, and has nearly
brown remiges. C. victor is bright orange, with olive -yellow
head and throat and browner wing-quills ; the coverts almost
conceal the tail, but the long decomposed body-feathers are not
especially narrow. The female is green, with yellowish head
and orange-margined remiges. C. mridis is dark green, with a
golden hue on the back and breast, the head being almost yellow,
as are the edges of the quills. The female is green, with grey
vent-region. The seventy or more brilliantly coloured members
of the genus Ptilopus range from the Malay Peninsula to the
Marquesas ; New Guinea and Polynesia accounting for a large
majority. The following are some of the most striking. P.
jambu of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Bangka, and
Billiton has the front half of the head crimson, the upper parts
bright green, the primaries black, margined with bluish-green,
the tip of the tail yellowish, and the under parts white, with a
purplish -brown streak down the throat, a rosy smear on the
breast, and a red-brown anal region. The female has dull purple
on the head and a greyish-green breast. The following three
species have bifurcated breast-feathers. P. dupetit-thouarsi of
the Marquesas has the crown whitish, encircled by a yellowish
line, the upper surface green with yellow margins to the wing-
quills and tip to the tail, the scapulars and inner secondaries
spotted with blue, the under parts yellowish-green, with a cherry-
coloured patch surrounded by orange on the breast, the throat
and vent pale yellow. P. swainsoni of Eastern Australia, stray-
ing to South-East New Guinea, has a rose-lilac forehead and
crown with a yellow margin behind, bright green upper parts
with yellow edges to the wing-quills and peacock-blue tips to
the inner secondaries and scapulars, a yellow tip to the tail, a

348 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP.

pale yellow throat, a dull green breast with silvery grey tips to
the feathers, and a lilac band dividing this from the orange
abdomen. The female is rather brighter green. P. superbus of
the Moluccas, Papuasia and North Australia, has a purple cap,
rufous-orange nape and sides of the neck, rich green upper
surface, with deep blue spots on the scapulars and wings and a
patch of the same colour at the bend of the latter, black primaries
with yellow margins, a whitish throat, and a purple and grey breast,
separated from the white abdomen and green and white vent by a
broad violet-black band. The female has green upper parts, with
blue spots on the wing-region and one on the occiput, and a grey
and green breast. P. insolitus of New Ireland, New Britain, and
the Duke of York Island, with its curious orange frontal knob, is
green, with grey lesser wing-coverts and inner secondaries, a grey-
tipped tail, an orange abdomen, and a yellowish vent-region.
P. aurantiifrons of Papuasia has a yellowish-green head with
orange forehead ; a white throat ; grey neck, upper breast, tip of
the tail, and spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts ; the remain-
ing plumage being chiefly green. P. nanus of the same districts,
the smallest of the Sub-family, is bronzy-green with a greyish
band on each side of the breast, a yellow vent, and a purple
abdominal patch, lacking in the female. Phdbotreron is a group
of similar species confined to the Philippines. P. amethystine is
bronzy-brown with an amethystine nape and lower surface, the
cheeks are crossed by a black line over a white one, the throat
is reddish, the tip of the tail grey. The lines on the cheeks
and a rounded tail are characteristic of the genus.

The remaining members of the Treroninae are of a greenish
or yellowish coloration, generally varied with patches or bands
of dull purple, red, orange, or lilac — nearly or quite absent in
the females, except in Vinago, where the sexes are similar. This
genus is Ethiopian, while the others reach from India eastward to
Japan, Formosa, and the Moluccas. Osmotreron contains a dozen
and a half species, of which the following may serve as examples.
0. vernans, ranging from the Malay countries to Cochin- China,
the Philippines, and Celebes, has a greyish head and throat,
vinaceous- purple neck, dull green upper parts, yellowish -green
lower surface with an orange pectoral patch, rufescent upper and
chestnut under tail-coverts ; the wing-quills are black with yellow
margins to the coverts, and the grey tail exhibits a black sub-

COLUMBIDAE 349

terminal bar on the lateral feathers. The small 0. olax of the
Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, has the back maroon,
the head and neck grey. 0. pompadora of Ceylon has the fore-
head and throat yellow, the mantle maroon, and the median
rectrices green. 0. aromatica of Bouru differs in having no
yellow forehead, and the bend of the wing blackish.

Treron nipalensis and the very closely allied T. nasica are
found from Bengal and Nepal to the Indo-Malay Islands, the
Philippines, and Cochin-China ; they have grey heads, chestnut
mantles, black wings with yellow edges to the coverts and
secondaries, cinnamon under tail -coverts, grey lateral rectrices
banded with black, and green plumage elsewhere. Butreron
capellii, of the Malay Peninsula and neighbouring islands, has the
head and upper parts greyish-green, the wings nearly as in the
last species, the throat and abdomen yellowish-green, the breast
orange, and the under tail-coverts chestnut.

Crocopus, with its three similar members, extends from India
and Ceylon to Cochin-China. C. clilorigaster has a grey head
and tail, a yellowish-green neck and under surface, a grey band
across the mantle, a yellow alar bar, an olive-green back and
rump, a purple patch at the bend of the wing, and rufous and
white lower tail-coverts.

Half a dozen species of Vinago range from Senegambia and
Abyssinia to Madagascar and Cape Colony. V. waalia, found
from "West to North-East Africa, has a greenish-grey head and
neck, olive upper parts, blackish-brown remiges with yellow outer
margins, a rich vinous patch on the wing-coverts, a slaty-blue
tail, a bright yellow breast, and a buff abdomen. V. calva, of
the Ethiopian Eegion northward of Angola and the Zambesi, has
a curious bare forehead and frontal swelling, a yellowish-green
head, neck, and lower surface, and a grey collar at the base of
the hind-neck. V. crassirostris is confined to St. Thomas and
Eollas Islands, West Africa ; V. australis to Madagascar. Spheno-
cercus, with some eight members, having wedge-shaped tails and a
general resemblance in colour, reaches from North India, Sumatra,
Borneo, and Java, to Japan and Formosa. S. sphenurus, of the
Himalayas and the Burmese countries, has the head, neck, and under
parts greenish-yellow with a rufous tinge, the back purplish- and
bluish -green, the rump and wing -coverts olive with a maroon
patch on the latter, and the remiges slaty-black with yellow

CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP, v

margins. S. sieboldi is peculiar to Japan, S. sororius and S.
formosae to Formosa, S. permagnus to the Liu-Kiu Islands.

Comparatively few fossil forms of the Columbidae have been
discovered, but Columba, occurs in the Lower Miocene of France
and in Malta, while LithopJiaps ulnaris and Progura gallinacea
are recorded from the Queensland Drifts, and Alectoroenas ?
rodericana is an extinct species from Kodriguez.

CHAPTEE VI

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONTINUED

BRIGADE II LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE). ORDERS : CUCULI-

TORMES CORACIIFORMES

Order XII. CUCULIFORMES.

THE Order Cuculiformes commences the last great division of
Carinate Birds. It contains the Sub-Orders CUCULI and PSITTACI ;
the former consisting of the Families Cuculidae, or Cuckoos, and
Musophagidae, or Plantain-eaters ; the latter of the PsiUacidae, or
Parrots, Parakeets, Macaws, and Cockatoos, and the Trichoglossidae,
or Lory group. Zygodactylous feet (p. 10) are characteristic of
the Order, while further structural details are to be found below.
Dr. Gadow confirms the close connexion of the two Sub-Orders.1

Fam. I. Cuculidae. — Here we may accept, in default of full
anatomical investigation, the Sub-families of Captain Shelley,2
namely, (1) Cucidinae, (2) Centropodinae, (3) PJioenicophainae,
(4) Neomorphinae, (5) Diplopterinae, and (6) Crotophaginae.

The bill is generally long and curved, being strongly arched
in Hyetornis, Piety a, Taccocua, and Zanclostomus ; it is straight
in Saurothera and Ithinortha, abnormally large in JKhampho-
mantis and Scythrops, and has the maxilla compressed into a
thin elevated plate in Crotophaga. The scutellated metatarsi
are commonly stout, and are especially long in the cursorial
genera Coua and Geococcyx ; in Centropus the hallux terminates
in an elongated spur-like claw. The wings are long and straight
in the Cuculinae, Diplopterinae, and Crotophaginae, short and
curved elsewhere ; the primaries numbering ten, and the second-
aries usually nine or ten, but thirteen in Scythrops ; in the
Neomorphinae the quills are about equal in extent. The rounded

1 Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, 1893, pp. 212-223.
2 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891, pp. 209-210

352 CUCULIFORMES CHAP.

or wedge-shaped tail is nearly always long, and has ten feathers,
except in the Crotophaginae, which have eight ; it is forked in two
species of Surniculus. Diplopterus has the upper coverts half as
long as the rectrices, Dromococcyx has them of the entire length.
The impervious nostrils, usually pierced in a swollen membrane,
are hidden by bristly plumes in Dasyloplius and Lepidogrammus.
The furcula is Y-shaped, the tongue is sagittate with re trover ted
spines on the posterior margin, the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial or
occasionally bronchial. Distinct eyelashes are often visible, the
after-shaft is rudimentary or absent, the nestlings are naked, and
down is only found in adults on the unfeathered spaces.

The plumage of the more typical Cuckoos is brownish or grey,
usually with barred under parts, the long flank-feathers cover-
ing half the metatarsi ; Chrysococcyx, however, contains several
beautiful emerald-green forms ; while Chcdcococcyx is scarcely less
brilliant ; but Surniculus and Cuculus clamosus are black. Croto-
phaga is also black. Coccystes, and several species of Coua, have
well-developed crests, while Lepidogrammus has a rounded tuft,
Guira one of long narrow plumes, and Geococcyx mexicanus an
erectile patch. Fork-tipped feathers on the head and neck are
not uncommon. The colour of the bill, feet, and iris varies much ;
the cheeks and orbits are often naked, and may be bright red,
blue, or greyish, as in the Phoenicophainae and Centropodinae.
Strong glossy feather-shafts, often with filiform extremities, are
found in Coua, Taccocua, PJwenicophaes, Ehopodytes and elsewhere,
on the head, neck, mantle and chest ; CrotopJiaga has stiff, scale-
like borders, and Lepidogrammus metallic horny tips, to the
feathers of the first two of these ; Dasyloplius has fine crimson
hair-like tufts springing from above each eye. The beak may
be black, green, yellowish, or even, as in Rhamphococcyx, chiefly
red. The sexes are alike in most cases.

The Ethiopian and Indian Eegions are richest in Cuculidae.
New Zealand possesses only two species ; but Madagascar, besides
other forms, claims the entire genus Coua. In all there are more
than a hundred and sixty species of some forty-two genera.

Sub-fam. 1. Cuculinae. — Cuculus canorus, the familiar Cuckoo
of Britain and nearly all the Old World, is greyish-brown above
and on the throat, the lower parts being white barred with
dusky, and the wings and tail shewing a few white markings.
A chestnut-brown or " hepatic " phase is sometimes met with.

vi CUCULIDAE 353

The young are brown mottled with white on the nape. Its
flight and general coloration give the Cuckoo a distinctly Hawk-
like appearance, and cause it to be systematically mobbed by
small birds, while ignorant peasants persecute it mercilessly,
assert that it " changes to a Hawk " in winter. Certain other
members of the Family have the same raptorial aspect, notably
the Asiatic Hawk-Cuckoo (ffierococcyx) ; whereas several of the
Centropodinae unconsciously mimic Pheasants in their colour,

FIG. 69. — Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus. x f .

in their red orbits and their wedge-shaped tail. Geococcyx is still
more like a Galline bird in some respects ; and Surniculus is a
decidedly good imitation of a Drongo (Dicruridae).

In early April the Cuckoo's note heralds the approaching
summer in Britain, and continues to be heard until June, after
which it becomes hoarser and the first syllable is doubled ; in July
the adults begin to disappear, yet stray examples — chiefly, if not
entirely, young — remain up to October, when they migrate as far
as South Africa, Ceylon, and Celebes. None breed south of North
Africa and the Himalayas. The eggs are invariably deposited
in the nests of other birds, which rear the intruder and feed it
until it leaves the country; but it is doubtful how many are
VOL. IX 2 A

354 CUCULIFORMES CHAP.

produced in a season — possibly five or six — or whether the
same hen ever places two or more in one nest. It is now certain
that the egg is laid on the ground and conveyed to the chosen
nursery in the bill, an occurrence said to have been actually
witnessed by Adolf Muller, a forester in Darmstadt.

Closely connected with the above parasitic habit is the question
of the colour of the egg. Ked or blue specimens have undoubtedly
been found in Germany and elsewhere, as well as the typical
brown or greyish varieties ; but they do not always assimilate
to those of the foster-parent, albeit to the eggs of Pipits, Wag-
tails, and so forth, that of a Cuckoo is often exactly similar. The
theories advanced to account for this are by no means conclusive,
though hereditary habit may afford a clue ; we may, however, be
sure that the hen cannot determine the colour of her egg.

With us the most usual foster-parents are the Meadow-Pipit,
Pied Wagtail, Eeed Warbler, Hedge-Sparrow and Kobin, perhaps in
the above order. They seldom, if ever, seem to resent the intru-
sion, or to notice their consequent losses. The careful observations
of Jenner, Hancock, and Mrs. Blackburn shew that the young
Cuckoo, when some thirty hours old, begins unaided to remove from
the nest the rightful progeny or unhatched eggs by means of its broad
back, which has a central depression for the first twelve days ; but
after this hollow is filled up the desire is said to cease. It pushes
below a nestling with its wings, and raises it with much exertion
to the edge of the nest, finally ejecting it by a supreme effort.

The probable reason why the Cuckoo's egg often hatches first is
the hen's habit of selecting nests with only one or two fresh eggs.
Subsequently she neglects her offspring entirely. It is stated
that the males, who alone utter the well-known notes, decidedly
outnumber the females, and that no strict pairing takes place ;
while in the courting season a curious bubbling sound, attributed
to the hen, may be heard as two or three individuals chase each
other along the hedgerows. Wooded districts and bare hill-moors
are equally frequented, trees being constantly used as perches.
The quick, straight flight is varied by twists and swoops ; the
food consists of insects and their larvae, the stomach often becom-
ing lined with hairs of caterpillars. Our Cuckoo does not eat eggs,
but various foreign species add to their diet seeds and other fruits,
land-molluscs, worms, frogs, lizards, small snakes, birds, and mice.
Clialcococcyx lucidus bruises its food before swallowing it.

vi CUCULIDAE 355

The genus Coccystes, of South Europe, Africa, and Tropical
Asia, includes the Great Spotted Cuckoo (C. glandarius), which
has twice occurred in Britain, a crested greyish-brown bird, with
a yellowish throat, white under parts and markings above. In
Southern Spain and Northern Africa it deposits from two to four
eggs in the nests of the Magpies, Pica rustica, P. mauritanica,
and Cyanopica cooki, or of the Grey Crow, Corvus comix ; these
eggs, like those of the foster parents, being pale green with brown
and lilac markings. The note of the male is " kee-ou, kee-ou " or
"kark-kark," of the female " burroo-burroo." C. coromandus,
chiefly greenish- and bluish -black above with rufous wings and
white nuchal collar, and buff below with grey abdomen, ranges
from India and Ceylon to China and Celebes, laying roundish,
plain green-blue eggs in nests of Crateropus and other birds, and
having a true Cuckoo's note. C. serratus of South Africa, which
is greenish-black with a white alar band, is somewhat terrestrial,
and lays a white egg in nests of Pycnonotus and Sigelus.

Surniculus lugubris, extending from India to China and the
Malay Islands, is black, with green and purple reflexions and a
few scattered white markings. The tail is sometimes forked.
Cacomantis passerinus, of India, Java, and Sumatra, is grey,
having an olive gloss above, blue-black rectrices with white bars,
and white abdomen. It frequents jungles, utters a plaintive
series of whistles, continuing for hours, and lays bluish eggs
with purplish markings in various birds' nests. C. virescens of
Celebes and Bouru is said by Dr. Meyer to build its own nest.
Chrysococcyx smaragdineus, of Tropical and Southern Africa, is
a lovely emerald-green bird, with yellow breast and white-barred
lateral rectrices. The female has a partially rufous head and mantle,
coppery, bronze, and green upper parts, and white lower surface
banded with green. The males whistle loudly to their mates for
long periods, perched on tall trees, or hawk for insects in the air.
C. cupreus, of the same countries, is in both sexes coppery-green
varied with white above, and white with bronzy bars below ; it is
called " Di-dric " from its cry, and lays white eggs in Sun-birds' and
Finches' nests. The similarly coloured Chalcococcyx lucidus of
Australia, New Zealand, and the Chatham Islands has a reiterated
plaintive note, with the effect of ventriloquism, arid foists its green^
ish-white eggs with brown spots upon Acanthiza and Gerygone.

Of Eudynamis, ranging from India and Ceylon to Australia

35<5 CUCULIFORMES CHAP.

and Polynesia, the black males are barely distinguishable, but
the females vary, and are black, brown, rufous, and white. E.
honorata, the noisy Indian Koel, has a loud melodious or hoarse
whistling note, supposed to portend rain ; it feeds on fruit, and
lays from one to four greenish eggs with brown and grey blotches
in nests of Crows. E. melanorhynclia is the " foreteller at night "
of Celebes.1 The extraordinary Scytlirops novae hollandiae, or
Channel-bill, of Australia, Papuasia, and the Moluccas, has a grey
head, brownish back, and whitish under parts with indistinct dusky
bars, the tail exhibiting a subterminal blackish and a terminal
white band. The large maxilla has two lateral grooves, the bare
lores and orbits are scarlet. This big bird flies like a Hawk, and
is possibly parasitic ; while eggs, taken from the oviduct, are white
with pinkish-brown spots. The weird cry or shriek is syllabled
" krok," and the flocks feed on fruits and insects.

Coccyzus americanus, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo of America,
has occurred in Britain, and ranges from the Great Plains, Canada,
and New Brunswick to Argentina ; it is an arboreal species, pair-
ing and building — apparently twice a year — a slight flat nest of
twigs, grass, and moss, lined with leaves. It lays from three to
five light greenish eggs, and the hen feigns lameness when danger
threatens the young. C. occidentalis is a more western form.
O. erytlirophthalmus, the American Black-billed Cuckoo, has been
killed in Ireland and Italy. The coloration in the eight members
of this genus is brownish-grey, relieved by rufous, the under parts
being buff or white.

Sub-farn. 2. - Centropodinae. — This group comprises only the
thirty or more large Coucals (Centropus) of the Ethiopian Kegion,
Egypt, Madagascar, India, and the countries thence to China,
Papuasia, and Australia. C. sinensis, the Crow-Pheasant, extend-
ing from India and Ceylon to China, is black with purple and
green reflexions, the mantle being chestnut ; C. unirufus of the
Philippines is entirely rufous. They are strong -billed, long-
legged birds with terrestrial tendencies, noisy yet often shy, which
fly heavily, run, clirnb, leap, or glide with up- turned tail about
the trees in forests and jungles, and utter a mellow " hoo-too " or
a chuckle. The food consists of insects and their larvae, molluscs,
reptiles, small mammals, and nestling birds. They make a large
globular nest of twigs and leaves, or even of rushes, grass, and rags,

1 For superstitions connected with Celebes Cuckoos, see Meyer, Ibis, 1879, pp. 67-70.

vi CUCULIDAE 357

with a lateral hole ; it is placed in a tree, a thorny bush, or a
tuft of herbage. The three to six oval eggs are white or bluish
with a readily-stained chalky coating ; the young are soon able to
skulk among the foliage. C. toulou is held sacred in Madagascar.

Sub-fam. 3. Phoenicophdinae. — Taccocua sirkee, the Indian
Sirkeer, has somewhat similar habits, but makes a flat nest. It is
olive-brown above, relieved by black and white, and rufous below.
Coua is peculiar to Madagascar, C. caerulea having loose blue
plumage, glossed with violet on the tail, and dark blue naked
orbits ; but the other species are more olive or grey, with black or
rufous on the head, throat, or mantle. The large, shy members of
this handsome genus frequent the edges of forests ; but whereas five
species fly heavily and climb well, jumping from branch to branch
with elevated rectrices, occasionally assisted by their beaks, the
remaining seven rarely leave the ground, where they run about with
the tail trailing. The note is a harsh "tashu" or a sharp " turruh";
the food consists of seeds, insects, worms, small mammals, birds,
and molluscs — the last broken on stones ; the nest of twigs and fibres
is placed in high trees, and contains two or three white eggs.1

Saurothera, Hyetornis, and Piaya are the " Eain-birds " of the
Bahamas and Antilles, the latter genus extending to Bolivia and
Argentina. They are inactive, wary birds, which hide and creep
about with outspread tails when in the trees, but are more at ease
upon the ground ; the cry is a loud harsh scream or cackle ; the
food consists of insects, berries, lizards, and mice ; the flat nest
contains two or three white eggs. P. cayana is reddish-brown
above with a violet tinge, and grey below with pinkish throat ;
the tail shewing a subterminal black bar and a white tip, and the
bare orbits being red. Phoenicophaes pyrrJwcephalus of Ceylon
is dark green, with bluish wings, blackish head and chest, tail
varied with white, and white breast ; the forehead and sides of
the head being red and rugose. It is a fruit-eating forest species,
said to be parasitic, though the allied Rhopodytes of the Indian
Eegion lays two or three white eggs in a slight nest of sticks
and leaves, while the pugnacious EhampJiococcyx calorhynclius,
the " foreteller by day " of Celebes, builds a similar structure.2

Sub-fain. 4. Neomorpliinae, — Geococcyx mexicanus, the curious
Chapparal-Cock or Eoad-runner of the South-Western United
States and Mexico, frequents thinly- wooded country, hilly cactus-
1 Cf. Sibree, Ibis, 1891, pp. 218-219. 2 Cf. Meyer, ut supra (p. 356).

35*

CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

regions or barren plains. The plumage is brownish, with white
margins to the feathers and a purple tinge on the rufous-mottled
head, neck, and breast ; the back is greener, the tail more lilac,
the abdomen white, the bare orbits blue and red. With its long
stout legs this species covers the ground very quickly, running
with outstretched neck, elevated crest, slightly expanded wings,
and jerking tail, or springing into trees and taking brief nights :

FIG. 70. — Radiated Ground-Cuckoo. Carpococcyx radiatus. x ^. (From Nature.}

it is even difficult to outpace it with dogs or on horseback. It
eats insects, snapping some in the bill as it leaps into the air,
and enjoys grasshoppers, mice, and lizards ; in captivity it is
thievish. The note is low, the beak being occasionally clattered.
The nest of twigs and grass, placed in bushes, contains from
three to nine white eggs, the male apparently assisting in incuba-
tion. Carpococcyx radiatus of Borneo, and C. viridis of Sumatra,
are the only Old World species in this group.

Sub-fam. 5. Diplopterinae. — Diplopterus naevius, a pale brown

vi MUSOPHAGIDAE 359

bird with darker streaks and white under surface, may represent
this Central and South American group, of which the only other
members are two species of Dromococcyx.

Sub-fam. 6. Crotophaginae. — Of these birds, peculiar to- the
New World, Crotopliaga ani, the Ani, Black Parrot, or Savannah-
blackbird, extending from the Southern United States and the
Antilles to most of South America, is glossy purplish- or greenish-
black, and has the smooth maxilla compressed into a thin vertical
plate, which, like the bare orbits, is black. Its grotesque appear-
ance and alleged malpractices have given it the name of Black
Witch in the West Indies. C. sulcirostris, ranging from Texas to
Peru, has the bill grooved ; C. major of South America is larger
arid greener. Far from shifting the burden of incubation upon
other species, the females form huge co-operative nests of inter-
laced twigs lined with green leaves in trees, wherein each deposits
some five bluish eggs with a chalky incrustation, amounting in
all to twenty or more. Around or upon these structures they
sit in company. Bold but wary, the Anis flit from bush to bush,
or creep and jump about the branches, uttering a mewing sound
or a sharper double cry. They are often mobbed by other birds.
Flocks gather in wooded or marshy spots, and feed on insects,
berries, lizards, and so forth ; occasionally digging for their prey,
or picking the ticks off cattle.

Guira piririgua, of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, is brown
and buff above with darker streaks, and buff below, the back and
tips of the lateral rectrices being white. From the similarity of
habits to Crotopliaga it is termed the White Ani in Brazil.
Flocks draw near the houses in winter, and sit miserably huddled
together on the trees ; the note is a long disyllabic whistle, or in
the young an hysterical laugh. Usually each pair makes a rough
nest of twigs and leaves, laying six or seven pale blue eggs with
reticulated chalky coating ; though fourteen have been recorded.

Fam. II. Musophagidae. — The Plantain-eaters are striking
birds, peculiar to the Ethiopian Eegion, without Madagascar. They
have large eyes and long necks ; while the bill, though small in
Gallirex, is generally stout and broad with compressed or rounded
culmen and serrated margin, and in Musophaga expands into a
broad frontal plate behind. The feet are semi-zygodactylous,
with reversible outer toe and strong claws ; the robust metatarsi
are scutellated anteriorly and coarsely granulated posteriorly.

360 CUCULIFORMES CHAP.

The wings are rather short and round, with ten primaries and
twelve or thirteen secondaries ; the rounded tail of varying length
has ten rectrices. The furcula is U-shaped; the tongue sagit-
tate— with bristly apex in Gfallirex ; the nostrils — hidden in
Turacus — are usually oval, but are linear in Schizorhis and Gymno-
schizorhis ; the aftershaft is large ; the nestlings lack down. The
red or grey orbits are naked, save in Schizorhis; in Gymno-
schizorhis the cheeks and throat are bare and blackish.

The six genera comprise two dozen or more species from about

FIG. 71. — Green-mantled Turaco. Gallirex chlorochlamys. x -J.

thirty to fifteen inches in length ; the general coloration being
metallic blue and green or greyish- brown, usually varied with
crimson, and in the large Corytliaeola with yellow ; all have erectile
crests of different sizes, except Musophaga violacea. The bill is
red, yellowish, or black, the feet are black. The sexes are alike,
the young duller. The red feathers yield a peculiar pigment, con-
taining copper, called Turacin, which is reducible to a powder;
this is so soluble that the colour is washed away during rain or
in a bath, though regained subsequently.1

Plantain-eaters are found in pairs, or in small flocks of four to
ten, over wooded country near inland or tidal waters, reaching an
altitude of some ten thousand feet. The tops of high trees are

1 See Church, Phil. Trans. 1869, pp. 627-636 ; op. cit. ]893, pp. 511-530.

VI

PSITTACI 361

a favourite haunt, but they are not uncommonly seen amongst
the tangled creepers below, flitting from shrub to shrub with
undulating flight when disturbed, and alighting with crest erect
and up-turned tail. Of some species the flight is clumsy
jerky, of others light and graceful ; at times they hover in the
air with outspread wings and tail, at times they sport and hop
among the branches, expanding and depressing the rectrices.
Familiar yet extremely shy and restless, these birds, when
wounded, are particularly hard to secure, as they run with great
swiftness, and even take refuge in holes in trees. During rain
or in the mid-day heat they rest quietly on some bough, but at
other times are usually noisy, their harsh reiterated screaming
or ringing notes being varied by a cat-like mewing or dove-like
sound. The food consists of bananas, tamarinds, papaw-apples,
and other fruits, with insects, worms, caterpillars, molluscs, or
even small birds. They are occasionally mobbed by their kin,
as Cuckoos are. Though some species have been asserted to
breed in holes, Schizorhis concolor makes a flat nest in trees, and
Gymnoscliizorhis leopoldi a loose platform of thorny twigs and
roots, both species laying three round greenish- or bluish-white
eggs. The flesh is considered a delicacy by the natives.

Turacus (Corythaix) fischeri of East Africa is green, washed with
blue on the wings and tail, having a crimson crest tipped with black,
a crimson hind neck with white nape, a blackish lower chest and
abdomen, and black cheeks margined above and below with white ;
the remiges are crimson, edged with black, the bare orbits red.
T. corytliaix is called the Lory in South Africa. Musopliaga
violacea of West Africa is glossy violet-blue with darker tail, the
crown and hind-neck being covered with short, hairy, crimson
feathers and partially outlined with white ; the chest is greenish,
the frontal plate yellow; the wing-quills and orbits are as in
T. fisclieri. Scliizorliis concolor of South Africa is nearly
uniform ash-coloured ; Gymnoscliizorliis personata of Shoa is
greyish-brown with paler crest, whitish head and neck, blackish
naked cheeks and throat, and dirty green breast.

The remarkable fossil Necrornis occurs in the Middle Miocene
of France.

Of all existing Birds the Parrots (Sub-Order PSITTACI) are
perhaps the most interesting to the public, being easily procurable,

3^2 CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

docile, and long-lived pets of gorgeous coloration and amusing
habits. The red-tailed Grey Parrot of Africa (Psittacus erithacus)
is considered the best talker, yet, apart from individual ability,
many species of Palaeornis, Chrysotis, and other genera, are equally
clever, if we cannot say intelligent. Professor Skeat identifies
the name Parrot with the French Pierrot; but, however that may
be, Indian species have been known in Europe since the time of
Alexander the Great, and one or more African forms were kept
in ornamental cages, and even eaten, at Eome under Nero.

In default of a really satisfactory arrangement we may accept
that of Dr. Gadow,1 who agrees in the main with Count
Salvadori,2 and recognises the Family Psittacidae, with Sub-
families Stringopinae, Psittacinae, and Cacatuinae; and the Family
Trichoglossidae, with Cyclopsittacinae, Loriinae, and Nestorinae.

There are in all about eighty genera containing some five hundred
species, but the variety arises chiefly from colour, while the beak
alone would sufficiently determine the Family. This feature is
usually short and stout, with strongly arched maxilla and man-
dible, the former being moveable and hinged to the skull, and
the latter truncated. In Nestor and Loriculus the curve is more
gradual and the depth less ; in the Cyclopsittacinae and some
Psittacinae the bill is distinctly notched ; in the Stringopinae,
Nestorinae, and other Psittacinae it is grooved ; while a file-like
surface with transverse ridges, below the overhanging hooked tip,
distinguishes the Psittacidae from the Trichoglossidae. At the
base is generally a large swollen cere, or a similar but very narrow
band in various Psittacinae ; in the Platycercine group this is
very small, and it is more or less hidden by feathers in certain
Psittacinae, Cacatuinae, Cyclopsittacinae, and Nestorinae. The feet
are permanently zygodactylous, the metatarsus being short — except
in Ground-Parrots — compressed, and covered with rugose scales.
The abbreviated rounded wings of the terrestrial Stringops, where
the keel of the sternum is correspondingly reduced, are compara-
tively useless ; while these members, though usually moderate,
may be long, as in Nasiterna and Cacatua, or more acute, as in
the Loriinae ; the primaries are ten in number, the secondaries
from eight to fourteen. The tail varies much, being short and
square with projecting spiny shafts in Nasiterna, longer with

1 Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, 1893, pp. 221, 222.
2 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xx. 1891, pp. viii. 2.

VI

PSITTACI

acuminate feathers in Sir ing ops, moderate in the Loriinae and
Cyclopsittacinae, elongated and wedge-shaped in Conurus. Ara,
Psittacula, and many species of Palaeornis, long and broad in
Platycercus and Cacatua, and so forth. Oreopsittacus possesses
fourteen rectrices, every other genus twelve ; in Prioniturus the
median pair have bare shafts and racquet-tips.

The U-shaped furcula is sometimes entirely absent ; a com-
pletely ossified orbital ring occurs in the Cacatuinae, Stringopinae,
and many Psittacinae ; the tongue is short and fleshy, being
fringed in the Nestorinae, or having a brush of hairs towards the
tip in the Loriinae and Nanodes ; the uniquely modified syrinx
has three pairs of tracheal and tracheo-bronchial muscles ; and a
crop is present. The aftershaft is large, the down of the adults
and young is uniform, the latter being naked when hatched.

The coloration is commonly gaudy, and particularly so in

Fia 72.— Uvaeau Parakeet. Nymphicus uvaeensis. x $. (From Nature.)

364 CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

Macaws ; yet some species are sober in tint, and that of the beak
and feet varies considerably in different forms. Stringops has a
disc of stiff feathers round the eye, Nympliicus and the Cacatuinae
possess crests, Deroptyus broad erectile nape-plumes. Bare fore-
heads, cheeks or orbits, of a red, pink, blue, yellow, black, grey, or
white hue are found in Microglossus, Cacatua, Licmetis, Anodo-
rhynchus, Cyanopsittacus, Ara, Poeoceplmlus, Psittacus, Coracopsis,
and Dasyptilus ; while powder-down patches or tufts occur on the
neck, shoulders, and sides of the Cacatuinae, Psittacus, and Cliry-
sotis. The length varies from some thirty inches in the Great
Black Cockatoo (Microglossus) to about three in the diminutive
Nasiterna pygmaea. The name Macaw is applied to Ara and
its nearest allies, Love-bird to Agapornis and Psittacula, Parakeet
to Platycercus and Palaeornis, Lorikeet to Loriculus, Charmosyna,
and Coriphilus, Lory to Eclectus, Trichoglossus, Lorius, Chalco-
psittacus, and Eos, King Lory to Aprosmictus.

Parrots usually feed and roost in company, though in Eclectus
the habits are said to be more solitary ; the males are, however,
monogamous, each courting a single female, which twitters and
rolls the head from side to side when love-making. The haunts
include wooded districts, grassy plains, or even rocky hills and
sandy flats ; Stringops being almost entirely terrestrial, Melo-
psittacus and Neopliema (Grass-Parakeets), with Geopsittacus and
Pezoporus (Ground-Parakeets), being mainly so, while Cockatoos
and many other forms habitually frequent high trees, though
Cacatua galerita, Licmetis nasica, and several species of Platy-
cercus spend much time upon the ground. Most Parrots walk
with considerable ease, and climb well ; their flight is commonly
low and undulating, but is comparatively strong in Nestor, the
Macaws, the Lories, and the like ; the last-named climb less, and
often hop along the ground. Loriculus, when sleeping, generally
hangs by one foot. Little drink seems necessary, as the vegetable
food is ordinarily succulent ; plantains, papaw-apples, figs, and
tamarinds being varied by flowers, buds, leaves, hard palm-nuts,
and fruits of Platanus, Oasuarina, Banksia, Cactus, or Capsicum.
Grass-Parakeets and their nearest allies subsist almost entirely
on grass-seeds and grain, Licmetis and some other Cockatoos dig for
tubers and bulbs, CalyptorliyncJius and Nestor search the bark of
trees for insects, while the latter and the Loriinae suck honey
from the flowers of Phormium and Eucalyptus. Nestor notalilis,

vi PSITTACI 365

the New Zealand Kea, eats the flesh of living sheep, an acquired
taste as remarkable as it is destructive. Parrots alone among
Birds habitually manipulate their food in their claws, these claws,
moreover, greatly aiding them to creep about the branches^oi
to cling to the mouth of their breeding-holes. The usual cry is
harsh and discordant, Lories and Macaws making an especially
deafening noise ; but Cockatoos, besides their scream, utter a softer
sound, Loriculus has a monosyllabic note, NympJiicus and Melopsit-
tacus quite a pretty warble. The female hisses when caught
upon her eggs, and in captivity many forms talk and whistle.
Holes in trees, crevices in cliffs or caves, cavities under stones or
roots, and even shallow depressions in the soil, seldom with any
bedding, serve for a nest ; the spherical or somewhat pointed eggs,
which are often deposited in confinement, being dull white, occa-
sionally with a greenish tinge or brownish incubation - stains.
The larger species usually lay one, two, or three, some of the smaller
as many as twelve, the size varying greatly (pp. 367, 372).
Palaeornis habitually cuts a circular hole in rotten trees, and even
bores to a depth of three feet ; Pezoporus is said to make a mass
of grass and rushes in tussocks, Myiopsittacus monachus a globular
fabric with a side entrance ; Nasiterna, Psephotus, Cyanolyseus, and
Conurus will breed in holes in ants' nests or steep banks. The male
occasionally assists in incubation, and two broods may be reared
in a season. Small or large colonies are sometimes formed, and in
both the Old and New Worlds large flocks seriously damage ripe
maize and corn, or oranges and other fruits. The birds are often
killed for eating, and their feathers used for ornament ; for caging,
they are limed, captured with decoys, or taken from the nest.

The headquarters of Parrots are in the Australian Eegion and
the Malay countries, which possess a majority of the genera and
peculiar species ; next follows the Neotropical Eegion ; the Indian
and Ethiopian are comparatively poor ; the Palaearctic possesses
no existing representative ; and the Nearctic but one, Conurus
carolinensis, which early in this century extended northwards to
the Great Lakes, but now only inhabits Florida, Arkansas, and
Indian Territory. Cyanolyseus patagonus and Microsittace ferru-
ginea occur at the Straits of Magellan, Poeocephalus rolustus at the
extreme south of Africa, Cyanorhamphus erythrotis in Macquarie
Island ; while many forms occupy most limited areas, especially
in the West Indies and the Pacific. Of Coracopsis mascarinus

366

CUCULIFORMES

of Reunion, Nestor productus of Phillip Island, and JV. norfolcensis
of Norfolk Island, only a few specimens exist, and those in
collections ; Palaeornis exsul of Rodriguez and Conurus periinax
of St. Thomas in the West Indies are verging upon extinction. A
Macaw seems to have disappeared from Jamaica, and six Parrots
from Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The sexes of all the species described below are alike, unless
otherwise stated, the young being commonly duller.

Fam. III. Psittacidae. — Sub-fam. 1. Stringopinae. — Stringops

FIG. 73. — Kakapo. Stringops habroptilus. x 4-. (From Nature. )

habroptilus, the Kakapo or Tarapo of New Zealand, has sap-green
upper parts, with yellow middles to the feathers and transverse
brown markings; yellower lower surface; and browner cheeks,
remiges, and rectrices. The soft plumage, the disc of feathers
round the eye, and the nocturnal habits have given this bird the
name Owl-Parrot. During the day it usually hides in holes near
the ground, emerging towards evening to feed greedily on mosses,
bracken, seeds, berries, such as those of Coriaria sarmentosa, and
even lizards ; while the companies make tracks a foot or more wide
across the herbage. The Kakapo inhabits alpine districts or open

.- •

PSITTACIDAE 367

forests ; it climbs well and walks swiftly, but has such limited
powers of flight that the natives hunt it on foot by torch -light, or
with dogs, which are often seriously wounded by the powerful bill.
The note is a croak, grunt, or shriek. Two or three eggs, as large
as those of a pullet, are deposited in burrows under tree-roots or
rocks, without any nest. It makes a tame and playful pet.1

Sub-fam. 2. Psittacinae. — Of this group the nocturnal Geo-
psittacus occidentalis of South and West Australia, and Pezoporus
formosus of the same countries and Tasmania, somewhat resemble
Stringops in general coloration. The latter, which has an orange
frontal band, rarely resorts to trees, but crouches, skulks, or trusts
to its great running powers, flying at most only some hundred
yards, with a rapid twisting motion. It haunts sandy plains or
marshy districts, laying two or three eggs on a bedding of grass
and rushes in long tussocks of herbage.

Our common cage-bird, Melopsittacus undulatus, the Australian
Grass -Parakeet or Budgerigar, has a yellow head, with three
black cheek-spots surmounted by a blue patch ; the nape, back,
and wing-coverts are yellow with black transverse markings, the
remiges brown with green outer webs and yellow margins, the
rump and under parts green, the two long median rectrices blue,
the lateral tail-feathers green banded with yellow. These grace-
ful and lively little birds are partly terrestrial, often flocking in
thousands to feed upon the seeds of grasses, while they sit
motionless during the heat among the foliage. The flight is
quick and direct ; the note shrill, or warbling ; the conduct of
individuals towards one another amicably quarrelsome. From
three to six eggs are deposited in hollow branches, with no nest.
The name Grass-Parakeet is shared with Neophema of Southern
Australia and Tasmania, distinguished by a blue frontal band some-
times extending around the eyes. N. petrophila, the Eock-Parakeet,
breeds in holes in steep cliffs near water, N. pulchella also shewing
a liking for rocks. Porpliyrocepfialus spurius of West Australia
has a maroon crown and nape, green upper parts, black remiges
with blue bases and primary coverts, and blue lower surface with
scarlet and yellow vent. The flight is swift, the note clucking.

Of the beautiful Australian genus Platycercus, P. elegans, also
found in Norfolk Island, may serve as an example : it is crimson-
red with black on the dorsal feathers ; the cheeks, bend of the wing,

1 Cf. Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed., i. London, 1888, pp. 176-191.

368 CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

primary- co verts, outer webs of quills and the tail being blue. The
dozen species haunt grassy hills, feed upon seeds, berries, insects
and their larvae, run easily, take short flights, rise with out-
spread tail, and lay from four to seven eggs in holes in trees
without a nest. P. eximius is the Eoselle Parakeet of dealers.

Loriculus vernalis is green, tinged with yellowish below and
with orange on the back ; the rump is red ; the throat, the inner
webs of the wing-quills, and the under surface of the tail are
bluish. The female has little blue on the throat. The flight is
rapid, but the birds are not shy ; they are found in pairs or
small flocks, and are said to. suck honey from the flowers. They
breed as does the last-mentioned species.

The Ethiopian genus Agapornis shares with the Neotropical
Psittacula the appellation Love-bird, due to their habit of
sitting huddled together, their mutual caresses, and their intense
devotion to each other. If one dies, its mate not uncommonly
pines away. A. roseicollis of South Africa is green above and
yellower below, the forehead being red, the cheeks and throat
rose-coloured, the rump and median rectrices blue ; the lateral
tail feathers exhibit blue tips, red bases, and a black band. It
is found in flocks near water, flying quickly, uttering shrill, rapid
notes, feeding on berries and the like, and commonly breeding in
Weaver-birds' nests. A. cana of Madagascar, introduced into the
neighbouring islands, has the head, neck, and breast grey; A.
taranta, of Korth-East Africa, the forehead red, the rump and
tail green; A. pullaria, of West Equatorial Africa, the face orange-
red. The sexes differ only in these three species, wherein the under
wing-coverts are black in the male, but green in the female, which
lacks the grey or red, and in the third case has the face yellowish.

Two dozen members of Palaeornis range from Senegambia to
Abyssinia, the Mascarene Islands, India, Ceylon, the Burmese
Countries, South China, and the Great Sunda Islands. P. eupatria,
the Eose-banded Parakeet or Alexandrine, and P. torquata, the Eose-
ringed Parakeet, are similar species from the Indian Eegion ; they
are green, with rose-coloured nuchal collar, black neck -stripes, bluish
median and yellow and green lateral rectrices, all tipped with yellow,
and in the former a red wing-patch. The female shews no pink or
black. These birds frequent both hills and plains, being often found
in societies ; they have a loud musical note, feed on fruits and grain,
and lay some four eggs on the chips in a hole cut out by themselves.

vi PSITTACIDAE 369

The genus Eclectus, extending from the Moluccas with the
Tenimber Islands to the Solomon Archipelago, has green males
and red females. E. pectoralis of Papuasia is green, with red
sides, blue remiges and lateral rectrices edged with
yellow-tipped tail. The female differs in having the head, chest,
and upper parts bright red, the end of the tail lighter, the breast,
abdomen, edge of the wing and a dorsal band blue.

Dasyptilus pesqueti of New Guinea is black, with the tail-
coverts, abdomen, sides, much of the wings, and a lateral band
on the occiput red ; the crown- and nape-feathers are narrow
and pointed, the face and throat nearly naked and black. It
lives at considerable altitudes in couples or small companies,
eating fruit, and uttering a loud, harsh cry. Coracopsis vasa, the
Vasa or " loud-voiced " Parrot of Madagascar, sacred to royalty
in one of the tribes, and its lesser compatriot, C. nigra, are
blackish -brown, with grey wings, rump, and tail, and yellowish
naked orbits. The small flocks are partly terrestrial, but fly high ;
the cry is shrill ; the food consists of seeds and other fruits and
roots. C. vasa has been introduced into Reunion, C. comorensis-
and C. sibilans inhabit the Comoros, C. Itarklyi the Seychelles.

That clever talker, Psittacus erithacus, the Grey Parrot, which
ranges across Equatorial Africa, is ashy-grey, with black prim-
aries, red tail, and whitish naked face. It walks well, and climbs
admirably by the aid of its beak, flying with chattering screams
at considerable elevations, consorting in large companies, and pro-
bably nesting in holes in trees. P. timneh is not known to talk.

Poeocephalus robustus of Southern Africa is green, with brown-
ish head, neck, remiges and rectrices ; it has vermilion thighs,
bend of the wing, and, occasionally, forehead ; and naked orbits.
The habits call for no special mention. Caica melanocephala of
Guiana and Amazonia is green, with yellow cheeks, throat, sides
and tip of the tail, a rufous nuchal collar, whitish lower parts,
black primaries margined with blue, and green and black naked
orbits. Gypopsittacus vulturinus of the Lower Amazons is chiefly
green, yellow feathers tipped with black covering the throat, and
forming a band at the back of the naked but hairy black head ;
the thighs are yellow stained with red ; the upper wing-coverts
blue margined with green, except the lesser, which are orange and
red ; the primaries are blue and black ; the secondaries greener ;.
the rectrices green and yellow, tipped with blue.

VOL. ix 2 B

370

CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

The two score members of Chrysotis, commonly termed
Amazons, range from Central America to Argentina. C. aestiva,
not found north of Brazil, has the plumage mainly green with
black edgings, the forehead and lores blue, the crown, cheeks, and
throat yellow, the primaries black, blue, and green. The second-
aries exhibit red outer webs, the lateral tail-feathers red bases and
yellowish tips. Entirely yellow varieties rarely occur in the
wild state, but are often produced artificially. These birds breed

FIG. 74. — Grey Parrot. Psittacus erithacus. x J.

in holes in high trees, and fly in small flocks, which utter screaming-
cries, and feed on plantains, berries, oranges, and so forth.

Psittacula contains the green Love -Birds of Central and
Tropical South America ; they are sometimes tinged with yellow,
and have blue on the rump and wings in the male.

Myiopsittacus monachus, the Monk or Loro, of Bolivia, Para-
guay, Uruguay, and Argentina, is green, with grey throat, breast,
and head, except the occiput ; a blue tinge shewing on the wings,
and yellow on the lateral rectrices. It is very common and tame
near Buenos Aires, being devoted to favourite spots, and playing
havoc with garden fruit, which it pecks and leaves hanging, while
at times companies feed on thistle-seeds or devastate grain- fields.

vi PSITTACIDAE

Its flight is swift but unsteady, with rapid strokes of the wing
and folded tail ; yet it mobs Birds of prey, while its noisy chatter
disturbs the other woodland species. A nest of thorny twigs,
used for shelter throughout the year, is usually woven round the
end of some branch, and has a vestibule and an inner chamber,
which are repaired before the thin-shelled eggs, from six to eight
in number, are laid. Though the entrance, with its overhanging
eaves, is in the side or beneath, Opossums and Ducks occasionally
take possession. A tree may contain several of these dwellings,
which often jointly form a mass sufficient to fill a cart, though
not communicating with one another.1 Cyanolyseus patagonus, of
Argentina and Patagonia, is brownish-olive, with red on the belly,
yellow on the rump and flanks, blue on the primaries, green on
the secondaries, and a whitish gorget. The flight is strong though
wavering ; the cry loud, short, but pleasing ; the food consists of
shoots, buds, and seeds ; the breeding places are holes in banks.
Conurus carolinensis, of Florida, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory,
is green, with paler lower parts, yellow head and upper neck, orange
forehead and cheeks. It frequents wooded creeks or swamps,
feeding on cypress-seeds, beech-mast, and so forth, and breeding
in company in holes in trees without any nest. Nearly thirty
species of the genus range from Mexico and the West Indies to
Bolivia and Argentina, C. guarouba of North-East Brazil being
yellow with green remiges, C. solstitialis of Guiana and Brazil
mainly reddish-yellow with blue and green wings and tail.

Of the fifteen or more large members of Ara, A. chloroptera, the
Ked-and-blue Macaw, A. mcicao, which differs in its yellow and
green wing-coverts, and A. militaris, the Eed-and-green Macaw,
occur from Mexico and Central America to Bolivia ; A. ararauna,
the Blue-and-yellow Macaw, and A. severa, the Green-andrblue
Macaw only extend from Panama southwards. The naked flesh-
coloured face is crossed by lines of feathers, except in A. macao.
The four closely allied Brazilian species of Anodorhynclms and
Cyanopsittacus, or Hyacinthine Macaws, are almost uniform blue.
The flight of these gorgeous birds is powerful, their note harsh and
screaming, while they crush and eat hard nuts of various kinds.

Nasiterna pygmaea, one of some nine Pigmy Parrots, is green,
with dusky markings on . the upper surface, yellowish crown,
reddish forehead and middle of the lower parts ; the two median
1 Gibson, Ibis, 1880, pp. 3-6.

372

CUCULIFORMES

CHAP.

rectrices are .blue, the rest chiefly black, with yellow spots on the
outer. The female lacks the red and yellow tints. Small flocks
of these birds frequent high trees, creeping about them with the
aid of their wings and tails, like Tree-creepers, and at midday
dozing in fancied security on the lower branches. They feed
upon seeds, and are stated by von Eosenberg to lay two eggs,
no larger than those of the Long-tailed Tit, in holes in trees.1

Sub-fam. 3. Cacatuinae. — Of the Cockatoos, which are re-
stricted to the Australian Eegion, the Philippine and the Sulu
Islands, Cacatua galerita of Australia and Tasmania, one of the forms

with narrow recurved
crest-feathers, is white,
with the erectile tuft
and ear-coverts yellow,
the plumage being lax
and powdery. C. lead-
beateri has a red crest
banded with yellow and
tipped with white, and
a rosy tinge on the head
and lower surface. Other
species exhibit broad
straight white, yellow,
or red crests, C. rosei-
capilla being decidedly
pink below and grey
above. In this group
the bare orbits may be
blue, red, grey, or white.
These tame and active
birds love open wooded
country, and often form
immense flocks ; they fly
strongly, hop well, utter
loud shrill screams, doze
in the heat, feed on

roots grubbed up from the ground, seeds and grain, and play

havoc with crops of maize and the like. Two or three somewhat

pointed eggs are deposited in holes in trees or crevices of rocks.

1 Cf. Salvador!, Ornitologia Papuasia e Molucclic, i. Torino, 1880, p. 125.

FIG. 75. — Leadbeater's Cockatoo. Cacatua
leadbeateri. x 4>

TRICHOGLOSSIDAE 373

The half-dozen crested members of Calyptorhynchus, which are
brown or black with a greenish gloss, and a whitish, red, or
yellow band across the lateral rectrices, have a more laboured
flight and a comparatively low whining cry ; they feed on seeds of
Banksia and Casuarina and on caterpillars. CallocepTialon galeatum
is grey, with a scarlet head and crest. In these two Australian
genera the supposed females exhibit yellow markings. Micro-
glossus aterrimus, the Great Black Cockatoo of North Australia
and Papuasia, is greyish-black with a long narrow crest, and
naked red and yellow cheeks. It is a retiring bird, found in pairs
among high trees in thick forests ; the flight is comparatively
weak, the note a plaintive whistle; the food consists of seeds of
Pandanus, Canarium, palm-shoots, and the like ; the egg is laid
on a bed of twigs in a hollow tree. Calopsittacus novae hollandiae,
the crested Australian Cockatoo-Parakeet, is dark grey, with yellow
forehead and cheeks, orange ear-coverts, and white wing-patch.
The female has yellow marks on the tail and under parts. By no
means shy, the flocks feed chiefly on the ground, while individuals
fly well and love perching on dead branches.

Tarn. IV. Trichoglossidae. — Sub-fam. 1. Cyclopsittacinae. —
This includes Neopsittacus and Cyclopsittacus of Timor, North-East
Australia and Papuasia, which are coloured red, green, blue, and
yellow ; the peculiarities of structure have already been mentioned.

Sub-Fam. 2. Loriinae. — Triclioglossus novae hollandiae, Swain-
son's Lory, is blue, with green head and central abdomen ; the
remaining under parts being red, the sides, nuchal collar and
inner webs of the lateral rectrices yellow. Flocks haunt the
JZucalyptus-foTests of Eastern Australia and Tasmania, uttering
incessant screams, flying swiftly and directly from tree to tree,
settling again with a dash, creeping and clinging around the
branches, and extracting honey from the flowers with their
brush-tipped tongues, besides eating seeds. From two to four
eggs are deposited in holes in trees. The various species of
Triclioglossus range from Celebes and Timor to Australia and the
New Hebrides. Ptilosclera versicolor, of North and West Australia,
is green, with yellowish streaks on the body, bluish cheeks and
nape, red crown, lores and breast. Coriphilus taitianus of the
Society Islands is dark blue, with the lower surface chiefly white ;
C. ultramarinus of the Marquesas shews a combination of light
and dark blue. Lorius extends from the Moluccas to the Solomon

374 CUCULIFORMES CHAP.

Archipelago ; L. lory of Papuasia being red, with black crown,
blue nape, upper back, central breast and abdomen, and tip of
the tail ; while the wings and middle portion of the rectrices are
green. In habits these three genera seern to resemble Triclioglossus,
The members of Eos (Eed Lory) are red, relieved by blue, except
E.fuscata, which is dusky, with red and yellow markings ; they
extend from the Sanghir and Tenimber Islands and the Moluccas
to the Caroline and Solomon groups. Chalcopsittacus of Papuasia
has purplish-black, olive, or green species, usually varied with red.
Sub-fam. 3. Nestorinae. — This contains only the genus Nestor,
with five species, of which N. norfolcensis of Norfolk Island, and
N. productus of Phillip Island are extinct, while N. esslingi is
hardly valid. N. meridionalis, the New Zealand Kaka Parrot,
is olive -brown, with reddish cheeks and collar, crimson rump,
abdomen and under wing-coverts, brown tail and breast, and
grey crown. Several races have been described, varying in the
amount of red. The Kaka is fearless, social, sprightly, and
noisy, though semi-nocturnal and apt to retire to the deep forest
during daylight. It utters harsh rasping and chuckling notes,
or musical whistles ; while it climbs trees with the aid of its
beak and feet, and searches the dead wood for insects. It flies
in lofty circles, or at times hops about the ground ; the food con-
sists largely of juicy fruits, blossoms, and nectar from the Eata
(Metrosideros robusta) or the New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax).
In semi-captivity this bird is a good mimic and talker, but
terribly destructive to furniture, clothing, and orchard produce ;
the Maories keep it as a lure, encircling the metatarsus with a
bone ring fastened by a cord to the perch. Four oval eggs are
laid in hollow trees, in crevices of rocks, or under stumps and roots,
occasionally on fragments of bark. Nestor notabilis, the Kea of
the south island of New Zealand, has olive-green plumage with
blackish margins ; the wings and tail are varied with blue and
yellow, the latter having a brown subterminal band ; the rump
and under wing-coverts are scarlet. The female is duller. It
frequents rugged slopes of high snowy mountains, descending to
the lowlands in winter ; the small companies soar aloft, fly from
peak to peak, or search" for insect-food among the stunted vegeta-
tion. Tame, inquisitive, and destructive, the natural habits and
food resemble those of the Kaka, allowing for the difference of
haunts ; but this bird will scream or mew, and lays larger and

VI

TRICHOGLOSSIDAE

375

rougher eggs in crevices of rocks. As is well known, the Kea has
of recent years become carnivorous, chasing sheep and devouring
their flesh. Perching near the tail and clinging to the wool, it
digs a deep hole with its powerful beak, and apparently aims at

FIG. 76. — The Kea or Mountain Nestor. Nestor notabilis. x £. (From Nature.)

the kidney-fat, the mandible cutting while the hooked maxilla
ensures a firm grip. The propensity is said to have originated
from the bird pecking at sheep-skins hanging outside country
stations. As it sometimes necessitates the abandonment of sheep-
runs, or even attacks horses, a price has been set upon its head.

Of fossil Parrots, Psittacus occurs in the Lower Miocene of
France, the large Necropsittacus rodericanus in Rodriguez, and
the still bigger Lopliopsittacus mauritiamis, known from an old
picture to be crested, in the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius.

3/6 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

Order XIII. CORACIIFORMES.

The Order Coraciiformes contains the Sub-Orders CORACIAE,
STRIGES, CAPRIMULGI, CYPSELI, Com, TROGONES, and PICI, and
includes a large number of arboreal forms with comparatively
short legs, which often nest in holes, and have blind and helpless
young. The group coincides with the Picariae of Mtzsch and
Mr. Sclater, except in so far that the former author included the
Psittaci, the latter the Cuculi, while both kept the Striges separate.

The Sub-Order CORACIAE consists of the Families Coraciidae or
Rollers, Momotidae or Motmots and Todies, Alcedinidae or King-
fishers, Meropidae or Bee-eaters, Bucerotidae or Hornbills, and
Upupidae or Hoopoes.

Fam. I. Coraciidae. — Two Sub-farnilies may be recognised of
these Old World birds, (1) Coraciinae, and (2) Leplosomatinae ; the
latter containing only the remarkable " Kirombo " of Madagascar.

Sub-fam. 1. Coraciinae. — Most of the twenty or more species
of Boilers are brilliant blue and green, varied with reddish, and
bear a resemblance to certain of the Crow-tribe, especially to the
genus Gissa. The short metatarsus, however, scutellated in front
and reticulated behind, is a clear distinction, as in Gissa and so forth
it is longer and smooth behind, with elongated scutes anteriorly. It
is comparatively long in Ground-Rollers, but they are quite unmis-
takeable. The bill is strong, decurved, and slightly hooked, being
broad and depressed in Eurystomus ; the toes are moderately stout
with curved claws, while the second and third are united basally ;
the wings are long, broad and rounded, or shorter in Ground-Rollers,
with ten primaries and about thirteen secondaries ; the twelve tail-
feathers vary in length, five species of Coracias having them very
long, and one spatulate. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx is
tracheo-bronchial, the nostrils are hidden by bristly feathers, the
tongue is thin and horny, the aftershaft is small, while there is no
down on adults or nestlings. The sexes are similar, the young duller.

The genus Coracias ranges over temperate Europe, all Africa,
and Central and Southern Asia eastwards to Celebes, where C.
temmincld alone occurs. C. garrulus, which strays to Britain,
and breeds from Sweden and Omsk to North Africa and North
India, has the head, most of the wing-coverts, and the lower
surface light greenish-blue, a red-brown back, dusky and blue
remiges, ultramarine bend of the wing and rump, and greenish

CORACIIDAE 377

tail with light blue on the lateral feathers, the outer pair alone
having black tips. In the similar C. abyssinieus the two outer
rectrices are elongated and tapering ; in the more purple C. sjiatu-
latus they are cobalt-blue with black shafts produced into small
racquets. C. naevius has an olivaceous back, reddish-lilac head
and under parts, a white nuchal patch, white streaks on the breast,
blue rump, bend of the wing, lateral rectrices and outer portion of
the remiges. The gsxm&Eurystomus occupies Tropical Africa, and ex-
tends from India to Manchuria, Australia and the Solomon Islands,
occasionally reaching New Zealand. E. glaucurus, of Madagascar
and Anjuan Island, is bay above and lilac below, with nearly ultra-
marine wings and cobalt tail tipped with blackish ; E. orientalis
is bluish-green, with blackish head, remiges and rectrices, some
blue on the wing-coverts, an azure patch on the primaries, and a
purple throat. E. australis is similar, and is termed the Dollar-
Bird from exhibiting its circular light wing-patch when flying.

The members of these two genera are active, noisy, and
pugnacious, though shy ; they are usually diurnal, but are occa-
sionally observed hawking for insects at dusk ; when disturbed
they attempt to hide in some neighbouring tree^ while they also
roost or take refuge from the heat among the foliage. The flight
is swift, though not sustained, the wings being closed from time
to time ; at the courting season the male darts through the air
with many a turn and twist, expanding and contracting his
tail ; and both sexes have the habit of rolling or turning somer-
saults in their course, and of puffing out their cheeks and throat.
The note is a harsh " rack-rack-kack " or " racker-racker," uttered
while perched or flying ; the food, largely procured when hopping
on the ground, and frequently jerked into the air before being
swallowed, consists of small reptiles, frogs, beetles, worms, slugs
and grasshoppers, if not of grain. Rollers frequent wooded
country up to an altitude of about two thousand feet, in pairs
or moderate-sized flocks ; they occasionally sit huddled together
on some branch, but love to perch on tall bare trees or wires,
whence they energetically challenge Hawks and Crows. The
four or five oval glossy white eggs are sometimes laid on a mass
of roots, grass, hair, and feathers, in cavities in walls or under
eaves of buildings ; but more usually with little or no bedding in
holes in trees or banks. In the breeding season the cock summons
the hen from her nest, if danger threatens, while both parents

378 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

dash at an intruder, or settle near him, jerking the head and
tail. Many adults are slaughtered for decorative purposes.

The Ground - Rollers, Atelornis, Uratelornis, Geobiastes and
Bracliypteracias, are curious forms, peculiar to Madagascar. A.
pitto'ides has green upper parts with a ruddy tinge, white bars
across the short primaries, a fine blue head and tail, except for
the two brown median rectrices, and a reddish-fawn lower surface
divided by a blue band from the white throat. A. crossleyi has
a rufous head and black gular stripes. Uratelornis chimaera is
a nearly allied form. Geobiastes squamigera has the upper back
reddish-brown, the lower green ; the head and under parts are buff,
with black scale-like markings, and a black line down the crown.
The primaries are brownish, the tail shews a curious combina-
tion of green, blue, black, and brown. Bracliypteracias leptosomus
is yellowish-green above, with bluish margins to the feathers,
and a purplish-brown head and neck, while the brownish tail
has a subterminal black and a terminal white bar ; it is white
below, banded or striped with chestnut and black. These forest-
species are almost entirely terrestrial and crepuscular, running
about in solitary fashion in the dusk, and carefully examining
the ground for insect-food, or scratching for worms and the like ;
occasionally they fly to a low branch, jerking the tail as they
alight. The eggs are said to be white.

Sub-fam. 2. Leptosomatinae. — This contains only Leptosoma
discolor, the Kirombo or Vorondreo of Madagascar and the
Comoro Islands, which has a big crested head ; a long, slightly
hooked bill, overhung at the base by recurved loral feathers ;
linear nostrils, placed far forward and covered by a horny plate \
metatarsi scutellated on both aspects ; and a partly reversible
outer toe. The wings are moderate, having ten primaries and
twelve secondaries ; the long, square tail has twelve feathers ; the
tongue is tapering, horny and channelled ; a large aftershaft is
present, and there is a considerable powder-down patch on each
side of the rump. The head is grey, glossed with copper and
green, the neck duller ; the upper parts are shining green and
coppery-red, the under parts grey with white abdomen. The
slightly larger female is reddish-brown above, with buff markings
and only a dull gloss ; the head is chiefly black, and the lower
surface fawn-coloured spotted with black. This curious bird is very
noisy throughout the day, uttering its note, which resembles the

MOMOTIDAE

379

syllables " tu-hou " thrice repeated, either while hovering in the
air or while ascending or descending in vertical fashion. Mean-
while the wings are struck against the body, and the throat
puffed out like a bag. It is found in the forests in flocks of
about a dozen, perching and squatting lazily on the branches,
and scarcely moving when its neighbours are shot ; the food
consists mainly of grasshoppers, chamaeleons, and lizards ; the

FIG. 77. — Kirombo. Leptosoma discolor, x f.

nest is said to be made of rushes and placed in holes, the eggs ta
be white. One female is often accompanied by several males.
The Malagasy consider that the " Eeo " brings ill-luck, and make
it the theme of various tales and chants.1

Fam. II. Momotidae. — The Motmots and Todies fall natur-
ally between the Boilers and Kingfishers, but are also closely con-
nected with the Bee-Eaters, which do not occur in the New World.
They compose the Sub-families (1) Momotinae and (2) Todinae, the
former ranging from South Mexico and the. Antilles to Paraguay,
while the latter are restricted to the Greater Antilles.

1 For this, as most Madagascar birds, see Grandidier, Histoire de Madagascar,.
and Sibree, Ibis, 1891, pp. 194-228, 416-443, 557-565 ; 1892, pp. 103-119, 261-274.

380 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

Sub-fam. 1. Momotinae. — Motmots have loose-webbed green,
blue, cinnamon, and black plumage ; the sexes being barely dis-
tinguishable, and the young similar to the adults, but with less
developed tail. The length varies from six and a half inches to
twenty. The head is generally rather narrow ; the bill is Crow-
like, with a few rictal bristles, and has the margins of the mandibles
more or less serrated ; in Prionirliynclius it is unusually broad
and strongly keeled. The scutellated metatarsus is of no great
length, the third digit being united to the fourth for about a
third of its extent ; the wings are rather short and rounded,
with ten primaries and eleven secondaries. The tail-feathers are
generally twelve, though Baryplitliengus has only ten ; they are
very distinctly graduated, as is well seen from beneath, the median
pair being much elongated with racquet-tips, except in Hylo-
manes, Aspatha and Baryplitliengus. The furcula is U-shaped ; the
tongue is long, thin and frayed out towards the apex into laminae
which point forwards; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial ; the after-
shaft is small; while neither adults nor nestlings possess down.

Motmots are not shy birds, though they inhabit dense forests
and seldom visit the outskirts ; they prefer the vicinity of
streams, where they may be seen, solitary or in pairs, flitting
before the traveller from tree to tree, or sitting motionless on
the lower branches, whence they make sudden dashes to secure
their prey. This consists of insects caught in the air, small
reptiles, or fruit ; but in captivity they will eat bread, raw meat,
small birds and mammals, often rapping live creatures on the
ground or on their perch before swallowing them, as is done by
Todies, Kingfishers, and Hornbills. The flight is brief, while the
short legs are ill-adapted to the ground. The long, soft, " flute-
like " note recalls that of the Hoopoe, and may be syllabled
" Hu-tu," this being a native name in some parts ; it is most
commonly heard at dawn, while the bird's habit of jerking its
tail up and down as it utters each syllable is comparable to that
of Barbets and Toucans. Three or four round, creamy -white
eggs are deposited, without any nest, in holes in trees or banks,
probably bored by the birds themselves; both sexes being said
to incubate in turn. Motmots with racquet-tipped rectrices have
been shewn to produce that shape by nibbling off the vanes.1

Urospatha martii, ranging from Costa Eica to Amazonia, is
1 Cf. Salvin, P.Z.S. 1873, pp. 429-433.

VI

MOMOTIDAE

381

oil-green above, with a blue tinge on the blackish primaries and
the end of the tail, the two median rectrices being much elon-
gated and having terminal blue racquets ; the under parts and
head are cinnamon, the cheeks black, while a tuft of long black
feathers adorns the neck below. Eumomota superciliaris of
Central America is green
above, with cinnamon mantle
and blue remiges and rectrices
tipped with black, the two
median tail-feathers having
elongated bare shafts with
broad racquet-tips, half blue
and half black. On the sides of
the head are black bands and
light blue eyebrows, while the
throat is black with long
blue lateral feathers, and the
abdomen chestnut. Mbmotus
Irasiliensis, extending from
Guiana to Northern Brazil, is
somewhat similar in colour,
but has little red on the back ;
the head is cobalt-blue with
black on the crown and sides ;
the under parts are green
with a rufous tinge. The
long throat-feathers are black
with light blue edges. Aspa-
tha gularis of Guatemala is
bright green above, and has
a yellowish breast ; the ab-
domen and throat are pale
blue, with a black tuft at the Fl0' 78--Motmot- Momotus brasiiiemis. x i,.
base of the latter ; the sides of the head are reddish-fawn with
black ear-coverts. The tail is normal.

Sub-fam. 2. Todinae.— This includes four diminutive species
of the genus Todus, structurally resembling the Motmots ; the
tail, however, being short and square, the wings abbreviated with
only ten secondaries, the beak flattened and but faintly serrated,
and the rictal bristles well-developed. The long metatarsus is

382 CORACIIFORMES

•covered with one scale ; the marginal laminae of the tongue
point backwards.

Todies frequent hilly districts and woods, and especially the
vicinity of ravines, being very active on their feet, and taking
short rapid nights from branch to branch when disturbed. They
used to be considered close allies of the Flycatchers, probably owing
to their habit of darting out upon their prey from some branch,
to which they return immediately. They sit with upturned bill
and head drawn in, their wings vibrating and their plumage
puffed out, and when thus perched they are so unsuspicious that
they may sometimes be caught with a butterfly-net, or even with
the hand. The pugnacious males chase each other, clattering
their bills, and, while courting, ruffle themselves up and droop
their wings. The three or four globular white eggs are laid in
a hole low down in the face of some bank, which is excavated to

a considerable depth and commonly
turns at right angles ; the terminal
chamber usually containing a slight
nest of fibres, grass, moss, or cotton. In
captivity Todies make engaging pets.
The coloration is green, with a
bright red throat, yellowish-white
or pinkish under parts, and yellow,
green, or pink feathers on the
flanks. The bill is dull red. Todus
viridis inhabits Jamaica ; T. subu-
FIG. 79. -Tody. Todus viridis. x i latus Hispaniola ; T. multicolor,

which has a blue spot on each cheek,

Cuba ; T. liypocliondriacus Porto Rico. The length varies from
three and a half to four and a half inches.

Fam. III. Alcedinidae. — The Kingfishers, with the Sub-
families (1) Haley oninae, or Wood-Kingfishers, and (2) Alcedini-
nae, or Water-Kingfishers, are remarkable not only for the aberrant
species found among them, but also for their peculiar forms and
particularly brilliant colours, at once strikingly contrasted and
tasteful. The head looks disproportionately large, an appearance
often heightened by the crest and the long, stout bill. This feature
in the Alcedininae is compressed and sharp-pointed, with keeled
culmen and upcurved genys ; in the Halcyoninae it is broader
•and rounder, and sometimes grooved. In Syma the maxilla is

VI

ALCEDINIDAE 383

serrated, as in the Momotidae ; in Carcineutes and Dacelo it
exceeds the mandible, and in Melidora it is hooked. The
feeble metatarsi are scutellated or rarely reticulated ; the third
.and fourth toes are joined for most of their length, the second
and third for one joint, all being broad below ; the claws are
sharp and curved. Ceyx and Alcyone have the second digit
aborted. The wings are short and rounded, yet powerful, the
primaries being eleven in number, with the outer much reduced,
the secondaries from eleven to fourteen ; the tail is commonly
abbreviated, but in Tanysiptera has a median pair of greatly
elongated racquet-tipped feathers ; that genus, moreover, possesses
but ten rectrices instead of twelve. The furcula is U-shaped,
the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, there is no aftershaft, the adults
are uniformly downy, the nestlings are naked. The tongue is
rudimentary, though said to shew an approach to that of the
Motmots in Pelargopsis. The sexes may be similar or dissimilar,
even in the same genus ; the young are like their parents, or
somewhat duller. The colours of the Family are most variable,
a combination of blue, green, and chestnut being frequent, while
almost uniform red, or black and white, are not uncommon ; the
beak may be black, red, yellow, or parti -coloured. About twenty
genera, with some hundred and fifty species, occupy nearly the
whole globe, though by far the greater number are found from
Celebes to Papuasia, while Ceryle alone is American.

The habits in the Family are as diverse as the styles of
plumage. The Water-Kingfishers love' shady haunts by quiet
lowland streams, where the fishes which form their chief diet
abound ; in such situations they may be seen sitting patient and
motionless on some favourite overhanging bough or projecting
stone, from which they dart out like an arrow upon their prey.
If successful, they return immediately to their perch, on which,
they beat the fish before jerking it down the throat. At other
times they hover over the water with vibrating pinions, or dive
perpendicularly with closed wings. They are not, however, entirely
piscivorous, but eat insects and small crustaceans, especially when
they seek the sea-shore, as do several species of Halcyon, Alcedoy
and Ceryle, including our native Kingfisher, chiefly towards winter.
In tropical countries reeds and sugar-canes serve for perches. The
flight is straight and quick, but not long sustained ; the note is
either high-pitched, and of two or three syllables, which may be

384 CORACIIFORMES CHAP,

likened to " tit-it-it," or is loud and harsh ; it is most frequently
heard as the birds skim over the streams in the anxious time of
breeding, while the young have similar cries, and are very noisy
just before leaving the nest, which they render extremely foul.
The eggs are laid in holes in perpendicular river-banks, disused
gravel-pits and the like, or even in cavities in walls or rotten
stumps, the circular tunnel usually penetrating to a depth of
two or three feet, and forming an enlarged terminal chamber.
The number of eggs varies from four to ten in different species ;
they are round, white, glossy, and thin-shelled, and look very
pink when they are fresh ; they usually lie on a bed of fish-bones,,
consisting chiefly of vertebrae, not uncommonly deposited before
laying begins. Ceryle rudis is stated to make a nest of grass,
C. amazona one of sticks and straw, the former at times breeding
in colonies. The male has been known to assist in incubation,
which lasts a fortnight or more ; while two broods are occa-
sionally reared in the season, especially in warmer climates.
The Wood-Kingfishers prefer shady forest-regions, not necessarily
near water, but also frequent the vicinity of houses ; their food
consists of insects caught in the air, caterpillars, reptiles, frogs,,
crustaceans, worms and molluscs, though they occasionally eat
fish. The nests, placed in holes in trees or banks, are said in
some cases to be of a few straws, dry leaves, or moss. The genus
Dacelo and its allies, including the largest forms of the Family,
are natives of Australia and New Guinea, where they often
inhabit very dry situations. They will even eat small mammals
or birds, bruising them before deglutition, and lay two or three
white eggs in holes in trees without any nest. The note is an
extraordinary loud gurgling or barking sound, from which they
are called " Laughing Jackasses."

Kingfishers are difficult to keep in captivity, while hard frosts
cause much mortality, though the use of the feathers for artificial
flies or for ornament adds to the scarcity. The males are at times
very pugnacious. Many fables are connected with the Family ;
for instance, Ceyx and Alcyone were said to have been changed
by Zeus into Kingfishers, while Aeolus, father of Alcyone, kept
the weather calm in midwinter (the fourteen halcyon days),
when the birds formed a floating nest upon the deep. A dried
specimen, if hung up, was supposed to act as a weathercock with
its bill, as Shakespeare intimates.

VI

ALCEDINIDAE

385

Sub-fam. 1. Halcyoninae. — Tanysiptera sabrina of the Moluc-
cas, one of the members of
a large and very beautiful
genus, is white, except for
the crown and wing-coverts,
which are bright blue, and
the cheeks, nape, remiges,
upper back and scapulars,
which are bluish - black.
The two median rectrices
have bluish shafts with
white racquet-tips ; the bill
is red. T. nympha of New
Guinea differs in its blue
tail, vermilion rump and
under parts. Cittura cya-
notis of Celebes has a rufous
head and chestnut tail, a
brown back with partially
buff scapulars, bluish-black
wings with blue coverts,
a blue eye-streak (black in
the female), a lilac under
surface, and a dark red bill.
Halcyon coromandus of
Eastern Asia is brown with
a lovely lilac tinge above
and a sky-blue rump, the
lower parts being orange-
rufous, and the bill red.
If. cyaniventris of Java is
rich blue above ; the head
and wing-coverts are mainly
black, the lower parts ultra-
marine, the throat and
cheeks rufous, extending as
a collar to the nape ; the bill

. , , , TT. . FIG. 80. — Eacquet-tailed Kingfisher. Tanysiptera

IS dark red. ff.semicaeruleUS dea, x £. (From Malay Archipelago.}

of Arabia, West and East

Africa, has a whitish head and under parts, with a chestnut
VOL. ix 2 c

386 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

abdomen ; the upper parts are black, with azure lower back,
tail and wing-quills, the bill is red. H. saurophagus of Papuasia
and the Moluccas is blue, with white head and under surface, and
black bill. If. nigrocyaneus of the former region is black and
blue, with white throat, pectoral band and dorsal markings, the
bill being black. The female is whiter below. H. lindsayi has
dingy green upper parts with buff spots, and a black eye-stripe
surmounted by an azure band, both of which extend round the
back of the head ; the neck and throat are cinnamon divided by
a blue stripe, the under parts white mottled with green ; the bill
is black. The blue parts are green in the female.

Dacelo gigas, the " Laughing Jackass " or " Settlers' Clock "
of Australia, is mainly brown above with a white stripe on
each side of the head ; the tail is rufous and black, the rump
of the same colour in the female, greenish -blue in the male ;
the lower surface is dirty white, the bill blackish. Clytoceyx
rex of New Guinea has an immensely thick, blunt, and rather short
bill ; it is brown above, with a rufous collar, blackish back and
neck -stripes, light azure rump, greenish tail and wing-quills ;
below it is light chestnut with white throat. Carcineutes pul-
chellus of the Malay countries, Sumatra, and Java has the fore-
head, cheeks, and collar chestnut, the crown azure, the upper
parts black with blue and white bands, the under parts rufous
with white throat, the bill red. The female is rufous with black
bars above, and white with black spotting below. Syma torotoro
of Papuasia is greenish, with blue tail and rump, orange-rufous
head and under parts, and a black collar. The crown is black
in the female. The serrated bill is yellow. The genera Ispidina
and Ceyx furnish the pygmies of the Family, varying from about
four to six inches in length ; the coloration in the former is
usually blue and black above and chestnut below, with a red bill ;
but /. madagascariensis of Madagascar is entirely rufous, except
for some white on the neck and lower surface. C. euerythra, of
the Malay countries and the Philippines, which is red with a
lilac tinge above, has several similar congeners ; here again, how-
ever, blue, black, and orange are not uncommon hues.

Sub-fam. 2. Alcedininae. — Alcyone azurea of Australia has
dark azure-blue upper parts, reddish-orange lower surface with
lighter throat, and a whitish patch on the sides of the neck.
Corythornis cristata is ultramarine with light chestnut under

MEROPIDAE 387

parts, the crest being green with black transverse stripes, and
the bill black. Alcedo ispida of Britain, the whole of Europe,
and the greater part of Asia, has greenish -blue upper parts,
brighter blue head and tail, chestnut under parts and broad ~~eye-
streak, white throat and patches at the side of the neck, and
black bill, often orange at the base. A. leryllina of Java and
Lombok differs in being entirely greenish-blue above, and white
with a blue chest-band below. Ceryle is the sole genus found
in the New World, though it occurs also in South-East Europe,
most of Asia and Africa ; C. alcyon, the Belted Kingfisher, alone
reaches the Northern United States and Canada. The half dozen
large crested species are generally black and white, relieved by
chestnut or grey, but C. amazona and its nearest allies are dull
green above.

Pelargopsis gurial of India and Assam, one of the "Stork-
billed Kingfishers," has a brown head, yellowish-fawn collar and
under parts, dull green mantle and tail, greenish-blue lower back,
and red beak.

Fam. IV. Meropidae. — The Bee-eaters are extremely brilliant
and graceful birds, which range over the temperate and tropical
portions of the Old World, being especially plentiful in the
Ethiopian Eegion, and somewhat less so in the Indian. The
Palaearctic countries possess only four species, but Celebes alone
has three, one of which (Merops ornatus) extends through the
Moluccas to Papuasia and Australia.

The bill is long and gradually curved, with a culminar ridge
and deflected mandible, the maxilla being grooved and more
arched in Nyctiornis. The short, stout metatarsus, which is
weaker in Merops, is scutellated anteriorly and reticulated pos-
teriorly ; the abbreviated toes — rather longer in Nyctiornis —
have slender curved claws, and are united in the case of the
third and fourth to the last joint, in the second and third to a
less extent. The usually short and rounded wings are long and
pointed in Merops and Dicrocercus ; the primaries number eleven,
or ten in Nyctiornis, and the secondaries twelve or thirteen.
The tail of twelve rectrices is even in Melittopliagus and Nyc-
tiornis, deeply forked in Dicrocercus, and square with two
elongated and tapering median feathers in Merops and Meropogon.
The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils
are concealed by dense feathers in Nyctiornis and Meropogon;

388 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, the aftershaft is rudimentary :.
while there is no down in adults or nestlings.

The flight of Bee-eaters is rapid and Swallow-like, and they
have a habit of sitting on dead branches or even upright sticks,,
from which they dart in pursuit of their prey, to return again
promptly after the manner of Flycatchers. They skim actively
over the surface of the earth, sail aloft in circles, or float with slightly
upturned wings in the air ; while they rest among the foliage at
mid-day, and not uncommonly roost in a row on some branch
at night. Occasionally they may be seen dusting themselves
like Larks. Nyctiornis is less energetic, and loves dense forest-
shades or woods of lofty trees, as does Meropogon ; but the
other forms prefer more open country, and frequent the neigh-
bourhood of swamps or rivers, as well as arid districts. Merops-
is constantly seen in flocks, Melittopliagus less often ; Nyctiornis,.
with rare exceptions, lives singly or in pairs. The last-named
sometimes will not stir even when shot at, and none of the-
Family are by nature shy. The note is, according to circum-
stances, a loud harsh whistle or a soft flute -like sound; but
Nyctiornis utters a deep croak, ending in a churring noise,
puffing out the gular plumes meanwhile and nodding the head
up and down. The birds are not ordinarily noisy. It is when
hawking in the air that the brilliant colours are most strikingly
displayed, the snap of the bill being at such times distinctly
audible ; insects are also picked off the backs of cattle, and,
more rarely, captured on the ground ; while Merops pliilippinus,
and no doubt other species, bruise their prey against their
perch. The name Bee -eater is well deserved, for in Spain
Merops apiaster is a perfect pest to the bee-keeper, catching the
workers as they enter and leave the hives. The indigestible
portions of the food are cast up as pellets, often found in the
nest. The four to six round, glossy white eggs are deposited in
holes in banks, or even in tunnels bored vertically downwards in
level ground, which extend to a depth of from three to ten feet,
Merops superciliosus and M. nubicus alone are said to make a
slight nest of straw and feathers, the members of this genus
and of Melittophagvs often forming large colonies. The flesh
is palatable, while the plumage is in great request for decorative
purposes.

The sexes are similar, the young duller, with the rectrices

VI

MEROPIDAE

389

never much elongated ; Meropogon and Nyctiornis have the gular
feathers broad and lengthened into a tuft.

The Family contains five genera with some thirty-five species,
varying in size from fourteen inches in Merops natalensis to
about six and half in several forms of Melittoplmgus. Nyctiornis
amictus, of the Malay countries, is green, with lilac forehead and
crown, scarlet cheeks and throat-tuft, and a few greenish- blue
plumes at the base of the bill. Meropogon forsteri of Celebes is
also green, but has the crown, gular plumes arid breast cobalt-blue,
the occiput and nape brown, the abdomen dusky, and the lateral
tail-feathers reddish-brown margined with green. Merops apiaster
has ruddy-brown head, neck, upper back, and broad alar bar,
buff lower back, green wings and tail with black tips to the
long median rectrices, light blue upper tail-coverts, pale green
<and white forehead, black ear-coverts, and bright yellow throat,
divided from the greenish-blue under parts by a black band. It
not unfrequently visits
Britain — as the Blue-
tailed Bee -eater, M.
philippinus, is said to
have done once — and
ranges from South
Europe to Central Asia
and North Africa,
wintering in North -
West India and South
Africa. M. viridis,
extending from Sene-
gambia to North-East
Africa and Cochin
China, is yellowish-
green, with a rufous
tint on the hind-neck,
much buff on the
wing- and tail-quills,
;a black band washed
with blue on the fore-
neck, and some blue and black on the face. M. nulicus of the
northern half of the Ethiopian Eegion has crimson-pink upper
parts, blue-green head and throat, light blue rump and abdomen,

39° CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

rose -pink breast, black markings on the sides of the head,
and black tips to the remiges and rectrices. Melittophagus gularis
of West Africa is glossy black above, with bright blue on the fore-
head, rump, wings and median tail-feathers ; the throat is crimson,
the lower surface black with blue streaks ; the wing- quills are
for the most part rufous margined with black.

The Old World Families Bucerotidae and Upupidae are united
under the latter appellation by Dr. G-adow,1 who recognises the
Sub-families Bucerotinae or Hornbills, Upupinae or Hoopoes, and
Irrisorinae or Wood-Hoopoes; but the two aforesaid groups should
decidedly be kept separate.

Fam. Y. Bucerotidae. — The Hornbills derive their name from
the immensely developed bill and casque, or helmet, found in such
forms as Buceros (p. 395), though the excrescence in Aceros and
some species of Loplioceros is rudimentary. It may be mentioned
that the huge beak of the Toucans denotes no affinity to this
group. The casque — open in front in Bucorvus — is more or less
filled with cellular bony tissue, or with an almost solid mass of bony
columns in Rhinoplax ; the mandibles are occasionally serrated.
The metatarsi are short, save in the terrestrial Bucorvus, and
are rough and scaly ; the toes have broad flat soles, the second and
third being united for one phalanx, the third and fourth still further.
The powerful wings have eleven primaries, and from ten to sixteen
secondaries, while the under coverts do not perfectly cover the base
of the quills. The tail has ten rectrices and is usually long, though
shorter in Bucorvus ; it is either square or graduated, and has the
two median feathers much elongated in Ehinoplax and Ortholo-
phus. The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue rudimentary; the after-
shaft is wanting ; there is no down on the adults or callow young ;
and the eyelashes are prominent, a rare feature among birds. In
most forms the atlas (p. 5) fuses with the axis.

These arboreal birds, termed "Calaos" in French, frequent deep
tall jungle or cultivated districts near rivers, up to five thousand
feet ; most, if not all, of the species descending from the trees in
the morning and evening, when they have been observed bathing
in streams, and digging up loose soil with their beaks. Bucorvus
spends much of the day upon the ground searching for food. The
flight, often prolonged to considerable distances, is heavy and slow,

1 Bronn's TMer-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, pp. 233-235. The Hoopoes used once
be considered Passerine.

VI

BUCEROTIDAE

39

the unwieldy body acting as a great drag, though counterbalanced
by the pneumaticity, or air-containing nature of the bones, which
is perhaps greater in Hornbills than in any other birds. On the
wing a sound is generally produced like that of a steam-engine,

FIG. 82. — Hornbill. Dichoceros bicornis. Female and young. (From Malay Archipelago.)

possibly due to the open nature of the quills ; but RTiinoplax,
JBerenicornis, Anorliinus, and Anthracoceros maldbaricus are said
to fly noiselessly. In some species the wing-action is regular ;
in others, rapid strokes alternate with sailing movements on out-
spread pinions ; the head is usually drawn in and the tail depressed ;
while flocks proceed in single file. Individuals alight heavily, and

39 2 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

from their bulk are restricted to the stronger branches, along which
they shuffle awkwardly, even assisting themselves with their beak.

Hornbills may be met with singly or in pairs, but ordinarily
form parties of five or six, if not of larger numbers, gathering
together to feed or to roost at fixed spots, which they leave before
sunrise. They are not naturally shy, and if disturbed only resort
to some neighbouring tree, where they may be often observed
sitting on the boughs during the mid-day hours, with puffed out
plumage, open bill, and head sunk upon the back as if overcome by
the heat. From time to time while perched they elevate or depress
the crest and utter loud yelping cries, not uncommonly flapping
their wings and bowing their heads ; when feeding they con-
stantly chatter in chorus like Parrots, and vanish with shrill
screams if intruders appear. The characteristic note, however, is a
harsh, continuous sound, intermediate between the bray of an ass
and the shriek of a railway engine ; that of Bucorvus abyssinicus
has been syllabled " hum-hum," and that of B. cafer, the " Brom-
vogel " of South Africa, has been said to resemble a lion's roar,
and to be audible for a mile. All the species are apparently
most noisy in the morning and evening, or before rain.

Fruits and insects — the latter occasionally hawked for in the
air — constitute the normal food, but the larger forms devour small
mammals, birds, eggs and reptiles, with grubs, flowers, and young
shoots ; while Bucorvus, which feeds chiefly upon the ground,
and hops rapidly, will eat tortoises, mandioc-roots, and so forth.
Berries of Stryclmos and figs seem greatly in favour. Nearly
everything is swallowed entire, with a backward jerk of the head,
animals having the life beaten out of them previously, and most
substances being tossed up into the air. The male has a most
curious habit of casting up the lining of the gizzard with its
contents enclosed, possibly to feed the female or young.1

A hole in a tree or a cavity at the junction of two branches
serves for the nest, wherein the hen is enclosed by a plaster of
dung or like material ; there, under penalty of death, she remains
until she emerges dirty, wasted and enfeebled, when the brood is
hatched. From one to four dingy white eggs with coarse pores
are deposited upon the debris or a few feathers. Contrary to
expectation, observations seem to shew that the female walls
herself in ; but, however that may be, the cock feeds her through

1 A. D. Bartlett, P. Z. S. 1 869, p. 142 ; Flower, torn. cit. p. 150 ; Murie, op. cit. 1874, p. 420.

vi BUCEROTIDAE 393

the small opening left, and is even said to knock with his bill
to attract her attention as he clings to the bark. He shews
great anxiety about his charge, and the hen screams and bites
if molested. Various members of the Family expand the ~~ tail
and inflate the throat when courting ; some thrive fairly
well as pets ; while Aceros nipalensis of India, and Dichoceros
bicornis, the Homrai, ranging thence to the Malay countries, are
said to be excellent eating. The latter is sacred to Vishnu ; the
immured female of Rliytidoceros subruficollis serves as a type of
virtue to the Burmese ; and natives believe that the plaster for
the holes is composed of gum and earth from the four quarters of
the globe. In South Africa the Fingoes think that their cattle
will contract disease if Hornbills are shot ; Kafirs consider that
drought will cease if one of them is sunk under water and drowned ;
Ovampos pretend that the eggs are too "brittle to be handled.

Some nineteen genera may be admitted, from the Ethiopian,
Indian, and Australian Regions, with about seventy species, more
than thirty of which occur in each of the first two areas ; a
couple inhabit Celebes, and one ranges over the Moluccas and
Papuasia to the Solomon Islands. None inhabit Australia.

The somewhat scanty plumage is usually black, white, and
grey ; but a greenish or bluish tinge, or rufous heads and lower
parts are not unfrequent. Crests are present, except in Bucorvus ;
Ceratogymna has a gular wattle ; Berenicornis and Ortlwloplms
exhibit long upcurved loral plumes ; while the orbits and throat
are more or less naked, and usually of brilliant colours, these with
the bill and casque being often a distinguishing mark between
the sexes. The last develops gradually in the duller young.

Rliinoplax vigil of the Malay countries, termed the Helmet
Hornbill, has a line down the back and the neck naked and red.
The casque is yellow in front and red behind, and is much used
by Eastern artists for carving and making brooches. Bereni-
cornis comatus, of the same districts, has a moderate black keeled
casque, and bare blue orbits and throat. The female exhibits
less white. Bycanistes "buccinator of East Africa has a large
blackish furrowed casque and purple naked areas. Lophoceros
nasutus of North-East and West Africa, has the bill arid rudi-
mentary casque black, with a yellow streak on the maxilla and
several oblique yellow ridges on the mandible, the bare orbits
apparently grey. In the female the bill shews red in place of black.

394

CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

Ceratogymna data of West Africa has the gular wattle, orbits, and
bare throat blue, with red on the first and a median line of feathers
on the last, and an abrupt, high whitish casque, which is black at
the base in the male. The hen has a rufous head and neck. Rliyti-
doceros plicatus of Papuasia and the Moluccas has a reddish and
white casque with obliquely overlapping plates, pale blue naked

FIG. 83. — Plait-billed Hornbill. Rhytidoceros undulatus.

(From Nature. )

orbits and throat. The head and neck are chestnut in the male,
black in the female. Cranorhinus cassidix of Celebes has a red
casque, high in front and rounded posteriorly over the skull ; both
mandibles are yellow with red bases, and exhibit grooved plates,
the bare parts being chiefly blue with a black bar on the throat,

vi UPUPIDAE 395

The head and nape are chestnut and black in the respective
sexes, the hen having the casque yellower. Penelopides manillae
of the Philippines has the moderate, compressed casque transparent
brown, and the naked areas white, becoming purplish in the female.
Anthracoceros coronatus of India and Ceylon has a large yellow
subcrescentic casque blotched with black, a bare white throat and
blackish orbits, the latter being white in the hen. Dichoceros
licornis (Fig. 82) of India and the Malay countries has a large
yellowish-red casque, hollowed and ending in two points ante-
riorly, which shews black markings in the male; the naked orbits
are pinkish. Buceros rhinoceros of the Malay Peninsula and Indo-
Malay Islands has a large red, orange, and black casque, curved
up in front, and red orbits ; the female having less black on the
former. Bucorvus (Bucorax) has a large black casque, nearly or
quite closed in B. ca/er of South and East Africa, but open
anteriorly and ridged in B. abyssinicus of North-East and West
Africa. In the respective species the naked parts are red and
blue in the male, blue and purple in the female. Some writers
adopt a Sub-family Bucorvinae for this genus.

The fossil Cryptornis of the Upper Eocene of France is
referred to the Hornbills.

Fam. VI. Upupidae. — Sub-Fam. 1. Upupinae. — This consists
of a single genus with five similarly-coloured graceful species, which
have the beak long and slightly arched, the metatarsi short and
scutellated throughout, the toes rather long and the claws curved.
The third and fourth digits only are joined at the base. The
broad wing has ten primaries and an equal number of secondaries,
the short, square tail has ten rectrices, the nestlings possess a
little down. Otherwise the structure resembles that of Hornbills.

Generally found solitary or in pairs, Hoopoes stalk proudly
along the ground, nodding their heads, expanding and contracting
their crests, and uttering the soft reiterated " hoop " or " hoo,"
from which is derived their name. Besides probing the soil,
the bird taps the ground with its bill or foot, and some persons
think that worms are brought to the surface by the vibration ;
but it will also tap any perch, whether on branch, stump, or wall.
The food consists of flies taken on the wing, insects generally,
and worms ; individuals being frequently observed climbing rocks
or branches of trees in search of prey, and carefully examining
heaps of refuse. Before being swallowed the larger objects are

396

CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

smartly rapped on some hard surface, and most are tossed into
the air. The flight is strong, undulating, and seldom protracted,
though Hoopoes often escape from Ha.wks; they can also run
rapidly. The nest, placed in holes in trees, walls, or rocks, con-
sists of a little straw or a few twigs, with some feathers or hair ;
it is always, however, marked by the addition of ordure to the
lining, and sites are on record in coffins or decaying bodies.1
During incubation the cock feeds the hen, who hardly stirs from
her post; the eggs number from four to seven, and are pale

FIG. 84- — Hoopoe. Upupa epops. xf. (From Natural History of Selborne.)

greenish-blue with distinct pores. These birds are fond of dust-
ing themselves in loose soil ; the male is decidedly pugnacious,
except in captivity ; and the flesh is considered a delicacy in
Southern Europe. Arabs venerate them and ascribe to them
medicinal properties. Most persons are familiar with the story
of Allah granting to Epops a golden crest, exchanged afterwards
at the bird's request for one of feathers.

Upupa epops not unfrequently visits Britain, where it has
nested on several occasions ; it breeds from Southern Scandinavia
to Northern Africa and the Atlantic Islands, migrating a little

1 In the Upupinae and Irrisorinae the oil-gland of the incubating female, and
also of the young, produces a stinking secretion.

STRIGES 397

further south ; while it extends through most of Asia and reaches
Japan. The fine erectile crest, the head, neck, and lower parts
are cinnamon-coloured ; the remaining plumage is black, varied
with buff and white ; a band of the latter crosses the tail ; ^and
the head plumes are tipped with black and white. U. marginata
of Madagascar has a larger outer primary and a narrower tail-
band ; U. indica, with darker cinnamon tints, extends from India
to Hainan, and intergrades with U. epops ; U. somalensis of Somali-
Land is intermediate between the last and U. africana of South
Africa, which exhibits no white on the primaries or crest.
Females and young are duller and less crested.

A fossil form, Limnatornis, occurs in the Lower French Miocene.

Sub-fam. 2. Irrisorinae. — The Wood-Hoopoes, differing from
their allies in the longer and more decurved bill, especially
noticeable in Bhinopomastus, the long wedge-shaped tail, and the
absence of a crest, are commonly seen in flocks of from six to
eight ; they are shy, restless and noisy, flitting from bush to
bush with undulating motion and expanded rectrices, while they
also creep about probing the crannies of the highest trees — to the
great detriment of the tail — or search the ground for grubs and
insects generally. The note is harsh and chattering ; the nest,
said to be foul like that of their allies, is placed in holes in trees,
the eggs being apparently white. The plumage is metallic purple,
blue or greenish, with white wing-patch and tail-markings, the
females and young being less bright, with shorter beaks.

Irrisor occupies the Ethiopian Region, /. viridis and /. erythro-
rliynchus having the head and throat bluish-green, /. bollii those
parts buff, /. jacksoni nearly white. Three species of Scoptelus
inhabit North -East and West Africa, three of Rhinopomastus
extend from the former country and the Congo to South Africa.

The Sub-Order STRIGES, containing the natural and well-marked
group of the Owls, was until lately usually treated as a mere
Family situated next to the diurnal Birds of Prey (Accipitres
of this work), whatever name or rank may have been given to
the combined assemblage. Gradually, however, a conviction has
arisen that these nocturnal — or chiefly nocturnal — Birds of Prey
deserve a higher position than that of a Family, while Dr. Gadow,
in the classification here mainly adopted, agrees with those who
would separate them widely from their former associates, and places

398 CORACIIFORMES

them in close proximity to the Nightjar alliance (Caprimulgi),
the members of which they certainly resemble in their soft
plumage, large eyes, and crepuscular tendencies.

Fam. VII. Strigidae. — This, which contains all the Owls, may
be divided into two Sub-families, (1) Striginae and (2) Buboninae}
In the former, or Screech-Owl section,2 the sternum has its broad
keel joined to the furcula, and exhibits no notches behind ; in
the latter, containing the remaining genera, the clavicles do not
always form a furcula, nor do they meet the sternum, which
shews one or two pairs of projections posteriorly. In this section,
moreover, there is a bony loop bridging the channel in the meta-
tarsus which contains the common extensor tendon of the toes,
as is the case in the Osprey. Pterylography would lead to the
same subdivisions. Between the two groups lie Photodilus of
the Indian Kegion, now referred to the Buboninae, and Heliodilus
of Madagascar, which is classed with the Striginae.

The head is large ; the neck short and thin ; the bill moderate
in length, but stout, with a sharp hook at the tip ; the culmen is
usually curved, but is straighter in Strix, while the basal cere is
more or less covered by feathering, especially in Nyctea. The short,
strong metatarsi — somewhat longer in Speotyto and Sceloglaux —
are flattened in front and covered with small scales. They are
usually feathered, though in Ketupa and Scotopelia they are all
but bare, while they are partly so in Scops gymnopus and S. nudipes,
the two former having the toes provided with spicules below, as
in Pandion. Many forms have the plumage extended as a thick
covering of soft feathers or bristles to the claws, which are normally
long, sharp, and curved, that of the middle toe having a serrated
margin in the Striginae. The digits are padded beneath, and the
fourth of them is reversible at will, enabling Owls to perch with
either one or two toes behind. The wings are long, or fairly so,
very broad, and more or less rounded, Scops and Strix being in-
stances of greater length, Bubo, Sceloglaux > Speotyto, and Photo-
dilus of shortness ; the primaries number eleven and the secondaries
from eleven to eighteen. The tail of ten or twelve rectrices is usually
short and somewhat rounded, though longer in Surnia. The large

1 Cf. Milne-Edwards, Oiseaux fossiles de la France, ii. 1871, pp. 474-492 ; and
for further details A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1894, pp. 671-674.

2 Brisson, who divided the genus Strix, made the Tawny Owl its type ; if this
be accepted, Striginae must become Alucinae and Buboninae become Striginae.

vi STRIGIDAE 399

eyes are directed obliquely forwards, but those of Ninox are said
to have a less staring look ; Owls, moreover, have little power of
turning the eye -ball, and consequently add to their grotesque
appearance by constantly moving the head from side to side.
The upper eye-lid shuts over the eye, and not the lower, as in
birds generally ; the iris is extremely sensitive, contracting and
expanding continually. The external ear varies in an extra-
ordinary way, the " conch," or large shell-like aperture, often
having its ample membranous margin developed into an elevated
operculum or flap which stretches partially or entirely down the
anterior side. In Asia and Syrnium the ear-openings are asym-
metrical, those of the former reaching nearly the whole height
of the skull and being directed respectively upwards and down-
wards ; in Nyctala this asymmetry extends to the bones of the
skull itself. The large ear is apparently correlated with a keen
sense of hearing in some cases, but not in all.

The furcula,when complete, is U-shaped; the tongue is fleshy,
and somewhat horny below ; the nostrils, placed towards the
front of the cere, are rather large, and usually concealed by
bristles; the syrinx is commonly bronchial; the after -shaft is
absent or rudimentary ; down occurs in the adults only on the
unfeathered spaces, but in the nestlings forms a woolly coating,
which may be brown or dusky, as in the Snowy Owl, white as
in the Screech-Owl, yellowish or grey, as in many species.

The sexes are alike, the female being larger than the male.
The young resemble the adults, but, at least in certain cases, are
more rufous or buff; further information is, however, needed as to
the successive stages. All Owls exhibit a certain similarity, while
their ample plumage creates an erroneous impression of bulk;
the feathers — most compact in Surma — are soft, with an admix-
ture of hairs and with weak, brittle shafts, to which facts the noise-
less flight is largely due. An erectile tuft decorates each side of
the crown in Bubo, Asio, Scops, and Ketupa ; but the most strik-
ing outward characteristic is the ruff of several series of small,
stiff-shafted, recurved feathers, originating from a fold of the skin
round the cheek, which support the larger feathers of the over-
lying " disc " around the eye. The latter is very complete in Strix,
Syrnium, and Asio, being in the first-named rather triangular
than circular ; but in Surnia, Speotijto, Bubo, and Scops, not to
mention other cases, it is far less perfect.

400 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

Syrnium cinereum, one of the largest members of the Family,
is thirty inches long, though Bubo possesses species that are
perhaps more powerful ; on the other hand, Micratliene whitneyi
and Glaucidium cobanense measure about five inches. Omitting
the white or yellowish -white forms, the coloration of Owls may
be stated to be a mixture of black, brown, rufous, grey, yellow,
and white, while barring is frequent on the wings and tail. The
pattern is always difficult to describe, nor can more than an in-
dication of it be given in the space available below. Permanent
rusty-red and grey phases occur in many species, or more rarely
a brown phase ; such species as exhibit two of these being termed
dimorphic, though dichromatic would better express the meaning.
The bill is blackish, dusky, or yellowish. The moult in the
Strigidae appears to be very gradual.

Owls are an exceptionally cosmopolitan group of birds, a large
proportion of the genera being common to both hemispheres ;
Ketupa, Scotopelia, Ninox, Heteroglaux, Sceloglaux, Carine, Photo-
dilus and Heliodilus are, however, peculiar to the Old World,
Speotyto, Gymnasia and Micrathene to the New. The Short-eared
Owl (Asio accipitrinus) is found at various seasons throughout
the globe, except, it would seem, in West Africa, Australia, the
Moluccas, Papuasia, and Oceania ; it occurs even in the Sand-
wich, Galapagos, and Falkland Islands. The Screech -Owl (Strix
flammea) has an even wider range, but is not met with in
Norway, the north of North America, or New Zealand. Authorities
differ as to the genera and species to be recognised, but certainly
many more of the latter are now known than the one hundred
and ninety at which Dr. Sharpe put the total in 1875.1

The members of this Family frequent districts of the most
varied description, whether they be wooded highlands, rocky
ravines, or cultivated lowlands ; the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiacci)
nests chiefly on the fjelds and barren lands towards the North
Pole ; while the Burrowing Owl {Speotyto cunicularia), which is
equally at home on the sandy plains of North or South America, is
exceptional as an instance of gregarious habits in the group. The
majority, being nocturnal, are ill at ease in sunlight, a fact which
may explain the apparent discrepancy between their habitual
shyness and their bold conduct at the nest or when wounded ;
many are then positively dangerous, and prove worse adversaries

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. ii. 1875, p. vii.

vi STRIGIDAE 4C I

than Falcons or Eagles. In the perpetual da}7 of the Arctic summer
the Snowy Owl and the Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula) cannot of
course be nocturnal, while to a limited extent various species of
Bubo, Scops, Ninox, Glaucidium, Oarine, Nyctala, and Asio may-be-
seen abroad in the hours of light ; so that in many cases sight
may aid in the capture of prey as much as hearing.

The noiseless flight is buoyant, but usually slow and some-
what wavering, with frequent beats of the wing ; occasionally it
is more direct, and in Surnia ulula almost Hawk-like. Owls
apparently prefer to perch with the first and fourth toes behind,
and on a level surface to stand with three toes in front ; their gait
on the ground is awk.ward,and being arboreal birds- — with the excep-
tion of Speotyto and Sceloglaux — they rarely walk to any extent.

The food consists of small mammals, such as lemmings, rats, voles,
and mice ; of insects, with perhaps beetles in especial ; and to a
less degree of birds, reptiles, bats, worms, slugs, and snails. The
stronger forms even capture young fawns, rabbits, hares, large
grouse, and so forth, Ninox connivens being a great enemy of the
young of the Koala (an Australian marsupial) ; while the Snowy,
Mottled, Screech-, and Wood-Owls occasionally take fish, which,
with crabs, constitutes the chief diet of Ketupa. The manner of
procuring sustenance varies with the object sought. Insects are
frequently caught upon the wing, but ordinarily the ground is
quartered after the manner of Harriers, and a pounce made upon
the prey, which is secured in the long curved talons. The smaller
creatures are swallowed entire or carried in the bill ; the bigger
are conveyed, hanging between the feet, to some convenient spot,
where they are torn to pieces and sometimes plucked. Bones,
fur, feathers, beetles' elytra, and the like are ejected as round or
cylindrical pellets, which commonly lie thickly around the nests or
feeding-places, and clearly shew the nature of the food.

The note varies from a loud hoot to a low, muffled sound or a
clear, musical cry ; the utterance of both young and adults being
in some cases a cat-like mew, while the Screech-Owl snores when
stationary. The " hoot " is said to be produced by closing the
bill, puffing out the throat, and then liberating the air, a pro-
ceeding comparable to that of the Bitterns (p. 88). On the
whole the voice is mournful and monotonous, but occasionally it
resembles a shrill laugh. If a nest be made, it is commonly
placed in a hole in a tree or on a ledge of rock, but many species

VOL. ix 2 D

402 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

simply deposit their eggs on the debris naturally found in
cavities.

To descend to a few particulars, the Snowy and Short-eared
Owls, certain other species of Asio, and in some cases the Eagle-
Owls (Biibo) breed upon the ground, often near some sheltering
tuft, and use little or no bedding ; Speotyto collects a mass of grass,
dry leaves, feathers, and rubbish in burrows ; the Wood-Owls
(Syrnium), the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus), and several other
forms utilize deserted nests of Pies, Crows, Squirrels, and the like,
commonly adding a fresh lining ; the first-named alternatively
choose holes in trees or in the ground ; while Carine glaux has been
known to breed in ant-hills. The Screech-Owl (Strix) and most
of the smaller members of the Family deposit their eggs in
crevices in rocks or banks, in natural cavities in trees, or even at
the junction of two large branches ; towers, lofts, dovecots, and
belfries being well-known sites for the former. Apparently none
of the above excavate their own holes in the wood, or do more
than clear them out ; a few, however, decorate the nests they
usurp with green foliage, as do so many Buzzards and Eagles. The
habits sometimes undergo a decided change, as when the Short-
eared Owl in the Aleutian Islands, and the Screech-Owl in Texas
and India take to fairly deep burrows.

The Strigidae are exceptionally early breeders ; for instance,
Long-eared Owls' eggs have been found in England at the end of
February, and those of Bubo mrginianus in that month in the
United States ; it is true the Screech-Owl is later in this country,
but this does not seem to be the case with its American race.
Where fresh sets are found late in the year, the first have gener-
ally been destroyed, and a second brood is uncommon, though the
contrary holds true during vole- or lemming-plagues, when food is
unusually abundant ; at such times, moreover, the number of eggs is
abnormally large for the species. The usual tale varies from two
to ten, while the bigger forms as a rule do not deposit so many.
Much has been made of the fact that the Screech-Owl (with the
Eagle-Owl and other forms) lays at considerable intervals of time ;
but this is certainly not always true, and in many cases the vary-
ing size of the embryo is easily accounted for by supposing the
parent to sit as soon as the first egg is deposited. On the other
hand, occasional breaks certainly occur in the laying, and pairs of
eggs are often produced almost simultaneously ; yet the bird has

vi STRIGIDAE 403

no regular habit of allowing the subsequent eggs to be hatched
by the warmth of the oldest nestlings ; and the reader may be
reminded that in other groups, such as the Harriers and Divers,
a very similar inequality in the development of the eggs may be
observed. Exceptionally the white shell is said to be tinted with
blue or yellow, or to be even marked with lilac and brown in Bubo
coromandus.1 The shape is normally oval or nearly spherical,
but longer or even pointed specimens are not uncommon, while
the larger the size the less glossy is the texture. The male is
generally to be found near at hand if the nest is disturbed, and
undoubtedly assists in some cases in incubation, which lasts about
four weeks. The hen hisses when caught in a hole, and invari-
ably sits closely ; while both parents frequently remain near an
intruder, and " click " their beaks at him in exactly the same
manner as the pugnacious nestlings do.

Owls are constantly mobbed by other birds, especially when
dazed by sunlight, the Little Owl being used as a lure on the
Continent. They migrate to a greater or less extent, the autumnal
visits of the Short-eared Owl being especially well-known in
Britain ; yet the Snowy Owl often remains in the far north in
winter. The flesh is not generally reckoned palatable, but Bubo,
Asio, Nyctea, Carine and Scops at least are eaten by the natives of
various countries; superstition, however, usually prevents the murder
of an Owl, which is usually supposed to entail evil, though in a
few places good luck. In Andalucia the Scops- and Screech-Owls
are believed to be the devil's birds, and to drink the oil from the
lamps in saints' shrines ; the Malagasy consider the members of
the Family embodiments of the spirits of the wicked ; and country
folks' belief in their connection with death and the churchyard
dates back at least to the time of Shakespeare, who makes one of his
characters call the owl's hoot or screech a " song of death." Many
species are well-adapted for aviaries, and breed freely ; and the
Little Owl (Carine noctua) has done so when liberated in Britain.

Sub-fam. 1. Striginae. — Strix flammea, the nocturnal White,
Screech-, or Barn-Owl, is orange -buff above, with brown, grey
and white markings, but is white below and on the complete
facial discs. The dark grey phase has the white parts tinged
with orange and a few distinct blackish spots beneath. The
legs are entirely, and the toes partially, covered with bristly

1 Hume, ed. Gates, Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, iii. 1890, p. 103.

404

CORACIIFORMES

feathers. As mentioned above (p. 400), the bird is almost cosmo-
politan, if we disregard the sub-species proposed. It is rare in
northern Scotland. It lays its four to six dull white eggs, with-
out any nest, in hollow trees,
crevices in masonry or rocks,
towers, belfries, lofts, and so
forth, and Ijas been known to
breed in holes in banks or
cliffs in America, between fork-
ing branches in the Philip-
pines, and on the ground in
Madagascar. The eggs are not
uncommonly deposited at con-
siderable intervals. The food
consists chiefly of small rodents,
though birds, bats, insects, and
even small fish are eaten ; the
note is a weird screech, while
young and old make a snoring
noise at the nesting place.
When this bird frequents dove-
cotes it destroys the rats which
prey upon the eggs and young
of pigeons, and is itself practi-
cally harmless. According to
Dr. Sharpe l the following may
also be admitted as valid

species : S. novae hollandiae
FIG. 85. — Screech-Owl. Strix flammea. xf. „ ,. ~ . , . „

oi Australia, o. teneoncosa 01

that country and New Guinea, S. capensis of South Africa, and
S. Candida, the Grass Owl, ranging from India to China, Formosa,
North Australia, and Fiji. S. castanops of Tasmania may perhaps
be added, and S. aurantiaca of New Britain is certainly distinct,
but may not belong to this genus.

Heliodilus soumagnii of Madagascar is cinnamon-rufous above,
with a few black spots on the head, and bars on the wing and tail ;
it is lighter below and pinker on the face. The toes are bare.

Sub-fam. 2. Buboninae. — Photodilus ladius, found from the
Eastern Himalayas to Ceylon, the Burmese Countries, Borneo,

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. ii. 1875, pp. 290-309.

vi STRIGIDAE 405

and Java, is a somewhat similarly coloured bird to the last-named,
and utters a single reiterated note. The habits are unknown.

Nyctala tengmalmi, Tengmalm's Owl, inhabits the forests of
Northern and Central Europe, Siberia, and Arctic America ; it
has brown upper parts barred and mottled with white, and whitish
lower surface banded and streaked with brown ; the facial discs
are fairly complete, the legs feathered to the end of the toes.
Only partially, nocturnal, it utters a soft whistle or bell-like note,
feeds on small rodents, birds, and beetles, and lays from four to
six, or exceptionally ten, eggs in holes in trees. Its only
congener, N. acadica, called the Saw-whet Owl from its grating
cry, occurs in America from Mexico northwards.

Syrnium aluco, the Tawny, Brown, or Wood-Owl of Great
Britain — not found in Ireland — ranges through most of Europe
and Northern Africa to Palestine, and it is said to Tibet ; the
colour above is grey and brown, with white spots on the wing-
coverts and tip to the tail ; the lower parts being rufous- white,
mottled and streaked with brown. - The perfect facial discs are
greyish, the legs are feathered to the claws. A rufous phase is
even more common in this country. It is an arboreal and
entirely nocturnal species, which makes the woodlands ring with
its note in the autumn gloaming, and less frequently in the
morning ; the sound resembling hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo once or twice
repeated, rather than the Shakespearean tu-whit, to-who. Sur-
face-swimming fish vary the usual diet. From the middle of March
onwards three or four large oval eggs are deposited in hollow
trees or deserted nests of other birds ; or even in caves, lofts, and
rabbit-burrows, though trees may be near to hand; sometimes
a scanty lining of twigs, grass, down, feathers, or fur is added.
This genus, with about thirty species, extends over nearly the
whole globe, except Madagascar and the Australian Eegion ; some
of the best known members being the northern 8. lapponicum,
the Lapp Owl, and its American race 8. cinereum — much larger
and greyer birds than S. aluco, with curious concentrically marked
facial disks — and the whiter broadly streaked S. uralense of
Northern and Central Europe and Siberia, which is said at times
to bleat like a goat. India furnishes S. nimcola and S. newarense
of the Himalayas, S. ocellatum and S. indranee, the last-named
extending to the Malay Peninsula ; S. sinense occurs in that dis-
trict Burma, Cochin China and Java, S. leptogrammicum in Borneo.

406 CORACIIFORMES

S. nebulosum of eastern and 8. occidental of southern North America
extend to Mexico ; whence S. virgatum, S. perspicillatum, S. albi-
gulare and other species range to the middle of South America. S.
rufipes is a native of Chili and Patagonia. Finally, S. nuckale
inhabits Western, S. woodfordi Southern and North -Eastern Africa.
Asia otus, the Long-eared Owl, is buff, streaked, mottled and
vermiculated with brown and grey, especially on the upper parts,
which appear almost brown. The buff facial discs are complete ;
the feathering of the legs extends more or less over the toes ; the
two long head-tufts are erectile. It occurs throughout Europe,
in Asia ordinarily north of the Himalayas, in China, Japan,
the Atlantic Islands, and North Africa, being replaced in
America southwards to Mexico by the sub-species A. americanus
(wilsonianus). A. accipitrinus, the Short-eared Owl, one of the
most widely distributed of birds, inhabits or visits nearly the
whole globe (p. 400). It is lighter and less streaky than the last
form, with much shorter tufts. A. mexicanus, ranging from
Mexico to Brazil, A. madagascariensis, peculiar to Madagascar,
A. capensis of that island and most of Africa, which strays to
Spain and Arabia, A. stygius, found from Mexico and Cuba to
Brazil, and its Jamaican representative, A. grammicus, complete the
genus. The last three have comparatively bare toes. The Long-
eared Owl resembles the Wood-Owl in general habits, and even, it is
said, breeds at times upon the earth ; but it almost invariably relines
deserted habitations of other birds or of squirrels with a scanty
supply of twigs, grass, fur, down, or feathers, and lays from four to
six oval eggs from the end of February onwards. Pies' nests are
in great request, especially those of the preceding season. This
somewhat silent species utters a single hoot, or else a mewing
cry, often erroneously attributed to the young alone ; the parents
sit on the tops of trees when the nursery is disturbed, and
click their beaks, just as the nestlings do. The Short-eared
or Marsh-Owl makes a nest of the surrounding substances, with a
few feathers, among heather, sedge, or marshy herbage, sometimes
sheltered by some tussock or bush, and normally deposits from four
to eight eggs ; but during the vole plague on the Scottish Borders
in 1890-92, when these birds abounded, they produced as many
as thirteen each. In Unalashka a similar structure is made in
holes in banks. Should the sitting parent be disturbed, it
commonly utters a harsh scream, and hovers or circles around

vi STRIGIUAE 407

with continued cries, which summon its mate, if near ; at other
times little noise is made, though this species is unusually diurnal.
If quartering the flats for food its flight is sufficiently powerful ;
but if suddenly flushed it is wavering or zig-zag, as is well seen in
autumn, when the bird is named " Woodcock-Owl " in Britain,
from its arriving at the same time as Woodcocks.

Micrathene wliitneyi, of the South-Western United States and
Mexico, is grey, mottled with brown and a little rufous ; the
lower parts being whiter, and some white also shewing on the
nape, wing-coverts, and throat. It breeds in holes in cacti and
the like. The genus Glaucidium, or Pigmy-Owl, comprises some
twenty members, distributed over most of the globe, except the
Australian Region, while one inhabits Europe. The coloration is
blackish- or ashy-brown, greyish, or rufous ; browner and redder
phases often occurring in the same species. The upper parts
exhibit the usual dark mottlings, and yellowish or white mark-
ings ; the under surface is lighter ; a whitish collar sometimes
occurs above, or a dusky gorget below. The facial discs are
rather imperfect, the toes may be thickly feathered or only hairy.
The habits of G. passerimim of Northern and Central Europe are
apparently representative of these forms, which are, according to
circumstances, shy or fearless, though strong and rapacious for their
size; they capture birds bigger than themselves, bats, rodents, moths,
and large insects generally. By preference arboreal, and denizens
of hilly woodlands, gardens, and orchards, they doze in trees during
the day ; yet they are not entirely nocturnal, and may be seen
after sunrise pursuing their prey with rapid, jerky flight, very
different to that of the more slowly- flapping crepuscular species.
The note varies from a loud clear whistle to a short hissing or
longer gurgling sound ; the three to five roundish eggs are laid
in hollow trees. The largest form, G. cuculoides, found from the
Himalayas to Siam, does not attain twelve inches (G. wliitelyi of
China and Japan being barely separable), while G. cobanense of
Guatemala is only five inches long, and is the smallest Owl
known. G. radiatum inhabits India, G. Irodiei the Himalayas,
G. castanonotum Ceylon, G. sylvaticum Sumatra, G. castanopterum
Java, G. pardalotum Formosa, G. perlatum most of the Ethiopian
Eegion, G. capense South Africa ; G. gnoma ranges from British
Columbia to Guatemala, G. ferox (with its races) from Texas to
Bolivia and Brazil ; G. siju occupies Cuba, G. jardinii New

408 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

Granada and Venezuela, G. pumilum Brazil, G. nanum Chili and
Patagonia.

Sceloglaux albifacies, the Laughing Owl of New Zealand, is
rufous-brown, with the middle of the feathers dark, and a few marks
of white and buff above ; the tail is barred with fulvous, the
fairly perfect facial discs exhibit radiating brown streaks ; the toes
are hairy. For an Owl this peculiar species has the head small,
the wings short, and the metatarsi long ; it strides along or hops
at a considerable rate on the ground, and flies only at night, utter-
ing a peculiar shrill laugh or a loud barking call-note. It is
fast becoming extinct in its bleak mountain -haunts, where it
conceals itself by day — and also nests — in dry crevices of rocky
gullies ; it lays from one to three eggs at considerable intervals,
if we may judge from captive specimens. The female is smaller
than the male, who occasionally incubates. As the Maori rat of
New Zealand is extinct, the food now consists of the introduced
Mus decumanus, with insects, birds, and so forth.

In the genus Ninox the prevailing colours are grey, brown,
and rufous, relieved by a little black and white, the question of
dichromatism not being yet settled. The facial discs are some-
what imperfect. The thirty or more species extend from Mada-
gascar, India, and Ceylon to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and
the Solomon Islands, having their headquarters in the Moluccas
and Papuasia ; but, with the exception of Scops, there is perhaps
no group in the Family where the status of the members is more
doubtful. They are sometimes termed Hairy or Hawk-Owls,
though the true Hawk-Owl is Surnia ulula. N. scutulala, ranging
from India to Japan, Formosa, Ternate and Flores, frequents
forests and gardens, sallying forth at dusk, darting upon insects
from its perch on some dead branch, uttering a reiterated double
note, and laying its eggs on dried leaves in hollow trees. N.
strenua, N. connivens, and N. boobook are Australian species, of
which the first is a powerful bird with a hoarse, mournful voice,
mainly nocturnal, but wakeful and speedy in the daytime. It
frequents lonely forests and thick " brushes " on hills, being less
widely distributed than the more diurnal N. connivens and N.
loolook. The latter may be seen in sunlight capturing birds or
insects in the woods, but the note of " boobook," or " buck-buck,"
from which it gets its native name, is only heard at night. The
colonists compare the cry with " cuckoo," and believe that the

STRIGIDAE 409

Cuckoo visits Australia and there assumes nocturnal habits. The
night is rapid and Woodcock-like, the three eggs are deposited in
holes in trees, with no nest. N. (Spiloglaux) novae zealandiae, of
New Zealand, called from its cry " More-pork," * is dark brown
above with white spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts, and is
tawny with brown streaks below. By day it hides in trees or
crevices of rocks, and appears at dusk to prey on rats, mice, birds,
lepidoptera, beetles, and crickets. Besides the usual note, a shrill
scream or croak is not unfrequently heard ; the young make a snor-
ing noise, and adults click the beak when angry. Two or three
eggs are laid in hollow trees or under boulders. Of other species N.
maculata is restricted to Tasmania and Norfolk Island, JVi albaria
to Lord Howe Island, JV! obscura and JV. affinis to the Andamans
and perhaps the Nicobars, and JV! natalis to Christmas Island,
Indian Ocean ; while from the Philippines and Celebes to the
Solomons the numbers increase greatly, and many islands have
their own peculiar forms.

Gymnoglaux nudipes of the Antilles, remarkable for its
unusually bare metatarsi, is brown above and white below, with
rufous barring throughout ; G. lawrencii of Cuba having the leg-
feathers less extended, and being spotted with white on the more
uniform upper surface. Speotyto cunicularia, the Burrowing Owl,
a comparatively long-legged and short-winged bird with incom-
plete facial discs and unfeathered toes, is umber-brown varied
with yellowish and white, the lower parts becoming lighter. From
the confines of British Columbia it extends through the Western
and Southern United States, a few of the Antilles, and the greater
part of the Neotropical Eegion, several fairly distinct races having
been described. Large communities in North America occupy
the burrows of prairie-dogs, rats, ground-squirrels, or badgers ; in
South America those of the biscacha, the Patagonian hare, and
even of armadillos and large lizards ; but they are said to make
their own holes, if necessary. The homes seem usually to be shared
by the separate pairs with the original owners, and sometimes with
intruders such as rattlesnakes ; while a nest of grass, feathers,
and rubbish is made at the further end, where from five to ten
eggs may be found, surrounded by castings. Mainly diurnal and
generally fearless, these birds fly strongly for short distances, and
procure their food of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects,
1 Not to be confounded with the " More-pork" Nightjar of Tasmania (p. 417).

4io

CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

chiefly on the ground, where they are quite at ease. A croaking
sound is made while courting, but the ordinary cry is long and
shrill ; both parents, moreover, fly chattering over an intruder at

FIG. 86. — Burrowing Owl. Speotyto cunicularia. x |. (From Nature.}

the breeding colonies, while individuals often sit bowing or
twisting their heads about on the roofs of houses.

Carine noctua, the Little Owl of British authors, is greyish-
brown above with white markings, and white with brown streaks
below. The facial discs are imperfect ; the toes are bristly — or

STRIGIDAE 4 I I

feathered in the race from Northern and Central Asia (0. plumipes
or bactriana). Another race (C. glaux), of a more sandy colour, occu-
pies North Africa, whence the species ranges to Denmark, the
Baltic and the Urals, and through Palestine and Afghanistan to
East Siberia and North China. It occurs in England, where
liberated specimens breed, but possibly diminish in numbers. C.
spilogastra is found in Abyssinia, C. superciliaris in Madagascar, C.
brama in India and Baluchistan. The Little Owl is semi-diurnal,
and haunts wooded country and orchards ; the flight in the day
is undulating and slow with many flaps ; the note is a muffled
monosyllabic or disyllabic cry, a noisy bark, a mew, or a wail ;
the food consists of rodents, birds, reptiles, frogs, insects, snails,
and worms. From three to five eggs are deposited on debris in
crevices of rocks or masonry, in buildings, hollow trees, or even ant-
hills. Of old the European form was the bird of Pallas Athene
and the emblem of wisdom, but whether from its grave appearance
when quiescent, or — sarcastically — from its buffoon-like contortions
and bowings must remain doubtful ; we may, however, compare the
Malagasy name of Scops magicus, " atoroko," which means " I am
going to say," and the similarly philosophic look that it can put on.
Surnia ulula or funerea, the Hawk-Owl, ranges from Scandi-
navia and North Eussia to Kamtschatka or even Alaska, whence a
race with a blacker head, and broader, redder bands below, stretches
through Arctic America, and visits Britain more commonly
than the typical form. This is dark brown above, freely marked
with white, and white below, with distinct but narrow brown
bars ; the facial disks are very imperfect, the toes are feathered
to the claws. The exceptionally compact and firm plumage, the
short, acuminate wings, and the long tail conduce to its Hawk-like
appearance, heightened still more by the quick flight, the fierce
manners, and the shrill Kestrel-like cry. From their native pine-
forests a few individuals wander southwards towards winter ;
while at home they feed on lemmings and rodents generally, Willow
Grouse and other birds, and insects. They sit watching for prey
on bare branches or stumps in the sunlight, occasionally dashing
after a Jay or the like ; not unfrequently they quarter the ground
like a Harrier, and of course hunt at night also. From three to
eight eggs are deposited on a few chips in hollow stumps, in boxes
set up by the Lapps, or in a relined nest of some other species ; the
parents being perfectly fearless in their attacks on an intruder.

412 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

Nyctea scandiaca, the white Snowy Owl, occasionally exhibit-
ing spots or broken bars of black, has ill-developed facial discs and
hardly visible tufts, but very thickly feathered feet. It inhabits
the circumpolar fjelds, tundras, and barren grounds, straying as
far as Britain, France, Lower Austria, the Indus Valley and the
Bermudas in winter ; but when rodents abound on the fells of Norway
and Sweden a greater number remain there to breed. The flight
is strong and easy ; the habits are diurnal ; the food consists of
lemmings, rats, mice, squirrels, hares, birds large or small, fishes, and
doubtless insects. It is called Harfang (hare-catcher) in Scandinavia.
This Owl either catches the fishes in one claw as it skims over the
water, or crouches on some stone or piece of ice till the moment comes
to strike ; at times, moreover, it will follow sportsmen in the field.
The cry, seldom heard, is wild and wailing. The large, oval eggs,
numbering from three to five, or even ten when food is plentiful,
are deposited in holes scraped in the soil on ledges of rocks or
other eminences, sometimes lined with moss and feathers ; they
appear occasionally to be laid in pairs at intervals. The parents,
though usually wary, will attack a man at the nest.

The cosmopolitan genus Scops, found almost everywhere except
in the extreme north, Australia, Oceania, and the southern portion
of South America, contains some fifty so-called species which it
would be useless to discuss in the present state of our informa-
tion, though certain of them are mentioned below. Rufous,
brown, and grey phases undoubtedly occur, but the various
plumages are still very imperfectly understood. Perhaps two-
thirds of the forms occur in the Old World, yet only one (S. giu)
inhabits the Palaearctic Region west of Japan, though there we
find S. semitorques. The general coloration is a mixture of grey,
brown, chocolate or rufous, with a less amount of black, yellowish,
and white ; some species are finely vermiculated, others hardly
at all, while several are almost barred below and many are dis-
tinctly banded on the tail. The facial discs are incomplete, but
the head-tufts are well developed ; the metatarsi and toes are
feathered, or bristly,, or the latter are occasionally bare. Scops
giu, the Petit Due of France, which visits Britain and Holland,
extends over Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Pales-
tine, Persia, and Turkestan, occurring in North Africa, and
migrating as far southwards as Abyssinia and Senegal. Sub-
species occupy the Ethiopian Region, and Asia to Japan and

vi STRIGIDAE 4 1 3

Siam ; S. br-ucii, ranging from Transcaspia to India being possibly
separable. The type species is grey above with the middle of the
feathers dark, the back being vermiculated with brown and the
wings spotted with white ; the whitish lower parts are
streaky and the toes bare. It feeds by night on mice, small
birds, grasshoppers, moths, and beetles ; and utters a melancholy
metallic single note, which rings monotonously through the woods
it haunts ; in the day it hides in thick cypresses and the like.
Five or six roundish eggs are deposited in holes in trees, rocks,
and buildings, or rarely in deserted birds' nests ; no bedding
being added, though the opposite is the case in some Indian
species. S. asio, the Mottled or American Screech-Owl, reaches
with its different races from Alaska and Canada to Guatemala,
and is said to have a wailing cry, varied by deep guttural trills.
£ flammeola occurs from Colorado and California to Guatemala ;
and thence various species carry the range to Brazil. The
Ethiopian Eegion generally is tenanted by S. leucotis, the Gold
Coast by S. icterorhynchus, Anjuan in the Comoros by S. capnodes,
Madagascar by S. rutilus — though this is said to be a form of
S. magicus, extending from Celebes to about New Guinea ; the
Indian Eegion and the Moluccas possess a large number of
species, among which S. gymnopus of India (with half-naked
metatarsi like S. nudipes of Veragua) may be mentioned.

Bubo ignavus, the Eagle-Owl, which visits Britain, and is the
Grand Due of the French, is blackish-brown above, with yellowish-
rufous mottlings and interrupted wing- and tail-bars ; it is
yellowish-buff below with blackish streaks and indistinct trans-
verse markings. The facial discs are fairly distinct, the head-
tufts are long, and the toes thickly feathered. This fierce species,
one of the largest of the Family, inhabits rugged mountains and
forests throughout Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas to Japan,
and North Africa ; it is partly diurnal, and preys chiefly upon
hares, rabbits, large game birds, and rodents, being said moreover
to attack fawns. The flight is powerful, though undulating and
flapping ; the cry is a deep " hoo, hoo," occasionally sounding like
a laugh or neigh. Two, or rarely three, roundish eggs are de-
posited in holes scraped in the soil on rocky ledges or on banks,
in disused birds' nests, in hollow trees, or even between their
branches or roots ; little lining, if any, being added. Nearly allied
forms are R turcomanus of South- West Siberia and Turkestan,

414 CORACIIFORMES

R Uakistoni of Japan, and B. dorriesi of East Siberia ; B. milesi is
found at Muscat, B. abyssinicus in Somali-Land, B. bengalensis —
which eats reptiles and crabs — in India, B. nipalensis and B. coro-
mandus — which occasionally lays eggs spotted with lilac and brown
— in the same country and Burma, B. orientalis in Malacca and the
Great Sunda Islands, B. pliilippensis in the Philippines. B. lacteus
covers all the Ethiopian Eegion, except the west, where B. slielleyi,
B. lettii, B. leucostictus and B. poensis occur, the last being also met
with in Fernando Po. B. ascalaphus inhabits North Africa and
Palestine, B. cinerascens North-East and B. maculosus South Africa,
B. capensis extending from the South to the East. All North
America is occupied by B. virginianus, barred instead of streaked
below ; the species or sub-species B. nigrescens and B. magellanicus
coming respectively from Ecuador and the districts from Peru
and Brazil to the extreme south. Some forms have more white
in the plumage than the British Eagle-Owl, or bare toes. All
seem destructive to game and often to poultry. B. ignavus and
R virginianus have been kept in confinement in England, and
the former has propagated freely.

Scotopelia peli, of West Africa and the Zambesi Region, has
rufous upper parts with black bars, and fawn-coloured lower
surface with the bars less regular ; it feeds on reptiles and fish
as well as small animals. This fine large bird has two congeners,
S. ussheri of Fantee and S. bouvieri of the Gaboon. Ketupa
ceylonensis, a still bigger species, ranging from India and Ceylon
to Hong-Kong, is huffish-brown above, with the middle of the
feathers blackish, and fulvous below with dark streaks and closely
set brown bands, the throat being white. K. flavipes, of the Hima-
layas and China, and the smaller K. javanensis of the Malay
Peninsula, Siam, and the Great Sunda Islands, have no bands
below ; but all have fine head-tufts and naked legs. They frequent
coasts or wooded streams, where they can easily procure their
main diet of fish, crabs, and insects ; they remain under cover in
the day, and the last-named at least utters a soft, low whistle.
The two roundish eggs, which have the surface pitted like those
of the Eagle-Owl, are often laid on ledges or in recesses of rocks,
in hollow trees, or at the junction of the larger branches, but
more commonly a deserted nest is relined for the purpose.

Of fossil forms referred to the Family, Necrobyas harpax and
N. rossignoli are described from the Eocene of France, together

CAPRIMULGI 4 I 5

with Otus (i.e. Asio) and Bubo ; the latter genus and Strix occur
in the Lower Miocene of the same country, Strix also in the Malta
caverns and in the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius, Nyctea at
Torquay and in France, Bubo in Wyoming, JSadiostes in Patagonia.

The Sub-Order CAPRIMULGI consists of the Nightjar or Goat-
sucker group, with the Families Caprimulgidae, Podargidae, and
Steatormthidae, of which the latter contains only the remarkable
Guacharo. The Caprimulgidae may be. divided into the Sub-
families (1) Caprimulginae and (2) Nyctibiinae. Authorities dis-
agree as to the exact relationship of these birds to their allies, here
classified as Coraciiformes ; but that all are allies is certain, while
both in appearance and habits Nightjars are decidedly Owl-like.

Apart from the Steatornithidae, the skull is flattened, the eyes
are large, the beak is short and extremely broad, being hooked
and toothed in the Nyctibiinae and occasionally decurved in the
Caprimulginae and Podargidae ; the gape is enormously wide, and
is in many cases provided with stiff bristles, which in Aegotheles
have long lateral filaments. An appearance of great size is given
to the head by the loose plumage. The feet are fairly strong, with
the digits somewhat united basally ; the anteriorly scutellated
metatarsi vary from comparatively long and bare in Nyctidromus
and the Podargidae to very short and feathered in Nyctibius. The
outer toe of the Caprimulginae has only four joints, and the mid-
toe has a pectinated claw, while in the Podargidae and some Capri-
mulginae the hallux is partially reversible. The pointed wing has
ten primaries, sometimes much elongated (p. 418), and eleven or
twelve secondaries ; the tail may be square, rounded, graduated, or
forked, and has ten rectrices, occasionally lengthened or even
racquet- tipped (loc. cit.). The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue
short ; the slit-like nostrils are basal and overhung by a membrane
and feathers in Podargus and Batracliostomus, whereas they are
open and near the tip of the bill in Aegotheles, but soft, tubular,
and often elongated in the Caprimulginae. The syrinx is bronchial,
sometimes tending to tracheo-bronchial ; the aftershaft is rudi-
mentary ; the adults have down only on the unfeathered tracts,
while the nestlings have a thick covering of it, which is generally
buff or grey, but white in Podargus and Batrachostomus.

The length varies from about twenty inches in Nyctibius and
Podargus to seven or eight in Caprimulgus parvulus and Phalae-

4 I 6 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

noptilus nuttcdli. The characteristically soft plumage shews an
intricate mixture of brown, grey, fawn, black, and white, and is
ordinarily barred and minutely freckled, but frequently patched or
spotted with white ; it is, however, impossible in a limited space to
describe the species in detail, though it may be noticed that several
have reddish nuchal collars; and some exhibit rufous and grey phases
—unless, as may be the case, the rufous forms are females — while
others from arid districts have a protective coloration of a more
or less sandy hue. In the Podargidae large powder-down patches
occur laterally on the rump, in the Nyctibiinae on the breast and
sides. The sexes are often alike, the young either resembling the
female, or assuming the full plumage at once. Lyncornis, Otophanes,
and Batrachostomus have head-tufts like those of some Owls, the
constituent feathers in the last genus being bristle-pointed.

Nightjars are found in most parts of the world, while the
northern species habitually move southwards for the winter,
Podager and Chordiles, at least, flocking in August and
September. The most typical forms are distinctly crepuscular,
and pass the day — as our British bird does — quiescent on the
soil, or upon some post or fence, often concealing themselves
below shrubs or herbage, or in hollow stumps. At such times
they will almost permit themselves to be trodden upon before rising
from the ground, and sit with their eyes closed ; on branches
the body is ordinarily placed lengthwise, but on thin palings
or wire this is of course impossible, Nyctidromus exhibits more
terrestrial habits, and walks instead of shuffling ; the American
"Bull -bat" (Chordiles mrginianus) hawks in the full glare of
the sun. The more diurnal species frequently rise to a consider-
able height in the air, sailing backwards and forwards with an
easy, flapping motion, descending with undulating swoops, or
remaining momentarily poised aloft, and then darting suddenly
upon their prey ; the flight of their nocturnal allies is weaker
and more lowly, being jerky, twisting, and erratic. Some forms,
if not all, when inspecting an intruder turn the head almost
completely round. The vibrating sound often accompanying
the passage through the air may be produced by the wings
coming into contact, as is the clapping noise occasionally heard ;
but the cause is not certainly ascertained, nor is that of the far-
resounding " churr " uttered by the male of the Common Nightjar
while stationary. The birds are, however, often quiet on the

vi CAPRIMULGIDAE 4 1 7

wing, and steal upon the listener noiselessly with the mouth
widely opened. The voice is generally hollow, but is described
in various cases as a " croak," a " loud shrill cry," a " sad whistle,"
a " jarring note/' or a " moan " ; while the American Whip-poor-
Will (Antrostomus vociferus), Chuck- Will's-widow (A. carolinensis),
and Poor- Will (Phalaenoptilus^aswell as the Tasmanian More-pork
(Podargus cuvieri), are so called from the sounds they rapidly
utter. The second of these is said to be silent when breeding,
contrary to the habit of our Nightjar. The food consists as a
rule of insects, and especially beetles, captured in the air ; but
the Podargidae are asserted to pick Phasmidae and Cicadidae off
the trees, and even to eat fruit — as Steatornis does — or mice.1

Most Nightjars make no nest, but lay one or two white,
yellowish, or pinkish eggs, beautifully marbled or scrawled with
black, gray, brown, or violet, on the ground in open spots,,
frequently shaded by trees, ferns, or gorse. More rarely lichen-
covered rocks or flat house-tops are chosen. Phalaenoptilus has
white eggs, like those of the Podargidae, among which Podargus
makes a flat, loose structure of twigs and grass upon some branch to
contain its complement of three, andHatrachostomus deposits one on
a peculiar pad of brown or greyish down, which is fixed to a bough
and is at times based on a little bark, lichen, moss, or leaf-refuse.2
Aegotheles lays from three to five in hollow trees, the parent hissing
if caught upon them. Eggs of Ae. ivallacii are stated to shew
pale streaks. Nyctibius appears to breed in hollows of branches
or stumps, and not on the ground.3 Nightjars sit very closely,,
and are said to remove the contents of the nest if disturbed; the
young, though hatched helpless, quickly learn to escape from
danger ; while the parents occasionally feign lameness to divert
attention from them. The males sometimes incubate.

The superstitious of all classes are inclined to view these birds
with dread, a fact due to their nocturnal habits and Owl-like
aspect, coupled with their strange utterances and sudden appari-
tions. The Indians of Central and South America think that
they portend serious evil, but refuse to kill them ; while in Eng-
land gamekeepers and others are only too ready to shoot them
under the unfair designation of " Night-hawk."

Fam. VIII. Caprimulgidae. — Of this group some eighty species

1 H. Gadow, in A. Newton's Diet. Birds, 1893, p. 69. 2 J.f.O. 1885, p. 341, pi. 4.
3 Cf. Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, 1847, pp. 47, 48 ; Goeldi, Ibis, 1896, pp. 299-305.
VOL. IX 2 E

4 1 8 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

occupy nearly the whole globe, except the coldest parts, the Eastern
Pacific Islands and New Zealand.

Sub-fam. 1. Caprimulginae. — Caprimulgus europaeus, the
Nightjar, Goatsucker, or Fern-Owl, visits Britain for the summer,
and extends from Europe and North Africa to South Mongolia
in Asia, reaching North- West India and South Africa in winter.
0. ruficollis of South-West Europe and the neighbouring portions
of Africa has once occurred in England, as has C. aegyptius of
North-East Africa and West Asia. The genera Heleothreptus
of Brazil and Argentina, and Macrodipteryx of Tropical Africa,
contain respectively one and two members, remarkable for the
extraordinary elongation of the remiges in the male. H. anomalus
has the first six primaries curved inwards, the seventh, eighth,

FIG. 87. — Nightjar or Goatsucker. Caprimulgus europaeus. x J.

and ninth prolonged — especially the eighth ; M. vexillarius, the
Pennant-winged Nightjar, has the same three feathers produced,
but the ninth in particular ; M. macrodipterus has the ninth alone
extended, with long bare shaft and racquet-like tip : and this is
at times erected when the bird is sitting on the ground. Scotornis
climacurus of the north of Tropical Africa, the four species of
Hydropsalis, inhabiting South America southwards to Argentina,
and the three of Macropsalis, ranging from Panama to Bolivia
and South-East Brazil, have enormously elongated rectrices, the
median pair being highly developed in the first-named, the whole
number in the second, and the lateral pair in the last. These long
feathers seem to impede the flight but little, though Hydropsalis
constantly opens and shuts its tail in the air.

Sub-fam. 2. Nyctibiinae. — Six species of Nyctibius occur in
Tropical America, including Jamaica, and utter wailing cries.

vi PODARGIDAE STEATORNITHIDAE 4 1 9

Fam. IX. Podargidae. — This group includes some five and
twenty members of the genera Podargus, Batrachostomus l (Frog-
mouth), and Aegotheles. The first and last occupy Papuasia,
Tasmania, and Australia, the second ranges from the Himalayas
to Ceylon, the Philippines, and Malay Islands.

Fam. X. Steatornithidae. — This contains only the curious
Guacharo, or Oil-bird (Steatornis caripensis) discovered in 1799
by Humboldt and Bonpland at Caripe in Venezuela, but now
known to breed also in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as
in Guiana and Trinidad. Somewhat intermediate between the
Owls and the Nightjars, this species is about the size of a Crow,
with a similar hard beak, hooked and deeply notched, while it has
twelve long stiff bristles on each side of the gape. The tibiae and
metatarsi are covered with smooth, flesh-coloured skin, the toes
being deeply cleft, and not basally united. The tongue is thin and
triangular, the nostrils have a horny covering, the after-shaft is
fairly large, while the rest of the structure is mainly Caprimulgine.
The acuminate and not particularly soft feathers are chocolate and
grey, with darker barring above, and shew white spots, often sur-
rounded by black, in various parts. This bird inhabits sea-side or
mountain-caverns, only issuing forth at dusk to traverse considerable
distances in search of its food, which consists mainly, if not wholly,
of fruits. The flight is noiseless, and occasionally high in the air.
Visitors to the breeding caves are suddenly surrounded by a circling
crowd of Oil-birds uttering loud croaking or rasping cries, the effect
being enhanced by the rush of multitudinous wings. A more plain-
tive note is uttered by individuals at rest. The numerous nests,
each containing from two to four white or dirt-begrimed eggs, are
flat circular masses of a clay-like substance, placed on ledges or in
holes ; while the nestlings are considered a table delicacy, though
said to be scented like cockroaches. The natives systematically kill
large numbers at certain seasons by knocking them down with
poles when scared by torchlight, and melt out the abundant fat
to procure the oil, which gives* the bird its name. This oil is
used for illumination or cooking, and keeps admirably.

The Sub-Order CYPSELI consists of the Families Cypselidae
or Swifts, and Trocliilidae or Humming-birds,2 which were first

1 Cf. the French " Crapaud-volant " or Flying Frog, applied to Nightjars.

2 The Cypselomorphae of Huxley included Swifts, Humming-birds, and the
Nightjar group.

420 CORACIIFORMES CHAP,

grouped together by Mtzsch as Macrochires (long-handed forms)
from the length of their manual bones, though really the parts
of the wing nearer the body are proportionally most elongated.

Swifts certainly differ from Humming-birds in the broad, flat
skull, the short curved bill, and the extremely wide gape, besides
their comparatively sombre coloration ; but these facts cannot be
allowed to militate against an alliance so strongly confirmed by
many points of structure, while nothing but the pardonable
ignorance of former times caused the Family to be united with
their Passerine analogues, the Swallows. The Cypselidae agree
with the Trochilidae in the number and colour of their eggs,
and the extraordinarily deep keel of the sternum, which, with
the long wings, gives so great a power of flight.

Fam. XL Cypselidae. — Of this group three Sub-families may
be recognised, (1) Macropteryginae, (2) Chaeturinae, and (3)
Cypselinae.

The short but robust metatarsi are scutellated anteriorly, the
scales being nearly obsolete in the Chaeturinae ; fairly powerful
claws terminate the free toes, which are all directed forwards in
the Cypselinae, though the hallux is somewhat laterally inclined
in Panyptila, and is said to be occasionally versatile in the
other Sub-families. The middle and outer digits in the Cypse-
linae have the further peculiarity of possessing only three joints,
while the metatarsi or even the toes are feathered. The ten pri-
maries, and especially the exterior, are extremely long, with thick
narrow outer webs ; the short secondaries vary from six to eight.
The square or forked tail has ten rectrices — not uncommonly
rigid and pointed — as against twelve in Swallows. The furcula
is U-shaped; the tongue sagittate; the syrinx tracheo-bronchial
(the muscles not being inserted on the bronchial rings) ; the
aftershaft is large or small; the adults have a little blackish
down on the unfeathered spaces ; the nestlings are blind and naked.

The coloration is usually greenish -black or mouse -brown,
occasionally with a white chin, breast, or rump ; a rufous collar
or chestnut ear-coverts occur in Macropteryx and Cypselo'ides,
where alone the males differ from the females, and the young
from both. The Family ranges over the whole world, with the
exception of the extreme north and south, New Zealand and
some other islands ; the six genera containing about eighty species
varying in size from about four to fourteen inches.

vi CYPSELIDAE 421

Swifts are essentially aerial, seldom alighting upon the
ground, or perching except at night,1 though they will cling to
the entrance of their breeding quarters for a few seconds before
entering. From a smooth flat surface they can hardly rise, but
in the air they are perfectly at home, whether wheeling and
circling at great altitudes, chasing each other aloft, consummating
their love affairs, or sweeping over the earth's surface in pursuit
of insects attracted by the damp. The exceptionally rapid flight
is strong and practically unlimited in duration, two or three
quick movements of the wings being repeatedly succeeded by a
gliding motion. Though not gregarious in the ordinary sense,
they habitually breed in company, and Collocalia nests in vast
colonies ; a solitary bird, moreover, is comparatively seldom seen,
and both before and during incubation our Common Swift flies
in screaming flocks around the chosen sites. This species will
pass and re-pass close to a pedestrian's head with noisy and
apparently vicious rush, even when far from the nest ; yet it is
not really the intruder but insects that are the attraction, the
food being entirely of that nature, and invariably captured in
the air, while the beak may be seen filled to repletion when
nestlings require to be supported. The voice is a shrill scream,
constantly repeated. The districts frequented are of every descrip-
tion, Cypselus andicola and C. ~korus being particularly alpine ; the
nest varies to a considerable extent, though a glutinous substance
secreted by the highly developed salivary glands is a constant, or
frequently almost the sole, material. The situation may be a hole
under thatch, slates or tiles ; a crevice in a building, cliff, or tree ;
the perpendicular wall of a cave; the upper side of a branch,
palm-leaf, or broad stalk ; the lower surface of a rock, and so
forth. The shape of the structure is tubular in Panyptila, where
it is composed of seeds of plants ; but generally it is saucer-like,
the materials being straw, feathers, twigs, moss, or cottony
vegetable matter, the first two of which have been stated to be
caught floating in the air. The American Chimney-Swift plucks
off branchlets as it flies. Cypselus affinis and the species of Collo-
calia commonly join their nests together in masses ; Palm Swifts
do so more rarely ; Cypselus caffer even utilizes those of other birds.
The dull white eggs are oval and almost uniform at each end ;

1 D'Albertis noticed Macropteryx mystacea settling on trees in the day-time,
and Shufeldt saw Cypselus melanoleucus sitting on rocky pinnacles.

422 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

two or four being the usual complement, though three are excep-
tionally found, and Macropteryx lays only one.

Sub-fam. 1. Macropteryginae. — The Tree-Swifts, as they are
called, have very soft plumage, a long, deeply-forked tail, a patch
of downy feathers on the flanks, and elongated plumage on the top
or sides of the head. They range from India and Ceylon through the
Burmese and Malay countries, and the islands thence to the Solomon
Group. Macropteryx coronata of India, Ceylon, Burma, and Siam
has bluish ash-coloured upper parts, glossed with metallic green,
especially on the crested head, wings, and tail ; the under surface
is greyish and white, the chin and ear-coverts are rufous. The
female lacks the chestnut. The nest is a half saucer of bits of
bark and feathers, gummed by saliva to a branch some twenty feet
from the ground, trees being usually selected in rough jungle
on low hills. It contains one egg, and is so small that the sitting
bird quite conceals it. Other species are M. longipennis, M. wal-
lacii, M. comata, and the larger and most eastern M. mystacea.

Sub-fam. 2. Chaeturinae. — Of the three genera, Cliaetura,
Cypselo'ides, and Collocalia, the first occurs from Central Asia and
India to Japan, New Guinea and Australia; in Tropical Africa; and
in the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions, except the extreme north
and south. All the species, numbering about fifty, have rigid tail-
feathers with more or less projecting spiny shafts, save in Collocalia.

Chaetura caudacuta, which has strayed to Britain and New
Zealand, ranges from Mongolia and Japan to China and the
Eastern Himalayas, wintering southwards to Australia and
Tasmania. It is dusky-brown with greenish-black head, wings,
and tail, white forehead and breast. The nest, placed on cliffs or
in hollow trees, is probably similar to that of the next species,
several pairs nidificating together. C. pelagica, the " Chimney
Swallow " of the United States, chiefly found in the east, but
extending to the Fur Countries and the Great Plains, and in
winter at least to Mexico and Yucatan, is dark grey, with lighter
lower surface, blackish head and wings. It has almost ceased to
breed in trees, but fastens its semicircular nest of small twigs,
glued together with salivary secretion, to the inside of chimneys,
laying from four to six white eggs. C. zonaris, extending from
the "West Indies and Mexico to Argentina, is uniform blackish-
brown with white collar and breast ; C. novae guineae of Papua
is glossy greenish-blue above, and grey below, with an excep-

vi CYPSELIDAE 423

tionally short tail ; C. ussheri of the Gold Coast is dark brown,
varied with a good deal of white ; C. cassini of the Congo and
Gaboon, and 0. loeJimi of East Equatorial Africa, are glossy black
with less white. C. acuta of the "West Indies, C. grandidieri of
Madagascar, and other forms, complete the genus.

In Cypseloides the shafts of the rectrices scarcely project per-
ceptibly ; while the tail is emarginate in C. niger of western
North America, the Antilles, and Guiana. The coloration is plain
black or brown, with a reddish collar round the neck in the males
of C. rutilus and C. brunneitorques. The genus ranges to Peru
and Brazil. The nest, placed in holes in houses and so forth, is
made of straw, leaves, and rubbish ; the eggs are four or five.

Collocalia is an especially interesting section of the Family, on
account of the nests furnishing the birds'-nest soup of the Chinese.
Being formed of the dried secretions of the salivary glands,1 these
are almost entirely glutinous, and when newly built are termed
" white " or " first quality." The thirteen diminutive species are
black or brown above, occasionally with a blue gloss, and white
on the rump or tail ; the under parts being whitish or grey.
They are not migratory, but extend over most of the Indian
and Australian regions, except the northernmost portions,
being found as far south as North Australia. One form reaches
the Mascarene Islands. Huge numbers breed in company in
dark caves, sticking their nests close together upon the rocky
walls, or even joining them in masses ; the materials may include
moss, straw, lichen, and so forth, but inspissated saliva is the
chief, and often the only, constituent, especially in C. fuciphaga.
"Brown nests" are those discoloured by use, or spoilt by an
admixture of foreign substances, and are considered hardly worth
collecting. Two eggs are the usual complement. The caverns
are entered from boats below, or by ladders from above, other
ladders or poles notched for the feet being fixed in the rocky
flooring of the interior. These are ascended by natives armed
with long-pronged forks, who obtain hundreds of nests at one
gathering. Bats occupy the caves by day, the birds by night or
when incubating ; while at any time the noise of the escaping
denizens is almost deafening. The breeding sites are a very
lucrative property. The especially valuable C. fuciphaga, which
obtained its specific name from the erroneous idea that it built

1 Green, J. Physiol. vi. 1885, pp. 41-45.

424 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

with partly digested sea- weed, extends (if we include several more
or less distinct races) from the Duke of York Island and the
Ladrones in the east to the hills of India, Ceylon, and the Masca-
rene Group in the west, a small species of slightly more eastern
range with whitish band on the rump being known as C. francica.

Sub-fam. 3. Cypselinae. — This contains only the genera
Panyptila and Cypselus, granted that the latter is not further
divided. The former has feathered toes, a deeply forked tail with
pointed outer feathers, and soft, silky black plumage, varied with
white. The very remarkable architecture of P. sancti liieronymi
of Guatemala is described as follows by Mr. Salvin : l " The nest of
this species is composed entirely of the seeds of a plant, secured
together and hung from the under surface of an overhanging
rock by the saliva of the bird. The whole structure measures
2 feet 2 inches in length, and is about 6 inches in diameter.
The entrance is at the [lower] end, arid the hollow for the eggs
at the top." The cavity in the above case was in the shape of a
walking-stick, with its knob bent laterally at the top, while a
false entrance shewed at one side. P. cayennensis, ranging
from Nicaragua to Brazil, makes a similar nest on trees.

The coloration of the twenty or more species of Cypselus is
sooty-black or mouse-brown, frequently exhibiting a metallic gloss,
while the collar, rump, abdomen, or edges of the feathers may be
white. A "forked tail is not uncommon, and the strong toes are
feathered in C. melanoleucus and C. squamatus. C. apus, the
Common Swift or Deviling of Britain, is found through Europe,
North Africa, and Asia southward to the Himalayas, migrating to
South Africa, Madagascar, and Southern Asia. A paler race (C.
pallidus or murinus) extends from the Atlantic Islands and the
Mediterranean basin to Bogos Land and Sind. The habits are
well-known; but it maybe observed that in flying the wings take
the form of a bent bow, and that on the Continent it builds in
hollow trees instead of in holes under eaves, in walls or cliffs. Few
individuals remain with us after early September. C. unicolor
is peculiar to Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Yerd Islands ;
C. affinis reaches from Africa and Palestine to India ; C. melba,
the " Alpine Swift," inhabits the .same Asiatic countries, extend-
ing westward to South Europe and North Africa, and wandering
north to Britain and Heligoland. C. coffer occurs in South
1 P.Z.S. 1863, pp. 1Q1-1C2.

CYPSELIDAE

425

Africa, Abyssinia, and Uganda, and exceptionally on the Congo ;
C. horus across Tropical Africa ; C. ctndicola in Argentina, Peru,
and Bolivia ; C. montivagus in the last two countries. C. paci-
ficus of East Asia, with Japan and the Burmese countries, reach<
Australia in winter. Some species lay four or five eggs, and

FIG. 88. — Swift. Cypselus apus. x J. (From Natural History of Selborne. )

C. melanoleucus of western North America utters a peculiar twitter
in its nest, placed in clefts of rocks.1 Five species of Tachornis, or
Palm-Swift, here included under Cypselus, are found throughout
the Ethiopian Eegion, from India and the Maky countries to
China, and in the West Indies; ^(X^^

Guiana, Brazil, and East I^r^^^he^tQes^pdfnt > forward in two
pairs, the tail is fo$«& - Tfiese birds usually attach their nests

1 Two large ticks (Anapera fimbriata) are usually found on this bird, similar to
Anapcra pallida of C. apus.

426 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

of cottony down and feathers to the leaves or spathes of palms
with their saliva, but also breed on native huts.

Fossils referred to Cypselus and Collocalia occur in the Lower
Miocene of France, while Aegialornis of the Eocene (p. 315) is
placed here by M. Milne-Edwards and re -named Tacky or nis.

Fam. XII. The Trochilidae, or Humming-birds, so called from
the sound often made by the vibrating wings, are New World
forms noted for their grace and beauty. The English name
dates back to at least 1632, while one species from Hispaniola
is mentioned as " paxaro mosquito " by Oviedo in his Hystoria
general de las Indias, as early as 1525. This appellation still
remains as the French " Oiseau-mouche," that of Trochilus having
been borrowed from Pliny by Barrere, who believed Humming-
birds to be allied to the Wren, the Trochilus in part of the
Latin author. Tpo^/Xo?, however, was applied by the Greeks to
the smaller Plovers (p. 295), and apparently op%i\o<: to the Wren,
so that Pliny or his copyists originated a chain of errors. From
native sources we have the names Guainumbi, Ourissia, and Colibri,
from the Spanish " Picaflor " and Tominejo (atom) ; from Mexico
" Chupa-rosa " and " Chupa-myrta " (Eose-sucker and Myrtle-
sucker) ; from the West Indies " Murmures " and " Bourdons." 1

The sternum is enormously developed both in length and
depth of keel, thus furnishing a wide base for the attachment of
the particularly strong wing-muscles, which support the untiring
flight. Herein Humming-birds resemble Swifts, but the head is
much more compressed, and the bill is slender and elongated,
except in nestlings ; they are in fact the longest billed members of
the Class Aves in proportion to their size, which in this Family
reaches the minimum. Both mandibles may be serrated, and the
maxilla is hooked in Androdon and Ehamplwdon ; but for details
of the variable beak, remiges and rectrices, reference must be made
to the species described below. The metatarsus, feathered in such
genera as Eriocnemis and Loddigesia, is short ; the toes being
usually diminutive, but sometimes stronger, and the claws either
small and rounded, or elongated, curved, and sharp. The ten pri-
maries, of which the outermost is the longest, except in Aitlmrus
— where it is shorter than the next — are frequently rigid ; in
the male " Sabre- wings " (p. 435) the shafts of two or three are
extraordinarily dilated and curved ; while the tenth is occasionally

1 For a fuller account, see A. Newton, Did. Birds, 1893, pp. 440-451.

vi TROCHILIDAE 42 7

filiform at the tip or narrowed throughout. The secondaries
are only six, or rarely seven. The tail of ten feathers may be
long or short, but differs profoundly in shape, texture, and colour ;
being for example cuneate in Phaethornis and Sphenoproctus,
nearly square in Urosticte and Hylocharis, rounded in Adelomyia
and Polytmus, deeply forked in Sappho, Lesbia, and the four
genera next named, of which Prymnacantha has the outer pair
of rectrices very narrow and pointed, Loddigesia, SpatTiura, and
Discura, spatulate.

The very characteristic tongue consists of a double tube,
tapering and separating into two externally lacerated sheaths at
the tip, which contain the extensile portion. The " horns " of
the hyoid apparatus are greatly elongated, and pass round and
over the back of the head, meeting near the top, and thence
stretching in an ample groove to terminate in front of the eyes.
This arrangement, analogous to that found in Woodpeckers,
allows the tongue to be suddenly protruded to a considerable
distance, and withdrawn again in an instant. The furcula is
U-shaped; the syrinx has one or two pairs of tracheo-bronchial
muscles ; the after shaft is very small ; a crop is present ; while
down is absent from both nestlings and adults.

Except in the "Hermits" (p. 435), the brilliant coloration
almost defies description, the most exquisite metallic l or jewel-
like hues glorifying a background of green, blue, or brown ;
while crests, ear- tufts, neck -frills, and pendent beards ending
in points or forks, add to the effect. Only among the Passerine
Sun-birds (Nectariniidae) of the Indian and Ethiopian Eegions
can a fitting parallel be found ; but these, though often
erroneously termed Humming-birds, have no connexion with our
New World group. Eulampis and Pterophanes are exceptional in
not having dusky remiges. The females are usually sombre in
comparison, and lack the ornaments of their consorts, which are
said to be occasionally smaller. The statement that young
males have no distinctive plumage seems incorrect.

These gems of Ornithology extend from the north to the
extreme south of America, the habits differing slightly with the
climate ; Selasphorus rufus of the Western United States reaches
Mt. St. Elias in Alaska, Trochilus colubris occurs in the east up
to lat. 57° N., Eustephanus galeritus frequents Tierra del Fuego

1 These are produced by the prismatic surfaces of the feathers, cf. pp. 3, 4.

428 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

-even -in snowy weather, while Oreotrockilus chimborazo and 0.
pichincha brave the storms of the volcanic regions of the Andes
of Ecuador, close to the perpetual snow at a height of sixteen
thousand feet. The forms found in the furthest north and south
.are few, and draw towards the equator at the cold time of year ;
while the successional flowering of insect-attracting plants, and
the seasonal alteration of the snow-line, cause latitudinal or alti-
tudinaj movements of the same nature. Only eighteen species are
recognised as occurring north of Mexico by New World ornitholo-
gists, but many more inhabit Central America, which are either
peculiar to that region and even its elevated tablelands, or range
into South America ; none, however, being migrants in the strict
sense of the word. The headquarters of the Family lie in
•Colombia and Guiana, though Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and
Brazil claim many, and some of the finest, forms : on the other
hand, the dry Peruvian plains and the Argentine Pampas lack
sufficient insect-food to be favourite residences. With regard to
the West Indies the numbers increase from the Bahamas to
Trinidad, each island often having its own species ; EustepKanus gal*
eritus, E.fernandensis and E. leyloldi occupy the Juan Fernandez
group, and the first-named Chili and the Straits of Magellan
also. Humming-birds may be roughly divided as alpine, sub-
alpine, and lowland, while it may be noticed that comparatively
few inhabit the great forest-clad delta of the Amazon, the
congenial centre of so much bird-life.

The Trochilidae live almost entirely in the air, and fly power-
fully, though seldom to great distances ; they will flit from flower
to flower for hours, darting off to each new blossom with arrow-like
speed, and remaining suspended before it, with the body vertical
.and the wings in a state of tremulous motion, while probing
the inmost recesses. This is commonly accompanied by a vibra-
tory movement of the tail, which in some cases opens and shuts
like a fan. The humming sound, produced at each new depar-
ture or change of course, and audible for several yards, is due to
a pulsation of the wings, so rapid that little can be seen of the
bird but an indistinct misty outline. Messrs. A. and E. Newton
give the following charming account of Eulampis holoseri-
ceus * : — " One is admiring the clustering stars of a Scarlet
Cordia, the snowy cornucopias of a Portlandia, or some other

1 Ibis, 1859, pp. 139, 140.

vi TROCHILIDAE 429

brilliant and beautiful flower, when between the blossom and
one's eye suddenly appears a small dark object, suspended as it
were between four short black threads meeting each other in a
cross. For an instant it shows in front of the flower ; an instant
more, it steadies itself, and one perceives the space between
each pair of threads occupied by a grey film ; again another
instant, and emitting a momentary flash of emerald and sapphire .
light it is vanishing, lessening in the distance, as it shoots away,
to a speck that the eye cannot take note of, — and all this so
rapidly that the word on one's lips
is still unspoken, scarcely the
thought in one's mind changed.
It was a bold man or an ignorant
one who first ventured to depict
Humming - birds flying ; but it
cannot be denied that representa-
tions of them in that attitude are
often of special use to the orni-
thologist. The peculiar action of
this, and probably many or all
other species of the Family, is such,
that at times, in flying, it makes
the wings almost meet both in

,. j i i • j i -i FIG. 89.— Humming-bird. Eulampis

tront and behind at each vibration. juguiaris. xf.

Thus, when a bird chances to enter

a room, it will generally go buzzing along the cornice ; standing
beneath where it is, one will find that the axis of the body is
vertical, and each wing is describing a nearly perfect semicircle.
As might be expected, the pectoral muscles are very large, indeed
the sternum of this bird is a good deal bigger than that of the
common Chimney Swallow (Hirundo rustica, L.). But the extra-
ordinary rapidity with which the vibrations are effected seems to-
be chiefly caused by these powerful muscles acting on the very
short wing-bones, which are not half the length of the same
parts in the Swallow ; and accordingly, great as this alar action
is, and in spite of the contrary opinion entertained by Mr. Gosse
(Nat. Sojourn in Jamaica, 240), it is yet sometimes wanting in
power, owing, doubtless, to the disadvantageous leverage thus
obtained ; and the old authors must be credited who speak of
cobwebs catching Humming-birds."

430 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

Darwin l writes of Patagona gigas : " Like others of the
genus, it moves from place to place, with a rapidity which may
be compared to that of SyrpJius among diptera and Sphinx
[especially the Humming-bird Sphinx (Macroglossa stellatarum) ]
among moths, but whilst hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings
with a very slow and powerful movement, totally different from
that vibratory one, common to most of the species, which produces
the humming noise." This slower movement has been observed
also in Pterophanes temmincki, and no doubt in other large forms,
of which the aerial course is perhaps more zigzag and jerky
than elsewhere. Certain species habitually sit with puffed out
plumage and somewhat elevated bills ; others soar, or skim the
surface of water like Bats ; the tail-feathers, moreover, are often
moved sideways or twisted during flight, especially when they are
elongated or spatulate ; and Loddigesia constantly extends them
perpendicularly to the body, if not further forward, though the
racquet-tips may at other times be almost in contact.

The food consists almost entirely of insects, while the aliment-
ary canal shews but little trace of honey, which the birds never-
theless seem to enjoy, when swallowed with the creatures which
it allures ; and as these appear on the lips of flowers chiefly after
wet, or in the morning and evening, their feathered foes are
naturally then most active. Cacti, alstroemeriae, orchids, and
composites seem particularly attractive, and tubular blossoms
to the long-billed species especially. Those with shorter beaks,
being unable to penetrate the deepest tubes, are said to pierce
the hinder portions, while it is asserted that those with extremely
curved mandibles even make use of a twofold process, first inserting
the tips, and then raising themselves slightly so as to penetrate the
recesses. Rhamphodon, Phaethornis, Eutoxeres, and Chlorostillon
examine the crevices of trees and walls for spiders, which they
habitually eat; while the "Hermits," balanced in the air, pass the bill
carefully though quickly over the lower surface of leaves in search
of insect-diet. Oreotrochilus pichincha has been observed clinging
to rocks and feeding upon the ground; Aithurus, Petasophora, Pyg-
mornis,Lampornis,Patagona'dnd other species, take up posts on dead
branches or twigs, thence darting upon their prey in Fly-catcher-
like style. Gould once managed to reach the shores of England
with two examples, kept alive on sweetened water and yolk of egg.

1 Zool. Voy. Beagle, iii. 1841, p. 112.

vi TROCHILIDAE 431

The males are extraordinarily pugnacious, and one will
furiously set upon another who interferes in the least with his
comfort, the pair circling around with reiterated, high-pitched
notes, attacking and withdrawing in turn, almost heedless of
fall or collision ; finally, beak grasps beak, and the struggle grows
more intense, until the defeated combatant retreats to some friendly
tree, only to renew the fight with vigour unimpaired should his
defiant note exasperate his rival beyond control. Or again, should
a prowling hawk, an inoffensive heron or thrush, or even a human
being, pass perilously near a nest, the cock will make a determined
onslaught, often with complete success ; the hen following his
example, if she feels called upon to protect her charge. These
tiny creatures seem absolutely fearless, and frequently feed at
once from the hand when caught.

The twittering voice is variously described as a chirp, a
squeak, a querulous warble, a whistle, a loud clear piping cry, or
a shrill screech, while the absence of proper song-muscles makes
it difficult to credit Gosse's statement that Mdlisuga minima
utters a weak, sweet warble, lasting for ten minutes.1

The nest is usually a moderately deep, round or oval cup-like
structure, which may be no larger than a walnut-shell ; this is
formed of the cottony down of plants, moss, wool, or like materials,
felted into an extremely light and spongy mass, and often decorated
externally with lichens, cobwebs, shreds of bark, or even feathers
and dry leaves. It is placed in a small fork, saddled upon a
bough, hung from creepers, laced among branchlets, or excep-
tionally fastened to thatch. In Rhamphodon, Phaethornis,
Cephalolepis, Heliothrix, and possibly elsewhere, a fabric of very
delicate twigs, fibres, and bark is attached to the lower part of a
palm or similar leaf, several rings of supporting fibre encircling
the portion near the stalk, and spiders' webs or silky threads
aiding to sustain the sides of the structure, which in depth and
make recalls that of the Eeed- Warbler. Oreotrochilus forms a
peculiar " hammock " of moss, grass, and so forth, attached by
like contrivances to rocks ; or at times suspends a mass of wool,
hair, moss, and feathers, as large as a child's head, with a small
depression above for the eggs, from pendent roots, tendrils, or
creepers. This is said to be weighted on either side, if necessary,
with small stones or morsels of earth, and is repaired for use in

1 Birds of Jamaica, 1847, p. 130.

43 2 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

successive years. Humming-birds never lay more than two eggs,
and sometimes only one ; these are plain dull white, and similarly
shaped at both ends. The young are hatched blind and naked,
and are then about the size of humble bees : but they leave the
nest comparatively soon, and are precocious as regards flight.
The duration of incubation, which is apparently not shared by
the male, is variously stated at ten, twelve, or even more days,
and two broods are said to be reared in a season ; the first point
is clearly doubtful ; but, considering the extent of the season fit
for nidification, the latter is not improbable. The parents have
been known to add to a nest, as the young outgrew it. The
cock courts the hen most assiduously, circling around her with
dilated throat and swelling plumage, and searching for food to
offer, while he carefully watches over her when sitting. Hum-
ming-birds have been often said to be killed with water in place
of lead, but in truth diminutive pellets of the latter are used, as
an alternative to the blow-pipe with its clay ball, or to bird-
lime. Immense quantities are exported for decorative purposes,
and the Mexicans make pictures of the feathers.

The late Mr. Salvin, who divided the Family into groups by the
serration of the beak,1 recognised a hundred and twenty-seven genera
with some five hundred species, while Audubon, Bates, Gosse, Gould,
Mulsant, Wilson and Waterton, Count Berlepsch, Messrs. Elliot,
Hartert, Eidgway, and Wallace may be mentioned among other
" Trochilidists." The largest form, Patagonagigas, measures nearly
nine inches, Mellisuga minima and others about two and a half.

(1) Forms with distinctly serrated beaks. Heliothrix of Central
arid South America southward to Brazil contains three members
with wedge-shaped bills and blue tufts behind the ears. The
females differ little from the males in colour, but have longer
tails. Augastes contains the two " Vizor-bearers " of South-East
Brazil, so-called from the appearance of the head and throat ;
A. lumachellus is bronzy green, with a very brilliant green
throat terminated by a red line, a little blue shewing between
these two colours ; the crown is velvety black, the pectoral band
white, the tail bright bronzy-red. The female is less highly
coloured and has a green head. Ehamphodon naevius of the
same country, and Androdon aequatorialis of Colombia and
Ecuador, have the bill strongly hooked ; the latter is brownish-

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. 1892, p. 28.

TROCHILIDAE

433

green above and greyish below, with a blue nape and white
rump-bar. Chlorostilbon, ranging from Mexico to Argentina,
possesses some dozen green
species with blue or purplish
tails, which are forked or
rounded ; Panyclilora of
Colombia and Venezuela is
similar ; Sporadinus, differ-
ing in its bronzy- black rec-
trices, inhabits Florida, the
Bahamas, and the greater
Antilles. \nAitliuruspolyt-
mus, peculiar to Jamaica,
the two tail-feathers next
to the outer pair are im-
mensely elongated, and, after
crossing one another, bend
outwards in a curve; the
lateral rectrices are bluish-
black, as is the head with
its divided crest ; all the
other parts being luminous
green, and the bill red
with black tip. The female
is chiefly green above and
white below, with brownish
crown. The two species of
Microchera of Panama, Costa
Kica, and Nicaragua, change with the light from coppery-red to
black, and have a greenish throat, a white crown, and a partly white
tail, except the median feathers. The hen is green above and
white below. Lampornis, with about ten species, ranges from
South Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil. L. violicauda, the
South American " Mango," is green with velvety black abdomen
and throat, the latter being edged with blue ; the lateral rectrices
are violet. Avocettula recurvirostris of Guiana, with its golden
green coloration, emerald breast, and tail fiery red beneath in the
male, has an upturned tip to the bill, recalling that of the
Avocet. The female is chiefly white below. Eulampis holo-
sericeus, extending from Barbados to St. Thomas, is golden-green,

VOL. IX 2 F

FIG. 90. — Long-tailed Humming-bird.
Aithurus polytmus. x£.

434 CORACIIFORMES . CHAP.

with glittering blue tail-coverts and chest ; the rectrices are steel-
blue, the wings and abdomen blackish. E. jugularis, of the
Windward Islands, has green wings and red throat. Petaso-
phora contains some seven members, ranging from South Mexico
to Bolivia and Brazil, with fine blue or purple ear-tuffcs, which
occasionally meet in front. CJirysolampis mosquitus, extending
from New Granada to Guiana and Brazil, with Trinidad, is often
called the Ruby-and-Topaz Humming-bird, from its ruby -red
head and nape, and topaz -orange throat and breast ; the upper
surface is velvety brown, the tail chestnut, the abdomen olive.
The plumage of the male is largely used for decoration ; but the
female is chiefly dull bronzy-green with whitish lower parts.

(2) Forms with feebly serrated beaks. The large musky-
scented Pterophanes temmincki, of the Andes from Colombia to
Bolivia, is dark green, with the whole wing blue above and
below, except for its black tip. The hen-bird is rufous beneath and
has purplish-black remiges. Diphlogaena iris, the lovely fork-
tailed " Rainbow," has a golden-green forehead, an orange-scarlet
crown with a rich violet-blue median stripe, a black nape, a
lustrous lilac throat - spot, a chestnut rump - region, tail and
abdomen, and green plumage elsewhere. The female has little
or no copper or blue tints. This species inhabits the Andes
from Ecuador to Bolivia, and has two similar congeners. Cyano-
lesbia gorgo of Colombia and Venezuela is green, with the throat
sapphire-blue and the tail violet-blue in the male, these parts
being white and nearly green respectively in the hen, which
has the under parts chestnut. Sappho, of Peru, Bolivia, Chili,
and Argentina, includes two exceptionally lovely birds with long
forked tails and luminous throats. ti. sparganura, the " Sappho
Comet," is bronzy - green with crimson back and fiery orange
rectrices, which are black at the tip and brown at the base. S.
phaon has both the above parts lustrous crimson. The females have
short tails and lack the red back. The four members of Lesbia,
another genus with a long forked tail, occupy the Andes from
Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia ; L. victoriae, the " Train-
bearer" of Bogota, being golden green with glittering throat
and purplish -black tail tipped with green; the hen is green
and white below, and has the narrow rectrices shorter.
Metallura, with about nine species, is found in the same coun-
tries. Eustephanus galeritus of Chili, the Straits of Magellan,

VI

TROCHILIDAE

435

and Juan Fernandez, which haunts damp shady spots, is bronzy-
green, with fiery red crown, and greyish - white under parts
spotted with green. The female has the crown green. E.
fernandensis inhabits Juan Fernandez, and E. leyboldi Masafuera.
Panterpe insignis of Costa Eica is bluish-green, with glittering
blue crown and breast, blue-black tail, and bright scarlet throat
shading into orange laterally. Cyanomyia verticalis of Mexico
is brownish-green above and white below, with shining cobalt
head and sides of the neck, and a reddish bill. The hen has a
duller crown. Amazilia contains some thirty diverse members
ranging from North Mexico to Peru, Guiana, Trinidad, and
Tobago. A. pristina of Peru is greenish -bronze, with chestnut
sides, rump, and tail, emerald throat, and white middle to the
breast and abdomen. A. cyanuro, of Guatemala and Nicaragua is
entirely green, though bluer towards the tail, and shining below.
Cyanophaea caeruleigularis of Costa Eica, Panama, and Colombia is
bright green, with glittering violet-blue chest. Hylocharis ranges
from Guiana to South Brazil, H. sapphirina being deep green,
with bronzy rump and tail, chestnut chin, sapphire-blue throat
and breast. The female is whitish below with little blue.

(3) Forms with smooth beaks. Eutoxeres, which has the bill
curved almost into a semi-circle, was placed by Gould with Eham-
phodon and Phaethornis in a Sub -family Phae'thornithinae, as
opposed to Trocliilinae, but this has not been generally accepted.
The sixteen or more species of Phaethornis, extending from South
Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil, are often termed " Hermits " from
their sombre tints of dull green, grey, and brown, or from their
habit of frequenting dark forest-recesses. The tail is cuneate
and the claws rather large. Eupetomena macrura of Brazil and
Guiana, termed the " Swallow-tail " from its forking rectrices, has
the two outer primaries in the male with curved and dilated
shafts ; the three outer feathers being similar in Campylopterus
and Sphenoproctus, which range through Central America, and in
the last case northern South America. The members of these
three genera are denominated " Sabre- wings." The above species
is green, with deep cobalt head and throat, and steel-blue tail.
Eugenes fulgens of South Arizona, Mexico, and Guatemala is
bronzy-green changing to black, the throat being lustrous green,
and the crown rich violet. The female has a brownish crown,
and greyish lower surface. E. spectabilis of Costa Eica is similar.

436 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

Docimastes ensifer of Colombia and Ecuador, which has a straight
bill, longer than the head and body together, is coppery-green,
with black cheeks and throat, and glittering green breast ; the
last being green and white in the hen. Flori&uga mellivora, the
Jacobin, occurring from South Mexico to Amazonia, is green,
with the head and entire neck blue, the base of the hind-neck,
the abdomen, and the middle of the lateral rectrices white. The
female is chiefly green, varied with white below. Topaza pella,
the " Crimson Topaz " or " King Humming-bird " of Guiana, is
golden-red above, with greenish-orange rump, dark purple and
cinnamon wings, and rufous lateral rectrices. The two median
tail-feathers are bronzy with black tips ; the next pair, which are
elongated and curve outwards, are purplish -black ; the throat is
lustrous golden ; the narrow pectoral band is black ; the remaining
lower parts are crimson. The hen is grass-green, with crimson on
the throat, and black and cinnamon on the outer tail-feathers.
The nest has been stated to be made of a fungus, and certainly
the appearance justifies the assertion ; but Dr. Paul, a great
authority on Fungi, writes of an example which he brought home
for the author from the Pomeroon river : — " The felt is formed of
the fluff which clothes the young flower-spathes of the Kokerite
Palm (Maximiliana martiana)" and his evidence ought to settle
the question. T. pyra, of the Eio Negro and Eastern Ecuador,
is redder above, with no cinnamon on the wings or lateral
rectrices. The genus Oreotrochilus, and the four next succeed-
ing, have particularly strong feet. In common with some half
a dozen congeners which range southwards to Chili, 0. picliincha
of Ecuador inhabits the cloudy regions of the Andes near the
snow-line ; it is olive-green above, and has an entirely violet-
blue head and throat, the latter being followed by a black line
and white lower parts, while the lateral tail-feathers are steel-
blue and white. The female is green above, ashy and white
below. Oreonympha nobilis of Peru, which has a peculiar habit
of suddenly stopping in its flight, is a large bird with somewhat
forking rectrices. The main colour is bronzy-brown, with a
blue crown divided in the centre by a brown bar ; the black
of the cheeks runs to a point below ; the chin is green and the
" beard " crimson ; the lower parts are greyish-white ; the tail has
the external pair of feathers white. The hen has a brown
and greenish crown and a black throat. Oxypogon guerini of

vi TROCHILIDAE 437

Colombia, the " Warrior " or " Helmet-crest," is dark green, with
blackish sides to the head, a black and white crest, a green and
white chin margined with black, a white beard, a greyish abdo-
men, and purplish and white lateral rectrices. The female lacks
the elongated feathers, and has white under parts spotted with
dusky. Rhampliomicron lieteropogon of Colombia, one of the
sharp-beaked " Thornbills," is greenish-bronze, with browner tail
and abdomen, and a long amethystine beard surrounded by
bronzy -black. B. microrliynclmm, having rich purple upper
parts and a lustrous green throat, extends to Ecuador, while
other members of the genus range to Bolivia. The hens are
comparatively dull. Opistlioprora euryptera of Colombia, which
is bronzy-green with a little rufous and white below, has an
upcurved bill, like Avocettula. Patagona gigas, the largest
Humming-bird known, inhabits the Andes from Ecuador to Chili ;
it is greenish-brown, with white rump and rufous under parts. In
Aglaeactis, of the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia, the coloration
is brown, dark buff, or black, with glittering amethystine or
green lower back, and a white or buff pectoral tuft. The chief
marvel of the Family is, however, Loddigesia mirdbilis, originally
found in Northern Peru by a botanist named Matthews, and re-
discovered by M. Stolzmann l in almost the same locality. It is
shining bronzy-green, with whitish under parts surrounding a
black central area ; the head and its crest are lustrous cobalt-blue,
the throat is emerald-green with black margin, the metatarsi are
covered with white feathers. The two lateral rectrices are extra-
ordinarily prolonged, and resemble black wires with large steel-
blue terminal discs ; the shafts normally cross each other at their
bases and again near their tips, but the discs are frequently brought
together in flight, or extended horizontally, if not turned above the
head. The median tail-feathers are much reduced. The female
is green, varied with white below ; the external pair of steel-blue
lateral rectrices shewing small spatules. Ceplialolepis delalandi,
of South-East Brazil, is bronzy-green above, and fine violet-blue
bordered with grey below, while the long glittering green crest
terminates in a single black plume. The crestless hen is grey
below. Eriocnemis, of the Andes from Colombia and Venezuela
to Bolivia, shares with Panoplites and the spatula te- tailed
Spatliura of the same regions the characteristic of possessing

1 For the habits, see Taczanowski and Stolzmann, P.Z.S. 1881, pp. 827-834.

438 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

muff-like tufts of black, white, or buff, which cover the metatarsi.
To take an example of the twenty or more species, where the sexes
are fairly similar, E. cupreiventris is bronzy-green, with brighter
under surface, purplish -black tail, reddish abdomen, and lustrous
blue under tail - coverts. Calotliorax lucifer, the " Mexican
Star," is golden - green above and white below, with shining
lilac -red throat; it has purplish -black lateral rectrices tipped
with white, of which the outer is filiform, as are the external
four in Acestrura of northern South America. Selaspliorus rufus,
of western North America, from Alaska to Mexico, is cinnamon
above and white below, with golden-green crown and glittering
red throat ; the head-feathers are bordered with rufous, and the
sub-median tail-feathers are emarginate. The female has chiefly
green upper and white under parts. S. platycercus, resembling
the next species, but with a rosy-red throat, occupies the Eocky
Mountains and extends to Guatemala, the genus reaching Panama.
They constantly have the outer primary or outer rectrix attenuated.
Trochilus colubris, found at different seasons from the Fur Countries
and the Great Plains to Guatemala, is green above and whitish
below, the chin being black, the throat glittering ruby-red, and the
forked tail chiefly bluish-black. The hen lacks the red colour. T.
alexandri of western North America differs in its violet-purple
throat. Calypte annae and C. costae of the South-West United States
are green birds with mainly whitish lower surface, and have the
crown and throat rosy and lilac respectively. The latter form has
elongated gular plumes, as has the bluer Cuban C. helenae, where
they are crimson. The minute Mellisuga minima, or " Bee Hum-
ming-bird," of Jamaica and San Domingo is green above and white
below, with dusky throat-spots in the male. The equally small
Chaetocercus bombus of Ecuador is green, with rosy throat, buff breast,
and chiefly purplish-black rectrices, of which the outer four are
short and spiny ; the female is green above and cinnamon below.
Thaumastura cora, the " Peruvian Sheartail," is golden-green,
with crimson throat shading into blue, and white under surface ;
the black and white tail has two enormously elongated sub-
median feathers. The hen is white below, with buffish throat
and flanks. Prymnacantlia popelairii, one of another group of
"Thornbills" (p. 437), has a yellowish-green crest with two long
black filamentous plumes; the upper parts are bronzy-green with a
white rump; the lower parts are black, with a glittering green

vi COLIIDAE 439

throat and rufous tibiae. The forked tail has the pointed narrow
feathers steel-blue with white shafts. The hen has a dark green
crown and black and white throat. This genus extends from
Costa Eica to Bolivia and Brazil. Lophornis covers the same^are%
but reaches Mexico. L. ornatus has beautiful fawn-coloured tufts
with green terminal spots, on the sides of the neck ; and is chiefly
bright green and cinnamon, with a rufous and purplish rump and
a chestnut crest ; the female exhibits more white below and lacks
the crest and tufts. The remaining half score of species are similar
or even more brilliant. Heliactin cornuta of Brazil alone of the
Family has resplendent purple, green, and gold tufts above and
behind the eyes. The coloration is shining green, with a bluer
crown, black cheeks and throat, and white lower parts. The hen
is green above and white below, with buff throat.

Fam. XIII. Coliidae. — This group is the only constituent of the
Sub-Order COLII or Colies, termed Mouse-birds in South Africa from
their creeping habits. They were formerly classed among the
Passerine Fringillidae, to which they bear a certain outward resem-
blance, while at a later date a partial study of the anatomy seemed
to point to an affinity with the Plantain-eaters ; but it is now
generally recognised that they should be placed among those
Families which in this work form the Order Coraciiformes. They
are small, tough-skinned birds, which would appear larger were it
not for the short, dense feathering ; the bill is stout and Finch-like,
the long metatarsus exhibits one series of scutes in front, and reti-
culations behind ; the toes with their slender claws are all directed
forwards, but the hallux and apparently the outer toe can be turned
backwards. The wings are weak and rounded, with ten primaries
and nine secondaries; the very long tail has ten rectrices, the
outer pair not being greatly developed. The furcula is U -shaped ;
the syrinx has one pair of tracheo-bronchial muscles ; the tongue
is flat and cartilaginous with horny papillae ; an after-shaft is
present ; the adults, and probably the nestlings, have no down.

Colies frequent forest-districts, especially where the bush is
thick ; they are active, yet not very shy, and are usually found,
except during the breeding season, in flocks of some six to eight
individuals. The flight is laboured, with many a quick beat of
the wings ; but it is direct and fairly rapid, though seldom sustained
beyond some neighbouring tree, where the bird may be seen stealing

440

CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

through the foliage, and aiding its creeping movements with its
bill. The most peculiar habit, however, is that of climbing with
the whole metatarsus applied to the branch, a fact which adds
greatly to the mouse-like appearance. When roosting, Colies are
said to pack themselves together in masses, and to hang by the feet ;
rarely are they seen perching or hopping, though they often cling
to the boughs with the head downwards. The note is disagree-

FIG. 91.— Cape Coly. Colius capensis. x £.

able and harsh. The cup-shaped nest of twigs, roots, and grass,
with a lining of wool or finer grasses, is placed in thick bushes,
or near the ground in low trees ; the three or four eggs, hardly
pointed at either end, are dull white, sometimes streaked with orange
or brown. Fresh leaves are not uncommonly added below them.
The food consists almost entirely of fruit, though green shoots,
or even insects, are believed to be occasionally eaten.

The eight or nine species of the single genus Colius, ranging
through the whole Ethiopian region except Madagascar, vary in
coloration from brown with darker vermiculations or bars to

VI

TROGONIDAE

441

grey or ash-colour, the abdomen being buff. Fine crests add to the
general appearance. C. macrurus is remarkable for a tuft of blue
feathers on each side of the nape ; C. leucocephalus has a white
head ; C. leucotis white ear-coverts ; C. nigricollis a black forehead
and throat ; C. capensis two stripes of black on the back enclosing
one of white ; while that species and 0. castanonotus have maroon
rumps. The bare skin surrounding the eye is scarlet in C. erythro-
melon, C. macrurus, and C. capensis, and apparently bluish-grey
elsewhere. The legs are red in life, fading to buff after death. C,
striatus is very nearly uniform brown, C. erythromelon shews a
greenish tinge and has some buff on the head. The sexes are similar,
nor are the young very different. The length is from eleven to
fourteen inches. Kafirs consider these birds very good eating.

Fam. XIV. Trogonidae. — The Trogons are the sole tenants of
the Sub- Order TROGONES, a very distinct group of birds of brilliant
coloration — the Quezal, as will be seen below, being the most
splendid of all. Their general aspect is somewhat heavy ; the neck
is abbreviated ; the bill, stoutest in Pharomacrus and most slender
in Euptilotis, is short and strong, with a wide bristly gape, and
a curved culmen terminating in a hook. The maxilla in these
genera, as well as in Narpactes and Hapalarpactes, has a terminal
notch, while both mandibles are more or less serrated in adults
of Trogon, Hapaloderma, Tmetotrogon, and Prionotelus. The foot
is comparatively small and weak, with the short metatarsus
feathered and somewhat scaly ; the second toe is reversed, a
" heterodactylous " arrangement (p. 10) unique among birds. The
moderate wing has ten primaries, and from eight to ten second-
aries ; the upper wing-coverts being elongated in Pharomacrus,
especially in the males. The long rectrices are twelve in number,
and are concave at the end with divergent tips in Prionotelus ; the
feathers, moreover, are often square at the extremity — a noticeable
peculiarity in the Family ; while in the Quezal, Pharomacrus mo-
cinno, the male has enormously developed upper coverts to the tail,
which extend far beyond it, the two median being the longest ; in
its congeners and in females generally they equal the rectrices ; in
Euptilotis they are only half the length. The furcula is U-shaped ;
the tongue flat ; the syrinx tracheo-bronchial ; the aftershaft long ;
the nostrils are bristly ; the adults have no down ; and the nest-
lings are said to be naked for a short period. The large soft

44 2 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

feathers are easily detached from the delicate skin. The male
of Pharomacrus mocinno has a fine rounded crest, less developed
in the female and in its other congeners. Euptilotis, Tmetotrogon,
and Prionotelus have the ear-coverts filamentous and hair-like.
Pharomacrus pavoninus has a red bill, as has Prionotelus in part; the
usual colour in the former genus, and in Trogon and its allies, being
yellow for the cock and more horn-coloured or black for the hen, but
in Harpactes violet or bluish, with a duller tip in the female. The
orbits are partially or entirely bare in Hapaloderma, Harpactes, and
Hapalarpactes, the skin being, it would seem, yellow, violet, or
blue. The Family ranges through the tropical portions of the
Indian, Ethiopian, and Neotropical Eegions, Harpactes and Hapal-
arpactes being found in the first, Hapaloderma in the second, and
the other five genera in the third. Trogon ambiguus reaches north-
wards to Arizona and Texas. The number of species is nearly
fifty, of which the largest (Pharomacrus mocinno) measures some
fourteen inches, the smallest (Harpactes duvauceli) about nine.

Trogons are usually seen singly or in pairs, though some-
times in small flocks ; they are rarely shy, and often so unsus-
picious that they may be killed with a stick. They customarily
sit almost motionless in the mid- day heat, with the head drawn in
upon the shoulders and the body vertical, every now and then open-
ing and shutting the tail. Their haunts are in the thickest forests,
which they seldom leave for more open or sunny places ; here
they creep about the trees or sit some half-way up on leafless
branches, darting off to catch a passing insect or to secure a tempt-
ing fruit, since nearly all their food is taken on the wing. The
noiseless flight is rapid, but short and jerky, with occasional undu-
lations. The Quezal, at least, clings to trees like a Woodpecker,
but the feet are ill adapted to climbing, and perfectly unfit for
walking. The voice of this species consists of two plaintive
sibilant notes, gradually swelling into a loud cry, and varied by
discordant sounds ; many forms, however, utter a reiterated " cou-
cou," and will also cluck, whistle, or chatter, though ordinarily
silent, except when breeding. The food of the New World species
is stated to consist principally of fruit, but lizards, grasshoppers,
lepidoptera, caterpillars, ants, beetles, small crabs, and terrestrial
molluscs are eaten ; while the Old World forms seem to prefer
an insect-diet. No nest is made, but a hole is usually bored or
enlarged in the top or side of a rotten stump or branch, in which

vi TROGONIDAE 443

are deposited from two to four roundish eggs of a white, bluish,
greenish, or buff colour. Trogon surucura has been observed
clinging to a tree-trunk and excavating a cavity in an ants' nest.
The male at times incubates. The flesh is not unpalatable.

Hapalarpactes reinwardti of Java is dark bluish-green above
with a more olive crown, and yellow below with orange abdomen ;
the primaries are black and white, the secondaries and their coverts
green with yellow bars, the rectrices purplish as compared with the
back, the lateral pair freely marked with white. The female
has brown instead of yellow on the wing. H. mackloti of Sumatra
has the rump chestnut in the male. The genus Harpactes ranges
from India and Ceylon to Cochin China, the Indo-Malay Islands,
and the Philippines. H. kasumba has the crown, throat, and
chest black, the nuchal collar and under parts crimson, while
a white band divides the two colours below ; the upper parts
are orange-rufous ; the two median rectrices chestnut tipped with
black ; the rest of the tail and the wings black and white.
The hen is brown above, becoming rufous towards the rump ;
the throat and chest are grey, the remaining lower surface and
the wing-markings buff. H. orescius has an olive-yellow head, a
brilliant orange breast, and a chestnut back ; the female being more
sombre. Hapaloderma narina, ranging from North-East Africa
to Cape Colony and thence to Angola, is brilliant bronzy-green
above ; the wings and tail are black and white with a blue and
green wash, the secondaries and wing-coverts being vermiculated
with white; the chest is green; the breast and abdomen are crimson.
The hen has the throat and chest brown, the breast duller. H.
constantia extends from the Calabar Eiver to Fantee, H. vittatum
is East African. The genus Trogon is found from South Arizona
and Texas to North Argentina. T. mexicanus is bronzy-green
above and on the chest, the sides of the head and the throat
being black, and the remaining under parts crimson, surmounted
by a white band ; the wings are blackish with white vermicula-
tions on the secondaries and coverts ; the two median rectrices
are green with black tips, the others black and white. The
female has the chest and upper surface, including that of the
tail, brown, the wing-vermiculations buff. T. surucura has the
most southerly range of the two dozen species. Prionotelus tem-
nurus, peculiar to Cuba, has the sexes similar ; the upper parts
are bronzy-green, the head is black, glossed with purple and blue,

444

CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

the under parts are grey with
crimson abdomen. The six
middle tail-feathers are bronzy -
green, tinged with purple, the
remainder and the wings black
and white. In Tmetotrogon
rhodogaster, restricted to San
Domingo, the upper surface is
bronzy -green, the lower grey
with crimson abdomen. The
blackish wings have white-edged
primaries, the median pair of
rectrices are purple and green,
the others purplish-blue. The
female has white bars on the
upper wing-coverts. Euptilotis
neoxenus of Mexico has a green-
ish-black head and throat, and
a crimson breast and abdomen,
while the rest of the plumage
is bronzy-green, except for the
black and white wings and the six
purplish-black median rectrices.
The hen has a greyish head,
throat, and chest. Pharomacrus
7nocinno, the Quezal of the higher
districts from Guatemala to
Veragua, is brilliant iridescent
green above, tinged with blue
on the far extended tail-coverts ;
the throat is green, the under
parts are gorgeous crimson, the
remiges and the six median rec-
trices are black, the remainder
chiefly white. A full crest
and elongated wing-coverts add
to the bird's appearance. The
female has the long feathers less
developed ; the head and under

FIG. 92. — Quezal. Pharomacrus mocinno. „ , . , .,-.

surface brownish -grey, with a

vi GALBULIDAE 445

green tinge on the former and on the chest ; the vent crimson.
Three other species range from Colombia to Bolivia. The decora-
tive feathers of the Quezal were reserved for chiefs in olden times.
Trogons are ancient forms which once occurred within the
Palaearctic countries, as is shewn by the discovery of the fossil
Trogon galliciis in the Lower Miocene of France.

The Sub-Order Pici contains, according to Dr. Gadow, the
Families Gallulidae, or Jacamars and Puff- birds, Capitonidae,
or Barbets and Honey-guides, Ehamphastidae or Toucans, and
Picidae, or Woodpeckers and Wrynecks. All these un-
doubtedly belong to that author's Order Coraciiformes, though
Garrod and W. A. Forbes included the Gallulidae and several
of the allied Families in their Passer i formes.

Fam. XV. Galbulidae.1 — This may be divided into the Sub-
families, (1) Gallulinae, or Jacamars, and (2) Bucconinae, or Puff-
birds.2 The former have a long straight bill, compressed and pointed,
with angular genys ; Jacamerops, however, having it curved, ridged,
and dilated basally. The feet are weak, the metatarsi being
scutellated in front and smooth behind, with the toes zygodactyl-
ous ; while Jacamaralcyon alone lacks the hallux. The rounded
wings have ten primaries, with the outer much reduced, and from
ten to twelve secondaries ; the tail of twelve feathers is some-
times short and square, sometimes long and more or less graduated,
the external pair of rectrices being diminutive or absent. The
furcula is U-shaped, the tongue long, tapering, and membranous;
the nostrils are slightly bristly, with an internal membrane in
Jacamerops; the aftershaft is rudimentary ; and there is no down on
the adults or the blind nestlings. The plumage is particularly soft.

Sub-fam. 1. Gallulinae. — Jacamars are ordinarily brilliant
coppery- or golden-green above, and more or less rufous below ;
though the upper parts may be metallic blue, chestnut, or greyish-
black. The bill and feet are generally blackish ; but in Galbalcy-
rhynclius, Brachygalba albigularis, and R melanosterna, the bill
is white, in Galbula albirostris and G. cyaneicollis it is yellow and
black. The largest species (Jacamerops grandis) is not eleven
inches long. The females resemble the males, or are paler below,

1 For the Family generally, see Sclater, Monograph of the Jacamars and Puff-
birds, London, 1879-82 ; and Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891.

2 This is Dr. Gadow's view ; but two separate Families are decidedly preferable.

446 . CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

and lack the usual white throat. The Sub-family ranges from
Mexico to South Brazil.

These birds are usually found towards the outskirts of forests
near water, where they frequent lofty trees, and commonly sit
crouched upon some dead or slender branch for hours, merely
moving the head from time to time. The food consists of in-
sects— especially flies or moths — which are often caught upon the
wing, and crushed against the boughs before they are swallowed,
the bird sallying forth and returning to its perch like a Fly-
catcher. The regular note is short and seldom heard ; but Jaca-
maralcyon has, according to the natives, an agreeable whistling
song. The flight is quick and jerky. Generally found soli-
tary or in pairs, the various species occasionally bathe in small
flocks. The three or more roundish white eggs are laid in holes
in banks, or possibly in old stumps. In some districts names
equivalent to " Large Humming-birds " are given to Jacamars ;
while early writers confounded them with Kingfishers.

Urogalba paradisea of Guiana, Peru, and Brazil, and U.
amazonum of Upper Amazonia, characterized by an extremely
long and tapering median pair of tail-feathers, are dark blue, with
bronzy and green reflexions, brownish heads, and white throats.
Seven out of ten members of the genus Galbula are also
Amazonian ; the remainder reaching South Mexico, Bolivia, and
South-East Brazil, and one of them Trinidad and Tobago. G.
albirostris is brilliant bronzy-green above, with rufous lower parts
and white throat; most of its congeners being fairly similar, though
G. dialcothorax has a decided red and blue gloss on both sur-
faces and a white abdomen. Bracliygalba, which extends from
Colombia to Amazonia, includes six diminutive forms, with a vary-
ing admixture of green and brown above, of black, brown, rufous
and white below. Jacamaralcyon tridactyla of South-East Brazil is
greenish-black, with a brown, rufous-streaked head, and a white
mid -breast and abdomen. Gallalcyrhynchus leucotis of East
Ecuador and Upper Amazonia is chestnut, with white cheeks and
darker head and quills. Jacamerops grandis, ranging from Veragua
to Amazonia arid Ecuador, is bright coppery-green, with blackish
wings and tail, a white throat-patch, and a chestnut abdomen.

Sub-fam. 2. Bucconinae. — The Puff-birds differ structurally
from the Galbulinae only in having shorter and stouter beaks,
with hooked or incurved tips ; stronger metatarsi, which are scaly

VI

GALBULIDAE

447

behind ; fully developed lateral rectrices ; and no aftershaft. The
habits of the two groups are similar, while the aforesaid English
name probably refers to the puffy appearance of the head while
the birds are resting.
They are black, brown, or
rufous in hue, relieved
by white markings ; the
bill being red in Bucco
chacuru, B. maculatus,
B. striatipectus, and B.
collar is, and red or yellow
in Monacha. The entire
range of the Family, ex-
tending from Guatemala
and Honduras to Argen-
tina, is occupied by the
twenty hook-billed species
of Bucco. B. dysoni is
blue-black, with a white
under surface crossed by
a broad black band, and
a white forehead and nape ; B. hyperrliynclius is similar with a
larger bill ; B. collaris differs in its rusty-red upper parts barred
with black; B. "bicinctus has these mottled with brown, and two
black bands on its buff breast ; B. maculatus has a rufous chest
and black spots on the white belly ; and so forth. The half-dozen
species of Malacoptila, extending from Guatemala to Brazil, are
brownish birds, striated with rufous ; the lower parts being more
or less fulvous, often with black and white breast-bands. The
diminutive Micromonacha lanceolata of Upper Amazonia is rufescent
above ; the forehead and under parts are relieved by black, while
each outer rectrix has a black bar. The Nunlets (Nonnula
rubecula and its congeners) are also among the smallest of the
Family, and are distributed from Panama to Peru and Brazil ;
they are brown above and ferruginous beneath, with a little
white. Hapaloptila castanea of Colombia and Ecuador is a
hook-billed species, with olive-grey upper and chestnut under
parts, a white forehead and throat. Monacha comprises about
seven large blue-black forms, ranging from Nicaragua to South-
East Brazil and Bolivia, some of which have white on the wings

' o

FIG.

448 CORACIIFORMES

and round the base of the bill. Chelidoptera tenebrosa, the
" Swallow-wing," of Venezuela, Guiana, and Amazonia, has long
wings and a short square tail ; the colour being blue-black, with
a chestnut lower abdomen and white tail-coverts. The larger G.
brasiliensis inhabits Brazil. This is apparently the only member
of the group of which the nest has been found ; it was a mere
hole in a bank, containing two shining white eggs.

Fam. XVI. Capitonidae. — This is here taken to contain the
Sub-families (1) Oapitoninae, or Barbets, and (2) Indicatorinae,
or Honey-guides. Much confusion has arisen from the fact that
Brisson included the former in his genus Bucco, while subse-
quently Garrod and "W. A. Forbes combined the EhampJiastidae
(Toucans) with the above-mentioned groups in their Capitonidae.

Sub-fam. 1. Oapitoninae. — Barbets are heavy, ungraceful birds,
with large stout bills, which are swollen at the base, occasionally
sulcated, and more or less beset with bristles. Pogonorliynclius
and Tricliolaema have the maxilla toothed — generally strongly,
while that of Tetragonops fits into a fissure in the truncated tip
of the mandible. The scutellated feet are fairly powerful, with
zygodactylous toes and rather long claws ; the moderate wings have
ten primaries, and ten or eleven secondaries ; the tail of ten rectrices
is more usually short than long, and may be square, rounded, or
graduated. The clavicles are somewhat reduced ; the tongue is said
to be thin, short, and cartilaginous ; the nostrils are often bristly,
an aftershaft is present ; while both adults and young lack down.

The brilliant plumage commonly exhibits vivid contrasts of
scarlet, blue, purple, or yellow on a green ground, but Calorham-
phus and Gymnolucco are sombre in hue; different species, moreover,
have crests, naked orbits, or brightly coloured bills. The sexes
are alike, except in Capita ; the young are duller.

The members of this Family are strictly arboreal, and inhabit
forests, or well-timbered cultivated districts and gardens; not
being usually shy, or easily disturbed while feeding in flocks.
The tops of trees are their natural resort, yet pairs frequently
descend to the bushes, where they hop from branch to branch ;
they also climb up and down the trunks, and some African
forms are said thus to search the cracks for insects. The flight is
powerful and undulating, but Barbets are inactive birds, and
often sit motionless for hours, their plaintive whistle, or noisy
ringing note of two or three syllables being heard at intervals

vi CAPITONIDAE 449

throughout the day or on moonlight nights. The latter cry is
variously syllabled kuttooruk, tok-tok, or poo-poo-poop, while its
likeness to the sound of striking metal has given the name of
" Copper-smith," " Tinker-bird," and " Iron-smith " to Xantholaema
haematocephala, Barbatula, pusilla, and Cyanops faber. While
uttering their protracted notes Barbets often move their heads
from side to side, and certain American species jerk their tails
over their backs like Toucans. The food consists of fruits of every
sort, buds and petals of flowers, and even green bark, or in many
cases almost entirely of insects ; in captivity pieces of meat or
small birds seem acceptable, the latter being usually battered
upon some hard substance before being swallowed. When feeding
on trees these birds are so noiseless that the falling berries alone
betray their presence, while they quit the feast with great reluct-
ance. They cut neat circular nesting-holes, which turn down-
wards and widen out below, in soft or decaying wood, generally
on the under side of a branch ; and lay three, four, or even five
eggs, oval, thin-shelled, white and somewhat shining, on a few
chips or sometimes other substances. A week or two may be
occupied in excavating the cavity, while it is a moot question
whether the tapping that goes on in spring is made in finding
suitable breeding quarters or in obtaining insects. Von Heuglin
saw two borings in banks. The young accompany their parents
for a considerable time. Barbets do not thrive well as cage- birds.
The range extends throughout Tropical Asia, Africa, and
America, and even slightly beyond those bounds in the two
former ; but America possesses only the large genus Capita and the
two species of Tetragonops, whereas the other regions divide the
remaining groups fairly evenly between them. Captain Shelley 1
admits nineteen genera and a hundred and ten species. The
former are difficult to diagnose, and depend largely on colour ; of
the latter the subjoined are merely a few of the most typical or
remarkable forms. Pogonorhynchus (including Eryfhrobucco and
Melanobucco) and Tricholaema, including respectively some fifteen
and ten species, are exclusively African groups, noticeable for
the long, black bristles before the eye and below the beak. P.
dulius of West Africa has bluish-black upper parts, with a little
crimson on the wing-coverts and a white dorsal patch ; the
cheeks and ear-coverts are crimson, separated by a black line;

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891, pp. 13-121.
VOL. IX 2 G

45O CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

the anterior under parts are crimson, the posterior scarlet, these
being divided by a black pectoral band, and relieved by yellowish
patches on the sides ; the bill is reddish -yellow, the naked orbits
are orange. Tricholaema leucomelan of South Africa is blue-

o

black above, with plentiful yellow and scanty white markings,
but white below with black throat. The forehead is crimson,
the eyebrow and orbits are yellow, the bill is blackish. The
breast-feathers have hair-like shafts. Gymnolucco calvus of West
Africa is brown with paler streaks ; having the bill and chin-
bristles yellowish, and browner bristles round the nostrils in at
least one sex. The naked head is blue. Barbatula, of the Ethiopian
Region generally, contains a dozen small species, which exhibit
soft loose plumage of black, varied with red, yellow, or white.
B. minuta, extending from North-East Africa to Senegambia, has
the forehead scarlet, the rump and under surface yellowish, the
bill black, and somewhat scanty bristles. Stactolaema ancliietae
of Benguela, and S. olivaceum of East Africa, are respectively
brown with yellowish head and throat, and olive -green with
those parts blackish. The bill is black. Calorhamphus hayi,
found from South Tenasserim to Sumatra, is yellowish -brown
above and yellowish-white below, with black-shafted spiny crown-
feathers, rufous throat, black bill, reddish orbits and no chin-
bristles. C. fuliginosus of Borneo is similar. Megalaema, Choto-
rhea, Cyanops and Mesolucco, with about thirty members in all,
extend from India and Ceylon to China, Formosa, Hainan, and
the Great Sunda Islands. They are soft-plumaged green birds,
having parti-coloured heads and throats tinted with blue, yellow,
red, and black, or merely brown and white ; the bill and feet
are yellowish, greenish, or black. The bristles vary in their
development. Psilopogon pyrolophus, of the mountains of the
Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, is green, with a black forehead, a
brownish head crossed by a greyish-white band, and a double belt
of yellow and black below the green throat. The long nasal
bristles are black, tipped with scarlet ; the superciliary stripe and
lower eye-lid are green ; the upper eye-lid is yellow ; the bill is
yellowish-green with black central band ; the legs and orbits are
greenish. The unusually long tail is much graduated, and has
pointed median rectrices, while these are square in some ten Ethi-
opian species, of Trachyphonus, where the tail is similar. T. cafer
of South-East Africa is bluish-black above with white markings ;

CAPITONIDAE 45 I

the rump being yellow ; the upper tail-coverts scarlet ; the fore-
head, sides of the head and lower parts yellow, with a tinge of scarlet
on the throat, which is followed by a black and white gorget.
The fine occipital crest is black, the beak green; the feet and
orbits are dusky. T. margaritatus, of North-East Africa, has
brown upper parts with round white spots ; the upper and lower
tail-coverts are crimson ; the rump, head, neck, and under surface
are yellow, except for the crown and marks on the hind-neck and
throat, which are black, and for an indistinct chest-band of red,
surmounted by one of brown. The beak is red, the feet are bluish.
The exclusively Central and South American Capita is the only
genus in which the sexes differ ; the dozen or more species have,
moreover, few bristles round the bill. C. niger of Guiana is
black above, varied with yellowish and buff, and sulphur-yellow
below with a few black spots, which become plentiful in the
female. The forehead, cheeks, and throat are orange-scarlet, the
bill is plumbeous. C. salvini of Costa Eica and Panama has
green upper and yellow under parts ; most of the head and the
throat being scarlet, the flanks green and white, and a whitish
band descending the sides of the neck. The female lacks
the scarlet, but has a dull golden crown and nape, pale blue
cheeks, and an orange gorget below the green throat. The
bill is greenish-yellow, the orbits are yellowish. Tetragonops
rhamphastimts of Ecuador, in which the nostrils lie in grooves, has
the crown black, with white sides merging gradually into a blue-
grey throat ; a glossy black nuchal crest ; a rufous-olive mantle ;
orange lower back and upper tail-coverts ; blackish-blue wings
and tail ; scarlet breast with orange sides ; and yellowish-green
abdomen. The bill is orange - yellow with dusky tip. T.
frantzii of Costa Eica, called " Gallinita " from its chicken-like
cry, has greenish-olive upper and yellowish-green lower parts,
with golden-orange forehead, cheeks and throat, a plumbeous bill,
and a similar crest to its congener. This genus bears a certain
resemblance to the Toucans.

Sub-fam. 2. Indicatorinae. — The Honey-guides are contained
in the two genera Indicator and Prodotiscus, with nine and two
species respectively, which were formerly placed among the Cuckoos.
Their chief interest centres in the fact that they are said to
conduct travellers to bees' nests, as will be seen below.

From the Capitoninae, Indicator differs in the stout Finch-

4 5 2 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

like bill with ridged and laterally swollen maxilla, while that of
Prodotiscus is more slender and pointed. Moreover, the metatarsi
are short ; the nostrils possess a narrow membrane and are not
bristly ; and the rectrices number twelve, save in the last-named
genus, which has ten. The curiously interrupted range includes
the whole Ethiopian Region, except Madagascar ; the Himalayas ;
and the Malayan and Bornean mountains. The sexes are gene-
rally similar, while almost all the forms, which hardly exceed a
Lark in size, are chiefly dull brown, with a yellow wash, and
some white on the rump, tail, or wings.

Indicator xanthonotus of the Himalayas is blackish above,
with golden forehead and orange rump -region, and greyish
below ; the latter colour merging into yellow on the throat and
black on the abdomen. /. arcliipelagicus of the Malay Peninsula
and Borneo, and /. sparrmani of Tropical Africa, except the
western forests, exhibit a yellow shoulder-patch ; while the males
of the latter and of /. major of the same districts have black
throats, which are whitish and yellow in the respective females.
/. minor, and the remaining Ethiopian species, differ from the last
two forms in having no white on the lower back. Prodotiscus
regulus of Natal, and P. insignis, ranging from the Gaboon to
East Equatorial Africa, are particularly dull.

Circumstantial accounts of eye-witnesses so clearly shew that
bees' nests are found through the instrumentality of these birds,
that their intention can hardly be doubted, and it has been said
that not only man but the ratel (Mellivora capensis) is con-
ducted ; the object of attraction, however, occasionally turns out
to be a leopard, cat, snake, or dog. Honey-guides call attention
by a shrill cry or hiss, and will even fly in the face of a
traveller, as if enraged at not being followed ; they eat bees,
grubs, and honey, and are asserted to lay white eggs in the nests
of Barbets and the like.1 Sir John Kirk writes 2 of the habits of
Indicator minor — " 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 neigh-
bouring trees, calling attention. If this be responded to, as the
natives do by whistling and starting to their feet, the bird will

1 Layard, ed. Sharpe, Birds of South Africa, 1875-84, pp. 166-171. Cf. Sandeman,
Eight Months in an Ox- Waggon, 1880, pp. 235-239. [Extract, Ibis, 1880, p. 286.]

2 Ibis, 1864, pp. 327-328.

vi RHAMPHASTIDAE 453

go in a certain direction and remain at a little distance, hopping
from one tree to another. On being followed it goes further ;
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 know-
ledge is needed 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 do
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 con-
taining the grubs be torn out when it is seen pecking at it."

Fam. XVII. Rhamphastidae. — The Toucans1 are easily recog-
nisable by their huge beak, only paralleled by that of the Hornbills,
of which some authors have considered them the Neotropical repre-
sentatives ; but whereas in the latter this beak is usually sur-
mounted by a casque of varying size, in the Toucans it is shaped
much as usual, though abnormally developed. It does not seem
to interfere with the bird's powers of flight or feeding, and indeed
the structure of both mandibles is admirably calculated to combine
bulk with strength and lightness ; the external walls being so thin
and elastic that they are said in some species to be compressible
by the fingers, while the inner cavities are filled with a network of
bony columns, to which the air has constant access. Moreover,
the maxilla is so perfectly hinged to the skull that the utmost
ease in mastication is secured, the serrated edges further aiding
in the process. In AulacorhampTius the mandibles are grooved,
and Andigena laminirostris has a square basal plate on each side
of the culmen. The metatarsi are stout and scutellated on both
aspects, the toes are papillose below, the claws sharp and curved.
The somewhat weak wings have ten primaries and twelve second-
aries ; the square, rounded, or graduated tail of ten rectrices is
capable of free vertical motion, and is frequently jerked up over
the back. The furcula is U-shaped ; the tongue is long, thin and
narrow, with feather-like margins towards the tip ; the nostrils

1 So called either from the note, or from two words meaning " nose " and " bone."

454 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

open backwards behind the bill-sheath in Rhamphastus, upwards
or sideways near the hind part of the culmen in the other genera ;
the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial ; the aftershaft is rudimentary or
absent ; and neither adults nor nestlings shew any down.

The coloration of the long, loose plumage, and of the beak and
naked orbits, is most brilliant and varied; the females are smaller and
duller than the males, and quite unlike them in Selenidera ; while
the young resemble the former, but have softer and differently-
tinted bills. The feet are grey or green. Pteroglossus leauharnaisi
has the black shafts of the crown-feathers dilated and coalescent
with the barbs, producing an appearance like curls of horn.

Toucans, except just after moulting, are shy and restless ; they
are more or less gregarious, and small flocks gather to feed or
bathe in the morning or evening ; at noon they sit motionless on
some lofty tree, but at other times may be seen jumping about
the branches. At night they roost with the tail thrown forward
upon the back, and the head turned to meet it. Their flight
is easy, graceful, and direct, accompanied by occasional noisy flaps
of the wing, the bill being carried horizontally ; they rarely seek
the ground, where they hop about obliquely in awkward fashion.
All the species live chiefly on fruits, including seeds ; but Azara's
statement that they destroy small birds, and devour both eggs and
young, is possibly quite correct, as in captivity they exhibit
great excitement and delight when furnished with meat, mice,
reptiles, and so forth,1 tearing the food to pieces and masticating
it with their serrated mandibles. Should, however, the object be
small, they throw back the head and swallow it at a gulp ; while a
curious habit has been observed of regurgitating the substances for
further mastication. Caterpillars, ants, and the like are added to
the diet in the breeding season. When feeding in company, Tou-
cans, like Rooks, post a sentinel, whose harsh, chattering scream can
be heard for at least a mile : they are especially noisy in the morn-
ing and evening, or in wet weather. The unmelodious cry seems to
vary considerably in the different species ; being described as a
croak, a hoarse note, a clear yelp, or a jarring sound like that of
a Mistletoe Thrush. Owls and diurnal Birds of prey are often
surrounded by a noisy mob of Toucans, which jerk their tails as they
follow. Two oval and somewhat glossy white eggs are deposited
in hollow limbs of tall trees. These birds are frequently eaten by

1 See Broderip, ZooL Journ. i. 1825, p. 484 ; Vigors, op. cit. ii. 1826, }tp. 466-483.

RHAMPHASTIDAE

455

the colonists and natives, the latter using their plumage to deco-
rate their bows or their persons, while the beaks make convenient
powder-flasks. They are easily tamed, and become amusing pets.
The various forms extend throughout the forests of Tropical America
down to the mangrove swamps of the coast, some occurring at an
altitude of from six thousand to ten thousand feet on the moun-
tains ; northwards Rliampliastus carinatus, Pteroglossus torquatus,

FIG. 94. — Ariel Toucan. Rhamphastus arid. x

Aulacorhamphus prasinus, and A. wagleri reach South Mexico ;

southwards, Rliampliastus toco ranges to Argentina ; but westwards

no species crosses the Andes south of the Gulf of Guayaquil. They

are not represented in the Antilles, though Rliamphastus vitellinus

extends to Trinidad. Dr. Sclater T recognises five genera, comprising

fifty-nine species, the majority inhabiting Amazonia and Guiana.

The genus Rhamphastus contains fourteen members, with

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891, pp. 122-160.

456 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

nearly the same range as that of the Family, including the type
and sole Argentine species JR. toco, one of the largest forms, two
feet in length. This is black, with white rump, throat and fore-neck
(the last bordered with red), crimson vent, blue orbits, and orange
bill terminally blotched with black, which has been likened
to a lobster's claw. Several species have the throat and rump
yellow or orange, or the latter scarlet, as in R. ariel. The brilliant
bill and orbits vary considerably in colour ; the tail is square.
Andigena comprises some five forms from the highest forests of
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, olive-brown or dark green
above, and with hair-like bluish -grey plumage below ; the crown
is black, the nape black or grey, the vent scarlet, the rump
yellow, and the tip of the graduated tail chestnut, except in one
instance. The bill shews black, yellow, or red, in varied combina-
tion, A, laminirostris having a square ivory-white basal plate on
each side of the maxilla. A. bailloni, of South-East Brazil, doubt-
fully placed in this genus, has a scarlet rump, yellow under parts,
greenish and reddish bill, and red orbits. Pteroglossus, the most
brilliant genus in the Family, exhibits green, scarlet, and yellow
hues, with areas or bands of black and scarlet on the lower sur-
face in thirteen out of eighteen species. The tail is graduated, and
the feathers below are somewhat hair-like. These Ara^aris, as they
are called, range from South Mexico to Bolivia and South Brazil.
The lovely P. beauharnaisi, of Upper Amazonia, has dark green
upper parts, with crimson on the rump and mantle; and light yellow
lower parts, tinged with red, which shew a scarlet ventral band
and black spots on the throat ; the maxilla is black with orange
culmen, the mandible white. P. aracari of Guiana and Lower
Amazonia has no red on the mantle, the smooth head and throat
are black, the maxilla is white with black culmen, the mandible
black. Some six species of Selenidera, remarkable for the dissimilar
sexes, and generally for the transversely striped or blotched beak,
range from South-East Brazil and Upper Amazonia to Nicaragua.
The males, except in S. spectabilis, have a distinct nuchal crescent
of yellow, less marked in the females ; the former have the head
and breast black, the latter usually chestnut ; but the hen of the
above species has the under surface black, that of S. piperivora
greyish-green. The general colour is dark green, with brown tip to
the tail, yellow or orange ear-coverts, and scarlet vent ; the beak is
whitish, reddish, or greenish, with black markings. Aulacorliam-

vi PICIDAE 457

plius has some dozen fairly uniform green members, relieved by a
white, bluish, or black throat. The rump may be crimson or
rufous, the rectrices tipped with chestnut, and the bill a mixture
of red, black, yellow, or horn-colour, usually with a white line at)
the base. The range is from Mexico to Guiana and Bolivia.

Fam. XVIII. Picidae. — The Woodpeckers form a very large
Family of scansorial birds with zygodactylous feet, which is so
natural that Huxley raised it to higher rank as Celeomorphae,
while Parker separated it still further as Saurognathae. The two
Sub-families are (1) Picinae, or Woodpeckers, and (2) lynginae,
or Wrynecks.

Sub-fam. 1. Picinae. — The chief external peculiarities of this
section lie in the form of the large head, the neck, and the tail-
feathers. The neck is often much compressed, with exceedingly
powerful muscles, which, coupled with the strong, wedge-shaped
bill, enable the bird to operate with ease and celerity upon the
boles and limbs of trees, whence it procures much of its food, and
where it excavates a deep hole for the reception of its eggs. The
shafts of the twelve tail-feathers, of which the outer pair are very
small, are in the majority of cases stiff and spiny, and therefore
well adapted to keep the body close to the bark while climbing ;
parallel cases being those of the Tree-Creeper (Certhia) and the Den-
drocolaptinae. The shape of the tail is rounded or cuneate; the wings
are moderate and not very much pointed, with ten primaries and
from ten to thirteen secondaries. The metatarsus is short, with a
single row of anterior scutes; the claws are large, sharp, and curved.1

The tongue is excessively long and " worm-like," with horny,
barbed tip, and is capable of marvellous protrusion owing to the
elongated " horns " of the hyoid apparatus, which in some forms
curve round the skull and have their origin near the base of the
bill. Facility is thus secured for searching narrow cracks or deep
hollows for insects, while the secretion from the large salivary
glands secures the adhesion of the objects aimed at. The furcula
is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the after-shaft rudi-
mentary, while neither adults nor young have down at any stage.

The prevailing colours are green, yellow, black, and white, in
various combinations, with spots and bars ; brilliant scarlet being
commonly present on the crown and frequently also on the back

1 The hallux is often aborted, producing a tridactylous, instead of a zygodac-
tylous, foot (cf. p. 10).

45 8 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

or under parts. From the males the females and young in first
plumage may be distinguished by their duller coloration ; but in
the intermediate stages of growth the latter exhibit a considerable
amount of red. Many species have fine crests.

According to Hargitt x the number of genera is fifty, including
three hundred and eighty- five fairly defined species ; though both
genera and species depend chiefly on colour. He mentions Colaptes
as an instance of the possible formation of races by hybridization
or climatic influences, and Gecinus as an example of diversely
coloured forms, perhaps originating from a common ancestor.
The well-known colour-phases of Dendrocopus major and of the
genus lyngipicus may be mentioned in this connexion ; the species
becoming larger and whiter as they range eastwards through
Central Asia to Japan, and the former also shewing a tendency
to a crimson tint on the breast as it nears Africa southwards.

Woodpeckers are, with a few exceptions, solitary woodland
birds of a particularly shy and retiring nature, and therefore
somewhat difficult of observation. When seeking food they
usually ascend a tree in spiral fashion assisted by their tail and
claws, and carefully examine every chink or cranny in the bark ;
011 reaching the higher limbs they betake themselves at once to
fresh hunting-grounds, often alighting at the very base of a trunk,
but equally often flying straight to some promising half-decayed
branch. In some cases, however, high flights are essayed. The species
of Colaptes and Geocolaptes feed upon the ground; many forms, such
as Picus martins, Gecinus viridis, and Melanerpesformicivorus, prey
largely upon ants and take great pains to make a thorough clearance
of the nest ; the last-named stores up acorns; while Sphyrapicus
varius and its congeners suck the sap of trees and also hawk for flies :
others again devour a large quantity of fruits, seeds, and perhaps
even Indian corn. Omitting, however, the sap-sucking propensities
of the American species, the harm done is outweighed by the good.

In spring the laughing, ringing, or other cries may be heard
in most wooded districts ; the sounds being somewhat harsh,
and consisting of more or less continuous notes according to the
species, while the duration is commonly about thirty seconds.
The curious " drumming " noise produced in particular by the
Spotted and Black Woodpeckers is also chiefly heard early in the
year, though it ceases not with the courting, but when the young

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii, 1890.

PICIDAE 459

are hatched. This sound, which can be heard for a mile, is caused
by the bill hammering on the bark — usually of some rotten
branch, while the bird's head moves backwards and forwards with
extraordinary rapidity ; a stationary position, however, is not
invariably preserved, nor the quest of food interrupted. The
hen sometimes hisses loudly if disturbed upon her eggs ; both
parents are said to " purr " in certain American species when
the hole is interfered with, and they certainly utter continuous,
sharp alarm-notes in Britain. It is probable, but perhaps hardly
certain, that the female drums as well as the male. The sense of
hearing is extremely acute in the Family. The flight is strong
and undulating with constant " dips," and when once witnessed
can be recognised at considerable distances. Both sexes help to
excavate the hole for their eggs, which is a neat circular aperture,
worked from the centre outwards, and carried inwards to the core
of the wood, to descend thence for at least a foot ; as soon as it
turns downwards it gradually enlarges, until the whole presents
the form of a long-necked bottle. Abortive borings are often made,
of considerable depth ; while the chips may be found lying at the
foot of the tree in a heap, if not removed by the birds, as occasion-
ally happens. Firs, oaks, poplars, beeches, ashes, and willows, both
high and low, furnish many breeding places, but wooden walls or
towers are also utilized, and two species, mentioned below, bore
like Kingfishers in banks. The same hole is occasionally tenanted
in successive years, but natural cavities are rarely used. It is com-
monly stated that Woodpeckers always choose for their excava-
tions decayed or decaying limbs; but the soundest branches, or even
the thickest parts of the trunks of huge oaks, are not unfrequently
selected. The oval, glossy, white eggs are deposited on a few chips,
and usually number from three or five to ten ; nevertheless as many as
seventy-three are recorded as the produce of one Woodpecker, and
forty-two in the case of the Wryneck, when robbed on successive
days.1 Both sexes are known to incubate in certain cases : they sit
very closely towards the end of the period, which lasts fourteen days
or more, yet often leave their hole quite readily at first. Many species
have been tamed, but they are wild and destructive in captivity.
The Family ranges over the greater portion of the globe, except
the Australian Eegion, Madagascar, and Egypt. Its members are

1 Mr. Abel Chapman ( Wild Spain, p. 256) says that the Spanish Green Wood-
pecker breeds twice a year ; and its British congener at times does likewise.

4^0 CORACIIFORMES

CHAP.

most abundant in the Indian and Neotropical Eegions, several
forms occurring in the Antilles.

Geocolaptes olivaceus, an olive-coloured bird with whitish
marks on the wings and tail, crimson rump, and crimson-washed
abdomen, is common in the Cape Colony and Natal, and is re-
markable for nesting in holes in banks or mud-huts : it feeds
upon the ground, and family-parties are stated by Mr. Layard to
keep together until the following breeding-season. Similar habits
have been observed in Colaptes agricola of the Argentine Eepublic
and Patagonia, in timberless districts; but, as the trees grow, it
recurs to its natural habits. C. auratus, the golden -winged
Flicker of North America, has a phase (C. mexicanus) found west
of the Eocky Mountains and in Mexico, with red coloration of
the wings in place of yellow, intermediate races occurring in the
intervening regions ; considerable controversy has consequently
arisen as to whether hybridization has taken place, or whether this
is a case of specialized forms of a generalized ancestor, due to
climatic or other causes. The colour above is dove-brown with
black streaks ; the head being lead-coloured with a crimson band
on the nape, the rump white, the lower throat black, the under
parts pinkish-brown with round black spots, and the wings strongly
washed with yellow on both surfaces. The bill is more arched and
less wedge-shaped than usual. The food consists of fruit, wood-
lice, ants, and so forth, much of which is procured upon the earth.

Gecinus viridis, our well-known Green Woodpecker, Yaffle, or
Eain-bird, the "laugh" of which is supposed to predict wet
weather, is a green bird with yellow rump and red head ; the
habits being those common to the whole group, though a certain
preference is shewn for feeding on the ground or on ant-hills.
It ranges throughout Europe to Asia Minor and Persia, while
other nearly allied forms, differing in their black occiputs or scarlet
rumps, extend over nearly the whole Eastern Palaearctic and
Indian Eegions. Ohloronerpes is a Central and South American
genus of smaller birds, among which 0. rubiginosus has golden-
rufous upper parts, with a red nape, and yellowish under surface
crossed by dark bars. Akin to this is the Ethiopian Campethera,
C. punctata being yellow, olive, and brown above, with a crimson
head, and yellow below with small black spots. Chrysoplilegma
extends from the Himalayas to China and the Malay Islands.
C. flavinucha is about the size of the Green Woodpecker, but

VI PICIDAE 46 1

is much yellower, and has a splendid orange crest on the nape, a
yellow throat and a grey breast ; C. miniatum has the crest and
upper parts washed with red.

The three-toed Gauropico'ides rafflesi of the Malay countries
has a long black crest, and narrow, pointed tail-feathers, which
contrast well with its golden back ; the under parts are brownish.
Asyndesmus torquatus of the Western United States has very
peculiar hair -like plumage below, in which the first subdivisions
of the whitish webs are not again divided ; the upper surface is
bronzy-green, the front of the head crimson, and the collar white.
Melanerpes is a large genus with many brilliant forms, which range
throughout America ; M. flavifrons being black above, with white
rump, crimson head and breast, broad golden forehead and throat,
and brownish chest ; M. candidus having the head and breast pure
white, and the blackish back only relieved by a yellow band on
the nape ; whereas M. formicivorus is intermediate in coloration.
The last-named, often called the Californian Woodpecker, extends
southwards to Mexico and northwards up the Pacific Coast to
British Columbia ; it stores up acorns by inserting their upper
halves in holes bored in the limbs of trees, which may be some-
times seen studded with them to a height of forty feet or more.1
Apparently this is done for the sake of the grubs in the acorns ;
while, as its name implies, the bird also devours ants.

Sphyropicus contains the three Sap-suckers, which together
range throughout North America, an individual having strayed to
Greenland. S. varius shews a striking combination of colours in
its black and white back, crimson head and throat, black chest, and
yellow breast, while it has the curious habit, shared by its congeners,
of puncturing trunks of trees to obtain the sap, in which they
delight. Sometimes the entire bole is encircled by these borings.

Nearly all that has already been said of the Family in general,
particularly with regard to the " drumming," may be repeated of
the Spotted Woodpeckers, of which Dendrocopus major and D.
minor are the British representatives. The colours in this genus
are black and white in varied proportions, with crimson on the
head and often on the lower parts ; a small amount of buff and
brown being not uncommonly added, while in D. brunneifrons, a

1 A Mexican species stores acorns in hollow stems of plants, but subsequently
sticks them in holes bored in branches. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, N. Amer*
Birds, ii. 1874, pp. 569-572.

462

CORACIIFORMES

Himalayan form, there is an admixture of yellow with the red
on the crown. Our Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers

extend throughout Europe and
North Asia, and reach the Atlantic
Islands ; while some thirty con-
geners widen the range until it
includes nearly all the Palaeartic,
Nearctic, and Indian Eegions. They
are also found south of lat. 20° S.
in the , Neotropical D. leuconoius
and D. (Dendrocoptes) mcdius are
other European forms, with varyr
ing races. Pico'ides is a similarly
coloured genus of three-toed birds,
with yellow instead of red on the
head. They inhabit the most
northern forests of both Worlds,

FIG. 95.— Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
Dendrocopus minor, x ^. (From
Bird Life in Siveden. )

reaching southward to Central Europe, China, and (west of the Eocky
Mountains) to New Mexico. P. tridactylus is well-known in Europe.

lyngipicus is a large group of small species, which stretch from
India to the Kuril Islands, Chira, Flores, and Celebes ; and, if
Hargitt is right in considering Picus obsoletus congeneric, from
North-East Africa to Senegambia. The colours are black or
olive above, relieved by white and fulvescent below with dark
stripes or spots, the occiput shewing a band, or two streaks, of
red ; the lateral tail-feathers, moreover, are hardly rigid, approach-
ing in that respect those of Picumnus. Dendrobates is a still
larger genus of similarly sized birds, varying from nearly uniform
olive with a red crown, or bright red with white under parts, to
dull gold-colour, where the lower surface is buff barred with brown ;
the head being in the last case red, but the nape yellow. They
range from Northern Argentina to Central America. Mesopicus
goertan, one of half a dozen finely-coloured species found through-
out most of the Ethiopian Eegion, has an olive back, long crimson
feathers on the head and rump, and a greyish breast.

Thus far all the members of the Family agree in having the
nostrils covered with bristles. Among those in which the bristles
are wanting may be mentioned Celeus and the three-toed Tigajava-
nensis and its congeners, extending from India to Cochin China.
The last-named has a brilliant golden -orange back, a crimson

PICIDAE

463

head, crest and rump, black tail, neck and wings, and dark brown
under parts with white spots. Celeus ranges from Mexico to
South Brazil, C. flavus being canary-yellow with brown tail and
wings, a large crest of the former colour, and a crimson stripe at
the gape. This genus, and the five following, are characterized
by having the neck extremely narrow and compressed.

Campephilus, ranging from the Gulf States and the Lower
Mississippi to Argen-
tina, and Ipocrantor,
of Chili and Pata-
gonia, are noticeable
for the concave ends
of their tail-feathers.
C. principalis, the
Ivory -billed Wood-
pecker of the
Southern United
States — almost the
largest member of the
Family — frequents
the highest timber,
where, according to
Wilson, it used to
strip off cart-loads
of bark, and make
huge quantities of
chips. It appears,
however, that it only
attacked trees infested by
insect-larvae. When it was
common the Indians used the
head as a charm, and con-
sidered that it gave them the
creature's courage. Its main
colour is bluish-black with white wing-markings ; the crimson and
black occipital feathers together forming a long crest. Both this
bird and the Pileated Woodpecker of North America (Dryotomus
pileatus) are locally known as " Log-cocks," with which name may
be compared that of " Stock-eagle," i.e. " Stump-eagle," given in
the West of England to the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Ipo-

FIG. 96. — Great Black Woodpecker. Picus
martins, x \-. (From Bird Life in Sweden.)

464 CORACIIFORMES CHAP.

crantor magellanicus, of Chili and Patagonia, has an even longer
crest. Hemicercus is a genus of curious little crested black and
white species, with very short and hardly rigid tails, occurring
in India, the Malay countries, and Cochin China. HemilopKus
pulverulentus, a larger bird of similar range, is remarkable for
its enormous bill and curious dusty-looking slaty plumage.

Under the head of Picus, which gives the Family its name, is
placed by Hargitt only P. martins, the Black Woodpecker, an
inhabitant of the pine-forests of Europe and Asia to Japan, quite
erroneously asserted to have occurred in England. The colour
is black with the exception of a red head, while the feathering
extends down two-thirds of the metatarsus in front. It feeds chiefly
on ants, insects, and their larvae, utters a loud rattling cry, drums
on trees, and lays four or five eggs in holes bored in rotten wood.

The Piculets are considered by most writers to form a Sub-
family Picumninae, and connect the Picinae and the lynginae, being
the least specialized of the former; they constitute the genus Picum-
nus, of which the thirty or more members have short, rounded tails
without spiny shafts, and nostrils hidden by bristles. These diminu-
tive birds occupy America from Honduras to Northern Argentina, as
well as most of the Indian Eegion,one being a native of Africa; they
are duller than most Woodpeckers, and are rufous, olive, or greyish,
while often marked with black, or with red or yellow on the head,
P. micromegas is confined to Hispaniola, P. ( Terreauxia) africanus
to the Gaboon districts, P. (Sasia) ochraceus and its two congeners
are found in Northern India and the Malay countries. Of these only
the first has any bright colour on the head. Sasia lacks the hallux.

Sub-fam. 2. lynginae. — The Wrynecks may be distinguished
from the typical Woodpeckers by their soft tails without spiny shafts,
and naked nostrils with a partial covering. The plumage shews
a peculiar mixture of black, brown, grey, and white, somewhat
similar to that of a Nightjar. They feed chiefly upon the ground
on ants and the like, and do not seek for insects under the bark
of trees to the same extent that Woodpeckers do ; while, instead
of cutting out their own nesting-hole, they utilize cavities in
stumps, posts, or even banks, to contain the white eggs, from five
to ten in number, and often choose the same site annually.
These birds have a curious habit of erecting the head-feathers and
twisting the head itself from side to side, or almost over the back,
either when sitting quietly on a branch or when molested. They

VI

PICIUAE

465

utter a loud, triple note, frequently reiterated, which has been com-
pared to that of the Kestrel, and somewhat resembles the spring cry
of the Nuthatch. Owing to the non-spinous tail the members of
this genus cannot climb so well as Woodpeckers, while on the
ground they are awkward and move with constant hops. The
extensile and worm-like tongue is not barbed at the tip. lynx
torguilla, the Cuckoo's-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in

FIG. 97. — Wryneck. lynxtorquitta. x f . (From Natural History of Selborne.}

England, and extends thence to Japan, Kordofan, and Senegal.
The remaining species are all Ethiopian, I. pectoralis with a
reddish-brown fore-neck and chest inhabiting the southern half of
Africa, the similar /. pulchricollis occurring in East Equatorial
Africa, and /. aequatorialis, in which the red extends to the whole
breast, being met with only in Abyssinia.

Of fossil forms referred to this Family, Uintornis occurs in the
Eocene of the United States, while Picus and Homolopus have been
found respectively in the Lower and Middle Miocene of France.

YOL. IX 2 H

CHAPTEE YII

NEORNITHES CARINATAE CONCLUDED

BRIGADE II LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE CONCLUDED)

ORDER : PASSERIFORMES

Order XIV. PASSERIFORMES.

THIS Order contains about five thousand five hundred species,
being more than half the birds yet known. Their classification is
attended with much difficulty, and the anatomy of many more
forms must be investigated before anything approaching a satis-
factory— not to say final — scheme can be proposed. The earlier
taxonomers often based their systems largely on European genera,
and were therefore obliged to interpose others, or even to recognise
new Families, as their knowledge extended, among the many new
discoveries, to various American and Australian forms.

The foundation of recent arrangements of the group, depending
on the number or position of the song-muscles, was laid between
1845 and 1847 by Johannes Mliller, who divided the then
generally accepted Order Insessores into three tribes: (1) Oscines
or Polymyodi [Song-birds, or those with many (usually five or seven)
pairs of song-muscles] ; (2) Tracheophones [where the bronchi take
no part in the formation of the voice-organ] ; and (3) Picarii
[corresponding in the main to Nitzseh's Picariae} ; the two former of
which included most of the Passerine forms. Simultaneously with
Mtiller, Cabanis proposed a system grounded on similar principles ;
while in 1867 Huxley recognised of his group Coracomorphae the
divisions Polymyodae, Tracheophonae, and Oligomyodae [birds
with few song-muscles]. About ten years later Garrod, who was
followed between 1880 and 1882 by W. A. Forbes, divided the
Passeres into Desmodactyli, with a band joining the muscles of the

CHAP, vii EURYLAEMIDAE 467

hallux to the front toes, and EleutJierodactyli, where the hind toe
is free. The former contained only the Eurylaemidae ; the latter
the Mesomyodi (where the syringeal muscles join the bronchial
semi-rings in their middle or lateral portion), and the Acromyodi
(where they are attached to the extremities). The subdivisions
need not be discussed here ; but it should be noticed that, as
opposed to Miiller, the attachment, and not the number, of
muscles was the point relied upon. Want of space forbids an
account of the subsequent labours of Mr. Sclater,1 Professors
Newton 2 and Furbringer,3 and others ; but the last-named no doubt
influenced considerably the views of Dr. Gadow, mainly accepted
below. This author4 takes into consideration not only the
attachment, but also the disposition of the muscles of the syrinx,
and distinguishes his Passer if or mes as (1) Passer es anisomyodae,
where the syringeal muscles are unequally inserted, either in the
middle, or upon the dorsal or ventral end only, of the bronchial
semi-rings ; (2) Passer es diacromyodae, where some of the muscles
are attached to the dorsal, and some to the ventral ends. The
former of these groups may be subdivided into A. Subclamatores
and B. Clamatores ; the latter into C. Suloscines and D. Oscines.
Even the groups (1) and (2) are expressly stated not to rise to
the rank of Sub- Orders, while the Oscines and other equivalent
divisions are of hardly more than Family value.

The great number of species in the Order Passeriformes
makes it necessary to treat the various sections less fully than
has been the case in the foregoing portion of the work, while the
Families are not, of course, on the same level here as elsewhere.

1. PASSERES ANISOMYODAE.

A. Subclamatores.

Farn. Eurylaemidae. — The Broad-bills, a curious Old World
group, have been by various authors regarded as allied to the
Boilers or to the Flycatchers. They are distinguished from all other
Passerine forms by the fact that the hallux is connected with the
front toes by a vinculum or band joining the deep plantar tendons,
and is thus incapable of independent motion. The beak is very

1 Ibis, 1880, pp. 340-349. 2 Diet. Birds, 1896, Introduction.

3 Untersudiungen zur Morphologic und Systematic der To'gel, Amsterdam, 1888.

4 Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves. Syst. Theil, 1893, pp. 270-273.

468

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

broad, while it is comparatively small in Calyptomena ; Cory don,
and to a less extent Eurylaemus and Sarcophanops, have a decided
terminal hook to the maxilla. The metatarsus is scutellated in
front and smooth behind (laminiplantar) ; the hallux is weak ; the
third and fourth toes are distinctly united, the claws are very short.
The moderate wings have ten primaries in Calyptomena, eleven else-
where, Eurylaemus having the eleventh very small ; the secondaries
are nine or ten ; the tail of twelve rectrices is usually long and
rounded, but is graduated in Psarisomus, short and square in
Calyptomena. The adults have no aftershaft or down, the tongue
is sagittate, and Sarcophanops has naked orbits. The plumage
in Calyptomena viridis of the Indo- Malay countries is bright

green, with a large black
post - auricular and a
yellow pre-ocular spot,
three black bars on the
wing-coverts, and black-
ish wing- and tail-quills.
The duller female has
no black spots or bars.
The dense frontal
feathers project for-
ward over the beak. C.
whiteheadi of Borneo
has a black throat.
These somewhat in-
active birds inhabit
thin jungles, utter soft
whistles, and feed on
fruit; the rest of the
Family eat little but insects, though Cymborkynchus macro-
rhynchus, the Kain-bird of the Malays, enjoys berries.

Eurylaemus javanicus is blackish, with yellow markings on
the back, tail, and wings ; the head, neck, and under parts being
vinous purple, with a black crescentic chest-band, which is absent
in the hen. Corydon sumatranus is black, with a white alar bar
and a huffish-white throat and fore-neck. They cover much the
same area as Calyptomena. Cymborliy minis shews black and
crimson colours, while the beautiful Psarisomus dalhousiae, found
from the Eastern Himalayas to Borneo, has a green back and under

FIG. 98. — Broad-bill. Calyptomena viridis. x

VII

PITTIDAE 469

surface, black and blue head and wings, yellow face and throat,
and blue tail becoming black below. Serilophus contains two
grey-brown species with chestnut rumps, ranging from Sikkim to
Tenasserim. Sarcopkanops is peculiar to the Philippines.

The quiet and solitary Broad-bills inhabit forests, thickets, and
gardens, flying little, sitting sluggishly on the branches, taking
insects on the wing, and uttering whistling or metallic notes.
They make large roughish; oval .nests, with a large entrance near
the top often protected by an overhanging roof, while a sort of tail
is commonly added ; these are suspended from low branches or
plants close to water; the materials being twigs, roots, tendrils, moss,
or leaves, felted together and smoothly lined with green foliage,
flags, bamboo - spathes, or grass, sometimes renewed when dry.
From three to five eggs are laid, pale yellowish in Calyptomena,
white or rarely spotted with red in Psarisomus, and pinkish, buff or
white elsewhere, with markings varying from black to rufous.

B. Clamatores.

This group includes the PittidaetPhilepittidae,Xenicidae, Tyran-
nidae, Oxyrhamphidae^ipridae, Cotingidae, Phytotomidae, Dendro-
colaptidae, Formicariidae, Conopopliagidae, and PteroptocJiidae.

Apparently the furcula is U-shaped; the tongue varies; the
aftershaft is small, if present ; the down is sparing or absent.

Fam. I. Pittidae. — The members of this Old "World Family,
nearly fifty in number, range from India to North China, East
Australia, New Guinea, and New Britain; while one species is West
African. They are stout, strong-billed forms, with short rounded
wings and tail, the long metatarsus being more or less scute! lated
all round ; the primaries number ten — the outer being decidedly
long — the secondaries eight, the rectrices twelve. The plumage
exhibits vivid scarlet, blue, and green tints, in addition to yellow,
purple, black, brown, and white; elongated neck-feathers occur
in Anthocincla, erect frontal plumes in Coracopitta. The tail in
Pitta is nearly square, but is pointed in EucicJila and Coracopitta.
The habits seem to be fairly uniform, all the species haunting
thickish jungle or dense scrub, whether in the rock-strewn glens
of India, or the damp Malayan, Australian, and Papuasian forests.
The birds are more often heard than seen, though the plaintive,
oft-repeated double whistle of the smaller forms, or the mournful,
triple cry of the larger, is seldom audible in the mid-day heat,

470

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

both being recognisable by the long-drawn final syllable. They
are chiefly terrestrial, and jump from rock to rock or branch to
stump with great agility; their apparently leisurely movements
being really so quick that a mere glimpse is usually obtained
through some opening in the foliage, while their habits are
consequently difficult to observe. The quiet watcher may, how-
ever, hear the birds pattering over the beds of leaves, and see them
hunting for molluscs and insects, or digging for worms and ants,
but the slightest movement causes them to depart with long
rapid hops, exchanged under pressure for a low, direct noiseless
flight of short duration. Pittas are habitually, though not in-
variably, solitary, and are especially shy when breeding. P.
moluccensis ascends the trees to call, P. oatesi occasionally whistles
at night, while P. novae guineae flirts its tail like a Wagtail.
The exposed nest, with its lateral entrance, is frequently placed on
the ground at the foot of a tree or shrub, but sometimes amongst
undergrowth or in very low forks ; it is a rounded fabric of twigs,
roots, bark, moss, leaves, and grass, often cemented with earth ;
the larger species making a clumsier and looser structure, the
smaller a more compact mass. Unspotted eggs are rare, the usual

colour being creamy- white
with brown, reddish, grey,
or purplish-black spots or
scrawls ; the number is
from three to six. An-
thocincla phayrii and Pitta
cucullata are said occa-
sionally to build a plat-
form of sticks before their
doorway, and the latter a
projecting roof over it.
The former species, which
inhabits Burma, is brown
with a black coronal
streak, black and white
superciliary stripes, white
throat, and pink vent ;

). — Pitta brachyum. xf. „.,, 7 . , . . ,

1 itta caermea is bright

blue above, with black occiput and nape, but an otherwise ashy head;
it is greyish-buff below, with a partial black collar. The female

FIG.

VII

PHILEPITTIDAE

471

has a brown back, and a buffish head, with black cross-bars and
collar. This very large form ranges from Tenasserim to Sumatra
and Borneo ; the smaller P. cyanea of Bhutan, Burma, and Siam is
somewhat similar, but has a scarlet nape, and bluish under parts with
black bars. P. maxima of Gilolo is glossy black, with blue wing-
coverts, a white alar bar, green edges to the secondaries, white
lower surface, black chin, and crimson belly. P. granatina of
Borneo is purplish-black, with scarlet occiput and nape, blue
superciliary stripe, some blue on the wing, purplish throat, and
scarlet belly. P. laudi of the same island is crimson above, with
blue crown and tail, black nape, and white alar bar ; the lower
parts being black, with purple and blue abdomen : the female is
dull brown below. P. cyanoptera, reaching from Burma and
Borneo to South China, is dull green above, with a dark central
stripe and a black margin to the brownish crown ; the black wing
shews a white bar, and azure on the coverts ; the tip of the black
tail and the rump are blue ; the lower surface is buff, with crimson
on the belly. Several species have green under parts, a blue pectoral
band, or no blue on the rump and wings. P. angolensis inhabits
West Africa, P. nympha North China and Tsu-shima Island, P. iris
and P. strepitans Australia ; the latter reaches New Guinea, where
it meets, among other forms, the entirely black Coracopitta
lugubris, as well as P. mackloti, which extends to New Britain.

Fam. II. Philepit-
tidae. — This contains
only the two species of
Philepitta, peculiar to
Madagascar, which
have bare orbits sur-
mounted by a green
caruncle in the male,
and metatarsi with
a regular series of
scales behind (taxa-
spidean). P. jala is
black, with yellow at
the bend of the wing ;
the female is olive-

FIG. 100.— Philepitta jala. x4.

green with yellow

markings below. P. schlegeli is green above and yellow below in

47 2 PASSERIFORMES : XENICIDAE CHAP.

both sexes, the male having a black head, the female white streaks
on that part. The outward form and habits recall those of Pitta,
but the latter are more arboreal. The young are apparently
spotted, unlike those of the Pittidae, which resemble the adults.

Farn. III. Xenicidae. — This contains the genera Acantliidositta,
and Traversia, each with one species, and Xenicus with two ; they
are remarkable New Zealand forms, in which the weak syringeal
muscles only reach the lowest tracheal ring. The slender meta-
tarsi are almost smooth, the claws acute and elongated ; the short
rectrices number ten, and the tenth primary is nearly equal to the
next ; the secondaries are eight. The tongue is lanceolate and
horny. The stout-billed, long-legged Xenicus longipes has dark
green upper parts, a brown crown, a yellowish rump and sides, black
cheeks, whitish superciliary stripes and throat, and silky, bluish-
grey under parts. The female is chiefly brown. X. gilviventris
is olive -brown on the back and cheeks, and purplish -brown
beneath, with some rufous and a black spot on the wing. Both
forms inhabit the South Island, and are called " Bush- Wren " and
" Eock-Wren " respectively. The former frequents dark sub-alpine
forests, restlessly searching the trees for insects, their chrysalids
and larvae, and uttering a weak note or a trill. It is seldom seen
on the ground, yet flies but little, as might be expected from
its short, rounded wings. The compact domed nest of moss,
placed in low forks or in tree-roots, contains five or six white
eggs with pink blotches; when built in holes it is open. The
other species lives among debris high up the hills, being almost
entirely terrestrial, skulking round the boulders, and eating dragon-
flies, lepidoptera, and insects generally, with scraps of fat from any
traveller's camp. The nest of roots, twigs, and leaves, lined with
feathers, is placed in crevices, and contains some five white eggs.
The similar Traversia lyalli of Stephens Island is said to be
nocturnal. Aeantliidositta Moris, the Bifleman, is dull green above
with yellower rump, and fulvous white below ; the moderate wings
are blackish, with green edgings and yellow bars ; the eye-stripe is
white ; the short rounded tail is black with light tip. The female
has an olive upper surface with brown markings, a yellow rump,
and buffish under parts. This species inhabits the hill-forests of
both the main islands of New Zealand, where it actively searches
the trees for food with quivering wings, and utters a feeble " cheep."
The more or less bottle-shaped nest, placed in holes in trees,

TYRANNIDAE 4/3

buildings, and so forth, is formed of bents, roots, and feathers, and
contains from three to five white eggs.

Fain. IV Tyrannidae. — This comprises some four hundred
species, chiefly of an olive or black-and-grey coloration, which is occa-
sionally relieved by bright scarlet as in Pyrocephalus, orange-red as
in Muscivora, or yellow as in Todirostrum ; but these hues are not
necessarily common to whole genera. Agriornis and MegarhyncTius
are exceptionally large forms, but the majority are small, and in habits
and appearance resemble the Old World Flycatchers, or even Shrikes.
From the former, however, they are easily distinguished by their
normal outer primary and the exteriorly scutellated back of the
metatarsus (exaspidean). Dr. Sclater l recognises four Sub-families,
Taeniopterinae, PlatyrJiyncliinae, Elaineinae, and Tyranninae.

The curved bill, varying in length and stoutness, is compressed
and bristly at the gape in the Taeniopterinae, hardly bristly in the
Elaineinae, depressed and decidedly bristly in the Platyrhynchinae
and Tyranninae ; while the culmen is most strongly hooked in the
larger species, being much curved in Oncostoma, particularly broad
and flat in PlatyrliyncJius, Megarliynclius, Muscivora, Todirostrum,
and Euscartlimus, swollen and very wide in RliyncJiocyclus. In
the first and last of the Sub-families the metatarsus is strong and
often long ; in the remainder it is comparatively weak ; Centrites
has an extremely elongated hallux, correlated with* Lark-like
habits. The wing is usually short, but is often long in the
Taeniopterinae and Tyranninae; the outer of the ten primaries are
at times acuminate in Tyrannus, Hapalocercus, Cnipolegus, and
Taenioptera, whereas in Colopterus and Alectrurus these quills are
unusually reduced. The secondaries are nine. The tail, normally
of twelve rectrices, varies much in length, and is very deeply forked
and graduated in Milvulus, Muscipipra, and three members of
Tyrannus, moderately divided in Contopus and certain species of
Taenioptera, and so forth ; it is not infrequently nearly square ;
while it is long and rounded in Capsiempis and the like ; long and
graduated, with only ten narrowly-barbed feathers in Culicivora: of
the same shape in Cybernetes ; and excessively reduced in Orchilus
ecaudatus. Copurus possesses two very long median rectrices ; the
male of Alectrurus tricolor has the two fairly long outer feathers
with their inner webs abnormally developed, and that of A. riso-
rius has them enormously lengthened and broadened.
1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. 1888.

474 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

The Taeniopterinae, which are generally black, grey, and white,
frequent the open parts of wooded districts, river-sides, or excep-
tionally marshes, in South America, a few of them extending north
of Panama ; the Elaineinae and Platyrhynchinae are olive, grey,
brown, and yellow, and inhabit dense forests from South Mexico to
Patagonia, Ornitliion imberbe ranging as far north as Texas ; the
Tyranninae — with many large species — normally exhibit olive, grey,
yellow, or white in varying proportions, and include most of the
Nearctic genera,such as Contopus,EmpidonaMtMyiarchust&n.di Tyran-
nus, as well as many Neotropical forms, and the entirely Antillean
Blacicus and Lawrencia. Erectile crests occur in some cases in Tyran-
nulus, Cnipolegus, Colopterus, Pseudotriccus, Lophotriccus, Machetor-
nis, Muscivora, Empidonax, Anaeretes, Mainea, PyrocepTialus, Myio-
bius, and Mitrephanes ; white eye-rings are found in EuscartTimus
zosterops, E. orbitatus, and Capsiempis orbitalis ; a fleshy yellow car-
uncle surrounds each eye in LicJienops ; and in the breeding male
ofAlectrurus risorius the throat and cheeks shew bare orange skin.

The following are examples of the coloration, which is often
similar in both sexes. Tyrannus pipiri, the King-bird of tem-
perate North America, ranging to Peru in winter, is dark grey,
with a concealed orange patch on the black crown, black and
white wings and tail, and white under parts. Pyrocepha2us
rulineus, of South America north of Buenos Aires, is dark
cinereous with crimson head and lower surface, the female being
grey above, and chiefly white below with grey stripes. Muscivora
regia of fruiana and Amazonia is brown, with a scarlet crest tipped
with purplish, and has ochraceous under parts with brownish bars.
The crest is yellower in the hen. Megarhynclius pitangua, of Central
and South America to Paraguay, is brown, with yellow lower
surface, a black head, white superciliary streaks joining on the nape,
a concealed orange coronal patch, and a white throat. Elainea
pagana, ranging from South Mexico to Brazil, is dull olive above,
and greyish-white below with yellow belly ; a spot on the crown
and two alar bars being white. Cyanotis azarae of La Plata, Chili,
and West Peru has bronzy-green upper and yellow lower surface,
with a partial black band beneath and a crimson vent ; the head
is black with a crimson spot, the wings and tail are black and
white. Todirostrum cinereum of Central America and eastern
South America is greyish above and yellow below, with black
crown, wings, and tail, the primaries having yellow edges and

TYRANNIDAE 4/5

the tail a white tip. Taenioptera dominicana, of South -East
Brazil and Argentina, is white with the wings and tail mainly
black ; Cnipolegus unicolor of Upper Amazonia is uniform black.
Tyrants are active and restless birds, chiefly met with near
rivers or marshes, where they are constantly seen sitting alone
on the branches of trees, bushes, dead thistles, and giant pampas-
grasses, or more rarely, as in the Chat-like Muscisaxicola, on
clods and boulders ; thence they dart, like Flycatchers, upon
their prey. Centrites frequents bare plains and loves the ground ;
Serpopliaga and Sayornis haunt streams, and flirt the tail like a
Wagtail ; Fluvicola, Alectrurus, and Cyanotis inhabit reed-beds, and
climb about the bending stems in Tit-like fashion ; the Taeniop-
terinae are mainly terrestrial, and often form flocks, Myiotheretes
running and flying like a Thrush, and even accompanying
bands of Plovers ; Machetornis searches the backs of cattle for
insects, and dusts itself like a Lark. Many members of the
family are decidedly shy, but the majority are otherwise, and
in especial the Tyranninae, which are excessively bold and pugna-
cious when breeding, attacking even the Carrion-Hawk (Milvago\
and bullying their smaller relatives. In a fair number of species the
sexes are usually observed apart ; in others they are as invariably
in company. The range extends to ten thousand feet or more in
the Andes, Muscisaxicola macloviana being found at that altitude,
as well as down to the sea-coast in Patagonia ; while in some cases
semi-migratory movements take place at certain times of year.
The powers of wing are commonly great, especially in the agile
King-bird and its congeners ; Taenioptera and Agriornis can fly as
well as hop ; Centrites, though of terrestrial habits, moves swiftly
or circles easily in the air ; Pitangus and Empidonax minimus
quarter the ground for food with undulating movements. Pyro-
cepJialus rubineus soars with upraised vibrating wings to a
considerable height, with many a rise and fall ; Alectrurus tricolor
goes slowly and vertically up with rapid pulsations of the pinions,
and then comes slanting down ; while the graceful Scissor-tail
(Milvulus) twists and turns about in the air, alternately opening
and shutting its long forked rectrices, or whirling aloft at will to
dart earthwards again like a rocket. The usual note is shrill,
piercing, and often harsh or angry, as in Tyrannus, Myiarchus, and
Machetornis ; it is loud, grating, and rarely mellow, in Pitangus
and Cylernetes ; a low plaintive whistle or pipe is uttered by

476 PASSERIFORMES

Myiotheretes, Cyanotis, and most of the Taeniopterinae, Sayornis
having a ringing cry, supposed to resemble "Phoebe," which name it
bears in North America, and Fluvicola and Cnipolegus giving vent
to clicking sounds. Many species twitter, chirp, or chatter, while
Pyroceplialus rubineus, Hapalocercus flaviventer, Ornithion imberbe,
Contopus ardesiacus, and Empidonax flaviventer are stated to have
a pleasant trill approaching a song. These notes may be uttered
by the birds either when soaring in the air or when stationary.
The food normally consists of insects, caught upon the wing with
an audible snap of the bill; but Taenioptera often, instead of
hawking from a perch, pounces upon crawling beetles, grasps
them in its claws, and devours them upon the earth. Pitangus
l}olivianus and some other forms even eat mice, young birds,

small snakes, lizards,
fishes, frogs, spiders,
molluscs, worms, and
insect -larvae, beating
the larger creatures
upon a branch to kill
them. Elainea strepera,
Myiarchus crinitus,
and some- species of
Tyrannus, will eat

5^ \^^^^ ""^ berries and seeds. A

bulky lies t is often fash-
ioned of rough twigs,
moss, grass, straws,
wool, hair, and rags ;
which may be open as
in Tyrannus, or domed
as in Pitangus lolivi-
anus,&n& placedin trees
in either case : or it may
be beautifully felted

FIG. 101. — Scissor-tail. Milvulus tyrannus. x f . J

with moss, lichens, and

spiders'-webs, and lined with hair and feathers, as in Mainea and
Serpophaga. Sayornis commonly makes a foundation of mud
pellets, adding coarse materials above with feathers for bedding, the
fabric being fixed to rocks or buildings. Again, many species build
slight or fairly compact nests of grass, twigs, and softer materials

vii OXYRHAMPHIDAE PIPRIDAE 477

in bushes, forks, or outgrowths of trees. Copurus, Taenioptera,
Maclietornis, and Myiarclius commonly use old holes of Wood-
peckers ; Todirostrum and Fluvicola often make hanging purse-like
structures ; Cyanotis attaches its conical nest of papery reeds to
the stems of those plants ; SerpopJiaga frequently suspends its
domicile to twigs, roots, or grasses overhanging water ; Alectrurus,
Lichenops, Hapalocercus, and Centrites build in rush- or grass-tufts,
and Muscisaxicola under stones. Taenioptera and Machetornis,
moreover, will lay in the " ovens " of Furnarius, or in the nests of
Anuinbius acuticaudus (pp. 486, 487). Muscivora mexicana
makes a curious hanging spindle-shaped nest, surrounded by
loose materials. , The eggs are usually whitish, salmon- or cream-
coloured, and may be unspotted, or dotted and ringed with red,
purple, or brown ; those of Pyroceplialus rubineus have black
and grey markings, those of Machetornis dense brown stripes or
spots, those of Myiarchus tangled purple or red-brown lines and
marblings, while those of Gentrites niger are plain bluish-green.

Fam. Y. Oxyrhamphidae. — The members differ from the Tyran-
nidae in the straight bill, and the serrated outer web of the tenth
primary of the male. The sole genus Oxyrliamphus has three
greenish forms, with red crests, and black-spotted yellow or white
lower parts.

Fam. VI. Pipridae. — The Manakins, often considered a sub-
section of the Cotingidae, are for the most part small thick-set
birds, though Heteropelma and some other genera have greater
dimensions. The seventy or more species may be divided into the
Sub-families, Piprinae, with brilliant males, and Ptilochlorinae,
where the sexes are usually dull -coloured and similar;1 the
former ranging from South Mexico to North Argentina, the
latter to South-East Brazil. The curved bill is generally short
and wide at the base in the Piprinae, with an indistinct terminal
notch ; but is somewhat elongated, much compressed, decidedly
notched, and usually provided with rictal bristles in the Ptilo-
chlorinae. The metatarsus is exaspidean (p. 473) — though nearly
smooth in Metopotlirix and Masius — and is comparatively slender
in most of the Piprinae, stronger in the Ptilochlorinae, Piprites,
and Ceratopipra ; the outer and mid-toes being partially united.
The exterior of the ten primaries is always short, while the wing
is much elongated in Chloropipo ; the secondaries are nine or ten.
1 Cf. Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. 1888, p. 282.

4/8

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

In the males of some forms the remiges differ from those of the
females; thus the shafts of the primaries are thickened and
pointed in Chiroxiphia, similar but incurved in Helicura and
Chiromachaeris, with much attenuated barbs in the latter ; in
Ptilochloris the seventh primary is modified and bends outwards.
In Machaeropterus the wing-bones are flattened ; the secondaries
have thick stems bending inwards towards the tip, and shew reduced
vanes, save the eighth and ninth, while the sixth and seventh have
the shaft terminally developed into a horny excrescence. The tail
is usually short and square, but is long in Chloropipo and Metopia,
rounded in the latter and Masius, graduated in Metopotlirix and
Heterocercus. The outer of the twelve feathers are much elongated
in Cirropipra, being acuminate in C. heterocerca, curved and filiform
in C.filicauda; the two median rectrices are lengthened in Helicura;
while in three species of Chiroxiphia they are also long, or even
linear in C. linearis. Frontal crests occur in Metopia, Masius,
and Metopotlirix ; vertical crests in Pipra serena, P. suavissima,
and four species of Chiroxiphia ; Ceratopipra has a peculiar ex-
tended nuchal tuft, Chiromachaeris an elongated beard.

As examples of coloration we may take the following : — Chloro-
pipo flavicapilla has a yellow head, neck, and under parts, a green

back, and brownish wings ; Xenopipo
atronitens is uniform black ; Cerato-
pipra cornuta, black with scarlet head,
neck, and thighs ; Cirropipra fili-
cauda similarly coloured, with yellow
forehead and lower surface. Pipra
leucocilla is black with a white
crown ; P. velutina has a blue cap,
P. suavissima an erect white vertical
crest, lilac rump, and orange mid-
abdomen. Machaeropterus regulus
exhibits green upper parts, a scarlet
crown, slaty wing- and tail -quills,
and white, green, and rufous under
surface. Chiroxiphia par eola is black,
with blue mantle and crimson crest ;
Chiromachaeris aurantiaca is also black, with orange nuchal band,
cheeks and breast, green rump, and yellow abdomen. The
females are green, with yellowish or whitish tints below. Ptilo-

FIG. 102. — Manakin. Pipra
mentalis. x .

vii COTINGIDAE 479

Moris squamata is in both sexes olive-green, with blackish cap
and wings, and yellowish under parts marked with black ; others
again of the Ptilochlorinae are chiefly olive or rufous,1 three species
of Heteropelma having concealed coronal patches of yellow.

Manakins as a rule inhabit deep forests, or thick undergrowth
near marshes, where they incessantly creep about the branches
like Tits, and take short flights after passing insects. Chiroxi-
phia caudata is called in Brazil the " Fandango-bird," from the
fact that one individual often sits and sings, while its fellows
dance up and down to the music. Two males of C. linearis
have been seen skipping before a female, and uttering meanwhile
their cry of " to-le-do." Chiromachaeris makes a sound like a whip
cracking, followed by a continuous rattle — possibly caused by the
wings ; but this noise seems peculiar to the genus, the usual cry
being loud and whistling. Fruits of all sorts, especially berries
and seeds, and occasionally insects, form the food. Chiromachaeris
manacus and Chiroxiphia caudata hang loose, shallow nests of
grass — the latter with slight additions of wool, hair, tendrils, and
leaves — from the forks of low shrubs ; the two eggs being reddish-
or yellowish-white, thickly blotched with red or brown.

Fam. VII. Cotingidae. — This group, divided by Mr. Sclater 2
into the Sub-families Tityrinae, Lipauginae, Attilinae, Rupicolinae,
Cotinginae, and Gymnoderinae, contains more than a hundred species;
but the Attilinae are sometimes placed in the Tyrannidae or the
Formicariidae, lodopleura and Calyptura in the Pipridae. The
range extends from South Mexico to Argentina, Carpodectes being
restricted to Costa Eica and Nicaragua, Phoenicocercus, Haemato-
derus, and Gymnocephalus to Guinea and Amazonia, Doliornis to
Central Peru, Tijuca, Phibalura, and Calyptura to South Brazil.

The bill varies from strong, elongated, compressed, and
curved, as in Tijuca, the Tityrinae and Attilinae, to short and
broad, as in Phibalura, Querula, and Chasmorliynchus ; the
culmen being particularly elevated in Gymnoderus, and much
hooked in the Attilinae. The metatarsus, scutellated in front,
and usually covered with small round scales behind (pycnas-
pidean), is especially strong in Pyroderus and Rupicola, partly
feathered in the latter, and posteriorly corrugated in Lipaugus ;
while Attila and other kindred forms have the outer toes some-

1 P. luckleyi has curious long filaments on the head of the young. Sclater and
Salvin, P.Z.S. 1880, p. 158. 2 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. 1888, p. 326.

480 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

what connected. The wings may be long, as in Carpodectes and
lodopleura, or short as in Phoenicocercus and Calyptura ; the
ten primaries, of which the outer is small, are much reduced
and twisted in Chirocylla — particularly in the male ; in that sex
of Rupicola some have the inner web cut away at the tip, while
the external secondaries have the outer vanes filamentous ; the
Tityrinae have the ninth primary abbreviated and often scimetar-
shaped ; the seventh has a terminal horny process in the male of
Phoenicocercus. The secondaries are ten or eleven. In Xipholena
the greater coverts are stiff and elongated. The tail of twelve
rectrices is usually moderate and square ; though very short in the
Cotinginae, long in Tijuca, deeply forked in Phibalura, and nearly
hidden by its coverts in Cotinga amabilis. Bristles surround
the gape in the Lipauginae and Attilinae, but vary elsewhere ;
Rupicola has a large compressed crest, Cephalopterus (Fig. 103),
one like an \m&TQ]\.a,, Phoenicocercus, Doliornis,Heliochera, Calyptura,
and Phibalura moderate tufts. "Wattles and naked areas occur in
Chasmorhynchus and Cephalopterus ; some species of Tityra have
the lores and orbits bare ; Gymnoderus has the sides of the head
and the whole neck, Gymnocephalus the entire head unfeathered.

The plumage is ordinarily plain rufous, green, or grey; the
females being nearly always dull, though many of the males are
very brilliant. Among these Tityra exhibits black and white hues,
Hadrostomus is chiefly grey or black, with a rosy band below in
three cases, Pachyrhamphus is green, black, yellow, rufous, or grey,
sometimes varied with white. Lathria streptophora has a pink
collar, Aulia irregular black spots below. Phoenicocercus carnifex
is dark brown, with scarlet crown, rump, most of the tail and
under parts ; Eupicola crocea, the well-known Cock of the Eock,
is bright orange, with brown and white wings and partly blackish
rectrices; Phibalura flavirostris is black and yellow with con-
cealed scarlet crest ; Tijuca is black, with yellow on the wing ;
Ampelion is green, relieved by brown, black, and yellow ; Pipreola
is green, with black, scarlet, yellow, or orange markings on the
throat or breast ; Cotinga exhibits splendid blue and purple
tints ; Xipholena pompadora has an unusual reddish-purple hue,
coupled with almost white wings. Carpodectes is snowy white,
with leaden-coloured or yellow bill ; Heliochera has black, grey,
white, or yellow coloration, with a chestnut crest ; lodopleura
shews a lilac tuft on each side of the breast ; and Calyptura

VII

COTINGIDAE 481

is chiefly greenish-yellow, with a scarlet, black-edged crest. Of
the peculiar Gymnoderinae, Haematoderus, which has elongated
head-, neck-, rump-, and breast-feathers, is crimson with brown
wings and tail, the female having brown on the back ; Querula is
dull black with a red collar of lengthened plumes ; Pyroderus is
black with crimson throat and fore-neck. Cephalopterus ornatus,
the Umbrella -bird, is entirely black, with a huge expanded
umbrella-like crest of bare-shafted incurved feathers, and a long

FIG. 103. — Umbrella-bird. Cephalopterus ornatus. x£.

flattened and feathered gular wattle ; C. penduliger has this append-
age extraordinarily long and cylindrical ; C. glabricollis a bare
orange throat with a terminal tuft on the red outgrowth. Chas-
morJiynchus niveus is white, with a spiral erectile process on the
forehead, thinly covered with white feathers : C. nudicollis has
the cheeks and throat naked and bristly, but lacks the excrescence;
C. variegatus is white, with a brown head, black wings, and bare
papillose throat ; C. tricarunculatus is chestnut, with a white
head bearing three caruncles, on the forehead and at the gape.
In this genus the females are green above and chiefly yellow
below. The bill may be orange or red in the Family, while Gym-
noderus alone has large white powder-down patches on the flanks.
VOL. ix 2 I

4^2 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

The habits of these woodland birds are comparatively little
known, but most of them frequent high trees, though some
prefer low bushes; such forms as Lipaugus and Heteropelma
haunt dense forests, Pipreola and PJiibalura more open situations,
while small flocks often occur at considerable elevations, Helio-
chera reaching ten thousand feet. Cephalopterus ornatus loves
islands in rivers, Chasmorhynclius and Xenopsaris marshy glades
or even sedge-growth. The flight, usually of short duration, is
heavy and noisy in Pipreola and elsewhere, Swallow-like in Phiba-
lura ; insects are often captured on the wing, and not only these
but spiders, molluscs, and even lizards, are occasionally sought
upon the ground. Berries, seeds, and the like, however, constitute

FIG. 104. — Bell-bird. Chasmorhynchus niveus. x ^. (From Waterton's Wanderings.)

the chief food. Cephalopterus and Uadrostomus, at least occa-
sionally, beat their prey upon a branch before swallowing it.
The members of this Family are usually somewhat shy and dull,
but the males of Rupicola were observed by Schomburgk to dance
in turn with outspread wings before an assembled flock, strut-
ting and parading with frequent leaps. This bird is credited
with a voice like a monkey ; Chasmorhynchus niveus is termed
Campanero or Bell -bird from its clear, bell -like note, uttered
with the caruncle erected, while its congeners have also ringing
cries ; Cephalopterus gives vent to long deep " lowings " at sunrise
and sunset. Tityra semifasciata utters frog-like sounds, Pacliy-
rhamphus a loud whistle, and other species notes resembling those
of Tanagers, Tyrants, or Wrens. Rupicola fastens a nest of mud,
surmounted by twigs and lined with moss, to projections of rocks

vii PHYTOTOMIDAE DENDROCOLAPTIDAE 483

in damp, sunless caves, laying two buff eggs with reddish-brown
and lilac spots ; Pyroderus orenocensis deposits similar eggs on
platforms of sticks placed in tree -forks ; Tityra semifasciata
lines holes in decayed limbs with dry grass to receive its white
eggs ; Hadrostomus niger, H. homochrous, and some species of
Pachyrhamphus, hang big nests of such materials as leaves,
plant-stalks and wool, with side entrances, from low branches ;
the two to four eggs, where known, being chocolate, faintly
marked or unspotted ; Phibalura fixes a cup of lichens in
the crotch of a large tree, laying twice annually two greenish-
blue eggs with neutral markings ; Cephalopterus is said to make
a rough nest of sticks ; and Pipreola riefferi to deposit pale
salmon-coloured eggs, sparingly spotted with reddish-brown.

Fam. VIII. Phytotomidae. — The Plant-cutters constitute a
single genus Phytotoma, of four Finch-like species, having strongly
serrated bills and pycnaspidean (p. 479) metatarsi. The primaries
number ten, the secondaries nine, the rectrices twelve. P. rara of
Chili is brown and black, with red crown and lower surface, white
margins to the wing-coverts, and red-banded lateral tail-feathers ;
the female has yellowish-brown under parts streaked with black,
and a brown crown. P. raimondii of North -West Peru is some-
what like, but has only a narrow red frontlet ; P. angustirostris
of Bolivia is greyer, with white on the secondaries and tail, arid
a browner breast ; the hen being chiefly greyish, with black stria-
tions above and spots below ; P. rutila of Argentina and North
Patagonia is very similar. Flocks or pairs of Plant-eaters are
found in dry open situations, the former often consisting solely
of the comparatively unsuspicious males ; they sit aloft on bushes,
but hide when alarmed. The flight is whirring with sudden
short undulations; the food consists of seeds and other fruits,
tender shoots, buds and leaves ; while the voice is decidedly
harsh, the alarm-note of the male resembles the bleating of a kid,
and the female's cry is cricket-like. The slight, shallow nest of
twigs and fibres is placed in thick bushes, and contains four
bluish-green eggs, flecked with brown. The birds are said to
cut plants off close to the ground without apparent object.

The four Families that follow are often classed as Tracheo-
plionae, and have loud voices owing to their tracheal syrinx (p. 22).

Fam. IX. Dendrocolaptidae. — This group, with over 200
species, occupies the Neotropical Region, excluding the Antilles,

484 PASSERIFORMES CHAP,

and is divided by Mr. Sclater l into the Sub-families Furnariinae,
Synallaxinae, Philydorinae, Sclerurinae, and Dendrocolaptinae.

The extremely variable bill is short and straight in Geolates
and Henicornis, Warbler-like in the Synallaxinae, stouter and
Shrike-like in the Philydorinae, extremely strong in Hylexetastes,
short and incurved in Xenerpestes and Pliacellodomus, short with
upturned genys in Glyphorhynchus, Xenops, and Pygarrliicus,
very long, thin, and decurved in Xiphorliynclius, very long, but
only slightly curved in Nasica, and so forth. It is much hooked
in Ancistrops. The endaspidean 2 metatarsus may be long and
slender, as in Sylviorthorhynchus ; stronger, as in the terrestrial
Furnariinae and Sclerurinae ; or shorter, as in the scansorial
Dendrocolaptinae, which usually have large toes and sharp claws.
The scales are almost obsolete in Furnarius and Lochmias ; the
outer and middle toes are partially connected in the Sclerurinae
and Dendrocolaptinae. The wings, which have ten primaries
and about nine secondaries, are long in Pseudocolaptes, moderate
in Xenerpestes, short and rounded in Lochmias, and frequently
decidedly abbreviated. The variable tail, normally of twelve
rectrices, is often graduated ; the shafts of the quills are
stiffened and spiny in the Sclerurinae and Dendrocolaptinae, the
latter of which climb and feed in Woodpecker fashion; in the
Synallaxinae it is generally long, with pointed but comparatively
soft feathers ; in the Philydorinae it is short, Anumbius having
particularly sharp rhachides. It is also short, though rounded,
in Xenerpestes, Coryphistera, and Limnophyes, similar but longer
in Clibanornis, while it has the shafts projecting beyond the vanes
in Homorus, Oxyurus, and Sittosomus. Scliizoeaca and Synallaxis.
have only ten rectrices, and Sylviorthorhynchus apparently pos-
sesses but six, the outer being very short and the inner
excessively long with narrow decomposed webs. Limnornis, at
least, has the tongue bristly towards the end.

The coloration is chiefly brown of various shades, often with
the tail chestnut — or, rarely, the body, as in Homorus; spots,
striations, or cross-bars, of white, fulvous, or black occur frequently,
and Margarornis has pearl-like markings below. The rump or
under parts may be white, and the throat occasionally exhibits
a black, rufous or yellow patch, or the breast a chestnut band ;
while black, rusty, brown, or grey caps are not uncommon, that of
1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. 1890, p. 3. 2 I.e. interiorly scutellated at the back.

viz DENDROCOLAPTIDAE 485

Siptornis albiceps being white. The bill may be red, or excep-
tionally the feet white, as in Furnarius leucopus. Crests are
found in F. cristatus, Synallaxis semicinerea, Corypliistera^tmdC^
Homorus. The sexes, as far as known, are similar. The large
Drymornis Iridgesi is over a foot long, but many forms are not
half that size, and most are comparatively small.

The habits are extremely diverse. Geositta cunicularia flits
along low and swiftly, like a Wheatear, with the tail in motion,
or crouches and runs before the pedestrian, uttering a note re-
sembling " piti-piti," varied by a ringing trill. It frequents bare

FIG. 105. — Nest of Oven-bird (Furnarius). x-J.

spots, and bores oblique tunnels in biscacha burrows, sandy banks,
or mud walls, ending in cavities lined with soft grasses, where it
lays live white eggs. The food consists of seeds, insects, and
their larvae, the bill being commonly used to dig. Lochmias
nematura fills a similar hole with a large-domed nest of twigs and
roots, lined with leaves, which contains two white eggs. The Oven-
birds (Furnarius) run or hop unconcernedly among the wayfarers
with the head thrown back, or pause with one foot uplifted ;
they utter incessant and loud, but not unmelodious, cries with
the beak outstretched, which are even heard at night.1 Worms,

1 Duets are said to be sung ; cf. Hudson Argentine Ornithology, i. 1888, p. 168.

486 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

insects and their larvae are sought upon the ground, and both
sexes incubate, the pairs keeping together throughout the year.
The curious nest (Fig. 105) is placed in exposed situations on
branches, in forks of trees or shrubs, on posts, rocks, or house-
roofs ; it has thick walls, almost unbreakable when dry, of clayey
mud and dung mixed with a little hair or dry grass, a lining of
the same materials underlying the three to five white eggs. This
massive structure has an inner chamber with an outer passage
running partly round it, and is generally the work of several
months, the materials being only procurable in damp weather.
The above refers at least to Furnarius cinnamomeus, F. minor,
and F. rufus (the-" Hornero " or Baker); but White1 states that
F. figulus builds a stick nest, and E. Bartlett 2 that F. torridus
deposits four creamy white eggs on twigs and bents in holes in
banks. Upucerthia, resembling Geositta in general habits, ranges
to an altitude of nine thousand feet. The lively Cinclodes recalls
both the Wheatear and the Dipper, as it runs with upturned tail
from stone to stone, takes short, low nights, or hunts for crusta-
ceans, molluscs, and insects in the water, equally happy on the
streams of the Andes, or the desolate lake-sides of Patagonia. The
note is a sharp trill, while three white eggs are laid on a bed of
grass and fur in holes. Sclerurus frequents damp forests, scratch-
ing among the leaves, and crouching, when startled, on some trunk.
Phloeocryptes flies weakly, but hops actively about reed-beds in
pursuit of flies, uttering reiterated grating notes ; it attaches its
Wren-like nest of grass or rushes and mud, lined with feathersr
moss and hair, to a few of the reed-stems, and builds a projection
over the entrance. The two or three oval eggs are glossy blue. The
shrill- voiced Leptasthenura clings to the branches in search of insects
like a Tit, and lays from three to six pointed white eggs on soft
materials in holes in trees, sometimes utilizing nests of Furnarius
rufus, Siptornis sordida, and other species. Synallaxis, usually seen
in pairs searching for food upon the bushes, has a persistent harsli
double call or a cat-like cry ; it forms a loose, oval structure, which
would fill an ordinary wheel-barrow, of thorny sticks and twigs in
forks of trees, lining it with hair, feathers, woolly leaves, and the like,
and often capping it with more leaves. This generally possesses a
lower chamber connected by a vertical or horizontal passage with
the entrance, itself protected by a tubular fabric; while more than

1 P.Z.S. 1882, p. 609. 2 Op. cit. 1873, p. 268.

VII

DENDROCOLAPTIDAE 487

one nest is often found in the same tree. The three or four eggs
are pale greenish-blue or whitish. Siptornis sordida appears to
have similar habits, but several of its congeners run like mice ;
or conceal themselves in herbage or holes, the marsh -loving
species uttering very whirring notes. S. sulphur if era fabricates
a domed nest of grass among rushes, and lays two white eggs ;
that of S. maluro'ides is open, and lined with feathers and wool,
though the site is similar; that of £ striaticeps resembles the
last-mentioned, but is placed in a tree-fork and contains four or
five white eggs. S. hudsoni arches the grass over a hollow in
the ground in open spots, and deposits five pale buff eggs on
a little powdered dung; its flight is Pipit -like, and its cry
melancholy. Phacellodomus, usually found in hot dry valleys, is
sluggish, and has a shrill, harsh voice ; the nest, containing four
white eggs, being hung from the end of a branch, and recalling
that of Synallttxis. Xenops, Sittosomus, Picolaptes, XipTiorTiynchus,
Pseudocolaptes, and many other forms are denizens of damp
forests, and run up the tree- trunks spirally like Creepers, search-
ing for prey and tapping the bark as Woodpeckers do ; the
cries are plaintive or noisy, and the white eggs, apparently two
in number, are laid in holes. Large insects are sometimes
battered upon the branches. Anwnibius acuticaudus, the " Thorn-
bird " or " Firewood Gatherer," makes a bulky nest some two
feet high of thorny sticks, and places it in isolated trees. From
an entrance near the top a spiral or zigzag passage leads to a
lower cavity lined with grass, hair, feathers, and wool, where five
pointed white eggs are deposited ; while sometimes an upper
roosting chamber is added. This bird utters ticking chirps or
trills, and feeds mainly upon the ground, regaining the branches
with difficulty. Homorus lophotes, the " Cachalote," with its
strikingly white eyes and blue beak, haunts plains with scattered
trees or bushes, being decidedly shy and quick of foot, though
weak of flight ; it eats insects, and' turns up the earth with
its bill or claws. Easping cries are often emitted in concert ;
while the nest — even larger than that of Anumbius — is a loose
mass of similar structure, placed on some low branch or in a
bush, the three or four white eggs occasionally shewing through
the bottom. Drymornis, again, has Woodpecker -like habits,
whereas Limnornis and Limnophyes creep about dense reed-beds,
and only appear now and then to utter jarring or chattering sounds.

488 PASSERIFORMES : FORMICARIIDAE CHAP.

Fam. X. Formicariidae. — The so-called "Ant-birds" — not
known to live on ants — are plentiful in the forests of northern South
America, whence the numbers decrease to Central America, Chili
and Argentina. Of the two hundred or more species none inhabit
the Antilles, but three occur in Trinidad and one in Tobago. Mr.
Sclater l allows as provisional Sub-families the strong Thamnophil-
inae, the weaker Formicariinae, and the long-legged Grallariinae.

The beak is strong, compressed, hooked, and terminally toothed
in the Thamnophilinae, being exaggerated in Batara, large and
swollen in Cymbilaniu&,8aid exceptionally hooked in the former genus
and Pygoptila ; CymMlanius, Neoctantes, and Clytoctantes have
the genys upturned. In the Formicariinae the bill is weaker
and but slightly hooked, being very long and thin in Rhamplio-
caenus ; in the Grallariinae it is usually elevated and compressed,
though broad in Pittasoma. The taxaspidean metatarsus (p. 471)
is moderate or short in the Thamnophilinae, and remarkably long
in the G-rallariinae, where it may be very strong, as in Pittasoma ;
among the Formicariinae it is short and thick in Ehopoterpe and
Formicivora, long and thin in Psilorliamplius and Formicarius,
and so forth. In Phlogopsis, Psilorhamphus, MJiampliocaenus,
Jfeterocnemis, Myrmeciza, Hypocnemis, Pithys, and Gymnopitliys
the scutes are nearly fused. The outer and middle toes are joined
towards the base. The wings, which have ten primaries and
nine secondaries, are normally short and rounded, though longer
in Rhopoterpe ; the tail is commonly long and broad in the
Thamnophilinae, varies greatly in the Formicariinae, and is very
short and square in the Grallariinae. It may be rounded or
graduated in the first two Sub-families, and Terenura has it
remarkably thin ; Cercomacra, Formicivora caudata, and F. ferru-
ginea have only ten rectrices in place of the usual twelve.
Thamnomanes has well-developed rictal bristles, RhampJiocaenus
has the nostrils in a groove and partly covered by a membrane.

The sexes are similar, and mainly reddish-brown, in RJiampTio-
caenus, Phlogopsis, and the Grallariinae ; but generally the males
are black and white, black, grey and brown, or uniform black ;
and the females ferruginous, more or less relieved by black and
white. Cross-bars, spots, and striations are not uncommon,
the white often shewing as a band on the tail, an edging to the
wing-coverts, or exceptionally, as in Pygoptila margaritata, as
1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. 1890, p. 177.

VII

CONOPOPHAGIDAE 489

round spots on both wing and tail ; while the yellowish lower parts
of Myrmotherula pygmaea, Herpsiloclimus rufanarginatus and three
species of Terenura exhibit the brightest tints found in the Family.
Black or dark-hued caps are not infrequent ; crests occur in Batara,
Pithy s, and many members of Thamnophilus ; the rump-feathers
.are often dense and elongated, as in Thamnistes, Pygoptila,
Chamaeza, Cercomacra, and Thamnomanes ; those of the flanks are
much developed in Thamnocharis ; those of the lores are short
and erect in Pyriglena. Bare red or bluish orbits are found occa-
sionally ; Gymnocichla has most of the head naked and blue ; and
the irides may be red, white, or brown. Batara is quite fourteen
inches long, Myrmotherula pygmaea about three.

The usually shy and retiring Formicariidae either skulk among
•dense undergrowth in hot tropical forests, or frequent more culti-
vated districts ; they creep about silently, singly or in pairs, seek-
ing spiders, insects and their larvae, on the twigs and foliage of
trees, or on parasitical plants or grasses; while they habitually keep
near the ground, though sometimes joining flocks of other birds
in their higher flights. Many carefully search the lower surface of
the leaves for food with the head downwards, and occasionally eat
seeds. The Grallariinae appear to be entirely, and the Formi-
cariinae to a great extent terrestrial, hops being the characteristic
mode of progress ; the tail is commonly carried erect or in motion,
as in the case of Formicarius, and is often much abraded by
the thorny thickets. Thamnophilus albinuchalis and some other
species choose dry -situations, but generally the vicinity of water
is preferred. The ordinary note in the Family is deep and
powerful, and is said to have the effect of ventriloquism ; it con-
sists of monotonously repeated sounds, like ke-ke-ke or ko-ko-ko,
varied by more rasping tones or trills. The nest, a slight shallow
structure, generally hung from the lower twigs of a tree or bush, is
composed of straws, fibres, roots, and hair, or occasionally of leaves,
moss, and wool ; it contains two or three white, bluish, or rufous-
brown eggs, usually spotted, streaked, or zigzagged with red-brown,
but more rarely with grey.

Fam. XL Conopophagidae. — These curious birds, and their
equally remarkable allies the Pteroptochidae, differ from all other
Passeres in having two incisions posteriorly on each side of the
sternum. The Conopophagidae , extending from Colombia to Bolivia
and Brazil, include the genus Conopophaga and probably Coryth-

490 PASSERIFORMES PTEROPTOCHIDAE CHAP..

opis. The head is large, the bill depressed in the first-named,
longer and more compressed in the last ; the exaspidean meta-
tarsus (p. 473) is thick and long in the one, with broad curved hind-
claw, but is thinner, with straighter and weaker hallux, in the other.
The outer and middle toes are basally connected. The wings are
moderate and rounded, as in the next .Family ; the tail is very short
in Conopophaga, which has long, lax rump-feathers. The general
coloration is brown, with a white mark behind the eye in the last-
named genus ; the head may be black, or chestnut with black sides ;
the throat black ; the breast banded with chestnut, black or grey ; or
the central abdomen white. Corythopis has black striations below.

Fam. XII. Pteroptochidae. — This group ranges from Costa
Eica to Patagonia, occurring up to an altitude of nine or ten
thousand feet. The bill is comparatively long and thin in Scyta-
lopus and Merulaxis, stronger in Liosceles, Pteroptochus, Hylactes,.
and EMnocrypta, being much arched in the last-named ; the
culmen expands into a peculiar oval plate in Acropternis and Trip-
torhinus ; while a membrane partially covers the nostrils. The
taxaspidean metatarsus (p. 471) is generally elongated and strong,
with long claws, the hallux being long and incurved in Hylactes,.
and similar but straighter in Acropternis; the whola foot is shorter
in Rhinocrypta, more slender in Pteroptochus , while the scutes are
fused in front in Liosceles. The short, rounded wings have ten
primaries and eight secondaries ; the tail varies in length, and
may be graduated, as in Merulaxis and Acropternis, or short and
more even, as in Triptorliinus. Hylactes has , fourteen rectrices
in place of twelve. The colour is blackish, dark grey, or brown,
often barred or scalloped with black ; the crown, rump, breast, or
belly are at times chestnut or rufous, the lower parts varied with
white, or even banded with orange. Merulaxis has long, stiff
loral plumes, RJiinocrypta lanceolata a crest, and several forms
elongated rump-feathers. In Acropternis the back and abdomen
are ocellated with white. The sexes are nearly similar.

These peculiar birds are commonly shy and retiring, hopping
actively about with erect tails, or running like mice, but rarely fly-
ing, except between the boughs and the ground. They are decidedly
difficult of observation, though they follow up the pedestrian under
cover, betraying their position by their scolding cries. Many
species, such as Hylactes tarnii, the " Guid-guid," Pteroptochus
rubecula, the " Cheu-can," and Triptorhinus paradoxus, the " Chen-

vii MENURIDAE 49 1

gui/' inhabit damp, gloomy forests ; others often frequent dry
plains, or stony and bushy hill-sides, as H. megapodius, " El Turco,"
and P. albicollis, the " Tapaculo " ; while Scytalopus magellanicus
prefers thick woods, but also haunts grass-lands in the Falkland
Islands. Rhinocrypta lanceolata, the " Gallito," or Little Cock,
lives in thickets and hedges, and struts in the open like a Fowl.
The food, chiefly obtained upon the ground, consists of insects,
seeds, and buds. The noisy and generally harsh notes vary con-
siderably, Hylactes tarnii yelping like a dog, PteroptocJius albicollis
sometimes uttering a sound like a coo, Triptorhinus paradoxus a
reiterated frog-like croak, Rliinocrypta lanceolata a hollow chirrup
or a scolding cry. The nest, commonly situated near the ground,
is said in some cases to be made of sticks ; Rhinocrypta forms a
domed structure of grass in a bush, and lays four eggs ; Scytalopus
magellanicus is recorded as using a mass of moss upon a bank to
contain its set of two ; Hylactes and PteroptocJius are reported to
nest in burrows. The eggs are white, at least in the first three.

2. PASSERES DIACROMYODAE.
C. Suboscines.

This group contains only the two Families Menuridae (Lyre-
birds) and Atrichornithidae (Scrub-birds), each with one genus,
Menura and Atrichornis respectively. The former possesses three
pairs of vocal muscles, the latter only two pairs ; * Menura, more-
over, has a peculiarly long sternum, constricted towards the
middle, while Atrichornis has but rudimentary clavicles, being
thus unique among the Passerine forms.

Fam. I. Menuridae. — Lyre-birds have a stout bill ; very long
and powerful metatarsi, with robust elongated straight claws; and
somewhat short rounded wings, with eleven primaries and ten
secondaries. The tail has sixteen rectrices, and in the males of
two species has the exterior pair of feathers curved like a lyre,
with very narrow outer and very broad inner webs; the next
six pairs have very distant barbs and no barbules, except towards
the base ; while the two median plumes have narrow inner and
no outer webs, and after crossing below, curve boldly outwards.
The tongue is sagittate, the furcula U-shaped, the after-shaft
rudimentary ; the adults have no down. M. superba of New South
Wales and South Queensland, some thirty -three inches long, is
1 Some Oscines have as many as seven pairs, but Sphcnoeacus has only three.

492

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

dull brown, with a slaty tinge above, and more rufous throat,
wings, and tail-coverts ; while the outer rectrices exhibit regular
notch-like transparent or blackish markings on the chestnut inner
webs, caused by the absence of barbules. The na^ed orbits are

FIG. 106. — Lyre-Bird. Menura superba. x ^.

bluish or lead-coloured. The female has a long, broad, normal tail,
the median feathers exceeding the rest. M. victoriae, of Victoria,
is darker, with more boldly marked outer rectrices. M. alberti, of
Queensland, and the Eichmond and Clarence Eiver districts of
New South Wales, is redder above, and has the tail less lyrate,
the outer feathers being shorter, with no transparent notches.

vii ATRICHORNITHIDAE 493

Lyre-birds haunt precipitous sandy gullies in thick forests
with tangled undergrowth, whether inland or near the coast ;
and, though able to fly, live chiefly upon the ground, whence they
leap, when scared, to branches even ten feet high. They run
with the tail horizontal, and scratch among fallen leaves for insects
• — especially coleoptera — myriapods, worms, and molluscs ; the
solitary individuals or pairs which are usually observed being
particularly shy. Each cock has a walk or playground, and scrapes
little hillocks or hollows for dancing places, where he struts or
pirouettes with erect tail and drooping wings, scratching, pecking,
and singing at intervals. Apparently, however, he is not poly-
gamous. The normal cry is a loud, liquid, gurgling sound ; but the
"Pheasants," as the Colonists term them, are clever mockers, imitat-
ing a cock's crow, a hen's cackle, a dog's bark or howl, the Laughing
Jackass's note, or even the setting of a saw. The tail-feathers are
said to be shed after breeding, and to be fully developed only by the
fourth year, when males begin to sing. The oval, domed nests,
placed on ledges of cliffs, on tops of old stumps, in forks of trees, or
by fallen logs, are loose bulky masses of sticks, bark, grass, leaves,
ferns, and moss, lined with roots and the bird's feathers. The one
large egg has a stone-grey, brown, or dark purple ground-colour,
blotched, dotted, and streaked with purplish or blackish-brown.
The chicks are said to be covered with black down in M. victoriae,
white in M. allerti, and brownish in M. superba ; and to remain
six weeks in the nest. The hen sits with her tail curled side-
ways or forwards. The flesh is dark, tough, and unpalatable.

Fam. II. Atrichornithidae. — Atrichornis has a large bill ;
moderate scutellated metatarsi ; extremely short wings with eleven
primaries, the outer of which is very small, and some eight second-
aries ; and a long, broad, graduated tail with twelve rectrices.
The tongue is sagittate, the aftershaft rudimentary, and no down
is present on adults. A. clamosa of Western Australia, about
eight and a half inches in length, is brown above, barred with
dusky, and reddish-white below, with a black pectoral patch ;
A. rufescens of New South Wales has the lower parts like the
upper. The females appear to be unknown. These very shy
birds haunt dense scrub, or grassy and bushy tracts,. being very
difficult of observation ; they mimic the notes of other species
cleverly, and also utter a peculiar noisy cry. They scratch in
the ground, probably for insect-food.

494 PASSERIFORMES

D. Oscines.

Of this group, or the true singing birds, the anatomy is even
less worked out than that of the Suboscines, and consequently
the relationships are in many cases extremely doubtful. • The
Hirundinidae stand distinctly apart, with no other Families
near them, though some similarity of habits, and possibly of
structure, may be recognised in certain Muscicapidae (especially
if Artamus be. included among them), and to a less extent in
a, few Sturnidae ; yet almost as much resemblance may be
perceived in some Tyrannidae, which (not being Oscinine) can
have no affinity to the Hirundinidae. The likeness is therefore
probably one of analogy only, and, if so, of no taxonomic value.
Here again it must be stated that the Oscines hardly attain more
than the rank of a Family, and that in the Passeriformes the
" Families " have not the same value as in the foregoing Orders.

The Alaudidae are generally recognisable by the casing of
their metatarsi (p. 496), but in other respects they seem to shew an
affinity to the Motacillidae (Anthinae) on the one hand, and to
the Fringillidae on the other. The wing-characters, on which
reliance was formerly placed, prove to be wholly untrustworthy.

As to the rest of the " Families " of Oscines, it is impossible
to indicate their probable relations by placing them in sequence,
'or even at present to group more than a few of them with any
degree of assurance. Some have not yet been denned at all, and
few of them sufficiently for anyone to be confident as to their
limits. Thus in the Muscicapidae hardly any two systematic
ornithologists will agree as to which genera should be included
and which excluded. If restricted to Old World forms, there is
still no defined boundary between them and the CampepJiagidae,
while there is perhaps even less distinction between them and
the Sylviidae (or Sylviinae, if these last be included among the
Turdidae). Moreover, by some taxonomers the Mniotiltidae have
been referred to the Muscicapidae, and though there is an obvious
distinction between them in the number of the primaries, the
instance of the Alaudidae (already mentioned) shews that this
may be of .very slight importance.

Some other " Families " may perhaps be grouped with less
risk of error. The Troylodytidae, Certhiidae, Sittidae and
Paridae are possibly such ; but the limits of the last-named are

OSCINES 495

certainly not laid down, and it would be hard to give a good
reason either for admitting or refusing to admit into it genera
like Lioihrix or Chamaea, while the puzzle is still greater in
regard to some forms from Australia and New Zealand.

The two latest writers on the subject, Dr. Gadow and Pro-
fessor Newton, abstain from offering any scheme of Classification of
the Oscines, the latter limiting himself to the declaration, already
•expressed by the late W. K. Parker, that the Corvidae should
stand as the highest group. As regards their predecessors it will be
enough here to enumerate the " Families " in the order in which
they were arranged by Dr. Stejneger1 in 1885, and Dr. Sharpe 2
in 1891; the scheme of the last author, however, being reversed
to harmonize with the plan of the present volume, in which the
lower groups are assigned priority. The order of Dr. Stejneger,
which is based on both anatomy and morphology, is that subse-
quently followed, but his Families are not invariably adhered to.

DR. STEJNEGER.

DR SHARPE.

Alaudidae.

Hirundinidae.

Motacillidae.

Muscicapidae.

[H]Enicu ridae.

Campophagidae.
Pycnonotidae

± imaiiidae.

Timeliidae.

Leiotrichidae.

Mimidae.

Muscicapidae.

Troglodytidae.

Turdidae.

Cinclidae.

Cinclidae.

Turdidae.

Troglodytidae.
Chamaeidae ?

Sylviidae.
Vireonidae.
Ampelidae.

Mimiaae .

Artamidae.

Hirundinidae.

Laniidae.

Campephagidae.

Regulidae.

Dicruridae.

Paridae.

Ampelidae.

Zosteropidae.

Artamidae ?

Dicaeidae.

Laniidae.

Nectar iniidae.

Vireonidae ?

Meliphagidae.

Paridae.

Certhiidae.
Mnio'tiltidae.

Oriolidae.

Motacillidae.

Paradiseidae.

Alaudidae.

Corvidae.

Fringillidae.

Sturnidae.

Coerebidae.

1 Stejneger, Standard Natural History, iv. 1885.
Sharpe, A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds, 1891 (2nd Ornitli. Congress).

496 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

DR. STEJNEGER. DR. SHARPE.

Meliphagidae. Tanagridae.

Nectariniidae. Ploceidae.

Dicaeidae. Icteridae.

Certhiidae. Oriolidae.

~ , . 7 Dicrundae.

Coerebidae. „ .,

Eunicerotidae.

Mn^ot^lt^dae. Eulabetidae.

Tanagridae. Sturnidae.

Ploceidae. Ptilonorhynchidae.

Icteridae. Paradiseidae.

Fringillidae. Corvidae.

As regards structure, the Oscines have one posterior incision
or fenestra on each side of the sternum ; the furcula is U-shaped ;
the tongue is variable, as is the syrinx (pp. 13, 21, 22, 467) ; the
nostrils may be pervious or impervious ; an after-shaft is nearly
always present, though comparatively weak ; down occurs sparingly
on the blind young, and is absent, or only found on the unfeathered
spaces, in adults. The primaries number ten or eleven ; the second-
aries nineteen, twenty, or even more; the rectrices normally twelve.
The form of the bill, wings, and tail are discussed under the
different Families ; the metatarsus exceptionally is smooth in front,
but is ordinarily scutellated, while behind it is smooth and generally
compressed, except in the Alaudidae, which, having it scutellated
posteriorly, are termed scutelliplantar, as opposed to laminiplantar
(with one horny growth behind). The hallux is the strongest toe.

Of fossil forms of Oscines, Osteornis (Protornis) of the Lower
Eocene of Glarus in Switzerland may be Passerine ; Palaegithalus
(Sylviinae) and Laurillardia (Sturnidae) have been found in the
French Upper Eocene ; Palaeospiza (Fringillidae) in the Oligocene
of Colorado ; Motacilla, Turdus, Lanius, Corvus, Fringilla, and
Loxia in the French Miocene or in the Breccia of Italy; Scolephagus
and Corvus in the Pliocene of Oregon ; Palaeocorax in the Chatham
Islands ; an extinct Foudia (Fringillidae) in Beunion.

Fam. I. Alaudidae. — The Larks inhabit the Palaearcticr
Indian, and Ethiopian Eegions, only one genus (Otocorys}, with
many races, being found in America, and one (Mirafra) in the
Australian Eegion. Of the former, 0. peregrina occurs as far
south as Bogota, while the latter is found in Australia and Flores.
M. hova is peculiar to Madagascar, M. javanica to Borneo and
Java, Spizilauda deva to India. Alauda arvensis, the Sky-Larkr
and Lullula arborea, the Wood-Lark, alone breed in Britain : but
Otocorys alpestris, the Shore-Lark, is a regular winter-visitor

vii ALAUDIDAE 497

to our shores; while Galerita cristala, the Crested Lark, Calandrella
brachydactyla, the Short-toed Lark, and Melanocorypha sibirica,
the White-winged Lark, occur occasionally. The Sky-Lark has been
introduced into Long Island, N.Y., Australia, and New Zealand.

The bill is long and curved in Certhilauda and Alaemon, shorter
and slender in Alauda, similar but more robust in Galerita, abbrevi-
ated and conical in Calandrella, Pyrrhulauda, and Melanocorypha,.
and extraordinarily stout in Rhamphocorys, with a gap between the
maxilla and mandible. The metatarsus is elongated, and may be
more slender as in Certliilauda, or stouter as in Galerita and Melano-
corypha ; the hind-claw is generally much lengthened and straight,
but may be short and curved, as in Calandrella, Pyrrhulauda,,

Fia. 107. — Sky- Lark. Alauda arvensis. x \.

and Alaemon. The wing varies much in length, many forms
having the outer primary almost aborted, though in Mirafra and
elsewhere it is of fair size ; the inner secondaries are nearly as long
as the primaries in Calandrella. The tail is moderate or short,
and may be rounded, nearly square, or emarginate. The normal
coloration is light-brown with darker longitudinal streaks, the
under parts being whitish and frequently spotted anteriorly ; desert
forms, however, often have uniform pale buff or rufous plumage —
for example, Galerita isabellina and Ammomanes. Melanocorypha
yeltoniensis is nearly black in the male ; others of the same genus
have a black gorget ; the black-cheeked Rhamphocorys, Alaemon
alaudipes and Melanocorypha sibirica exhibit white wing-patches ;
while Otocorys has a projecting black tuft on each side of the
occiput, black cheeks, lores, and bands on the crown and breast, the
VOL. ix 2 K

49 8 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

rest of the face and throat, or even the lower parts, being yellowish.
Tephrocorys cinerea and Mirafra apiata have a rufous crown and
breast respectively. Pyrrhulauda is chiefly black below, and varies
above from grey to chestnut, relieved by black and white. Ordinarily
the sexes in Larks are similar. Crests are not uncommon.

Certhilauda, Alaemon, arid Ammomanes inhabit deserts or arid
plains, Alaudula raytal frequents sandy islets, and Otocorys often
selects uplands ; but most forms only require open country, being
chiefly ground-birds and seldom found near woods. Lullula, how-
ever, loves heaths and the outskirts of copses, and Mirafra bushy
spots. Larks often flock together, and are not usually shy, since
they will even enter villages; the desert species are particularly
quick runners, while the flight is exceptionally weak in Ammo-
manes, Calandrella, and some others, though as a rule sufficiently
strong. Perching is not an uncommon habit, Lullula and Mirafra
habitually settle on trees or tall bushes, and several forms squat
to avoid detection. In general dusting takes the place of washing.
The food consists of insects and their larvae, seeds, worms, small
molluscs, crustaceans, or even berries. Most Larks soar while
uttering their pleasing trills, and plaintive calls are often heard ;
Lullula has a more flute-like song, Pyrrhulauda utters a shrill
chirp. Galerita cristata and Melanocorypha calandra imitate other
birds successfully when caged. The cup-shaped nest of bents,
lined with finer grasses, fibres, or hair, is placed in herbage or in
some depression in the soil — wool, cotton, rags, or even sticks
being exceptionally added ; but two or three species of Mirafra
build a domed structure, occasionally placed on bare rocks or roofs
of houses. The eggs are generally whitish, closely spotted or
zoned with purplish-grey or brown ; some specimens, however,
are thickly freckled with yellowish or marked with reddish. The
number varies from two in Pyrrhulauda, and about three in Am-
momanes, to five, six, or even seven. Both sexes incubate in some
cases, while two or more broods are often reared in the season.
Thousands of Sky-Larks are netted annually for the table.

Fam. II. Motacillidae. — This group comprises the Sub-
families Motacillinae, or Wagtails, and Anthinae or Pipits. The
bill is thin and more or less elongated, with a slight notch,
the culmen being decidedly curved in Oreocorys. The metatarsus
is very long in Wagtails, variable but shorter in Pipits ; it is
usually slender, with the hind claw well developed and slightly

MOTACILLIDAE

499

curved ; though it is stout, with very long hallux, in Macronyx,
Xanthocorys, and Neocorys. The wing is commonly elongated and
pointed, with the inner secondaries reaching nearly to the end of
the primaries, but it is shorter and more rounded in some species
of Anthus. The tail is very long in Wagtails, but moderate
in Pipits, being generally somewhat emarginate.

Wagtails range over the Old World, but are lacking in
Australia and Polynesia ; two species extend to the extreme

FIG. 108. — Yellow Wagtail. Motacilla raii. x §. (From Natural History of Selborne.)

north-west of America, one is accidental in Greenland, and one
is restricted to Madagascar. Pipits are almost cosmopolitan,
though not found in Polynesia ; only two forms, however, inhabit
North America, while one is peculiar to New Zealand, and
another to Australia; Anthus ~bogotensis is exclusively Andean,
A. antarcticus occurs in South Georgia, A. lertheloti occupies
Madeira and the Canaries.

Wagtails are generally black and white, grey and white, grey
with yellow breast (or even head), greenish with yellow lower

5<DO PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

parts and greyish or black heads, or almost entirely yellowish.
Most Pipits are brown above, with dark streaks, and light edges
to the feathers, and are buff, whitish, or rufous below, with tri-
angular brown spots. The outer rectrices are usually more or less
white, as are sometimes part of the others. Limonidromus, how-
ever, is an olive-brown Wagtail with two black crescentic marks
below, Anthus Moris a Pipit with a yellow patch on the breast.
A. rosaceus has yellow axillaries ; A. tenellus, has the wings, tail,
cheeks, and under surface chiefly yellow, with a black pectoral
band. The curious genus Macronyx, to its mainly brown colora-
tion adds orange, yellow, or pink lower parts with a black gorget,
while it shews a marvellous resemblance in other respects to Stur--
nella (p. 580) — M. crocea to S. magna, M. ameliae to S. defilippii.
The bill and feet are usually black in Wagtails ; the former is
brown, with paler mandible and yellowish gape in Pipits, where
the feet are brown, yellowish, or reddish. The females are duller,
and in the Motacillinae the young are usually browner.

Wagtails frequent streams arid stagnant waters, as in the case of
the Pied, White, and Grey Wagtails, Motacilla lugulris, M. alba,
and M. melanope ; or they haunt fields of corn and meadows, as
in the Blue-headed and Yellow Wagtails, M. flava and M. raii.
All the above breed in Britain, but the White and Blue-headed
species rarely. The Grey and the Yellow Wagtails both have yellow
breasts, but the former has a grey, the latter an olive, back.

Pipits prefer open places with rough herbage, as for instance
the Meadow-Pipit, Antkus pratensis ; rocky shores, as the Rock-
Pipit, A. olscurus ; or open parts of woods and banks, as the
Tree-Pipit, A. trimalis. These nest commonly with us, while the
Red-throated Pipit, A. cervinus, the Tawny Pipit, A, campestris,.
Richard's Pipit, A. richardi, and the Water -Pipit, A. spipolettar
visit us occasionally. Flocks are rarely seen, but a few individuals
often congregate on the sea-beaches in winter ; the flight is easy,
though jerky, and not protracted; that of Wagtails being distinctly
undulating. Neocorys soars like a Sky-Lark, and the Tree-Pipit in
particular hovers above his perch while singing. The songs of the
last-named, and of Motacilla vidua are more Finch-like ; that of
Neocorys Lark-like ; those of other species shrill, and less frequent
than their repeated call- or alarm-note of chit-chit (Pipits) or
chis-sic (Wagtails). The food consists of seeds, insects, worms,
small molluscs and crustaceans, usually procured upon the ground,.

vii HENICURIDAE TIMELIIDAE 50 1

Wagtails hunting for flies round cattle, and being very commonly
seen wading. Pipits make their nests almost entirely of grass,
Anihus correndera and A. rufulus occasionally adding an over-
arching cover ; Wagtails use moss, grass, and roots, with a bedding
of hair and feathers. The four to six eggs are bluish white or
brownish, with grey, blackish, or brown spots in the Pied Wag-
tail and its similarly coloured allies, yellowish-white with yellowish
and greenish-brown markings in others of the Sub-family ; in
Pipits they are commonly greyish or yellowish- white with brown
and grey mottlings, sometimes covering the whole shell ; while in
the Tree-Pipit they vary from grey with dark brown spots and
streaks to reddish-white, with rich brown, claret-colour, or bright
red markings or close frecklings. A black line or two is a com-
mon feature throughout the Family. Wagtails choose for nesting
sites ledges of rocks, crevices, holes in trees or walls, tops of
pollarded willows, stony banks, or — in the Yellow Wagtail group
—hollows in the soil among herbage. Pipits prefer the ground,
or even spots shaded by trees, as in the Tree-Pipit.

Fam. III. Henicuridae. — The Fork-tails, a group of doubtful
affinity, generally placed near the Motacillidae, extend from the
Himalayas and the hills of South and West China to Burma and
the Great Sunda Islands, one of the species — some dozen in number
— reaching Samarcand westwards. They are black and white birds,
with stout, straight, and usually elongated bills, long, strong
metatarsi without scutellation, moderate rounded wings, extra-
ordinarily long forked and graduated tails — except in Henicurus
scouleri, where the shape is square and the feathers short — and
well -developed rictal bristles. The outer pair of rectrices are
white. If. ruficapilla has an orange-chestnut crown and hind
neck, nearly the whole back being chestnut in the female ; that
sex of H. velatus has a brown head ; two species have the upper
parts spotted with white, and two the back slate -coloured.
Several of them have crests. The bill is black, the feet whitish.
These active unsuspicious birds haunt forest -streams or hill-
torrents, and hunt for molluscs, insects and their larvae, near or
in the water. They often wag the tail when perched on stones
or branches. The large nest is formed of fibres, roots, and moss,
ajid is placed on rocks or tree-stumps ; the three or four eggs are
greenish -white, with scattered brownish spots.

Fam. IV. Timeliidae. — In this Old World assemblage are in-

502 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

eluded by Dr. Sharpe1 many genera rather referable to the Turdidae,
Pycnonotidae, Troglodytidae, and Paradiseidae ; but the Family
may be taken to contain most of that author's Crateropodes and
Timeliae? the Tit-like Liotriches, and perhaps Clitonyx, Chaetolias,
and MyiopJioneus. The whole question, however, is very doubtful,
and no decision can yet be arrived at. The supposed diagnostic
points are the rounded wings curved to fit the body, the lax, soft
plumage, the comparatively large outer primary, the similarity of
the unspotted females and young, and the Thrush-like bill. This
bill, however, may be very strong and hooked, as in MyiopJioneus
and GampsorJiyncJius ; stout, deep, and wide, with festooned maxilla,
as in Paradoxornis ; similar but smaller, as in CMeuasicus and
Suthora ; short and blunt, as in several of the Liotriches ; ex-
tremely elongated, slender and decurved, as in PomatorJiinus ; or
extraordinarily so, as in XipJiorJiampJius. It is not infrequently
notched. The metatarsi are typically strong or even clumsy,
and vary considerably in length ; in LiotJirix, however, they are
slender; while Cholornis has only two anterior toes (p. 10). The
tail, often broad and much graduated, may be very long, as in Sibia,
or no longer than the upper coverts, as in Oligura ; the rectrices
being obliquely truncated in Siva, curved outwardly in Liothrix,
and frequently pointed or somewhat spiny. Elongated rictal
bristles are not uncommon ; several species have crests, that of
Grammatoptila being exceptionally large ; rigid shafts occur in
the head- and mantle-feathers of Acanthoptila, on the forehead in
Dumetia, Timelia, and Chaetops ; hair-like plumes decorate the
back of Macronus ; the inner secondaries are much produced in
CinclorJiampJius ; the cheeks are bare in AetJiocicJila.

The sexes are commonly alike, the plain rufous coloration
being often relieved by black, white, and grey ; Liothrix and
Clitonyx, however, shew tints of red or yellow ; MyiopJioneus of
purple, blue, and black, and in some cases maroon ; Bracliypteryx
of indigo. Hyperergus is partly olive-green, while Trochalopterum
cJirysopterum and T. phoeniceum exhibit respectively golden and
crimson hues, not to mention other instances.

Many of the forms are found from the Indian Eegion to New
Guinea, New Caledonia, and New Britain, one reaching Fiji
and two New Zealand ; others occur in the Ethiopian countries,
whence a species of Argya extends to Morocco and Tripoli, and

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vi. 1881. * op. cit. vii. 1883, pp. xii-xvi.

TJMELIIDAE

503

a second to Arabia and the Jordan. Crossleyia, Bernieria, Mysta-
cornis, Xanthomixis and Oxylabes are peculiar to Madagascar.

Most members of the Family inhabit woods near water with
thick undergrowth, or more rarely stony hills, scrubby gullies,
and rocky torrents ; Cinclorhamphus haunts grassy plains ; Crate-
ropus kirki prefers reeds. The majority are decidedly terrestrial,
skulking warily among the bushes and grass, either singly or in
small companies, while some are inquisitive and active. The flight
is low, short, undulating, and laboured; but the birds hop and climb
well, bounding over the ground or clinging to the trees. The Jap-
anese and Chinese "Hill-Kobin" (Liothrix luted) and its allies are
more arboreal, as are Paradoxornis, Suthora, and so forth. Orthonyx
is said to dance like a Lyre-bird (p. 493). Many species scratch up
the soil or dead leaves in search of insects and their larvae, which,
with seeds, constitute the chief food; fruit, however, or even small rep-
tiles, crabs, worms,
and molluscs are
occasionally eaten.
The tail is often car-
ried erect ; Cinclo-
soma rises with a

FIG. 109. — " Babbling Thrush." Timelia maculata. x T5T.

whirring noise ;
clorhamphus hovers
in the air. Several
members of the
Family are com-
paratively silent,
Sittiparus and
Alcippe twitter,
Stachyridopsis utters clear, bell-like tones, Timelia slowly repeated
cries, Myiophoneus a fine whistle ; but usually harsh chattering
or screaming noises alternate with chuckles, croaks, clucks, or a
laughing chorus. Psophodes is called the " Coach-whip bird," from
its notes ending like the crack of a whip. The habits of Clitonyx
are said to resemble those of the Meliphagidae. The nest is
commonly a rough structure of leaves, moss, herbage, and the
like, often lined with roots, which is placed in low trees, bushes,
reeds, grass, holes in trees, or banks, by Garrulax, Argya, and
Turdinus ; in crevices of rocks, by Chaetops ; or on crags near
torrents, by Myiophoneus. It may consist of somewhat softer

504 PASSERIFORMES

materials, frequently bedded with fur, wool, or feathers, as in
Crateropus, Paradoxornis, and Troclialopterum — several pairs of
the last-named occasionally using the same tree ; or it may be a
domed mass of grass, leaves, bark, and moss, situated on or near
the ground, as in Timelia, Ortlwnyx, Pomatorhinus, Pellorneum,
and Rhopocichla. Lioptila and some .of its nearest allies build
a mossy cup, adorned with cobwebs, in high firs or other trees.
The eggs of Crateropus and Argya are deep greenish-blue, glossy
and spotless ; those of Garrulax are similar, or pale blue or white ;
those of Dryonastes light blue ; those of Pomatorhinus, Stacliyris,
Ortlionyx, and Xiphorhamphus white ; those of Paradoxornis
whitish, with yellow-brown and purple markings. The ground-
colour is frequently greenish-blue, olive, brown, salmon, creamy,
or white, and shews scattered or dense spots, streaks, freckles,
blotches, or even hieroglyphics, of reddish, purplish, chocolate,
olive, grey, or occasionally black. The coloration, however, is by
no means constant in each genus, while the number varies from
two to five or six. The Australian Pomatorhini fashion large
domed nests, after the manner of Magpies, of twigs lined with
bark and feathers, and add a spout-like entrance, while several
are commonly found at the ends of the branches of the same tree ;
their buff or purplish eggs, clouded with brown and purple, and
streaked with black hair-lines, number from four to ten.

Fam. V. Pycnonotidae. — The Bulbuls, often included among
the Timeliidae, have a fairly long bill, usually somewhat stout and
curved, which is Finch-like in Spizixus, very long and thin in
Phyllostrephus, and so forth. The maxilla is generally notched,
being minutely serrated in Andropadus, and decidedly hooked in
Tricholestes, Aetliorliynchus, and Trichophoropsis ; while strong or
weak rictal bristles are ordinarily present. The abreviated meta-
tarsi lack scales in several genera. The wings are normally short,
rounded, and concave — though more pointed in Hypsipetes and
Irena (if these really belong to the Family), Hemixus, Alcurus,
and Ixocinda or even long in Tylas — the secondaries are much
elongated in Aethorhynclius. The tail is sometimes square or
graduated, but is commonly rounded, being rarely forked, as in
Hypsipetes ; in Irena and Micropus the coverts are much length-
ened, while they nearly equal the rectrices in /. crinigera. Crests
occur frequently, the constituent feathers in Alcurus being obtuse,
in Criniger long and pointed, in Otocompsa somewhat recurved.

PYCNONOTIDAE 50$

Most of the Family are characterized by long, fluffy rump-plumage
and conspicuous nuchal or dorsal hairs, the latter reaching their
highest development in Tricholestes. The feathers hide, the
nostrils in Irena and Spizixus ; Poliolophus has a yellow circum-
ocular wattle, and several species of Pycnonotus possess fleshy
eyelids of black, red, or grey.

The usual coloration is olive-brown, olive-green, or olive-yellow,
commonly with wholly or partially yellow, white, greyish, or
even orange, rufous, and buff under parts ; Hypsipetes perniger is
entirely black, Micropus melanoleucus black with white wing-spots,
and many species are mottled with yellowish or white. Trachy-
comus has a yellow cap of decomposed bristly feathers ; while
elsewhere the head or the throat is often more or less black, brown,
chestnut, grey, and rarely yellow or white. The tail and rump may
be rufous, yellow, or orange, occasionally barred with black ; and
white or yellow markings frequently adorn the wings. Otocompsa
shews crimson or scarlet ear-tufts, and crimson or yellow under
tail-coverts ; certain species of Pycnonotus have the latter scarlet,
orange, or yellow ; RubigvJla has loose, stiff, scarlet plumage on
the throat, and an orange under surface. Chloropsis is green and
yellow, relieved by orange, blue, purple and black, and exhibits a
conspicuous blue, purple, or emerald shoulder-patch, except in C.
cyanopogon and C. flavipennis ; Aegitliina and Aethorliynchus are
green, black, and yellow; while Irena (the Fairy Blue-bird) is either
brilliant turquoise, with black wings, tail, and under parts, or
purple-blue, varied by cobalt above, with or without a black mantle
and under surface. The bill and legs range from brown, bla6k, or
plumbeous, to coral red, orange, yellow, or whitish. The sexes are
similar, except in Aegithina, Aethorhynchus, Chloropsis, and Irena.

From their headquarters in the Indian and Indo- Malay
countries, the Pycnonotidae extend to China, Hainan, Formosa,
and the Moluccas, Hypsipetes even reaching Japan ; they also
occupy the whole Ethiopian Eegion, with Madagascar and the
neighbouring islands. To these latter Ixocincla and Tylas (p. 533)
are peculiar ; while Pycnonotus, Criniger and Xenociclila inhabit
both of the above Regions, and the first is found from Morocco
to the Cyclades, Rhodes, Cyprus, and Palestine.

Bulbuls are gregarious arboreal birds of feeble flight, rarely
seen upon the ground, where they move with awkward shuffles or
short hops. The majority are sociable, and frequent gardens,

506 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

orchards, forests, and low jungles ; they feed chiefly upon fruits,
including berries and seeds, but also upon insects, which Aetho-
rJiynchus, Aegithina, and Chloropsis in especial seek among the
leaves and branches of the trees. The ordinary note is a mellow
cheerful whistle, becoming a pretty song in such species as Pycno-
notus haemorrhous, and P. xanthopygus, the Ceylon and Palestine
" Nightingales " ; chattering and chirping sounds are, however,
often heard, while Criniger, Phyllostrephus and Hypsipetes
habitually utter reiterated jarring or croaking cries, particularly
when roosting in company. The flimsy, or occasionally bulky,
nests of twigs, fibres, grass, moss, and cobwebs are placed in low
trees, bushes, creepers, or bamboo-clumps; Aegithina, Chloropsis,
and Irena generally laying two or three white or greenish eggs
with brown streaks or spots, and the remaining forms from two
to four, of a pinkish white or salmon colour, with markings of
various reds and purples. The nest of lole is suspended by the
rim like that of an Oriole. The Perso-Arabic Bulbul of poets is
probably Daulias hafizi, a true Nightingale.

Fam. VI. Muscicapidae.- — The Old World Flycatchers are a
group of somewhat vague definition, Semipus appearing closely
allied to the Laniidae, Cryptolopha to the Sylviinae, Lioptilus to
the Timeliidae. Connexion with the Turdinae is implied by the
more or less spotted plumage of the young, though the metatarsus
is usually scutellated anteriorly. Typically the bill is broad
and flat, with stiff rictal and prominent nasal bristles ; it is
extremely wide, with the culminal ridge strongly developed in
Machaerorhynchus, Myiagra, Bias, and Smithornis ; Sisura has it
longer and more slender ; ChelidorJiynx short, with a pronounced
hook ; and the diminutive Smicrornis exceptionally small ; while
many species have it much less robust. The feet, usually weak, may
be stronger, as in Chloropeta ; the wings, ordinarily elongated and
pointed, and especially so in Hemichelidon, are at times abbre-
viated and rounded, as in Niltava, whereas the secondaries in
Platystira and Newtonia nearly equal the primaries, of which the
outer is very short. The tail is also short in Diaplioropliyia, but
is usually moderate or long, and frequently much graduated, as in
Rhipidura (Fantail), Elminia, and Terpsiplione, the males of the
last having the two median feathers twice the length of the body.
Terpsiphone, Cyanomyias, Bias, Trochocercus, and so forth, have
fine crests, shorter in the female ; while fleshy wattles, round or

MUSCICAPIDAE 507

above the eye, of scarlet, blue, or yellow, are found in Terpsi-
plione, Zeoceplms, DiaphoropJiyia^Platystira, and Arses. The bill
is sometimes reddish or blue, and the inside of the mouth green
or yellow, as in certain Birds of Paradise.

The males of our summer visitors, the Spotted and Pied Fly-
catchers, Muscicapa grisola and M. atricapilla, are respectively
brown with whitish under parts streaked with dusky, and black
and white ; the hen-bird being similar in the former case, but in. the
latter olive-brown, with the frontlet, wing-patches, and lower surface
buff instead of white. M. (Erythrosterna) parva, which is brown
with grey head, and has a reddish-orange fore-neck that becomes
rufous in the female, occurs accidentally in Britain. Platystira is
glossy bluish- or greenish-black above with white markings, and
white beneath with a black pectoral band, the female having
greyer upper parts, and sometimes a maroon chest ; Eryiliromyias
is black and white, with an orange-rufous breast or back ; Pseudo-
gerygone is olive-green, brown, or grey above — dark crimson in P..
rulra — with an admixture of black, buff, rufous, yellow, or white,,
and has similar or yellow tints below ; Chasiempis is brownish,
relieved by black, white, and bay ; Culicicapa, is greenish-yellow
with a bright yellow lower surface, the head being grey in one
species. The hen-bird in these four genera, where known, resembles
the male. That sex of Niltava is blackish or purplish, varied with
rich cobalt, especially on the neck, the under parts being orange-
rufous or purplish-grey ; the female is chiefly olive, often with
a blue or lilac neck -patch. Malurus commonly shews a fine
mixture of blue, purple, and velvety -black, with a little brown
and white ; one of its members is chiefly brown, but has a blue tail,
and a lilac crown with black centre ; a second is vermilion, black
and brown above, and black below ; a third has crimson in the
place of vermilion ; a fourth is bluish- black and white. The hen-
birds are mainly brown, often with a blue, or even a green, tail.
Piezorliynclius has two metallic black species, while P. chryso-
melas is orange-yellow and black ; Metabolus is almost white, with
black face and throat ; and lastly, Terpsiphone (or Tchitrea), well
known on Chinese and Japanese screens and fans, contains several
long- tailed and finely crested white birds, with glossy greenish-
black head and throat, and with black markings on the wings and
tail in T. paradisi, the Paradise-Flycatcher. The female is rich
bay above, with similar head, but grey cheeks and throat. In

5o8

PASSERIFORMES

other species the males are said to be maroon, cinnamon, chestnut,
blue-grey, or glossy-black above. T. mutata of Madagascar may
be dimorphic. Nuchal collars, elongated silky flank-feathers, and
spots or stripes below, are not infrequent in the Family.

Flycatchers are common in the Ethiopian, Indian, and Aus-
tralian Eegions ; and several species are Palaearctic, four or five
reaching Europe. Most of them are migratory, the Spotted Fly-
catcher nesting north-
wards to Tromso and
Archangel, the Pied Fly-
catcher nearly as far.
They love wooded dis-
tricts, and Gerygone even
gloomy forests ; while they
are usually silent and soli-
tary, feeding on little but
insects, which are
habitually caught

FIG. 110. — Paradise Flycatcher.
paradisi. x g.

Terpsiphone

upon the wing with an audible snap of the
bill, though also procured upon the boughs
or by darting to the ground. The graceful,
undulating, or zigzag flight, and the sudden
dash into the air, followed by a quick
return to the perch, are especially charac-
teristic, as is a frequent quivering of the
wings and tail ; Rhipidura motacillo'ides
is Wagtail-like in habits ; while Sisura
inquieta, the " Grinder " of Australia, runs along the river-sides,
or hovers like a Kestrel, making a grinding sound in the air,
whence it descends vertically to secure its prey. Other species of
Rhipidura pick flies off cattle, and rise and fall perpendicularly
in the air, opening the fan-shaped tail or tumbling completely over.
Malurus runs quickly, or bounds along with rapid hops. Most
Flycatchers are tame, but several are pugnacious ; Lanioturdus
is stated to be gregarious ; Parisoma creeps about thick bushes ;

TURDIDAE 509

Smicrornis clings to the branches like a Tit; Niltava and other
forms eat berries and the like in late summer ; Eopsaltria and
Gerygone are very fond of insect-larvae. The voice is usually
faint, but is harsh in Terpsiplwne, Smithornis, and Batis, croak-
ing in Piezorhynchus and Lctnioturdus ; Sisura whistles; Gery-
gone, Malurus, and our Pied Flycatcher, have pleasing Kedstart-
like songs ; while that of Microeca, which often soars aloft when
singing, is said to resemble the strain of the Chaffinch. The neat
nest, usually formed of grass, moss, leaves, bark, fibres, or hair, and
not infrequently decorated with lichens or cobwebs, is placed in low
forks or cavities of trees, if not among creepers or outgrowths on
banks, Terpsiphone preferring higher situations. Gerygone builds
a covered pear-shaped structure, with or without a protecting
porch, of like materials, lined with fur or feathers, and suspends it
in shrubs ; Malurus and Smicrornis make rounder fabrics ; while
that of Ochromela is somewhat similar, but is composed of grass
and ferns, and usually placed in low vegetation. The eggs, in
number from two to six, are greenish- or huffish- white, with red,
brown, or rarely grey, spots and blotches ; exceptionally they are
uniform light blue, as in Muscicapa atricapilla ; white, as in
Chelidorliynx ; apple-green, green-blue, or whitish, with reddish-
brown, yellowish, or lilac markings, as in Eopsaltria ; or white, with
red or purplish spots, as in Malurus, Chasiempis, and Gerygone.

Fam. VII. Turdidae. — This group is here divided into five
Sub-families, (1) Turdinae or Thrushes and their allies ; (2) Myio-
dectinae ; (3) Sylviinae or Warblers ; (4) Polioptilinae ; and (5)
Miminae or Mocking-birds. The first and third of these are
often considered separate Families, but they are so closely con-
nected by the Saxicoline and Euticilline forms that they can
hardly lay claim to such rank, while the Accentorinae and Eegu-
linae of certain authors seem unnecessary. The Miminae shew
some affinity to the Wrens (Troglodytidae}.

Sub-fam. 1. Turdinae. — In this section the bill is usually rather
long and stout, being notched but hardly curved, with few, if any,
basal bristles; it is somewhat hooked in the so-called genus GeociMa
— where it is much lengthened in five species, and abbreviated in G.
princii ; large, broad, and arched in Turnagra (a doubtful member
of the Family) ; comparatively short and slender in Sialia, Euti-
cilia, Eritliacus, Saxicola, and so forth ; more robust in Accentor.
The metatarsus is long in Catharus, Calliope, and Notodela, but

10 PASSERIFORMES

is usually moderate, being particularly strong in Geociclila, Neso-
cichla, Zoothera, and Turnagra ; in Saxicola, Erithacus, and Daulias
it is at once slender and elongated. Generally the anterior scales
.are fused together, forming an ocreated covering (p. 10), but the
opposite sometimes occurs, as in Accentor, Nesociclila, and Tham-
nolia. Typically the wing is fairly long and broad, with abbreviated
outer primary, the next feather being emargiiiated in some species
of Myrmecocichla ; but in Dr. Sharpe's group Thamnobiae,1 it is
generally abbreviated and more rounded, in Sialia it is pointed.
The tail may be long and wide, as in Turnagra, or comparatively
short, as in Monticda and Pratincola, but is usually of medium
length ; it is normally square or rounded, though emargiiiated in
Sialia, and much graduated in Copsychus and Cittocincla, while in
Cossyplia natalensis it has pointed feathers. Turdus (GeociMa)
varius, T. liorsfieldi, and T. hancii have fourteen rectrices.

The coloration is ordinarily plain black or brown, more or
less varied with grey, white, rufous, or chestnut, occasionally in
the form of a collar ; many Thrushes, moreover, exhibit the charac-
teristic white breast spotted with brown. The bill is frequently
•orange or yellow. As examples of the genus Turdus we may take
our native Blackbird, Mistletoe- and Song-Thrushes T. merula,
T. viscivorus, and T. musicus ; our summer visitor the King-Ousel,
T. torquatus ; our winter immigrants the Redwing and Fieldfare,
T. iliacus and T. pilaris ; the American " Robin," T. migratorius ;
.and the Ground-Thrushes (" Greocickla")with their light patch under
the wing. The sexes are commonly alike, but black or grey males
have usually brownish females. A bushy crest occurs in CatJiarus.

Of some ten Rock-Thrushes (Monticola), M. saxatilis occurs
exceptionally in Britain. It has a cobalt and blackish-blue head,
neck, and upper back, a nearly white mid-back, brown remiges,
chestnut lateral rectrices and lower surface. M. cyanus is almost
entirely blue. The browner hens are generally spotted and barred
below. Cochoa viridis is green and black, with blue-green under
parts, and blue on the head, tail, and wings ; C. purpurea has
the bright colours replaced by purplish-brown and lavender ; C.
azurea is mainly rich blue, becoming purple below. The females
are duller. Blue-birds (Sialia) are bright blue, often with chest-
nut breast or back, the males being the most brilliant ; Grandala
taelicolor is indigo, with blackish wings and tail.

1 Placed under the Timeliidae in Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vii. 1883, p. ix.

TURDIDAE 5 I I

In Saxicola (Wheatear) the rump-region is white, except in
some seven species, where it is entirely or partly chestnut or buff ;
the plumage exhibits various combinations of jet black, chest-
nut, brown, grey, and white, the black shewing especially
the breast, quill-feathers, throat, lores, or ear-coverts. The females
may be similar to the males or browner. Pratincola rubetra, our
Whinchat, is mottled with brown and buff above and is buff below,
having a superciliary streak and wing-bar of whitish ; P. rubicola,
the Stonechat, is blacker on the back, and has the head and throat

FKJ. 111. — Mistletoe Thrush. Turdus viscivorus. x TrT.

l)lack, but the breast rufous, while the hen lacks the black head.
Other species have white rumps or tails, and the breast or even most
of the plumage black. Oreicola has three black members with
white under parts ; MyrmecociMa eight, which are grey or brown,
relieved by black, white, and buff. The Australian and Pacific
"Bobins" (Petroeca), of very doubtful affinity, are blackish or
greyish, with scarlet or pink breasts, and some white above ; one
having a red head. Our Redstart, Ruticilla phoenicurus, is grey,
with brown wings, chestnut breast, rump, and lateral rectrices,
black face and throat ; the hen being brownish above and buff
below, with less brilliant chestnut tints. The Black Eedstart is
dark grey, with brighter rufous rump and tail, black lower parts,

512

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

FIG. 112. — Eedstart. Ruticilla phoeni-
curus. x A.

and a white wing-patch; brown replacing the grey and black in the
female. Some species are blacker above, one has a chestnut back
and no black throat, another has both rump and tail black, and
three have blue on the forehead and crown, one of these again

having a white gular mark.
E. moussieri, linking the Red-
starts to the Chats, is black,
with .orange -rufo vis rump, tail,
and lower surface, a white alar
spot, and white extending from
the forehead to the face. The
Robin,1 Erithacus rubecula,
needs no description ; the Per-
sian E. hyrcanus hardly differs ;
the similar Japanese Robin,
E. akahige, has a grey belly ;
the Corean E. komadori is
orange - chestnut above, black
and white beneath. The Blue-
throat, Cyanecula suecica, is
brown, except for a white superciliary streak, bay tail-coverts, and
a bright blue throat with a central rufous spot, to which succeed
black, white, and rusty bands, and a whitish belly. C. wolji lacks
the gular spot, C. leucocyana has it white. Calliope camtsclmt-
censis, C.pectoralis, and C. tschebaiewi, are brown or dark grey, with
grey or black breasts, white abdomens, some black and white on the
face, and glossy scarlet throats. Daulias luscinia, our summer
visitor the Nightingale, and the larger eastern D. philomela are
russet-brown in both sexes, with redder rump and tail, and whitish
lower parts. D. hafizi of Persia is intermediate (cf. p. 506).

Our Hedge-sparrow, Accentor modularis, is brown streaked
with blackish, and shews bluish-grey on the head, throat, and
breast ; but the Alpine Accentor, A. collaris, which rarely visits
Britain, has a white throat spotted with black, and flanks mottled
with chestnut ; while their congeners exhibit rufous lower parts or
pectoral bands, black throats, or whiter wings and tails. EpJithi-
anura is grey, brown, black and white above, with the crown,
rump, and breast crimson in one species and yellow in two :

1 The American Redstart is Setopliaga ruticilla (Mniotiltidae), the Cape Robin is
Cossypha caffra, the Indian Robin Thamnobia, the New Zealand Robin Miro.

vii TURDIDAE 5 1 3

of the latter one has a black mark on the breast, as has a fourth
form with a white lower surface.

In the Thamnobiae the sexes are alike, or the females duller.
The colour, as in Callene and Copsychus, may be dull blue and
cobalt, purplish- or bluish-black, or bluish-grey, often with white
rump ; or, as in Cossypha and Thamnobia, grey, brown or blackish,
with orange-chestnut or rufous rump, tail, and abdomen. Stripes
of black and white often adorn the face, the ruddy hue occasionally
tinges the breast, nape, or wing, while a blue alar patch or a white
head occur exceptionally. Cittocincla is intermediate in colora-
tion ; Alethe is chiefly chestnut or rufescent-olive above, but grey
and white or creamy buff below, with orange crown in two cases.
Turnagra has brown upper parts with reddish tail, and the lower
surface either grey with white throat, or whitish with dusky
stripes ; Cichladusa is similar, or has buff under parts, with black
spots and gular crescent. All the above frequently exhibit white
on the wings or tail. Lamprolia is velvety-black, with blue
spangles on the head and neck, and white rump-region ; Tarsiger
is either blue above, varied with black, white, olive, or yellow,
and with more or less orange below, or lacks the blue entirely.
Aedonopsis and Phaeornis are brown, with grey and white under
parts.

In the Turdinae the young are constantly spotted, as opposed
to the Sylviinae,

Sub-fam. 2. Myiodectinae. — These birds differ from the Tur-
dinae in their short, somewhat depressed bills, and strong rictal
bristles. Myiodectes and Cichlopsis are in both sexes fairly uniform
brown, grey, or blackish, with a grey lower surface, and occasionally
chestnut or orange throat and belly ; one species of the former,
however, is cinnamon, with black head and under parts, and a
white band across the cheeks.

Sub-fam. 3. Sylviinae. — Besides the typical Warblers are here
included most of Dr. Sharpe's groups Bradypteri and Cisticolae,1 but
not, of course, the American " Warblers " (Mniotiltidae). They differ
from the Turdinae in being smaller, with the bill usually weak and
slender, though it is very stout in Rhopophilus and Arundinax ;
a few genera shew strong rictal hairs; while Eegulus has the nostrils
covered by one or more peculiar bristly feathers. The metatarsus
is sometimes scutellated anteriorly ; the wings are comparatively

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vii. 1883, pp. x. xi. (Timeliidae).
VOL. IX 2 L

5 1 4 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

short and broad. The tail, which in some twenty genera contains
but ten feathers, varies from square to rounded, being rarely
emarginated, but Jiot uncommonly graduated, as in Locustella,
Cisticola, and elsewhere ; it is much lengthened and widened
in Laticilla, broad and soft in Bradypterus, and so forth. In
Sphenoeacus, Dromaeocercus, and the still longer -tailed Stipit-
urus the rectrices are spiny with curiously decomposed webs ; in
Orthotomus the median pair are elongated during summer in the
male ; in Sylviella the rump-feathers nearly hide the tail itself.

The usual coloration in both sexes is plain greyish or brown,
with rufous, buff, white, or yellowish lower parts, and frequently
spots, stripes, and streaks. Many forms, however, shew more
or less black or red hues, often in the form of a cap ; others, as
Cryptolopha, Habrornis, Tickellia, and Phyllergates exhibit brilliant
yellows and greens, relieved by grey, black, chestnut, and white ;
Orthotomus and some species of Prinia, Hapalis, and Euprinodes
are hardly duller; while Phylloscopus, Acanthopneuste, Regulus,
Hypolais, Neornis, and Acanthiza vary from yellow -green to
brown and buff above. Hegulus, Phyllergates, and certain members
of Cisticola, have red, orange, or yellow crowns ; Acanthiza has
scaly frontal feathers ; the male of Stipiturus a blue throat ;
Myiomoira is black and white, with a yellow and orange breast in
one case ; Stiphrornis has an orange throat in two ; Leptopoecile
shews a blue wash on the rump and lower surface.

Sub-fam. 4. Polioptilinae. — The Gnatcatchers, with the sole
genus Polioptila, have very slender bills, moderate rictal bristles,
metatarsi scutellated anteriorly, shortish wings, and graduated
tails. They are blue-grey above, with black rectrices, externally
marked with white ; and are greyish or white below. White shews
occasionally on the wing, and some males have black heads.

Sub-fam. 5. Miminae. — The American Mocking-birds have fairly
long bills, which are little decurved except in Harporhynchus, but
are frequently notched, and bristly at the gape. The metatarsi are
usually strong and distinctly scutellated in front, though more
slender in Oreoscoptes and Melanoptila, and sometimes quite smooth
in the latter and Galeoscoptes ; the wings are shortish and rounded,
with well-developed outer primary ; the tail is rather long and is
generally broad and much graduated, but is narrower and squarer
in Oreoscoptes. The usual coloration is dull brown, rufous, and grey,
varied by white on the remiges and rectrices, and by an occasional

vii TURDIDAE 5 1 5

black cap or chestnut vent ; Melanoptila, however, is uniform
purplish- or bluish-black, Rhodinocincla rosy or rufous below in
the male and female respectively, with superciliary streak jto_
match. Oreoscoptes, Mimus, Cichlherminia, and Harporliynchus
often shew spots beneath and Donacobius dusky bars, Mimus
trifasciatus has a dark chest-band.

The Turdidae occupy the whole globe, being characteristically,
though riot invariably, migratory.1 Of the Turdinae, Thrushes
abound in the Neotropical Kegion, and — if we include the
Ground-Thrushes — are common in the Ethiopian, Indian, and
Australian, but the Palaearctic and Nearctic are poorly supplied :
Chats, Eobins, Kedstarts, Nightingales, Hedge-sparrows, and their
nearest allies are mainly Palaearctic, Ethiopian, and Indian ;
though Sialia reaches America, Pratincola Celebes, and Petroeca
Samoa. NesociMa is restricted to Tristan da Cunha, Turnagra
to New Zealand, Phaeornis to the Sandwich Islands ; while
Madagascar possesses peculiar forms both of this Sub-family and
of the Sylviinae. The last-named, however, are chiefly Palae-
arctic, and visit the southern Old World in winter ; yet two species
of Acrocephalus breed in Australia, Miro and Myiomoira occupy
New Zealand, Tatare and Psamathia are Polynesian, one species of
Phylloscopus reaches Alaska, Regulus occurs thence to Panama, and
so forth. The Polioptilinae and Miminae inhabit North and South
America ; the Myiodectinae range from the more western United
States to Bolivia and Brazil. Of the last groups several forms are
confined to the Antilles, and of the Miminae three to the Galapagos.

Thrushes inhabit wooded country, and reach an altitude of
twenty thousand feet in some latitudes ; they feed chiefly on the
ground, where they hop about scratching or searching for worms,
molluscs, and insects. Snails are habitually cracked on some
favourite stone by the Song-Thrush, and fruit is also eaten. The
strong rapid flight is undulating and frequently low, but flocks
cover vast distances on migration ; Ground - Thrushes are
naturally more terrestrial and resident, while the solitary Eock-
Thrushes haunt stony hills, rocks, and ruins. This Sub- family
comprises some of our very finest songsters, the Song-Thrush or
Mavis vying with the Nightingale, which gladdens both day and
night, and the Blackbird uttering delightfully mellow notes ; but
chirping sounds and harsher screams are common. Phaeornis

1 For new British species, see Sannders, Manual Brit. Birds, 2nd edition, 1897-9.

5 1 6 PASSERIFORMES CHAP,

sings prettily. The typical Turdine nest is a massive cup of grass,.
cemented with mud and inlaid with finer herbage ; but other
materials are constantly added, while mud, dung, or rotten wood
constitutes the lining in the case of the Song-Thrush, and occa-
sionally elsewhere. It is usually placed in trees or bushes, but
not infrequently in cavities in trunks, walls or rocks, and some-
times on the ground in heather, banks, and so forth. The eggs may
be greenish or bluish with reddish-brown or purplish spots and
streaks, or glossy blue with or without black or brown markings ;
Rock-Thrushes have them light blue with faint stains, or pinkish
with rusty freckles, Turnagra whitish with black-brown spots.

As regards the Saxicoline and Ruticilline forms attention should
be drawn to the jerky, flitting flight, the "chacking" alarm-note and
the rarer song of our Wheatear, the similar habits of our Stonechat
and Whinchat, not to mention other allied forms ; as well as to the
pleasant notes of Redstarts, Redbreasts, Blue-throats, and Hedge-
sparrows, and the common habits of hopping, flirting the tail, and
drooping the wings. The nests of Chats consist of grass and moss,
often lined with hair, feathers, or fur, and are usually placed in
holes of various descriptions, or in rough herbage ; the four to
seven blue, greenish, or even whitish eggs being spotted or zoned
with rufous, except in a few instances, such as our Wheatear,
where markings are rare. Deserts and stony or furzy flats are
favourite haunts. Petroeca adds bark, fibres, cobwebs, or lichens,
and chooses sites in forks, or holes in trees and walls ; the greenish
or buffish eggs being marked with purplish, brown and grey.
Cyanecula and Nemura select hollows in marshy spots, building
with moss, grass, and leaves, like Robins ; but the former, instead
of reddish-white eggs with rufous spots, has them olive-coloured
or dull greenish with faint rusty markings, as have the Nightingales,
which place their fabric of oak or beech leaves on the ground or in
low shrubs. Copsyclius, Cossyplia, Catharus, and Thamnobia nest as
Robins do, in holes in banks, trees, or walls, and have similar eggs ;
Redstarts deposit five or six, which are light blue or white and very
rarely spotted, in a structure of grass, moss, roots, hair, and feathers,
placed in cavities of trees or masonry ; Tarsiger and Notodela
prefer hollows in banks and rocks, and lay blue and salmon-pink
eggs respectively. Hodgsonius and Larvivora also have them blue.
Chimarrhornis and Ehyacornis nidificate like Redstarts, but their
eggs are greenish-white with rufous or yellowish spots ; the shy

vii TURDIDAE 517

Cittocincla haunts thick woods, and deposits four oily-green eggs,
with brown and purplish spots and dashes, on a bed of leaves and
grass in holes in trees ; the unsuspicious Sialia utilizes cavities
in stumps or buildings, the nest and its contents resembling
those of a Redstart. The breeding habits of the Hedge-Sparrow
need no description, and those of the Alpine Accentor differ little,
except that rocky sites are chosen.

In the above section the number of eggs varies from four to
seven. The flight is feeble as compared with that of Thrushes,
most species feeding chiefly upon the ground and being more insect-
ivorous, though Redstarts and Chats will take insects on the wing.

The habits of the active Sylviinae are much more uniform ; they
seldom fly far, except on migration, and a few flit about like Wrens;
while Amytis, Stipiturus, Sphenura, and some species of Aedon
run, or hop among the herbage, with upturned tail. They frequent
trees, bushes, long grass or reeds, seldom flocking as does Megulus,
and live on insects and their larvae, small molluscs and fruit, the
first-named being either caught in the air or sought upon the
leaves and branches. The song is usually clear and sweet, though
often plaintive, metallic, or whistling ; the Willow- and Wood-
Warblers (Pliylloscopus) trill : the Black-cap and Garden-Warblers
(Sylvia) have beautiful songs, as well as grating alarm notes ; the
Cataract-bird (Origma) runs along rocky water-courses emitting
shrill cries ; the Reed- and Sedge- Warblers (Acrocephalus), the
skulking CeUia,snid other marsh- and grass-frequenting forms,utter
more or less jarring sounds, generally from some bush, whence they
quickly drop to cover; while the Grasshopper- Warblers (Locustella)
have a peculiar cricket-like note.

The nest may be a thin or fairly substantial cup of grasses,
bed-straw (Galium) and the like, occasionally lined with hair, and
placed in bushes or rank herbage, as in the Black-cap, Garden-
Warbler and White-throats (Sylvia) ; or a firmer structure, includ-
ing wool, moss, feathers, reed-flowers, or even lichens, built on
the ground, in shrubs, in sedge, or between reed-stems, as is the
case in Locustella, Acrocephalus, Aedon, and Hypolais. Phyllo-
scopus, as well as some African and many Indian and Australian
members of the Sub-family, fashion a round ball of grass and a little
moss, lined with finer grasses, hair, down, or feathers, and generally
place it close to the earth ; Regulus hangs a cup of moss and spiders'
webs, bedded with feathers, below the end of a conifer or other

5 1 8 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

branch, or even builds it in creepers. Savi's Warbler (Locustella
luscinio'ides) makes a Bail-like nest of broad grass-blades (Glyceria)
in sedges, Myiomoira one of bark, grass, wool, moss, and fibres in
holes in trees, Miro a similar fabric on their branches, Acanthiza a
domed hanging structure of like materials, Origma a ragged pendent
mass of moss and roots, lined with fur or feathers, under rocks.
Ortlwtomus (Tailor-bird) and some species of Franklinia, Prinia,
and Cisticola stitch together the edges of a leaf or leaves to
sustain their nest of grass, cotton, wool, and hair.

The number of eggs is generally from three to six, but as
many as twelve are found in Regulus. The colour is buffish-
white with brownish and violet-grey spots in Savi's Warbler ;
pinker with delicate red -brown freckling in the Grasshopper-
Warbler ; rich red-brown in Cettia and Ghtkonicola ; similar or
varying to blue, green, white or pinkish, with or without red or
brown spots, in Prinia — even in the same species ; little different
in Cisticola ; bronzy-brown in Pyrrliolaemus ; white or purplish
with dark markings in Sericornis ; white in Origma and Crypto-
lopha. In Sylvia the eggs are greenish- or yellowish-white with
olive, brown, green, or reddish spots ; in Acrocephalus they are
decidedly greener ; in Aedon greyer with brown and dull violet
markings ; in Phylloscopus and Acanthiza white, usually with
dark red or purplish spotting; in Hypolais lilac -pink with
blackish or brown blotches or streaks ; in Eegulus white, freckled
or entirely suffused with yellowish or ruddy dots.

Myiodectes frequents woods and thickets, and has somewhat
Thrush -like habits ; the voice is powerful, clear and metallic ;
while the food consists chiefly of berries, though insects are
hawked for in the air. The nest, placed on bushes, stumps,
banks or rocks, is made of sticks lined with soft materials, or of
twigs, roots, and moss, and contains from three to six eggs, not
unlike those of the Eedbreast.

Polioptila haunts tall trees or shrubs in pairs or small
companies ; the habits are restless, the flight is quick, the food
consists of gnats and so forth, commonly captured on the wing.
The purse-like nest is felted with bark, fibres, and down, and
decorated with lichens ; it is woven to boughs, stems, or creepers,
and contains four or five greenish- or bluish-white eggs, marked
with red-brown, lilac, and grey,

Of the Miminae, Mimus polyglottus is the Mocking-bird in

CINCLIDAE 519

chief; the natural song being rich, varied, and powerful, and the
imitations ranging from the yelp of the Eagle to the noises of
the farm-yard. It is found from the United States to Mexico
and the Antilles, where in isolated trees, hedges, or brambles it
makes a bulky platform of rough twigs to support the cup of
roots, wool, and so forth, which contains the four to six pale
greenish -blue — or rarely huffish — eggs, with brown and purplish
markings. The movements are energetic but graceful, the flight
Thrush-like ; the food consists of insects, often taken in the air,
and fruit. Mimus modulator, the " Calandria," of Argentina,
Brazil, and Bolivia, feeds chiefly on the ground, and can hardly
be said to mock, though M. triurus of the same countries does so.
Galeoscoptes carolinensis, the Cat-bird, besides an attractive song,
utters clucks, whistles, and mewing sounds; it feeds chiefly on
insect-larvae, and deposits from three to five deep greenish -blue
eggs in a nest of twigs, bark, and plant-stalks lined with grass.
Oreoscoptes, of the North American sage-brush districts, resembles
Mimus in its habits, nest, and eggs, but is no mimic ; nor, it may
be added, are the shy Thrashers (Harporhynchus), which commonly
haunt arid situations, placing their large, flattish nest of coarse
twigs, leaves, fibres, bark, grass, and moss, lined with softer materials,
in low trees or thorny scrub. Their three to six eggs are white,
bluish, greenish, or buff, with yellowish, purplish, or red-brown
spots or specks, those of the more terrestrial H. crissalis being
uniform pale greenish -blue. Donacobius frequents reeds, but
possibly does not belong to this group ; Melanoptila has a harsh
or mewing note, and lays blue eggs, as does Melanotis.

Fam. VIII. Cinclidae. — The Dippers or Water-Ousels form a
single genus, Cinclus, probably more akin to the Wrens than to
the Thrushes. The bill is moderate and straight, without bristles
at the gape, the maxilla being slightly curved and notched ; the
smooth metatarsi are fairly long and strong; the wings are
abbreviated, rounded, and concave ; the tail is extremely short,
and the whole body peculiarly squat-looking. The colour above
is normally greyish-black or brown, C. ardesiacus being, however,
delicate grey ; the lower parts are similar or white, commonly with
a black belly, while a chestnut band crosses the breast in the
British C. aquaticus and in C. albicollis. White spots often occur
above and below the eye ; C. leuconotus and C. leucocephalus have
nearly white heads, and the former shews white on the back.

520

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

The sexes are alike, but t.he young are spotted. Both plumage
and down are close and nearly impervious to water.

These birds range throughout the Palaearctic Eegion, just

reaching the southern
slopes of the Hima-
layas, China, and For-
mosa. One species
occupies the Atlas
Mountains, while
others occur along
the heights of West-
ern America, and the
Andes southwards to
Peru. Individuals of
a dark form from
Northern Europe
occasionally stray to
Britain, but such mi-
gration is exceptional.
Dippers frequent
rapid streams in hill-
country, which seldom freeze, and appear as cheery in winter as
in summer ; their flight is powerful, rapid, and direct, with quick
wing-strokes and sudden descent ; their cry upon the wing is loud
and clear, their song when stationary Wren-like. They sit on
stones in the water, bobbing up and down and jerking their tails,
while they use both legs and wings below the surface, whither they
dive noiselessly in search of insects, their larvae and pupae, or
molluscs. Fish-spawn has not been found in the stomach. The
domed, but flattened, nest is composed chiefly of moss or grass, with
an inner bed of dry materials, which are generally oak or beech
leaves, though in India sometimes ferns and roots. It is affixed
to rock-faces, ledges, or boulders in streams, placed in crevices of
masonry, or even built in holes in the soil or in debris caught on
bushes, common situations being behind water-falls, under bridges,
or beside mill-wheels. C. albicollis seems to make an open fabric
in Italy. From four to seven dull white eggs are laid very early
in the season, two or even three sets being often produced —
occasionally in the same nest. This the young sometimes leave by
the end of March, being able to swim before they are fully fledged.

FIG. 113. — Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus.

vii TROGLODYTIDAE 521

Fam. IX. Troglodytidae. — The Wrens have their headquarters
in Tropical America, but even reach Greenland, Patagonia, and the
Falkland Islands. Four genera with some eight species inhabit
the Himalayas, the hills of
West China, the Burmese
countries, Sumatra and Java ;
while Troglodytes, including
the common Wren, occupies
most of the Palaearctic and
Nearctic Regions. An alti-
tude of eleven thousand feet
is attained in certain cases.

The bill is generally
moderate, slender, and some-
what arched ; being, however,
stouter and almost hooked in

Thryothorus and Campylo- Fia m._Wren. Troglodytes parmlus. xf.

rhynchus, much elongated in

Gather pes, Salpinctes, and Microcerculus, high and compressed in
Cyphorhinus, remarkably conical, straight, and pointed in Spheno-
cichla. The maxilla may be notched, but rictal bristles are
almost entirely absent. The long robust metatarsi are scutellated
anteriorly, 'except in Pnoepyga ; Salpinctes shews scales behind ;
Cistothorus has a very large hind claw. The wings are rounded
and concave ; the tail is usually short and graduated, though it
is exceptionally long in Cinnicerthia, Sphenocichla, and Urocichla,
and is hardly visible in three species of Pnoepyga. The last-named
genus has only six rectrices, Urocichla has ten. The coloration
is ordinarily brown, with a great tendency to barring; spots,
stripes, and streaks are not uncommon ; chestnut, bay, orange, and
grey often relieve the dulness ; Troglodytes formosus, Catherpes,
and Henicorhina exhibit white spots above or even below ; and
two species of Microcerculus have a white alar bar.

Wrens frequent marshy, as well as dry or rocky localities, being
familiar and yet wary ; they habitually hop about with upturned
tails, fly sharply from cover to cover, and hunt for insects, their
larvae, and spiders, among fallen leaves, in crevices of rocks, and so
forth, while they occasionally eat worms, small molluscs, crustaceans,
and seeds. The characteristic note is shrill and Warbler-like,
though harsher sounds accompany it, but Cyphorhinus cantans, the

522 PASSERIFORMES : CHAMAEIDAE CHAP.

Organ-bird of the Amazons, Troglodytes domesticus (aedori), Micro-
cerculus, and other American forms utter melodious flute-like strains.
The nest is usually a domed structure of ferns, grass, moss, leaves,
or even twigs, often lined with hair or feathers, which is placed in
bushes, hedges, cacti, reeds, and cavities of masonry, or on trees,
rocks, banks, and the like; Salpinctes, Catlierpes, Urocichla and some-
times Pnoepyga make no covering; Campylorhynchus fashions a large
purse-like structure, with a long passage for entrance. The eggs
vary in number from three to nine, and are white, with or with-
out spots or freckles of red, purplish, or brownish ; in Thryophilus
pleurostictus they are said to be blue.

Fam. X. Ghamaeidae. — This contains only Chamaea fasciata
and 0. henshawi of California, which by various American
authorities have been referred to the Wrens or the Tits, though
not agreeing closely with either. This is the only Family of land
birds peculiar to the Nearctic Eegion. In both sexes the lax
plumage is brown above and buffish below, with faint tail-bars and
pectoral streaks ; the bill is short, straight, and compressed, and
is furnished with rictal bristles ; the metatarsi are stout and nearly
smooth ; the wings are rounded and concave ; the tail is graduated.
Chamaea inhabits dry plains and bushy hill-sides, flits about or
searches for insects with elevated tail, utters a Wren-like trill,
and builds a nest of twigs and grass in low bushes, adding
hair or feathers to the lining, and laying three or four pale
greenish-blue eggs.

Fam. XL Hirundinidae. — The Swallows and Martins compose
a well-defined cosmopolitan Family, certainly far removed from
the Swifts (p. 420), with which they used to be joined. The latter
have ten tail-feathers, and hardly any scutellation on the legs, the
former twelve rectrices, and an anteriorly scutellated metatarsus.
The bill is short, broad, and usually much depressed, being notched
at the tip and split nearly to the eyes. The feet are very small
and weak, with the middle digit more or less adherent to
its neighbours ; Tachycineta has a stoutish hallux, Chelidon
feathered toes, and Cotile riparia a tuft at the back of the
metatarsus. The wings are extremely long and pointed, while
the exterior margin of the outer primary has hooked barbs in the
males of Psalidoprocne and Stelgidopteryx. The tail varies in
length, and is often very deeply forked, Petrochelidon, Stelgido-
pteryx, Chelidon dasypus and Psalidoprocne nitens having it excep-

viz HIRUNDINIDAE 523

tionally square ; while the lateral feathers may be almost linear,
as in Hirundo rustica, or even wire-like, as in H. smithii.

Chelidon is purplish- or bluish-black, or brown, having a white
rump occasionally barred with black, and white or buffish under
parts ; Tachycineta is similar, or greener and somewhat bronzy,
in certain cases lacking the white rump, in others shewing white
mottlings above. Hirundo is glossy metallic black, with a vari-
able amount of chestnut or rufous on the head, rump, or lower
surface ; the last of these regions exhibiting much white or having
a black pectoral band, while streaky markings are not uncommon.
Cheramoeca is blue, black, white, and brown above, and white
below with a black breast-patch ; Procne is either entirely blue-
black or has some white beneath, P. tapera alone being brown,
with a longitudinal band of the same colour on the white lower
surface. Atticora is blue-black or greenish above, black and white
or brown underneath ; Petrochelidon is steel-blue with concealed
white stria tions, the forehead, nape, rump, and most of the lower
surface being chestnut, rufous, or buff, with or without stripes ;
Psalidoprocne is uniform blue, green-black, or sooty, P. alliceps
having a white crown and chin. Cotile, Pkedina, and Stelgi-
dopteryx are dull brown above, the first being white, grey, brown,
or rufous below, the second white with longitudinal brown streaks,
and the third white and rufous with yellow middle to the breast
and abdomen in two species. The plumage of most Swallows is
very metallic, and white spots are often prominent on the tail
feathers in Hirundo, Chelidon, Cotile, and Petrochelidon. The
female is duller than the male in Procne only.

The range of Hirundo and Cotile is practically world-wide,
reaching from beyond the Arctic Circle in summer to South
Africa, India, and Brazil in winter, not to mention resident
southern species ; no Swallow, however, occurs in New Zealand,
nor is Cotile found in the Australian Eegion. Four species of
Petrochelidon are found in America, two in Southern Africa, two
in the Australian Eegion, and one in India — a remarkable dis-
tribution. Psalidoprocne, Phedina, and Cheramoeca are Ethiopian,
Mascarene (with Madagascar), and Australian respectively: Tachy-
cinetaandProcne extend over the New World from its Arctic portions
toPatagonia,^fo'cora from that country to Guatemala, Stelgidopteryx
from Canada and British Columbia to Bolivia and Brazil. Chelidon
is confined to the Old World, migrating in autumn to Central

524

PASSERIFORMES

Africa, Borneo, and Burma. The summer migrants to Britain are
Hirundo rustica, the Swallow, CJielidon urbica, the Martin, and
Cotile riparia, the Sand-Martin. Swallows traverse immense
distances on their periodical journeys, while all perhaps shift their
quarters to some extent for the winter.

Hardly any sort of country comes amiss to these birds,
though the neighbourhood of water is preferred, and for some

species seems necessary.
Spending their life chiefly
in the air and alighting
comparatively little, they
rapidly dart, twist, double,
sail aloft, or skim the
water's surface in com-
pany, at times chasing
each other in sport or even
fighting savagely. Insects,
which form the whole of
their sustenance, are ha-
bitually taken on the wing,
and the young are some-
times fed, or building ma-
terials snatched up, in full
flight. A few species not
uncommonly perch on
trees, as Hirundo rustica,

Tacliycineta albiventris,Petrochelidon nigricans, Psalidoprocne nitens
and Procne tapera ; the last-named, moreover, is exceptional in
being non-gregarious, while it flits about with depressed wings
and slow butterfly-like flight when not hawking. The majority
are rarely seen on the ground, unless they are procuring mud for
nidification ; but many roost on reeds or in their nests, and just
before migration they settle in crowds on branches, fences, wires,
and ridges of roofs. Hirundo, Chelidon, and Psalidoprocne bask in
the sun on gravelly places. The twitter or warble of Swallows
—uttered on the wing or at rest — and their squeaks of anger or
alarm, are well-known ; the scream of Procne and the chirp of
Stelgidopteryx being somewhat exceptional ; when excited, however,
the bill is not uncommonly snapped noisily. The nest may be
cup-shaped as in our Swallow, Cotile rupestris, C. fuligula, and

FIG. 115. — Swallow. Hirundo rustica.

vii CAMPEPHAGIDAE 525

C. concolor, and made of agglutinated pellets of mud with a lining of
straw, chaff, leaves, or feathers ; it may be similarly constructed but
semi-ovate, with a hole near the top, as in the Martin ; or retort-
shaped with a tube for entrance at the side, as in several members
of the genera ffirundo and Petrochelidon : in these cases it may
be placed inside buildings, under eaves, against rocks or walls.
Procne — when not accommodated with a box — some species of
Tachycineta, Petrochelidon nigricans, and other forms, not uncom-
monly prefer holes in trees, lining them as usual, if at all ; while
many species of Cotile, Psalidoprocne, and Cheramoeca tunnel in
banks, or, more rarely, choose holes in masonry. Procne furcata
utilizes the holes of Conurus pataclwnius ; P. tapera the nests of
Furnarius rufus in Argentina ; Tachycineta leucorrhous occasionally
that of Anumbius ; Atticora cyanoleuca that of the Dendrocolaptine
Geositta, itself within that of a biscacha. The eggs are from four
to seven in number, generally pure white in Martins, and whitish
with reddish-brown, grey, and lilac markings in Swallows ; but
the cases are occasionally reversed. Two or even three broods are
reared in a season, and tended with the greatest care. Colonies
are frequently formed, especially by Bank- and Cliff-Swallows. In
Britain the Sand-Martin arrives first, but the Swallow comes early
in April, while individuals have even been obtained in winter.

Fam. XII. Campephagidae. — The " Cuckoo-Shrikes " are com-
monly placed near the Laniidae, but are possibly connected with
the Muscicapidae or the Corvidae. The bill is usually strong,
and of moderate length, being hooked, arched, and wide at the
base ; it is especially stout in Artamides, decidedly weaker in
Campephaga, long and thin in Edoliisoma. The metatarsus
may be elongated and comparatively robust as in Pteropodocys,
Lalage, and Symmorphus, or short and less powerful, as in
Pericrocotus ; the wings are normally long and pointed, and
more particularly so in Pericrocotus, Lalage, Symmorphus, and
Graucalus. The tail is also fairly long, and frequently rounded,
though it may be forked, as in Pteropodocys, and to a less extent
in Campechaera, or graduated as in Pericrocotus, Campephaga, and
Graucalus. The plumage is soft, with characteristically stiff
shafts on the lower back ; the nostrils are nearly concealed by the
feathers ; the rictal bristles are feeble. The usual coloration is
either bluish-grey with a certain amount of black and white, or
chiefly black and white. The black has generally a purplish or

526 PASSERIFORMES

a greenish gloss ; while barring occurs occasionally in the cocks,
and much more commonly in the hens, where the tints are duller,
the grey lighter, and the hue in some cases brown or even rufous.
The Mascarene Oxynotus is almost unique among Birds in having
the males of the two species alike, the females very different.
Shaft-streaks on the feathers are fairly frequent ; two species of
Lalage have a chestnut lower surface, and one the rump similar ;
while Symmorphus is either brown above and whitish below, or
black and white with buff rump and under parts. Campechaera
is green and golden-yellow in both sexes, but shews some black,
white, and grey as well ; Lobotus is olive-yellow with dark green
head and throat, orange-chestnut rump and breast, greenish tail,
and an orange lobe at the gape. Pericrocotus is usually black,
adorned with lovely scarlet, crimson, orange, or yellow markings,
and with a little white, but two species lack the brilliant tints,
and others replace the black by brown or grey ; the females
in this genus usually have yellow where the males have red,
though they also shew red in two cases. Three African species
of Campephaga vary from the ordinary grey or blackish colora-
tion in being glossy bluish-black, with scarlet, orange, and yellow
shoulder-patches respectively, and one in being steel-green, with
purple face and neck, and steel-blue lower surface. In these
forms the females have yellow markings. Finally, Graucalus
azureus is azure and black, with a shade of cobalt.

The restless and active members of this Family are generally
seen in small flocks in wooded country, gardens, orchards, and
hedge-rows. They are found up to an altitude of ten thousand
feet throughout the Ethiopian, Indian, and Australian Eegions,
and even reach Amurland ; Graucalus inhabits all three Eegions,
but Oxynotus is peculiar to Mauritius and Eeunion. The flight
is easy, undulating, and strong, though of brief duration ; while the
birds hop and frisk about the branches, or move briskly from tree
to tree, as they examine the crevices of the bark or the leaves, and
occasionally pluck the fruit. They may occasionally be noticed
darting to the earth to secure caterpillars, of which they are ex-
tremely fond, or sallying into the air after insects, like Fly-
catchers. Pericrocotus is said to hang to the boughs like a
Tit ; Pteropodocys lives chiefly on the ground. The mellow and
lively notes are of a whistling or twittering nature, varied by
jarring sounds ; but all the species are rather silent. The nest,

VII

DICRURIDAE

527

composed of twigs and grass, or of moss and leaves, is usually
very shallow, and is covered with lichens and spiders' webs ; it
is placed on slender branches of trees, or more rarely in bushes.
The two to five Shrike-like eggs are brownish, whitish, or apple-

FIG. 116. — Grey " Coly-Shrike." Hypocolius ampelinus.

(From Nature.)

green, with markings of brown, rufous, or purple. Those of the
isabelline-coloured Hypocolius ampelinus, which possibly belongs
to the Ampelidae, are white with plumbeous spots.

Fain. XIII. Dicruridae. — The Drongos, usually associated
with the Laniidae, range throughout the Ethiopian, Indian, and
Australian regions, as far east as New Britain and New Ireland

528

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

(Dicranostreptus). Chibia bracteata is the only species in Australia,
while Buchanga leucogenys is said to reach Japan ; B. waldeni is
peculiar to Mayotte, and Edolius forficatus to Madagascar and
Joanna Island. Both sexes are typically black, with a metallic
gloss of blue, purple, or green, though a few are greyer or browner,
or have a little white below. The variable bill is usually large
, and more or less curved, with a

hooked tip, a notched maxilla, and
fairly strong rictal bristles — much
developed in Chaetorhynchus. The
metatarsi are short, the toes small,
the wings long. The tail
has only ten rectrices, and
is generally very deeply
forked, though
less so in Dicru-

\ ^

FIG. 117. — Drongo. Dissemurus
paradiseus. x |.

rus, Chibia, and Chaetorhyn-
chus. In Chibia the two outer
feathers are slightly elongated
and turned up, in Dissemuro'ides
they are produced and recurved
at the tip, in Dicranostreptus they
are extraordinarily lengthened
and turned to face one another.
In Bhringa and Dissemurus the

long bare shafts terminate in racquets, and have a twist that brings
the upper side inwards in the former, and one in the racquet itself
in the latter. On the forehead a large, erect tuft occurs in Edolius,
a still more extensive recurved crest in Dissemurus, a bunch of
long, silky hairs in Chibia liottentotta. A few similar hairs are
found in C. pectoralis, and scanty plumes in C. bimaensis ; Disse-
muro'ides having the one or the other. Various species exhibit a
tendency to lanceolate hackles on the head and neck, while the
feathers of the former are scaly-looking in Chaetorhynchus. The
bill and feet are black ; the eyes red, white, or brown.

These wary, active birds frequent gardens, open country, and
forests up to at least eight thousand feet, more usually in pairs

vii AMPELIDAE 529

than in companies ; their flight is strong and rapid, but undulating
and not sustained, while they are often seen perched on bushes or
exposed branches, and occasionally hover like a Kestrel. The song
or whistle is ringing and melodious, varied by harsh chattering or
creaking sounds ; the food consists of insects of all kinds, which
are captured on the ground, on leaves or flowers, on the backs of
cattle, or at times upon the wing, individuals often returning to
their perches like Flycatchers. Drongos are good mimics, fight
viciously, and are very courageous, mastering even Hawks and
Crows. The nest is a shallow cup of twigs, roots, leaves, fine
grass, lichens, hair, and cobwebs, often so slight that the contents
can be seen from below : it is usually woven into a horizontal
fork like that of an Oriole, but may be fixed among bamboos,
and often overhangs water. The eggs, rarely more than three or
four in number, are sometimes plain white, but usually pink, buff,
or white, with red, brown, claret, purplish, or grey spots and
blotches. Not uncommonly a second set is found in a nest whence
the first has been taken. A curious instance of " unconscious
mimicry " is that of Buchanga atra and the Indian Cuckoo Surni-
culus dicruro'ides, the plumage being exactly the same, though the
feet distinguish them at once.

Fam. XIV. Ampelidae. — In this group most forms have a
short, depressed bill, though it is longer with bristly gape in
Phaenoptila, and stouter in Dulus; they have abbreviated metatarsi,
not scutellated in Phaenoptila ; the wings are long and pointed in
Ampelis, shorter and roundish elsewhere ; the tails vary from short
and even in Ampelis to long and rounded in Phaenopepla, or
cuneate with elongated median feathers in Ptilogenys caudatus.

Both sexes of our irregular winter-visitor the Waxwing
(Ampelis garrulus) are silky greyish-brown, with blackish wings,
and tail relieved by yellow and white ; a black forehead, eye-stripe,
and throat ; chestnut under tail-coverts and basal margin of- the
erectile crest ; and, in the adults, flattened wax-like tips to the
shafts of the secondaries or even the rectrices. The young are
streaked below. Breeding near the Arctic Circle, and changing
its quarters erratically, it occurs in the New as well as in the
Old World, while in winter it migrates southwards to at least
lat. 43° N. The flight is easy, graceful, and often high ; the notes
are of a trilling or of a chirping nature ; the food consists of insects,
berries, and other fruit. The nest of twigs and fibrous lichens, or
VOL. ix 2 M

530

PASSERIFORMES : ARTAMIDAE

CHAP.

FlG. 118. — Waxwing. Ampelis garrulus.
(From Bird Life in Sweden.}

of grass and bark, is placed on firs or birches, and contains from
five to seven purplish-grey or drab eggs, with spots of black,

brown, or lilac. The
smaller North Amer-
ican A. cedrorum
lacks the yellow and
white on the wing ;
A. phoenicoptera, of
Japan, North China,
and East Siberia,
has red, but not
wax-like, tips to the
remiges and rectrices.
Dulus dominicus,
of San Domingo, is
dark brown, varied
with greenish and
yellow, the yellowish-
white lower surface
shewing broad brown
streaks. Several pairs often join their nests of twigs into a
circular mass. Pliaenoptila melanoxantlia, of the Costa Rican hill-
valleys, is glossy black, having an olive rump-band, and similarly
coloured under parts with yellow sides and grey middle. The
female is olive above with black crown. Phaenopepla nitens, of
Mexico and the Southern United States, is bluish-black, with white
on the primaries and vent-region ; it has an erectile occipital crest.
The hen is dark grey, with brown abdomen and a different distri-
bution of white. This shy, active bird has the graceful movements
of a Flycatcher, with a habit of jerking the tail; the song is plaintive
or whistling ; the food consists of insects and fruit. The flat nest,
of fibres, grass, and down, contains from two to five greyish eggs,
speckled with brownish-black and neutral tints. Ptilogenys cinereus,
of the highlands of Central America, is plumbeous, with black re-
miges, black and white rectrices, loose broad lavender crest-plumes,
and yellow under tail-coverts and flanks ; the female is chiefly brown.
Fam. XV. Artamidae. — The " Wood-Swallows " constitute a
group of very doubtful position, ranging from the Australian to
the Indian Eegion and in one case (Pseudochelidon) to West
Africa. In the last-named the bill is broad, but elsewhere it is

vii LANIIDAE 531

long, pointed, and slightly curved, with wide gape. The meta-
tarsi are short and strong ; the wings are much elongated ; the
tail is short and occasionally emarginate, with soft, exserted
shafts to the rectrices in Pseudochelidon, which is glossy greenish-
black with red beak and feet. Artamus, where powder -down
patches occur on the sides, thighs, and' lower back, exhibits black,
brown, rufous, or grey tints, relieved by white — especially below, or
towards the tip of the tail ; the bill is blue with black extremity,
the feet are greyish. The sexes hardly differ.

These woodland birds often float nearly motionless in the air,
occasionally moving ahead with a few strokes of the wing ; at other
times they wheel and twist about like Swifts. They hawk for insects,
or sally after them from their perches, feeding also upon the ground,
on the larvae and on seeds. Congregating like Swallows, they have
in Australia a curious habit of hanging in ball-like masses from
the branches ; the note is plaintive or chirping. The nests, often
found in close proximity, are placed in forks of trees, on their side-
shoots, in holes, behind loose bark, in deserted habitations of other
birds, or in bushes ; the outer materials being twigs and grass,
those of the lining fibres and feathers. From two to four white,
greenish, or flesh-coloured eggs are deposited, spotted and streaked
with umber, red-brown, grey, lilac, or occasionally black.

Fam. XVI. Laniidae. — Few Families are more difficult to
define than this. A typical Shrike is easily recognised ; but such
forms as PachycepJicda, and Hemipus are closely connected with
the Muscicapidae; Calicalicus and Neolestes with the Pycnonotidae ;
GymnorJiina and its allies with the Corvidae ; while some authors
include the Campephagidae. Dr. Gadow 1 recognises five Sub-
families: (1) Gymnorliininae, (2) Malaconotinae, (3) Pachycepha-
linae, (4) Laniinae, and (5) Vireoninae ; but the last-named is here
allowed Family rank, while Prionopinae is admitted in its place.

The bill is stout, notched, and often strongly hooked, while
it is either curved or straight ; in Falcunculus it is more than
usually compressed, in Rliectes the maxilla has the edge finely
serrated, in Xenopirostris the mandible is upcurved, leaving a
distinct gap above it. In- the Gymnorhininae the culmen is
long, straight, and slightly rounded, with slit-like nostrils near

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. viii. 1883, p. 89. The Gymnorhininae belong to the group
Austro-coraces or Noto-coracomorphac, if such be admitted ; i.e. to the apparently
generalized forms whence the (7orw'd«e(p.557)and perhaps the Laniidae, have sprung

532 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

the middle. The variable metatarsus is very strong in the
larger forms, and much weaker in the Prionopinae ; it is perhaps
shortest in the Malaconotinae, where — as in all the Family — the
scutes tend more or less to fuse. In Calicalicus and Nicator the
basal joints of the third and fourth toes are united. The wings
— usually moderate — may 'be very long and pointed, as in Gym-
norhina and Pityriasis, or abbreviated and much rounded, as in
TelepJionus and Laniarius ; the rather short tail is rarely emargi-
nate, but frequently has acuminate feathers ; while it may be
square or rounded, or at times graduated, as in Laniarius, Laniellus,
Paeoptera, Telephones, PtererytJirius, some species of Lanius, and
still more Urolestes, where the two median rectrices are excep-
tionally elongated. Falcunculus and Oreoeca have well-developed
erectile crests ; Ehectes, Sigmodus, Pseudorhectes, and Melanorhectes
also exhibit lengthened head-plumes ; Platylophus has these feathers
broad and extraordinarily long ; while Prionops has in addition
frontal feathers overhanging the nostrils. Pityriasis has a bare
yellow crown, the ear-coverts and lower throat being covered by
brown bristles with red bases : Leptopterus, Prionops, and Sigmodus
have a fleshy wattle round the eye. Kictal and nasal hairs may be
highly developed or absent. The sexes are generally similar, except
in the Pachycephalinae, and to some extent in the Prionopinae.

Sub-fam. 1. GymnorTiininae. — The remarkable red and black
Pityriasis gymnocepliala inhabits Borneo ; the black and white
GymnorJiina Australia, with Tasmania ; the black, white, and grey
Strepera the same countries, Cracticus Papuasia also. Gymnorhina
and Cracticus have the beak bluish-white. Strepera occurs in parties
in open wooded districts or swamps, feeding chiefly upon the ground
on insects, their larvae, and a little fruit ; while it runs, hops, or
leaps from branch to branch with great agility, but generally flies
low and feebly. It is a bold bird with a shrill, ringing, oft-
repeated cry. The nest, as large as that of a Crow, is placed in
the fork of a low tree, and is formed of sticks and twigs with a
lining of bark, grass, leaves, wool, or hair; three or four pale choco-
late- or reddish-brown eggs, with faint red or lilac markings,
being deposited. Gymnorhina, the Piping Crow, resembles
Strepera in habits, though its single, clear notes are somewhat
different, and it can be taught to whistle or mimic. G. liyperleuca
of Tasmania is called the Organ - bird, as Cyplwrliinus (p.
522) is in Amazonia. The eggs vary from brown to whitish,

viz LANIIDAE 533

bright green, or sky blue, with smears, dashes, spots, or freckles
of lilac and brown. The shy Cracticus is more arboreal, and eats
mice, young birds, lizards, and even crabs, in addition to insects,
upon which C. destructor darts like a Flycatcher, impaling its
prey subsequently after the fashion of a Shrike. The cry in this
genus bears a general resemblance to that of the above forms;
the eggs are equally variable, and may have zonal markings.

Sub-fam. 2. Malaconotinae. — These African and Indian birds
are commonly black, white, and chestnut ; Laniarius, however, is
chiefly red, green, and yellow ; Nicator, Neolestes, and several species
of Ptererytlirius shew much yellow and green; while Ariamia
leucocepliala is greenish-black, and A, bicolor chiefly cobalt, both
having the head and under parts white. The feathers of the back
are very broad, soft, and fluffy. Vang a, Artamia, Xenopirostris,
and Calicalicus are peculiar to Madagascar ; unless ClytorhyncJius
pachycephalo'ides of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides be
referred to Xenopirostris. Between X. polleni and Tylas eduardi
(Pycnonotidae) a most curious instance of " unconscious mimicry "
exists. The retiring members of this Sub-family are commonly
seen hopping or climbing about thick undergrowth in search of
insects. and their larvae, or hunting for worms and spiders 011 the
ground ; they run well and fly fairly, while some forms, as Dryos-
copus cubla and D. rufiventris, puff out their feathers until the body
resembles a black and white ball. The voice of Laniarius rubi-
ginosus has been compared to that of a Nightingale, and other species
utter ringing notes, sweet or melancholy whistles, or at times loud,
discordant cries or " churrs." The nest — where known — consists
of twigs, grass, wool, hair, and feathers, and contains from three
to five greenish-white eggs with brown spots ; it is placed in a bush,
or among close-growing plants. The male occasionally incubates.

Sub-fam. 3. Pachyceplialinae. — This group, which extends
from most of Polynesia and Australia to Tenasserim and the Great
Sunda Islands, shews brown, black, white, grey, yellow, and olive
hues, the yellow being somewhat characteristic. The majority of
the members hop actively about leafy trees, or search the ground
for insects, their larvae, and berries ; Falcunculus takes short,
quick flights, clings to the boughs like a Tit, and often tears off
the bark ; while Pacliycephala simplex prefers swampy ground, and
behaves like a Flycatcher. Some species have a low, mournful,
reiterated note, others a continuous whistle, often ending with a

534 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

smacking sound, others again have a sweet song. The nest of
Pacliycepliala is a neat, though sometimes frail, cup of twigs, roots,
and grasses, often placed on horizontal boughs, and containing
three or four creamy or brownish eggs, with scattered or zonal
umber markings and a few lilac spots ; Falcunculus usually selects
a gum-tree, and uses bark, grass, and cobwebs, laying two or
three elongated whitish eggs, with olive, black, and greyish dots
or lines ; those of Oreoeca are bluer.

Sub-fam. 4. Laniinae. — The Shrikes proper extend over the

FIG. 119. — Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor. x T\.

Palaearctic, Indian, and Ethiopian Eegions, and alone of the
Family occur in the New World, Lanius borealis and L. ludo-
mcianus inhabiting North America. The lax plumage is either
black, grey, and white, or is varied with rich red-brown. Urolestes
has the feathers of the crown and neck lanceolate, and those of
the sides long and fluffy ; Laniellus is exceptional in being spotted.
The young are browner, and are often transversely barred below, a
fact also true of the Gymnorhininae. In the large genus Lanius
are included all the British Butcher-Birds, L. excubitor, L. minor,
L. pomeranus, L. collurio, the Great Grey, Lesser Grey, Woodchat

vii LANIIDAE 535

and Eed-backed Shrikes, of which only the last-named breeds in
our island. The Sub-family contains many of these quarrelsome,
rapacious birds, often seen perched on the tops of bushes, or chasing
each other along the hedge-rows. The flight is strong and rapid,
but undulating and brief; the food, which may be taken on the wing,
or procured upon, the ground, consists of small mammals and birds,
insects, snakes, lizards, frogs, or even crabs and fruit, the creatures
not devoured at once being impaled on thorns or spiky leaves. The
" larders " are usually near the nest, which is a bulky mass of twigs,
grass, and the like, with a softer lining, placed in a thick bush or
fairly high up a tree ; the four to seven eggs vary from green to
reddish-buff or whitish, and are spotted, blotched, and generally
zoned, with brown, red, olive, green, or a little grey. Sometimes
the male incubates. The usual note is harsh and grating, but shriller
cries or sweeter songs are not uncommon, while certain species are
good mimics. Pellets of the indigestible portions of the food are
ejected after eating, as in Birds of prey, and elsewhere.

Sub-fam. 5. Prionopinae. — The " Wood-Shrikes " are usually
dull in colour, though some have the normal browns, greys, and
blacks relieved by bright chestnut, fawn, or yellowish-white, and
several are black and white, or uniform black. They frequent trees
and bushes, and eat molluscs and fruit ; but live chiefly upon insects
captured on the branches or on the ground, if not by darting into
the air from a perch. Their flight, rapid but short, is com-
monly performed with quivering wings ; they hop easily upon the
ground ; while their notes take the form of a rather pleasing
Thrush-like song or a harsh chatter. The slight, loose nest, built
in a low fork, in the hollow of a stump, or even on a rocky ledge,
is made of moss, grass, bark, roots, wool, feathers, lichens, cobwebs,
or downy seeds ; the three eggs being white, greenish, or buff, often
with brown, black, and grey blotches, dashes, freckles, or zones.

Grallina, the " Magpie-Lark " of Australia and New Guinea,
doubtfully placed here, possesses vocal organs abnormal for an
Oscinine bird.1 Graceful and tame, it frequents homesteads,
stream-sides, and swamps, having a heavy, flapping flight, utter-
ing a shrill, plaintive whistle, and plastering a nest of mud and
grass on some horizontal bough. The three or four eggs are
white or pinkish, marked or zoned with red, brown, and lilac.

The Helmet-bird of Madagascar (Eurycerosprevosti), a purplish-
1 H. Gadow, Bronn's Thier-Reich, Aves, Syst. Theil, 1893, p. 281.

PASSERIFORMES : VIREONIDAE CHAP.

black and chestnut species, with a compressed, swollen and hooked
steel-blue beak exhibiting a pearly interior, should perhaps stand
in a separate Family, Eurycerotidae, and not with the Shrikes.

Fam. XVII. Vireonidae. — The small group of " Greenlets "
ranges from Winnipeg and Nova Scotia to Argentina. The com-
pressed or depressed beak varies from stout and strongly hooked,
as in Vireolanius and Cyclorhis, to small and comparatively weak
as in Hylophilus ; both mandibles being notched, and the gape
bristly. The metatarsi are usually short and robust with slightly
united anterior toes, but are longer and more feeble in Vireo ; the
wings may be elongated and pointed, as in Vireosylma, or abbre-
viated and roimdish, as in Vireo and Neocliloe ; the tail is normally
short and even, with narrow feathers, but is rounded in Neocliloe.
The frontal feathers are somewhat erect. The coloration is olive,
or green and grey above — with a black, brown, ashy, or reddish cap
— and is grey, whitish, or yellow beneath ; the wing frequently
exhibits white bands, and the head white, dusky, or rufous
stripes. White or yellow orbital rings occur in Lanivireo, a
red-brown tail in Hylopliilus ochraceiceps, a blue crown in
Vireolanius pulchellus, a chestnut pectoral band in V. melit-
oplirys. The bill and feet are sometimes red ; the eyes white, red,
or yellow. The sexes frequently differ in colour.

These active and fearless birds inhabit forests up to an altitude
of ten thousand feet, as well as ravines, swamps, or even streets
of towns; they are usually observed in pairs among the higher
branches of trees, creeping and hanging to the twigs, or chasing one
another about in play. Seldom do they seek the ground, but they
take fairly long nights, and dart out after passing insects, which,
with the larvae and a few berries and seeds, form the diet. The
continuous song consists of loud, reiterated, flute-like notes, supposed
in one case to resemble " Whip-Tom-Kelly " ; some forms also utter
harsher chirps or mews. The nest, a deep, firm cup of leaves, grass,
bark, lichens, spiders'- webs and cottony materials, lined with fibres,
fir-needles, delicate stems, or rarely down, is supported by some hori-
zontal fork, over which the rim is commonly turned ; the four or five
eggs are white, generally spotted with red-brown, black, or purplish.

Fam. XVIII. Sittidae. — The Nuthatches, though closely allied
to the Paridae, show a certain affinity to the Certhiidae (p. 571).
Typically they are stout little birds with long, pointed wings, and
short nearly square tails ; the bill is fairly long and strong, arid is

VII

SITTIDAE

537

straight and awl-like, being notched only in Sitella and Hypo&itta,
and slightly upcurved in the former. Bristles usually occur at the
gape, while the nostrils are concealed by the same or feathers. The
metatarsi are short and powerful, the scutes being fused in Hypositta;
the hind toe is unusually developed; the claws are long, curved, and
sharp. The colours in Sitta, which ranges over nearly all the
Palaearctic and Indian Eegions, and throughout North America to
Mexico, are slaty-blue and rusty-red of various shades, relieved by

FIG. 120. — Nttthatch. Sitta caesia. x T\. ( From Natural History of Selborne. )

black and white; the slaty tints shewing chiefly above, often in com-
bination with a black or brown cap. Dendrophila and Callisitta,
of the Indian Eegion and Timor, are blue arid black, with creamy
or ochreous lower parts. Sitella, of Australia and New Guinea,
exhibits brown, grey, black, rufous, and white, often having a
white head, or a rusty or white wing-patch ; Daphoenositta, of the
latter country, adds to these hues pink at the base of the bill and
on the graduated tail ; Hypositta of Madagascar is greenish-blue,
with browner head and under surface, and coral-red bill.

538 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

Nuthatches are quiet, non-migratory birds, which frequent
forests or open country with old timber, where they may be
seen darting quickly from tree to tree with undulating flight, or
creeping jerkily in Tit-like fashion up and down the trunks or
over rocks. They seldom seek their food upon the ground, but search
every cranny, and dig in rotten wood for insects, their larvae, and
so forth, or collect nuts, acorns, beech-mast, and seeds ; while the
nuts are cracked by fixing them in chinks and hammering them
with the whole weight of the body, which swings backwards and
forwards from the hip-joint. In winter they are exceedingly tame.
The spring call is a noisy, querulous " whit-whit," recalling that
of the Wryneck, but sibilant sounds and sweeter cries are not
uncommon, few persons being aware that the British species
(Sitta caesia) has at least four sets of notes, one of which i^
very Thrush-like. Sitella has a weak, piping voice. In Eng-
land the nesting-cavity is usually chosen in a tree, but occasionally
in a wall, haystack, or the like ; this is commonly lined with
scales from conifer trunks, and the entrance blocked up with
a plaster of clay pierced by a round hole : abroad, however, holes
in rocks are often utilized, and nests made of moss, bark, hair,
and feathers. The Indian species do not always plaster up their
holes, and the American apparently never do so. Sitella forms a
curious funnel-shaped nest with a very thin rim, in forks or on
branches, using as materials bark, moss, down, cobwebs, and lichens,
the bark being applied externally like shingles. The three or four
greenish or bluish -white eggs, with blackish, grey, or lilac markings,
are very unlike those of Sitta, which are white, with fine pinkish-
red and lilac spots or blotches, and number from five to eight.

Fam. XIX. Paridae. — The Tits usually have a moderate and
slightly decurved bill, though it is elongated in Sphenostoma and
Certhiparus, abbreviated with roundish outline in Acredula, Psaltria,
and Psaltriparus, more pointed in Aegithalus and Auriparus ; the
maxilla having little trace of a notch, or the gape of bristles. The
metatarsi are short, except in Acredula, where the legs are longer
and the scales tend to fuse ; the robust front toes are partially
united, and possess strong claws. The wings are rounded and
abbreviated, especially in Aegithalus ; the tail varies considerably,
being short and nearly square in Parus, long and graduated in
Acredula and Psaltriparus, intermediate in Psaltria and Spheno-
stoma, and emarginate in Aegithalus. The nostrils, generally hidden

VII

PARIDAE 539

by bristly feathers, are exposed in Xerophila and Sphenostoma.
Crests occur in the last-named and at times in Parus.

The colour of the soft, lax plumage is commonly dull; but
Parus may be glossy greenish -black and yellow, as in the
Sultan-bird (P. sultaneus) ;
black with white on the
wings, tail, or lower parts, as
in P. niger and a few other
African species ; blue and
white, with a little black and
grey or a yellow fore-neck, as
in P. cyanus and P. flam-
pectus ; blue, black, greenish,
yellow, and white, as in the
British Great and Blue Tits
(P. major and P. caeruleus) ;
olive, brown, or grey, varied
with black, white, chestnut, or
buff, as in our Crested Tit (P.

cristatus] ; or lastly, the tints

. , ,. , . , FIG. 121. — Great Titmouse. Parus major.

while including but little xl,

yellow or blue, as in our Coal

and Marsh Tits (P. britannicus and P. palustris), may be greyish
or olive on the back, with a black head, white cheeks, and buffish-
white under parts, the former species having a white nuchal patch.
Psaltria is brown, grey, white, and buff ; Psaltriparus is similar ;
Xerophila and Sphenostoma are brown, with yellowish-white, buff,
or brown and white lower surface ; Certhiparus is red-brown, with
a grey nape and dull white breast. Acredula, containing the Long-
tailed Tits, is black and white with a more or less pronounced rosy
wash, or may be rufous, or brown and grey, with pinkish or fawn
under parts, two species having chestnut heads. Aegithalus and
Auriparus are rufous-brown, yellow-green, or greyish above, with
black and white, orange-red, or yellow heads ; and are commonly
rufous and white, yellow, or whitish below, occasionally with bay
marks. The sexes are very similar, the young often yellower.

Titmice are ordinarily non - migratory, Parus occupying
most of the globe, except South America and the Australian
Eegion east of Lombok and Flores ; Psaltria is confined to Java,
Acredula to the Palaearctic and Indian countries, Aegithalus to

540 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

the same with the Ethiopian Region, Psaltriparus and Auriparus
to North America, Xerophila and Sphenostoma to Australia,
Certhiparus to New Zealand.

These familiar birds, active and often noisy, are found in flat or
hilly, open or wooded districts, up to an altitude of ten thousand
feet or more. They are decidedly arboreal, seldom frequenting the
ground, and usually combining into flocks, except when breeding.
The food consists mainly of insects, their eggs, larvae, and pupae,
but at times of conifer-seeds, acorns, beech-mast, nuts, and the
like ; while in winter a suspended meat-bone, fat, or crumbs,
prove great attractions. No doubt a certain amount of fruit is
eaten in summer, and buds are plucked in spring ; but the latter
commonly contain injurious grubs. The Great Tit will kill
smaller birds. The flight is weak and undulating, but on the
trees the birds hop, climb, cling head downwards, and pry into the
crannies in most workinan-like style. Xerophila is, however, more
terrestrial. The sharp reiterated notes are varied by sibilant
sounds, those of the Blue Tit being fairly representative ; yet
some are harsher; others, as in the Long- tailed Tits, softer; while
certain Crested Tits are credited with a song. The nest is nor-
mally a mass of moss — and sometimes grass — with a felted lining
of wool, hair, or fur, containing from five or six to twelve or more
white eggs, which are in most cases spotted or freckled with various
shades of red, but rarely with purplish or chocolate-colour. Some-
times more than one is laid in a day. The fabric is placed in holes
in trees, stumps, rocks, walls, or the ground ; pumps, post-
boxes, and so forth are frequently selected : nooks behind
loose bark, deserted habitations of other birds, or the foundations
of those of Hawks and Crows are sometimes chosen ; while Spheno-
stoma, and occasionally Xerophila, build open nests in shrubs.
Acredula, Aegithalus, and Psaltriparus make a purse-shaped struc-
ture with an entrance near the top ; the first-named, thence called
Bottle-Tit, placing it in hedges, bushes, undergrowth, forks of trees,
or even ivy, and using as materials, moss, wool, lichens, and
cobwebs, with a thick feather-lining ; the two latter generally
suspend it to branches and fashion it of grass, fibres, and leaves,
often adding twigs externally or down internally. Aegithalus
occasionally makes a tubular passage. Auriparus deposits in a
similar or bulkier nest pale bluish or greenish eggs with red-brown
specks, while those of Sphenostoma are blue with blackish mark-

VII

PANURIDAE

541

ings. Acredula apparently incubates with its tail over its back.
The hen's bravery when sitting, her hissing challenge, and her
speedy return when driven off, are characteristic of Tits.

Fam. XX. Panuridae. — Family rank is now pretty generally
accorded to Panurus biarmicus, the " Bearded Tit " or " Eeed-
Pheasant," though its
affinities are still doubtful.
Dr. Gadow,1 judging from
the internal structure, in-
clines to the view that it
is akin to the Finches,
but others place it next
to the Tits. The bill is
short, curved, rather coni-
cal, and without a notch ;
the metatarsus is long and
scutellated anteriorly ; the
wings are short and
rounded, the tail is ex-
tremely long and gradu-
ated. The plumage is
orange-brown above, with
a grey crown and a black
streak from the lores down

the cheeks, where the feathers are elongated and point backwards ;
the wings are varied with black and white ; the throat is greyish,
the breast pinkish; the abdomen coloured like the back; the under
tail-coverts are black, the bill is yellow. The hen has a buff head,
while she lacks the black " moustache " and under tail-coverts.

This pretty species, which ranges through most of Europe,
except Scandinavia and Northern Eussia, and reaches Central
Asia, may be seen to advantage on the Norfolk Broads, where it
is resident, and still breeds in diminished numbers. In windy
weather the separate pairs keep hidden, but at other times,
though shy, a quiet observer may see them flitting above the
reeds, uttering their clear " ping-ping," or clinging to the flowering
tops. Insects and small molluscs, with seeds in winter, constitute
the food. From April to August a nest of broad grasses, sedges, and
the like, lined with reed-flowers, or exceptionally with vegetable-

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. viii. 1883, p. 3.

Fia. 122. — Heed Pheasant. Panurus biarmicus.

542 PASSERIFORMES : ORIOLIDAE CHAP.

down, is built in aquatic herbage, or rarely in moderately high
plants, to contain the round creamy eggs with sparing brownish-
black lines and scrawls. These number from four to eight, or even
ten, should two hens lay together. The alarm-note is plaintive.
Towards autumn the adults and young form large flocks.

Fam. XXI. Oriolidae. — The Old World Orioles, not to be con-
founded with the so-called " American Orioles " (Icteridae), inhabit
the Palaearctic, Indian, and Australian Eegions, reaching eastward
to Turkestan, China, and Papuasia. The bill is strong, rather long,

FIG. 123. — Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula

straight, and notched, or, in Sphecotheres, curved ; the metatarsus
is short, the toes are small, the wings are long, the tail is moderate
and slightly rounded. Sphecotheres has naked lores and orbits.
The Golden Oriole (0. galbula) which breeds exceptionally in Eng-
land, is orange-yellow, with black lores and mainly black wings
and tail ; the similar Indian Mango-bird (0. kundoo), has a black
post-ocular streak ; other species shew black napes or heads. 0.
viridis and its allies are olive-yellow or brownish, often with dusky
streaks, 0. steerii being white beneath with broad black stripes ;
0. cruentus is blue-black, with crimson wing-bar and mid-breast ;
0. ardens chiefly crimson, with black head and fore-neck ; 0. trailli
maroon, with black head, throat, and wings ; 0. hosii black, with

PARADISEIDAE 543

chestnut under tail-coverts. The bill is crimson, pinkish, or bluish.
Sphecotheres is yellow-green or olive-yellow, at times brighter below,
and is relieved by black, grey, and white, the orbits being yellowish
or flesh-coloured, the bill blackish.

These shy, restless, and quarrelsome birds frequent gardens,
groves, and mangrove swamps, avoiding the ground, flying heavily
but swiftly from tree to tree, and hopping among the higher
branches. They eat insects and fruit ; and utter flute-like notes,
varied by mewing calls or " churrs " of alarm. The nest is a pocket
of bark, grass, and fibres, with the rim woven over two forking
twigs — leaves, moss, and hair being occasionally added. The
three to five white or salmon-coloured eggs have dark purplish
or brown-pink spots, and more rarely streaks ; those of Oriolus
viridis being more dusky with brown and lilac markings. Spheco-
theres maxillaris makes a shallow nest of twigs, and lays three
olive or green eggs, blotched or zoned with red-brown.1

Fam. XXII. Paradiseidae. — The Birds of Paradise have no
rivals in splendour, unless it be the Humming-birds, among which,
however, there is- no such marvellous development of accessory
plumes. They are undoubtedly allied to the Corvidae, as is evidenced
in particular by Lycoeorax and Manucodia, while these also connect
the more typical forms with the comparatively plainly garbed
Bower-birds, often placed in a separate Family, Ptilorhynchidae.
Few species are as large as Crows, and some are not bigger than
Thrushes. Whether known to earlier traders or not, the first
undoubted account of Birds of Paradise published in Europe was
that of Maximilianus Transylvanus (1523), followed by that of
Antonio Pigafetta, both relating to a couple of birds brought
by Magellan's company from Batchian,2 where they were called
" Manukdewata," or " Birds of the gods." Natives when preserv-
ing the skins used to cut off the wings and the feet, a fact which
gave rise to absurd stories of Paradise-birds (Paradeira apoda)
never perching, gazing perpetually at the sun (passaros de sol),
suspending themselves by the tail-feathers, and so forth. The
hen was also said to lay her eggs on the back of her spouse.

1 For unconscious mimicry of Mimeta (Oriolidae) and Philemon (Meliphagidae),
cf. A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1893, pp. 573-574.

2 Cf. A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1893, pp. 37-40 ; and for the Family generally, op.
cit. pp. 48-51, 534-536, 779-780, 789-790, Wallace, Malay Archipelago, ch. xxxviii.,
Salvador!, Ornitologia Papuasia e Molucche, and the Monographs of Elliot and Sharpe.

544 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

The bill is usually short and stout, but is Crow-like in Manu-
codia and Lycocorax, long and decurved in Ptilorhis, ParyphepJiorus,
lanthothorax, Seleucides, and Falcinellus, and becomes slender and
sickle-shaped in Drepanornis; the maxilla is in some cases notched,

FIG. 124. — B'Albertis' Bird of Paradise. Drepanornis albertisi. x £. (From Nature).

and in Scenopoeetes bideiitate. The metatarsi are strong and fairly
long, the outer and middle toes are slightly united, and the hallux
is large. The wings are moderate or short, being especially rounded
in Bower-birds ; the tail may be enormously elongated and gradu-
ated, as in both sexes of Falcinellus, Astrapia, and Paradigcdla ;
less graduated and shorter, as in Drepanornis ; of medium length,

PARADISEIDAE 545

and square or rounded, as in many forms ; or much abbreviated, as
in Cicinnurus. Astrapia stephaniae has the two median rectrices
concave and decurved over; those feathers in the males ofParadisea,
Cicinnurus, Dipliyllodes, Schlegelia, Paradisornis, and Uranornis
exhibiting more or less wire-like shafts, which terminate in large
racquets in Cicinnurus, smaller discs in, Paradisornis. They are
broader, convex above, wavy, and horny in Uranornis, and are
curled outwardly in Dipliyllodes and Schlegelia, while they cross
each other twice in the last, but once in Cicinnurus. Pterido-
phora has an extraordinary streamer behind each eye. That these
• however, are by no means the only remarkable developments, will
be seen from the following descriptions of the most striking species,
all of which are confined to Papuasia and Australia, except the
Moluccan genera Semioptera and Lycocorax. The feathering often
extends over part of the bill.

Manucodia and Phonygammus are the only Passerine birds
known to have a convoluted trachea.1

Ptilorhis paradisea, the Rifleman-bird,2 is velvety-black with
a purple gloss, having the head, throat, and median rectrices
green, the abdomen bronzy; the crown -feat hers are scale -like,
and the silky flank-plumes considerably elongated. P. magnified
is somewhat similarly coloured, with a stiff pectoral shield of
metallic green ; lantJwthorax and Paryphephorus, with erectile
nuchal collars, are near allies. Seleucides ignotus the Twelve-
wired Bird of Paradise, which has six long, recurved and filiform
appendages to the lax, projecting feathers of each side, is black,
with purplish head, wings, and tail, bronzy back, broad erectile
breast-plumes margined with emerald, yellow sides and belly.
Drepanornis albertisi is rufous-brown, with green throat and ante-
ocular region, white belly and dusky breast ; the sides of the last
exhibit dark-edged bronzy plumes, which can be expanded like a
fan, succeeded by long grey decomposed feathers with lilac margins ;
and small bluish tufts surmount the bare orbits and post-
ocular region. Falcinellus speciosus is black with rainbow-like
reflexions ; the broad plumes of the sides of the upper breast
being banded with metallic blue and green, and having wide tips
which open upwards into a fan ; while the* long pointed flank-
feathers compose similarly coloured tufts. Astrapia nigra, the

1 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1882, pp. 347-350 ; Beddard, Ibis, 1891, pp. 512-514.

2 Not to be confounded with the New Zealand Rifleman (Acanthidositta chloris.}*
VOL. IX 2 N

546

PASSERIFORMES

" Paradise-Pie " of old authors, is bronzy-black above and green
below, with golden-green occiput and nape, purplish black throat,

coppery fore-neck, and violet
tail, the feathers round the
head forming an erectile
frill,
head

"FiG. 125. — Long-tailed Bird of Paradise.
nellus speciosus. x J .
pelago. )

Falci-

A. stephaniae has the
and neck bluer, the
breast purplish -bronze. The
smaller A. splendidissima
has a more brilliant nape-
region, red fore -neck, and
much buff on the tail. Mac-
gregoria pulchra is black,
with mainly orange-buff pri-
maries, and an orange wattle
covering most of the face.
Paradigalla carunculata is
black, with green and bronzy
sheen above ; the front of
the head being naked, with
three wattles on each side —

(From Malay Archi- Qne brQad and yenOW above

the bill, another moderate
and blue at the gape, a third small and red below it. Paradisea
apoda, the Great Bird of Paradise, is rich brown, becoming
purplish beneath ; the head and neck are pale yellow, the fore-
head, lores, cheeks, and throat metallic green. The wiry median
rectrices have very slight apical and basal webs, while long, thick,
extensile tufts of delicate decomposed golden- orange feathers, tipped
with brown, grace the sides. Of its congeners, P. minor has the
mantle straw-coloured ; P. raggiana has a light yellow gorget,
and red lateral plumes like those of P. (Uranornis) rubra, the
Ked Bird of Paradise. P. (Paradisornis') rudolphi is greenish-blue
and dusky above, with blackish head, neck, and under surface, and
a purplish occipital patch. From the sides of the body spring
two series of elongated, decomposed feathers ; the outer and stiffer
being ultramarine, changing terminally to lilac with a brown
external tinge, the inner smaller and deeper blue. Below these
come a row of short chestnut plumes and finally a set of black.
The two long median rectrices are violet-black with small blue

PARADISEIDAE 547

racquet-tips. Cicinnurus regius, the King Bird of Paradise, hardly
seven inches long, is glossy crimson, with a metallic green band
dividing the throat from the white lower parts. An _expan-
sible " fan " of ashy plumes tipped with emerald arises from
each side, while the long median tail-wires have the terminal
green inner webs coiled into discs. The feathering reaches far
down the orange bill ; the feet are cobalt, contrasting with the
black, yellowish, or fleshy tints usual in the Family. Diphyl-
lodes gulielmi tertii is orange-red with mainly dusky wings and
tail ; the long nuchal ruff being orange, the lateral neck-tufts
purplish-brown, the pectoral shield green edged with emerald,

FIG. 126.— Magnificent Bird of Paradise. Diphyllodes magnified. x f .
(From Malay Archipelago.)

the long side -plumes brown with green ends, the belly purple.
D. magnified has a brown head and under surface, green throat
and breast-shield, orange-brown back surmounted by a double
cape of straw-yellow upon red -brown, and long, curved steel-
blue tail-wires. ScJilegelia respublica is remarkable for its naked
blue head, with two lines of brown feathers crossing each other
at right angles, and for its blue feet. The upper parts are
successively green, yellow, crimson, black, and brown ; the silky
gular shield is green, with metallic blue spots above and coppery
marks below ; the lateral breast-plumes shew coppery and green
hues. Parotia sexpennis, the Six-wired Bird of Paradise, is
bronzy- and purplish-black, having scale-like golden throat- and
breast-feathers with green and blue reflexions. A satiny white

548

PASSERIFORMES

FIG. 127. — Six- wired Bird of Paradise. Parotid,
sexpennis. x i. (From Malay Archipelago.)

patch crosses the forehead ; the occiput is green, blue, and purple,
having two lateral tufts, from each of which spring three wires

terminating in small black
discs ; while large, soft, erec-
tile masses of black adorn each
side of the body. Semioptera
wallacii, the Standard-wing,.
is mouse-coloured, with some-
what bronzy back and violet
head ; the pectoral feathers
have green edges ; the green
shield on the fore-neck ex-
tends in lateral tufts to the
flanks ; and two long, narrow
white plumes, erected at will,
adorn the bend of each wing.
Lophorhina superla is black,,
with blue, green, and bronzy
gloss on the head and neck ;.
the bluish-green breast-shield is prolonged at the sides, and a
metallic black erectile ruff graces the nape. Lamprothorax has
coppery, green, purple, rosy, and brownish hues, and two long blue-
green median rectrices. Phony gammus jamesi is purplish-violet,
with blue-green head, under surface, lanceolate neck-feathers, and
acuminate occipital tufts. The extraordinary Pteridophora alberti
possesses a wonderful streamer behind each eye, twice as long as
the body. This has, on the outer side only, about thirty-seven thin
quadrangular enamel-like lobes, which are light blue with dusky
backs. The plumage is black, with olive rump-region and ochra-
ceous lower parts, the head and neck shewing elongated plumes.

Manucodia atra is steel-green and black, with purple reflex-
ions ; M. (Eucorax) comrii has the head and neck -feat hers curly,.
M. chalylteata those of the fore-neck. The Crow -like Lycocorax
pyrrhopterus is greenish-black with brown wings ; Xcmtliomelus
aureus is orange- yellow, and has a deeper-coloured crested head
and neck, black throat, tail, and part of wings and back, and a
cape of hackled plumes falling over the last.

Of the Bower-birds, Prionodura newtoniana is bright orange,
olive, and brown ; Cnemopliilus macgregori is golden-yellow above
and black below, with brownish wings and tail ; the thin recurved

VII

PARADISEIDAE

549

crest merging into a compressed frontal ridge, whence chestnut
feathering extends over the culmen. Loria loriae is chiefly pur-
plish-black with an iridescent violet nasal shield of scale-like
feathers. Loloparadisea sericea is rufous-brown and yellow, with
a wattle, apparently bluish, extending upwards from the gape on
each side. Amblyornis inornata and A. subalaris are respectively
olive and reddish-brown, with a huge orange-red crest. A. flam-
frons has the crest yellower. Sericulus melinus, the Regent-bird,
is black, with orange head, neck, and most of the remiges ; Ptilo-

FIG. 128. — Satin Bower-bird. Ptilorhynchus viol

rhynchus violaceus, the Satin-bird, is purplish-black, with much
feathered culmen ; Scenopoeetes dentirostris is olive-brown above, and
fulvous with dusky streaks below. Aeluredus viridis, the Cat-bird,
not to be confounded with that of America (p. 5 19), is bright green,
with a blue wash on the back, and with white streaks, bars, or spots
on the nape, wings, tail, and yellowish under parts. Other species
of the genus have mainly black or brown heads, while some have
white throats with black markings. Chlamydodera nuchalis has
grey-brown plumage above with whitish tips, a lilac nuchal band
backed by stiff feathers, and a yellow-grey lower surface.

Female Paradise-birds generally have brown upper parts with
lighter markings, though they are occasionally blacker, as inAstrapia

550 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

and Paradigalla ; below the colour is rufous, buff, grey, yellowish
or white, with bars, stripes, or chevrons of blackish or brown. In
the female of Sclilegelia the bare head is duller than in the male,
while a little red and gold shews above ; the hen of Ptilorhynchus
exhibits grey-green and brown tints ; the sexes are almost alike in
Phony gammus, Manucodia, Lycocorax, and Aeluredus ; in Para-
disornis the female has blue wings and tail. Young birds usually
resemble their mother; but with regard to their progress to maturity,
the elongation and abrasion of the webs of the median rectrices,
and the growth of the decorative tufts, the works of Mr. Wallace,1
Dr. Guillemard,2 and Mr. Eothschild 3 should be consulted.

Except in the Bower-birds the habits vary but little. Para-
dise-birds are lively and active, shy though curious, taking refuge in
the thick foliage when disturbed ; small flocks are not unfrequently
observed, usually of one species, while for considerable periods the
males appear to live apart. Closely wooded hills and ravines are
the chief resorts, Falcinellus, Astrapia, Lophorhina, Diphyllodes,
and the like preferring the inland heights of New Guinea up to
an altitude of about nine thousand feet ; Parotid of that country
and Scenopoeetes of Queensland range to about four thousand feet ;
but such forms as Cicinnurus, Xanthomelus, Phonygammus, Ptilo-
rhis, and the Australian Cat-birds and Bower-birds, occupy lower
elevations on the coast or elsewhere. Falcinellus, Astrapia, Para-
disea, Parotia, Ptilorhis, Sericulus, and doubtless others, love high
tree-tops ; Semioptera, Cicinnurus, and so forth, live nearer to the
ground. The brief flight is rapid, though undulating and often
heavy; in Cicinnurus it is noisy, in Ptilorhis the sound pro-
duced resembles the rustling of silk. Most species hop constantly
about the boughs ; Paradigalla often rests on dead trees ; Drepan-
ornis, Seleucides, Semioptera, and Ptilorhis, search under the bark
for insects, and move about like Creepers. The pugnacious males
of Paradisea collect to " dance " on favourite trees at the breed-
ing season, when they fly about with elevated and vibrating
plumes ; while in the Family generally the cock courts the hen
in Pigeon-like fashion, Diphyllodes making meanwhile a complete
circle of its expanded mantle- and throat -plumes. Parotia
scratches and rolls in the dust like a Fowl.

The voice may be a shrill reiterated " wake-wake," as in
Paradisea; a harsh or sonorous cry, as in Falcinellus, Chlamydodera,
1 Malay Archipelago, ch. xxxviii. 2 P.Z.S. 1885, pp. 651-656. 3 Das Tier-reich, 1898,

viz PARADISEIDAE 5 5 I

Phony gammus, Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, Seleucides, and Semioptera ;
a long, grating or triple sound, as in Ptilorhis ; a mewing or flute-
like note, as in Cicinnurus ; or a sharp whistle, as in Aeli&redusj_
the last-named and Amblyornis being especially excellent mimics.
The diet consists largely of berries, seeds, fruits of Pandanus, and
Freycinetia, the fig, nutmeg, and so forth ; frogs, lizards, worms,
snails, and caterpillars, however, are also eaten ; insects are in
great request ; and Sdeucides sucks honey from the flowers. The
nest and eggs of several species have now been discovered ; the
former being a loose, open fabric of sticks and leaves in Ptilorhis,
Ptilorhynchus, Sericulus, and Phony gammus; or of twigs, roots, moss,
and grass in Eucorax, Chlamydodera, Prionodura, Aeluredus, and
Drepanornis ; it is placed in bushes, if not in low or even high trees.
The eggs are glossy reddish-buff, with dark rufous or chestnut
blotches and streaks, and a few black spots, in Paradisea apoda, P.
augustae victoriae, P. raggiana, and Ptilorhis victoriae ; similar or
whiter, often with purplish or purplish-grey markings in Eucorax,
Manucodia, and Drepanornis cervinicauda ; yellower with addi-
tional wavy scrolling in Ptilorhynchus violaceus ; yellowish -grey
with pale brown freckles and blotches in Prionodura newtoniana ;
bluish or greenish-white, with or without red-brown dots and lines,
in Aeluredus maculosus and Ae. viridis ; greenish-white with a
network of narrow brown and black lines in Chlamydodera maculata
and C. cerviniventris ; pale lavender with sienna and lilac spots
and scrawls in Sericulus melinus. The number of eggs found
varies from one to three.

Parotid lawesi, Aeluredus viridis and Scenopoeetes dentirostris,
though not said to form bowers, make clear spaces where from
six to eight males meet to sport, the last two species decorating
them with green or coloured leaves, berries, and flowers. Priono-
dura fashions a bower or play-place of from four to six feet high
by eight broad, piling sticks round two trees and roofing over
the intervening space with creepers ; white moss, ferns, and green
fruit serving as ornaments. Small structures of over -arching
grass capped with twigs are often observable close by. Ambly-
ornis inornata heaps a cone of moss round a sapling, leaving a
circular gallery between this arid an outer conical cover of sticks
two feet high, covered with orchid sprays. Before the entrance
lies a bed of green moss decked with bright flowers and berries,
which are renewed daily, the withered decorations being piled at

552 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

the back. A. subalaris fashions a domed bower of sticks and moss,
with one or two openings, round a shrub which is itself entwined
with twigs; the centre of the floor shewing a cheese-like mass of
moss ornamented with flowers and seeds. Sericulus melinus builds a
run about a foot long on a platform of sticks, composing it of arched
twigs and decorating it with shells, berries, and leaves. Ptilo-
rJiynchus violaceus makes a like structure of twigs and grass, which
scarcely meet above, and adorns it with bright feathers ; scattering
other feathers, bones, shells, rags, berries, and the like over the space
which Bower-birds habitually clear in front. In Chlamydodera
nuchalis the similar bower, about three feet long, is lined with
grasses, a large heap of ornaments lying before each entrance.

Paradise-birds are shot with blunt arrows, snared, caught in
nets, in cloths, or with bird-lime ; they have been kept in captivity
by the Zoological Society of London, and in Italy.

Fam. XXIII. Corvidae, — The Crows and their kin compose a
fairly uniform tribe, often divided into the Sub-families Cormnae
(Crows), Garrulinae (Magpies and Jays), and Fregilinae (Choughs).

The bill is generally stout and fairly straight, with no dis-
tinct notch, being very strong in Corvultur and Corvus corax, but
more or less curved in Gazzola, Microcorax, Macrocorax, Urocissa,
Garrulus, Callaeas (Glaucopis), Struthidea, and Pyrrhocorax ; while
in the last-named and Heterocorax it is exceptionally long and
slender, and in Nucifraga subulate and of diverse proportions. The
metatarsus is usually strong ; the wings are long and pointed in
Crows and Choughs, shorter in Jays and Magpies, and decidedly
rounded in Corcorax, Callaeas, and Struthidea. The variable tail
is very long and much graduated in Pica, Cyanopica, Urocissa,
Cryptorliina, Dendrocitta, Crypsirhina, Cissa, and Calocitta, the
two median rectrices often exceeding the others ; but it is usually
moderate, though at the same time graduated in some Jays.

Crests occur in Cyanocitta, Platysmurus, Cyanocorax, Uroleuca,
and Calocitta, those of the last two being recurved, and Calocitta
having the plumes widened ; sometimes the crown -feathers
are dense and erectile, as in Garrulus. The head of Picathartes
is bare and yellow, with a broad black patch behind each eye ;
Gymnocorax shews a large yellowish or whitish naked space on the
face ; the adult Eook (Corvus frugilegus) has whitish skin over
the forehead, lores, and throat ; in C. pastinator the throat is
feathered. Pica mauritanica has a blue, and the yellow-billed

CORVIDAE 553

P. nuttalli a yellow, ear-patch ; Cissa a fleshy vermilion orbital
outgrowth ; Callaeas an orange rictal wattle with blue base in
one species, a blue wattle in the other.

This Family occupies nearly all the globe, except the Australian
Eegion east of the Sandwich Islands, New Caledonia, and New
Zealand ; while the members are less plentiful in America, and
from Panama to Uruguay only a few genera akin to the Jay
occur. The sexes are similar, the young usually duller.

True Crows are generally black with a purplish or greenish
gloss, and frequently with white at the base of the feathers ;
some, however, are browner, while the silvery-grey hind-neck of
the Jackdaw and the grey back and lower parts of the " Hooded "
Crow are well known. The Chinese Corvus torquatus and the
Ethiopian C. scapulatus have white collars behind, and white on
the breast ; in Gazzola of Celebes that colour extends further ; but
the African Corvultur has the white collar only. The throat
sometimes exhibits hackles, and in the Antillean Microcorax leuco-
gnaphalus the feathers have hair-like extremities. Our visitor the
Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) is brown, with whitish dorsal
and pectoral spots, and blackish quills ; three or four other species
of the genus, with most variable bills, inhabit conifer woods in the
Palaearctic Region ; and a near ally (Picicorvus columbianus) those of
the western Eocky Mountains. Choughs (P?/rrAocora£), which occur
in the Palaearctic and the extreme north of the Ethiopian Eegion,
are glossy black, with brilliant red feet, and red or yellow bill.

Pica Tustica, the well-known Magpie, needs no description,
nor do its black and white congeners, P. mauritanica, distin-
guished by a naked blue spot behind the eye, and P. nuttalli
with this spot and the beak yellow. P. rustica extends through
the Palaearctic Eegion, and reaches Formosa and North America ;
the other species are found respectively in Algeria and Morocco
and in California. Platysmurus aterrimus of Borneo, and Tem-
nurus truncatus of Cochin China are instances of uniform glossy
black forms in this section ; Psilorhinus, from the centre of
America, is a dull brown Jay. Cyanopica cooki, of Southern
Spain, represented in Eastern Asia and Japan by C. cyana, is a blue
Magpie, having cobalt wings and tail, an ashy body, and a black
head ; while the Indo-Chinese and Sumatran genus, Dendrocitta,
shews brown, orange, buff, and grey tints, mingled with black and
usually white. Cissa contains three species from India, Burma,

554

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

Sumatra, and Java, of lovely green and blue, or cobalt and ultra-
marine hues, with some red-brown on the wing, a white tip to
the tail, coral-red bill and feet, and — in two cases — a black nape.
Our soft-plumaged Jay (Garrulus glandarius), with its black and
white crest and wings, black tail, reddish-fawn upper and buff under
parts, and patch of blue, white and black bars on the wing-coverts,
may represent a genus ranging over the Palaearctic Region, and
through the Himalayas, to the Burmese districts and Formosa.
In Japan alone four species are found. Aphelocoma and Calocitta
of the central parts of the New World ; the Blue Jays (Cyanocitta)

of North
America;
Urocissa, a
Magpie with
red or yellow
bill and feet,
from India,
Burma, and

China ; and the Central and
South American Cyanocorax,
all shew more blue than Garru-
lus, not uncommonly on the
under surface. Perisoreus in-
faustus, the Siberian Jay, is
brown, grey, and olive, with
much chestnut on the wings,
tail, and abdomen, its congeners
being plain brown, grey, and white. Lastly, XantJiura luxuosa,
the Green Jay of South Texas and Mexico, is green, with yellow
on the abdomen and lateral rectrices, and a black and blue head ;
some species of the genus, which reaches southwards to Vene-
zuela and Bolivia, having the lower surface entirely yellow or
black, and others being almost blue with black on the head.

The habits of the cunning voracious Crows, the gregarious
Eooks, the astute but bold Magpies and Jackdaws, and the more
shy or retiring Jays and Choughs are well known ; yet the habit
of posting sentinels in the Rook, the tumbling in mid-air of that
bird, the Raven, and the Jackdaw, the scolding pursuit of intruders
by Magpies and Jays, and the breaking of clams, bones, and the
like by dropping them from aloft, by the Raven, Carrion-Crow,

Pica rustica.

FIG. 129. — Magpie.

(From Poachers. )

VII

CORVIDAE

555

and Corvus caurinus require passing mention. Crows generally
inhabit wooded country, but also bare moorlands or sea-coasts ;.
the Nutcracker requires pine-forests — commonly at considerable
elevations ; and Magpies haunt woods, yet not so invariably
as Jays. The whole Family hop, and most forms, except per-
haps Jays, walk or run also. All are active birds and fly well,,
the Chough, Jay, and Nutcracker in more undulating fashion :

FIG. 130. — Raven. Corvus corax.

TT-

while soaring is a common practice. Eavens have very deep
voices, and croak, " bark," or " grunt " ; Jackdaws utter a clear
" jake-jake " ; Choughs a ringing, metallic note or a hoarse " chough-
chough " ; Nutcrackers a " churr-churr " ; Magpies a continuous
" rattle " or " chatter." Jays vary their harsh, grating utter-
ances by mimicking other species, the American Blue Jays being
notorious adepts, and exhibiting meanwhile fantastic contortions of
the head, wings, and tail. Many species, such as Ravens, Magpies,
and Jackdaws, learn to imitate sounds when tamed. The Corvidae

PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

.are almost omnivorous, Ravens and other strong species even
attacking weakly ewes or lambs, and preying on small mammals.
birds, and reptiles ; Hooded and Carrion Crows, Books, Magpies.
Jackdaws, and Jays suck eggs ; while Rooks, though undoubtedly
beneficial, also grub up seed-corn and potatoes. An immense
amount of insect -life is, however, destroyed, and the larger
forms dispose of carrion ; the American Corvus ossifragus and C.
cor one, moreover, will catch living fish. Magpies and Jays feed
largely upon the ground, and eat slugs, snails, worms, insects, nuts,
acorns, grain, seeds of conifers, and other fruits ; Nutcrackers devour
•quantities of the last ; Corvus tropicus, Macrocorax, and Gymno-
corax relish fruit. Jays store provisions, and Jackdaws pick
insects off cattle. The nests of Crows and Nutcrackers are
bulky structures of sticks, lined with soft materials ; the rough
-domed fabric of the Magpie is neatly lined with roots upon a
layer of clay ; the slighter nests of Choughs and Jays are inlaid
with roots and fibres — more rarely with moss, hair, or wool — and
every variety is found between these limits. The larger species
build in forks and holes in trees, in crevices of rocks and masonry,
or rarely in or on the ground ; the Chough never chooses trees ;
Jays nest comparatively low, and often in bushes. Crows' eggs
.are normally greenish, mottled with darker green, olive, or
brownish, but Heterocorax capensis has them pinkish with red
spots, while other Crows, Ravens, and Dendrocitta sometimes shew
a similar tint. Jackdaws' eggs are bluish-green or white, with
dark olive or black markings interspersed with grey ; those of
Magpies and Nutcrackers have a like ground-colour with greenish-
olive and faint brownish spots respectively ; those of Jays are
greenish, or even bluish, with close olive-green frecklings or zones,
and occasional black scrawls at the larger end ; those of Choughs
are yellowish-white, with light brown and grey markings. The
number laid varies from two or three, to as many as nine in
Magpies, but is usually four or five. The hens sit rather closely.
Ravens sometimes will even attack man at the nest.

Of genera doubtfully included in the Family, Picatliartes of
the Gold Coast is slaty -grey, with brown quills, white under
parts, and bare yellow head, shewing black behind each eye ; it
builds among rocks near forest-streams, and feeds upon reptiles and
molluscs. The egg is whitish, clouded and dotted with brown.
Callaeas (Glaucopis) cinerea, which is blue-grey, with black on the

VII

CORVIDAE

557

head, and an orange and blue rictal wattle, and its congener
C. wilsoni, with entirely blue wattle, inhabit the lower hill-forests
of the South and North Islands of New Zealand respectively.
They have deep, rich, long-drawn notes, diversified by " cackles,"
" mews," or " bell-like " sounds, the male performing antics when
courting. The food consists, of fruit, flowers, and insects ; the

FIG. 131. — Huia. Heteralocha acutirostris.

(From Nature.)

flight is feeble. The large nests of twigs, moss, and grass are
placed in trees ; the two or three eggs being purplish-grey with
brown blotches or frecklings. Corcorax and Struthidea are peculiar
to Australia, the former being glossy black with white on the
wing, the latter brownish-grey with black tail.1 Corcorax haunts
open forests, brook-sides, and lagoons in little flocks, running about
actively, or leaping upon the boughs- with motile, outspread tail
The food consists of insects; the note is grating or mournful ; while

1 The Austro-coraccs (p. 531) may contain these three genera and the Paradiseidae.

5 5 8 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

the male courts the female like a Pigeon. The nest, a sort of basin
of mud with a straw lining, is fixed on a horizontal branch, and
contains from four to seven yellowish-white eggs with olive and
purplish-brown markings. Strutliidea frequents pine tracts, and has
similar habits and nest, the eggs being white with red-brown and
grey blotches. In Heteralocha J acutirostris, the New Zealand Huia,
the female has a remarkably long, curved bill, that of the male
being short, stout, and nearly straight. The plumage is greenish-
black, with a white-tipped tail ; the bill is whitish, the feet are blue-
grey, the large rictal wattles orange. This bird frequents wooded
gullies in the North Island, seldom flying above the foliage, but
bounding or hopping along the ground or upon the branches.
Natives attract and noose it by imitating the whistling note.
The cock chisels away the decayed bark, and the hen probes the
crevices for insects ; " huhu " caterpillars and berries varying the
main diet. The nest, of dry grass, leaves, and stalks, is placed in
hollow trees, the eggs being apparently whitish, with or without
brown and grey spots. Creadion carunculatus, the Saddle-back
of the same country, is black, with chestnut back, rump, wing-
and tail-coverts, and small yellow or red gape-wattles. It haunts
wooded hills, hopping actively or moving spirally up the trunks and
branches, while the flight is short, rapid, and laboured. The notes
may be soft and sweet, or noisy and shrill ; the food resembles
that of Ifeteralocha. The nest of dry leaves, ferns, fibres, moss,
.and bark is built in hollow trees or large ferns, the three or four
greyish-white eggs shewing purplish-brown markings.

Podoces includes four desert species, with elongated, strong,
•curved, and pointed bills ; long, stout legs ; short, rounded wings ;
and moderate square tails. The colour is fawn, grey, and brown,
generally with black and white wings and black tail ; P. hender-
soni and P. biddulphi have a black cap, the former shewing white
spots on it, P. panderi has a black throat-patch, P. Jiumilis is
brown with whitish nape and lower parts. They haunt sand-
hills covered with saxaul (Anabasis ammodendron) or tamarisk,
from Transcaspia to Tibet, running swiftly, occasionally flying
like a Jay, feeding on the ground upon insects, their larvae, and
.seeds, uttering harsh reiterated Woodpecker-like cries, and making
a nest of twigs lined with bark, grass, and hair in low trees, bushes,
or rarely holes in the ground. The four eggs are greenish-grey
1 This genus and the two next perhaps belong to the Sturnidae.

vii STURNIDAE 559

with olive spots. P. liumilis frequents more grassy ground up
to eleven thousand feet.

Fam. XXIV. Sturnidae. — The Starlings, apparently connect-
ing the Corvidae and the Icteridae, are divided by Mr. Gates * and
Dr. Sharpe 2 into Eulabetidae (Tree-Starlings) with rictal bristles,
more arboreal habits, and usually spotted eggs, and Sturnidae (Star-
lings proper) where the contrary holds good.3 To these Buphaga
may be added for the present, in default of a better position.

The bill is generally long and pointed — especially in Sturno-
pastor, — but is exceptionally slender in Cinnamopterus, shorter and
stouter in Basilornis, Buphaga, Pastor, Pholidauges, and Aplonis ;
being curved in the last three, and also in Fregilupus and Necropsar;
where it is longer. The anteriorly scutellated metatarsus is
ordinarily strong, and is shortest in the Tree -Star lings. The
wing is usually moderate, with small first primary, though it is
more elongated and pointed in Sturnus and Dilophus, rounded in
Sturnopastor, Temenuchus, and so forth, short in Coccycolius and
Bupliaga ; the secondaries have long filamentous basal append-
ages in Psaroglossa, and loose hair-like exterior webs in Onycho-
gnathus. The tail varies from short to long, from square to
much graduated ; it is forked in Sturnia, and may have acuminate
feathers ; while Macruropsar and Lamprotornis possess excep-
tionally developed rectrices, L. caudatus having the broad median
pair longer than the body. Lanceolate feathers commonly adorn
the neck and breast ; bushy crests occur in Pastor and Temenuchus,
smaller tufts in Sturnia, Basilornis, JZnodes, Fregilupus, Gracu-
lipica, Sturnornis and Acridotheres cristatellus ; recurved plumes
may cover the nostrils, as in Acridotheres, Ampeliceps, and Basil-
•ornis ; while bare chins, orbits, or ear-patches of brown, yellow,
and the like are frequent. Charitornis has the throat and cheeks
naked ; Dilophus the head and throat bare, with two erect wattles
above and one below ; Sarcops dull-red naked orbits, and merely
a narrow feathered line down the crown ; Eulabes a yellow post-
ocular lappet forking to the back of the eye and the eyebrow, and
a yellow patch below ; Enodes a broad, superciliary wax-like red
line ; and Scissirostrum similar crimson feathers on the rump.

1 Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, i. 1889, p. 363.

2 A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds, 1891 (2nd Internal. Orn. Congress).

3 For Paramythia montium, of New Guinea, a dull-blue bird with creamy head,
black crest and fore -neck, olive -green rump -region, yellow vent, and brownish
-wings ; cf. Sclater, Ibis, 1893, pp. 243-245 ; Hartert, Novitat. Zool. iii. pp. 13, 14.

560

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP,

Most of the brighter species exhibit purple, coppery, blue and
green reflexions, our familiar Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) being

iridescent black,
with buff marks
above, and, after the
autumn moult, white
spots below. The
female is duller, but
in this Family the
sexes usually differ
little. 8. unicolor in
unspotted. Spodio-
psar lurmanicus has
grey upper and
pinkish under parts,
with brownish
wings and tail,
white head, and
white -tipped rec-
trices; Sturnopastor
contra is blackish-
brown and white
above, and greyish
beneath, with
green-black head
and throat and
white cheeks ; Pastor
roseus, which wanders to Britain, is glossy black, with pink back
and abdomen ; Graculipica melanoptera is almost pure white,,
with black or bronzy remiges and rectrices. Eulabes religiosa,
the Myna, — a name also popularly applied to Acridotheres (sacred
to the god Ram Deo) and several other Indian forms, — is black,
with purple and green reflexions, and a white patch on the wing-
quills ; Cinnamopterus tenuirostris is more highly coloured, with
mainly chestnut primaries ; Melanopyrrhus orientalis adds to its
metallic black hue an orange head, neck, rump, and breast ;
Lamprotornis and the shorter-tailed Lamprocolius exhibit lovely
greens, purples, and peacock -blues, relieved by golden-bronze ;
Coccycolius is golden-green with purple cheeks and abdomen.
Pholidauges leucogaster is rich purplish-violet with white belly,

FIG. 132. — Starling. Sturnus vulgaris.
(From English Illustrated Magazine.)

vii STURNIDAE 561

the female being brown and buff above, and whitish below with
dusky striations ; Calornis and Aplonis are usually dullish green ;
while the extinct Fregilupus varius was ashy-brown, grey; and
white. Falculia is white with blue-black back, wings, and tail.
It frequents trees or streams, and utters plaintive, melodious
notes. Bupliaga is dull -brown, with fulvous rump and lower
surface. The bill is commonly black throughout the group, but
is sometimes red, pinkish, bluish, greenish, orange, or yellow ;
the feet also vary in colour. Albinos are rather frequent.

This Family occupies almost all the Old World, but not
America proper, though Sturnus vulgaris has strayed to Greenland ;
the headquarters lie in the Indian and Ethiopian Regions, wherein
several forms have a very restricted distribution. Instances of this
are Charitornis of the Sula Islands, Scissiroslrum, JEnodes, and
Streptocitla of Celebes, Hagiopsar of the Dead Sea and Sinaitic
districts, Harllaulius and Falculia of Madagascar, Sarcops of the
Philippines, Mino of Papuasia, Melanopyrrlius and Macruropsar
of New Guinea and its islands, Aplonis of the Pacific and the
Tenimber group. Fregilupus, of which only a few examples exist
in collections, was confined to Reunion, Necropsar is an extinct
form from Rodriguez. Calornis alone inhabits Australia.

Lamprolornis, Spodiopsar, and the Eulabetidae in general, rarely
leave the trees they haunt ; on the other hand, some forms, as
our Starling, spend much time upon the ground, or roost in huge
flocks on shrubs, reeds, and the like. The habits are wary, and
seldom as sociable as those of our British species, hills being often
preferred to more wooded districts or the neighbourhood of houses.
Aetliiopsar reaches an altitude of seven thousand feet. The flight
is strong, straight, and rapid, though heavier in Buphaga ; while
flocks of Starlings turn, sweep along, and gyrate in remarkable
fashion, and soaring is not uncommon. The more terrestrial forms
walk and run excellently, often stopping suddenly to probe the soil
for worms or larvae, which, with insects generally, and molluscs,
provide the chief sustenance. A large amount of fruit is also con-
sumed, including berries and seeds ; frogs and, as some say, callow
nestlings are also devoured ; Pastor, Diloplius, and Acridotheres
destroy locusts ; Eulales and its allies prefer vegetable food ;
BupJio^ga is termed Ox-pecker or Rhinoceros-bird, from clearing
ticks off those animals. Certain species disgorge nutriment for
their young. The voice is commonly varied and pleasing, becoming

VOL. IX 2 O

562 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

a rich song in Eulcibes ; but most forms whistle, chatter, or
utter harsh sounds ; and many are extraordinary mimics, or even
talk, like the Starling and the Myna, under tuition. By the more
typical forms a rough nest of straw, twigs, rags, wool, or feathers
is placed in holes in trees, walls, or banks ; under eaves ; in burrows
or stone-heaps : from four to seven uniform light blue or whitish
eggs being deposited. Sturnopastor, alone or in societies, affixes a
huge structure to the outer branches of trees or bushes ; Dilophus
makes a neater cup in similar situations ; Calornis, which usually
forms colonies, suspends from the boughs a bulky bottle-shaped
structure with a side-entrance, and so forth. Even our Starling
at times builds an open nest. The Eulabetidae generally lay
spotted eggs, Dilophus occasionally ; Calornis has them greenish
with reddish-brown marks.

Fam. XXV. Drepanididae. — According to the latest views,
namely those of Dr. Gadow,1 this group contains only the curious
forms below, which are all peculiar to the Sandwich Islands.
In most of them the semi-tubular tongue is dorsally frayed out
into a single brush, but in several thick-billed species it is but
slightly tubular, and is split or frayed. The non-serrated beak
varies greatly, being elongated and arched in Vestiaria ; very long
and curved with projecting maxilla in Drepanis and Hemignathus ;
and similar, but with the upcurved or straight mandible only about
half as long as the maxilla in Heterorhynclius. In Himatione,
Oreomyza, Loxops, Palmeria, Ciridops, and Chrysomitridops it is
much shorter and little decurved ; in Psittacirostra, Loxio'ides,
Chloridops, and Rhodacanthis it is stout, Finch-like, and hooked,
being enormously developed in the last two ; in the extraordinary
Pseudonestor it is Parrot-like. In Loxops the mandible is twisted
indifferently to either side, possibly by constant use. Over the
nostrils an operculum is often present ; but bristles of all kinds
are absent. The scutes of the moderate metatarsus shew a tend-
ency to fusion ; the wings are of medium length, with a hardly
visible outer primary. The tail is rather short and nearly square,
having pointed rectrices in Vestiaria and Drepanis ; and exhibits
a tendency to forking. Fluffy feathering constantly characterizes
the back, flanks, or axillary region. There is a more or less

1 Cf. Wilson and Evans, Aves Hawaiienses, pt. ii. 1891, pp. 17-21 ; pt. vii. 1899,
pp. 1-7 ; and, for the Family generally, the same work, Rothschild, Avifauna
of Laysan, and Perkins, Ibis, 1893, pp. 101-112.

DREPANIDIDAE

563

decided crop, as in many Finches. In some species the females
appear to have shorter bills.

Drepanis pacifica is black, with golden rump, upper and under
tail -co verts, tibiae,
and bend of wing,
a little white shew-
ing 011 the wings
and tail ; D.funerea
is almost entirely
black. Vestiaria
coccinea is ver-
milion, with black
remiges and rec-
trices, and some
white on the wing-
coverts ; the bill
and feet being red.
Hemignaihus and
Heterorhynchus are
greenish-olive
above, with black
lores, brownish
remiges, and usu-
ally yellowish or
creamy lower surface ; but the head is occasionally yellow. Palmeria
dolii has blackish plumage with scarlet or orange tips, a brilliant
scarlet-orange nape, an orange space round the eye, similarly
coloured tibiae, a grey throat, and a dirty white crest curving over
the culmen. Himatione is generally yellow-green, with browner
wings, yellow under parts, and sometimes black lores; the very
closely allied Oreomyza may be duller or greyer, with buff and white
below. H. sanguined is crimson, with black and red wings, and
black tail. Loxops, which in one species is dimorphic, is scarlet or
orange, with brown on the remiges and rectrices ; Chrysomitridops
is yellowish-olive, with yellow crown and lower surface, black on
the wings and tail, and bluish bill. Psittacirostra is greenish with
yellow head ; Rhodacanthis is reddish -orange with browner back, or
in one case yellow head, while the female is green. Ciridops is
red, with black throat, tail, and most of the wings, grey nape and
cheeks; it approaches Cyanospiza ciris (p. 585) in colour.

FIG. 133. — Mamo. Drepanis pacifica. x |. (After
Wilson and Evans, Aves Haivaiienses.)

564 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

Hens are ordinarily duller (often brownish or green), except
in Vestiaria and Himatione sanguined ; the young are greenish-
yellow relieved by black in Vestiaria, brown and buff in Palmeria
and Himatione sanguinea, and assume the red or orange gradually.

These forms now chiefly haunt high damp hill-forests, though
Vestiaria still occurs near the coast; they fly comparatively little,
but spend much of their time creeping quietly and rapidly over
the trunks and branches of acacia, " ohia," " mamane," and other
trees, where they hunt for insects below the bark or on the leaves.
None habitually seek the ground. The long-billed species delight
in probing the decayed wood, and insert their mandibles into the
crevices in search of food, which consists partly of lepidopterous
larvae and spiders. Fruit is largely eaten, pods being split to obtain
seeds, and honey is sucked either for its own sake or for the
insects it attracts. The stomach at times contains grit. Most
forms have a sweet song, the call-note being a reiterated " tweet "
or metallic chirp ; Rliodacanthis, moreover, whistles. Himatione
virens makes a nest of roots and decayed leaves in trees, Loxops
aurea apparently does the same ; the former lays whitish eggs
freckled and streaked with purplish-brown, but little is known
of the reproduction. The splendid feather-cloaks of the Hawaiian
kings, the " leis " (wreaths), waist-bands, and mask-decorations, were
of old chiefly composed of the plumage of the " Mamo " (Drepanis
pacifica), and the liwi ( Vestiaria coccined) ; but when the former
became scarce, the lighter yellow tufts (p. 565) of the O-o
(Acrulocercus) were utilized to pay the feather tax, though the
cloaks were still called " Mamo." Himatione sanguinea was also
laid under contribution, as was in later times the domestic cock.

Fam. XXVI. Meliphagidae. — The Honey-eaters, seldom bigger
than a Thrash, are remarkable for their extensile quadruple or
multiple tongue, which is frayed out latero-dorsally. They occupy
the Australian Region, from which Ptilotis liinbata alone crosses
"Wallace's line "(p. 1 6) to Bali, and often have very restricted ranges.
Two Sub-families may be recognised, Myzomelinae and Meliphaginae .
The thin curved bill is commonly long, with prominent culmen
and wide base ; Melithreptes and Plectrorhynclius, however, have
it short, and the latter straight. The maxilla is nearly always
notched and serrated, several species of Philemon exhibiting a basal
protuberance. The metatarsi may be long, as in Acrulocercus, or
abbreviated as in Manorhina, the short anterior toes being partially

VII

MELIPHAGIDAE 565

connected ; the wings are variable in length, Melithreptes possess-
ing comparatively small secondaries, Anthornis an abruptly
narrowed second primary. The tail also varies in size ; it is much
rounded in Melidectes and Meliphaga, square in Acanthorhynchus,
emarginated in Anthornis } and particularly long and graduated
with pointed rectrices in Acrulocercus and Chaetoptila — A. nobilis
having the median pair produced and spirally twisted, A. apicalis
the ends upturned. Pogonornis has strong rictal bristles.

The Myzomelinae are usually habited in scarlet and black, as
in the Soldier-bird of Australia (Myzomela sanguinolenta), with or
without white or yellowish below ; some, however, are chiefly or
entirely olive or greyish-brown, while the females generally differ
from the males, and the former occasionally shew red when the
latter do not. A second genus, Acanthorhynchus, or Cobbler's Awl,
is brown, chestnut, buff, black, and white. In the Meliphaginae
the sexes are commonly alike, and exhibit a mixture of brown,
olive, yellow, black, white, grey, rufous, and buff ; the under parts
frequently, and the upper rarely, being streaked or spotted.
Metallic hues are rare, but Anthornis has a purplish gloss on
the head. Leptornis, Entomyza, Philemon, Melitograis, and Pycno-
pygius are instances of dusky or olive coloration with lighter
lower surface ; Prosthemadera and Certhionyx leucomelas are black
and white ; Plectrorhynchus is brown and white ; Meliphaga is
yellow and black, spotted and barred below. The Hawaiian
Acrulocercus is black or brownish, with a little white on the wings
or tail, and possesses yellow axillary tufts and under tail-coverts, save
in A. Iraccatus, where the tufts are grey-buff, the tibiae are yellow,
the throat is barred with white, and the lower parts are streaky.
A. lishopi has yellow ear-tufts. Their close ally, Chaetoptila, of the
same islands, is light brown and yellowish above, with white spots,
and a black cheek-stripe ; the under surface being white with brown
streaks, and the rump and flanks ochreous. The neck- and breast-
plumage is lanceolate and decomposed. Many species of Ptilotis
have white or yellow ear-tufts ; the male of Pogonornis possesses
white erectile post-ocular feathers ; that of Prosthemadera two gular
patches of curled white filamentary plumes, which give it the name
of Parson-bird, as well as pointed white feathers curving forward
from the sides of the neck.' In two members of Meliornis white
fan -like shields spring from the cheeks ; Glycyphila albifrons has
a white circum-ocular ring ; while many forms have peculiar cheek-

566

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

feathers, fluffy chests, rumps or sides, and lanceolate or bristly plumage
on the neck, cheeks, or throat. Naked blue, green, scarlet, yellow,
lilac, pink, or whitish areas on the head, and pendant rictal or facial
wattles, are frequent, especially in Mdiphaga, Ptilotis, Entomyza,

FIG. 134. — Warty-faced Honey-Eater. Meliphaga pbrygia. x^. (From Nature.)

Philemon, Melidectes, AcanthocJiaera (Wattle-bird) and Melirrho-
pJietes. The bill and feet vary from black to red, yellow, blue, or green.
The habits are fairly uniform, though certain species are com-
paratively shy. Small flocks often gather together, the haunts
being dense forests, or open wooded country whether inland or
littoral ; some forms prefer the tree-tops, others low bushes and
shrubs. These active, pugnacious birds dart about in zigzag
fashion, or take powerful undulating flights, the tail meanwhile
being frequently thrown back or expanded ; at times they hover,
or fall from aloft with closed wings. Constantly seen hopping
among the boughs, or climbing and hanging to the twigs, in search

MELIPHAGIDAE

567

of the insects which constitute so much of their diet, they occa-
sionally feed upon the ground — especially in the case of Ptilotis ;
while Meliornis and Entomophila will dart after their prey like
Flycatchers. Figs and bananas, with other fruits and buds, are
also eaten ; honey is sucked from the flowers of Eucalyptus, Acacia,
J/p&cHs,and the like, in considerable quantities, the insects it attracts
being perhaps the chief object ; and Philemon batters large insects
upon the branches before swallowing them. The voice is commonly
loud, rich, and shrill, but varies from a whistle or a pipe to a chirp ;
some species, however, are more quiet, others give vent to slow,
plaintive cries,
quickly reiterated
notes, or compara-
tively harsh sounds.
The Tui, or Parson-
bird, utters a wild
song, laughs,
coughs, sneezes,
and mimics gener-
ally ; Acrulocercus
gets the name of
O-o from its harsh
double call; Pogo-
nornis that of
Stitch-bird from
its clicking cry,
though it also
whistles ; while

Philemon cornicu- FlGt 135-~~ Tui- Prosthemadem novae zealandiae. x £.
latus is sometimes called " Four -o'clock," "Poor Soldier," or
" Pimlico," from its note. Anthornis, the New Zealand " Bell-
bird," usually heard in chorus, has a voice like the tinkling of a
silver bell.1 The nest, normally a slight structure of twigs, roots,
bark, grass, and spiders' webs, lined with woolly materials, fur, or
feathers, is placed in bushes, trees, or even tall grass, and generally
has the rim woven over a supporting fork. A few species, how-
ever, including the New Zealand forms, Pogonornis, Anthornis, and
Prosthemadera, build a solid fabric of twigs and rough materials

1 Oreoeca cristata (Laniidae) and Manorhina melanoplirys (Meliphagidae) are the
Bell-birds of Australia ; Chasmorhynchus (Cotingidae) of the Neotropical Region.

568 PASSERIFORMES : ZOSTEROPIDAE CHAP.

among the branches. The eggs, two, three, or rarely four in number,
are huffish-white, salmon-coloured or, exceptionally, olive, with
spots, freckles, zones, and occasionally lines, of red-brown, rufous,
bright red, blackish and grey. Two or three broods are reared
annually. Entomyza cyanotis, the Blue-eye, re-lines deserted
birds' nests, or utilizes the top of that of Pomatostomus ;
Glycyphila modesta and Cf.fasciata make hanging domed fabrics.
The mimicry between Philemon — called .Friar-bird, Monk, or
Leather-head, from the bare head and ruff of some species — and
Mimeta has been already noticed (p. 543 ). Cloaks are fashioned from
the Stitch-bird's feathers, as well as from those of the 0-os (p. 5 64).1

Fam. XXVII. Zosteropidae. — The " White-eyes," so denomi-
nated from the white ring usually surrounding the eye, form a single
genus, Zosterops, of doubtful position. They range through parts
of the Ethiopian Eegion, with Madagascar and the Comoros, and
occupy most of the Indian and Australian Eegion s, whence they
reach to Amur-land and Japan. The straight or slightly curved bill
has the maxilla serrated and nearly always notched ; the metatarsus
is of medium length ; the outer and middle toes are partially united ;
the wings are rather short with little or no exterior primary ;
the tail is moderate, broad and square, or even emarginated. Dr.
Gadow 2 pronounces the protractile tongue to be forked and smooth
in Z. lateralis ; Mr. Beddard 3 finds the margins folded, and the
tip frayed out in Z. simplex and Z. japonica. The sexes are alike,
the coloration being principally olive and yellow, relieved by
brown, grey, fawn, or white. The habits are similar to those of
the Meliphagidae ; the eggs, however, are pale blue. Z. caeru-
lescens, the New Zealand " Blight-bird," destroys the " American
Blight " (Schizoneura lanigera), an Aphid.

Fam. XXVIII. Nectariniidae. — The Old World Sun-birds, re-
calling the non-Passerine Humming-birds by their brilliant metallic
coloration, are actually given the latter name in India, whence they
extend through Southern Asia to Papuasia and North Australia.
They also occupy the whole Ethiopian Eegion, while Cinnyris osea
inhabits Palestine, C. Irevirostris Baluchistan and South Persia,
and an undetermined species the Muskat district in Arabia.
Promerops is a doubtful member of the Family.4

1 Cf. Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed. i. 1888, p. 104 ; Wilson and Evans,
Aves Hawaiienses, pt. i. 1890, p. 3. 2 P.Z.S. 1883, p. 63. 8 Ibis, 1891, p. 510-512.
4 Shelley, Monograph of the Nectariniidae } London, 1880, p. xiii.

VII

NECTARINIIDAE

569

The long slender bill, without bristles of any kind, is much pro-
duced and curved in Neodrepanis ; both mandibles being terminally
serrated, except in Pro-
merops and Chalcoparia,
of which the former
has the maxilla notched.
The extensible tongue
is bifid, with each half
frayed out medio-vent-
rally, save in Promerops,
where it is a semi-canal
with dorso - laterally
frayed edges. The meta-
tarsi are moderate, the

claWS Curved and acute ^IG> *^. — Splendid Sun-bird. Cinnyris splendidus.

Arachnothera has both

the bill and the feet stouter. The more or less rounded wings
are of medium length ; the tail varies from square or nearly so to
graduated, and has two narrow elongated median rectrices in the
males of Hedydipna, Nectarinia, Anthobaphes, Aethopyga, Urodre-
panis and Drepanorhynchus. That of Promerops is extraordi-
narily long and graduated in both sexes. Arachnothera chryso-
genys has the loral region naked, and the male of Neodrepanis
bluish circum-ocular wattles.

It is impossible to describe shortly the diverse coloration of the
various species ; some shew much green, black, brown, or olive ;
nearly all exhibit brilliant, if not metallic, red, blue, lilac, copper,
yellow, or orange tints ; a few are chiefly purple ; many are longi-
tudinally streaked below ; in others the breast is white, or exhibits
red or orange bands, while the fore-neck may be vermilion striped
with lilac. The sides of the back frequently possess long downy
feathers, and pectoral tufts are common. In Arachnothera both
sexes are greyish or greenish, relieved by a little yellow or orange.
Females, however, are usually sombre, the young being similar.
The bill is black or brown, the feet vary in hue.

These small graceful forms, restless, though not shy, are rarely
seen in companies, but usually in pairs ; they frequent groves and
forests up to an altitude of about a thousand feet, resorting to more
open country and gardens when the shrubs are flowering. The
food consists mainly of insects — sometimes taken on the wing —

570 PASSERIFORMES : DICAEIDAE CHAP.

with their larvae and spiders ; while the birds hop actively about,
and cling to the branches and trunks of trees, like Tits or Creepers,
or even to bushes and grass. They rarely hover before flowers
as Humming-birds do, though frequently sucking honey. When
feeding or singing the wings are often opened and shut alternately.
The quick, direct flight is accompanied by rapid pulsations of
the pinions, and the males chase their rivals angrily. The shrill,
but pleasing arid varied notes recall those of the Willow- Warbler.
The pear-shaped or oval nests, woven or attached by cobwebs to
the ends of boughs, to the under surfaces of leaves, or more rarely
to reed-stems, are composed of grass, moss, roots, and the like,
lined with hair, feathers, and down, and usually have a projecting
porch. Beneath are attached as decorations leaves, twigs, lichens,
shreds of bark, paper, and cloth, wood -borings, or caterpillars' excreta.
Araclinothera magna, at least occasionally, builds an open nest.
The two or three eggs are commonly greenish- or brownish-grey,
with purplish, reddish-brown, yellowish, or dusky dots and spots ;
some, however, are whiter, with blackish markings, dark zones, or
hair-streaks ; while those of Arachnothera magna are brownish,
very thickly speckled with purplish - black. Promerops cafer
makes a cup of grass, fibres, and softer materials in forks of
bushes, and lays creamy eggs like those of Buntings, with wavy
lines or irregular blotches of dark brown or purplish.

Fam. XXIX. Dicaeidae. — The " Flower-peckers " inhabit the
Indian and Australian Regions as far eastwards as the Low
Archipelago, a few possibly kindred species occupying West Africa.
The bill is usually short, broad, and depressed, but is especially
slender in Pholidornis, stout and Finch -like in Prionochilus ; while
both mandibles shew minute terminal serrations. Feathers cover
the nostrils in Pardalotus, and in life Zobornis has three small
white rictal outgrowths. The tongue is separated into four semi-
tubular fringeless projections. The metatarsus is never long ; the
wings are fairly so ; the tail is generally short and even, but is
rounded in Prionochilus vincens, longer in most Papuasian forms,
and sometimes graduated, as in Pristorhamphus. Many species
exhibit vivid combinations of blue or purple with black, relieved
by a scarlet or an orange head, rump, or chest-patch, the lower
surface being yellow, greyish, or greenish-white; some, however,
replace the blue shades by green, brown, or olive ; others are quite
plain ; and Melanocharis unicolor is perfectly black. The Diamond-

CERTHIIDAE 5 J

bird (Pardalotus) has scattered white dots above, and scarlet or
yellow tips to the primary coverts ; Dicaeum often shews a
longitudinal black band below ; while bars and streaks occtir not
infrequently. The bill is blackish, or in Dicaeum erythrorliynclmm
reddish. The female is almost invariably duller.

These small birds frequent woods and gardens, the little flocks
often haunting lofty trees near rivers ; they hop briskly among
the boughs, dart from bush to bush, creep about and cling like
Tits, and utter a long, low warble, or in Pardalotus a harsh
monotonous piping note. The food consists of insects, varied by
spiders, fruit, buds, seeds, and perhaps honey. Dicaeum and
Prionochilus suspend from some twig a domed, pear-shaped nest
of white cottony material, frequently covered with grass or moss,
and decorated with caterpillars' excreta ; Pardalotus chooses old
Swallows' nurseries, or holes in trees and walls, or even tunnels a
short way into banks, making within a spherical fabric of roots,
grass, bark, and feathers. The two to five eggs are commonly
white, but in Prionochilus (Piprisoma) squalidus they are redder,
with dense brown-pink or claret-coloured blotches or specks.

Fam. XXX. Certhiidae. — The Creepers, a small, though wide-
spread group, occupy most of the Palaearctic and Nearctic Eegions ;
Africa from Benguela to Mashona-Land ; Australia and New
Guinea. The bill is long and generally decurved, but shorter
and straighter in Climacteris ; while nasal and rictal bristles are
absent. The metatarsi are of medium length and slender, though
stouter in Salpornis; Tichodroma and Climacteris have the scutes
fused ; and the toes — especially the hallux — have long, curved
claws. The wings vary from moderate and rounded to elongated
and pointed ; the tail is usually short and square, or very nearly
so, but has stiff, graduated, acuminate feathers in Certhia. The
coloration of both sexes is brown, black, rufous, buff, grey, and
white, except in Tichodroma, which exhibits crimson wing-patches
on its grey, black, and white plumage. Bars and spots are
frequent, particularly beneath.

The majority are tame birds, inhabiting thinly wooded dis-
tricts, often close to dwellings ; but the European and Asiatic
Tichodroma muraria, which has strayed to Britain, haunts moun-
tain cliffs, and, when on migration, walls also. They utter shrill
cries, or, more commonly, low reiterated notes, which in our Creeper
(Certhia familiar is) are varied by a sweet and fairly loud song;

572

PASSERIFORMES : COEREBIDAE

the food consists of insects and their larvae, ants, and spiders.
Beginning at the bottom of a trunk the birds work actively but
jerkily upwards in zigzags or spirals, flitting
from the higher branches to the base of
another tree ; sometimes, however, they
take protracted, undulating flights, or ac-
company flocks of Tits in winter. Certhia
uses the rigid rectrices as Woodpeckers do
(p. 457), though the soft-tailed forms also
climb well, while Climacteris is exceptional
in spending much time hopping or shuffling
along the ground. Seeds of conifers occa-
sionally vary the diet. The nest, composed
of twigs, with the addition of grass or moss,
and lined with bast, hair, wool, or feathers,
is placed behind loose bark, under tiles,
in crevices of trees or walls, in piles of
bricks, hollow branches, or even the base
of large birds' habitations. The three to
nine eggs are ordinarily white with red
and lilac spots ; but in Climacteris the
ground-colour is sometimes reddish, in Sal-
pornis the spots are blackish. The last-named fixes a cup-shaped
fabric of leaves, bark, and cobwebs to some horizontal bough.

Fam. XXXI. Coerebidae. — The Quit-quits have the extensible
tongue bifid, and frayed out terminally. The bill may be conical,
but is usually slender, with a notch and sometimes with rictal
bristles, while the long maxilla is hooked in Diglossa and Digloss-
opis ; the metatarsi, wings, and tail are moderate, the last being
sometimes forked. These small, active, and restless birds fre-
quent bushy places and the outskirts of forests, from South
Florida to the Bolivian Andes and South-East Brazil, several
species being peculiar to the Antilles, and Certliidea to the
Galapagos. Though companies are seldom formed, the flight
and habits are Tit-like, and individuals are often seen hopping
about or clinging to the branches in search of the insects which,
with fruit, form the usual food. They probe the flowers in com-
pany with Humming-birds, and probably suck the honey, while
some forms dart after flies like Flycatchers. Several have a fine
voice, but the common note is a feeble " quit-quit." The domed

FIG. 137. — Tree Creeper.
Certhia familiaris. x T7T.

MNIOTILTIDAE 5/3

nest, made of grass, moss, roots, and fibres, occasionally has a
projecting porch, and is
frequently lined with down
or feathers ; the two to
four eggs being white or
greenish-blue, with dull-red
or yellowish-brown blotches
or specks. In the Antilles
Certhiola weaves a domed
structure of similar mate-
rials, hair, and Spiders' FIG. 138.— Sugar-bird. Certhwlaftaveola.
webs, between the outer-
most twigs of bushes. Many nests are built without being used.

The coloration varies from black, grey, or purplish, relieved
by rufous and white, to brilliant blue, purple, or green, with the
quills only black, or with further yellow, chestnut, and excep-
tionally scarlet, decorations. Uniform black, or olive and brown
hues are unusual, save in females, which, however, are often
bright green, with the addition of a little blue or yellow.

Fam. XXXII. Mniotiltidae. — The "American Warblers,"
almost replacing the Sylviinae in the New World, are a somewhat
heterogeneous assemblage of rather small birds, of which Grana-
tellus is perhaps Tanagrine. They frequent localities of all de-
scriptions in North and South America, being commonest in the
middle portions. Teretistris is peculiar to Cuba, Leucopeza to St.
Lucia and St. Vincent ; Ergaticus occupies the Central American
highlands, while two or three species wander to Greenland.

The bill is usually slender and straight, but varies in length
and curvature, that of Setopliaga and Myiodioctes being broad and
depressed with bristly gape, that of Icteria (doubtfully referred
here) very stout and compressed, and so forth. Other species also
exhibit bristles, or have notched beaks. The tongue is frequently
bifid and fringed in Dendroeca, and in D. (Perissoglossa) tigrina
is semitubular. The metatarsi are naturally longest and strongest
in the more terrestrial forms, such as Geothlypis and Siurus; Icteria
has partly feathered legs, Mniotilta particularly long toes. The
wings may be concave and roundish, as in Leucopeza and Geoth-
lypis, or elongated and pointed, as in Protonotaria and Peuce-
dramus ; the moderate tail is square, rounded, or emarginate, or,
as in Setopliaga, broad and graduated. The general coloration is

574

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

FIG. 139.— Black-and-White Warbler.
varia. x ^.

Mniotilta

olive-green, grey, or slaty-blue, with yellow or rarely orange under
parts ; chestnut marks, white wing-bands, and the like, occasionally

relieving the plumage.
The head is often
particularly dark or
streaky. Mniotilta ex-
hibits black and white
stripes ; Ergaticus shews
chiefly crimson and
white ; Granatellus is
grey, black, and white
above, but red and white
with black collar below.
Setophaga, the " Ameri-
can Redstart," is mainly
red and black, or red
and plumbeous ; Cardel-
lina is grey, black, and
white with crimson
cheeks and throat ; Siurus has olive-brown upper, and whitish
under parts, with dusky striations. The bill is black or brown,
commonly with pinkish, yellowish, or bluish mandible.

These active, restless, and often shy birds either seek their
food, consisting chiefly of insects and their larvae, worms,
spiders, and even molluscs, upon the ground or upon the bark of
trees. Many forms resemble Tits in their actions ; Mniotilta and
others ascend the trunks spirally like Creepers ; Setophaga and
its allies — and exceptionally Dendroeca — sally after insects like
Flycatchers ; D. palmarum and Siurus run along with the tail
in motion, the former recalling a Titlark, the latter gaining, from
its appearance and habit of wading, the name of Water-Thrush.
The flight is usually swift, easy, and graceful, yet brief and
frequently undulating ; Myiodioctes and Setophaga flit about alter-
nately opening and closing the rectrices. Fruits, including conifer-
and grass-seeds, vary the diet. Small parties collect in winter. A
few species, such as Basileuterus, Setophaga, Myiodioctes, and Siurus
have fine clear songs, but the usual utterances are feeble warbles,
sweet whistles, reiterated " chirrups," or mournful trills. The
majority build their cup-shaped nests in trees, bushes, and thickets
generally, Dendroeca in some districts choosing a fir ; they are

vii TANAGRIDAE 575

made of grass, bark, leaves, roots, moss, hair, fur, lichens, and
spiders' webs, or even twigs, sedges, and feathers, and contain
from two to six creamy or, exceptionally, greenish or purplish
eggs, more or less spotted or blotched with red-brown, grey, and
lilac, or sometimes, as in Myiodioctes, scrawled with black.

Fam. XXXIII. Tanagridae.1 — The Tanagers form a New
World group, hardly distinguishable from the Fringillidae, except
by their more feeble conformation and their exposed nostrils. The
coloration is often particularly gorgeous, but their habits are com-
paratively little known. The bill varies much in length and
thickness, the hooked tip being highly developed in .Lamprotes
and SericossypJia, while Procnias has a wide Swallow-like gape.
The metatarsi are short and stout ; the toes are large, with sharp
curved claws in Lamproles and SericossypJia ; the wings are mode-
rate and somewhat pointed, being unusually long in Procnias;
while the tail may be very short as in Euplionia, but is rarely long
and graduated as in Cissopis, and only occasionally forked.

These birds are characteristic of the forests and wooded
country of the Neotropical Eegion, whence four species of
Pyranga extend to the United States, and two reach Canada and
British Columbia respectively ; several forms, moreover, are
peculiar to the Antilles. They are chiefly of small size, Euphonia
possessing the least and Pitylus or Saltator the largest members
of the Family ; the sexes are commonly similar, but the female is
often duller, or even quite different from the male, as in RliampJio-
coelus and Pyranga. A short crest occurs rarely, as in Eucometis
and Steplianopliorus. The prevailing colours are black and red or
uniform red in Pyranga, Phlogothraupis, and most species of Eham-
phocoelus and Calochaetes ; blue or purplish -black and yellow in
Butliraupis, Iridornis, and their nearest allies ; blue and black in
Procnias and Pseudodacnis ; orange or yellow, with black and white
in Spindalis and Lanio ; black and white in Lamprospiza and
Cissopis ; olive and brown in Chlorospingus ; chestnut and brown
in Orchesticus ; grey, olive, yellow, or green, with more or less
blue in Thraupis (.Tanagra). Buarremon and several other forms
are comparatively dull ; Tanagra (Calliste) exhibits a beautiful
mixture of all the above hues ; Euphonia is also varied, but lacks
scarlet tints ; Chloroclirysa is brilliant green, relieved by orange,
chestnut, blue, and black. The bill may be red, black, yellow,

1 For the Family see Sclater, Monogr. Tanag. 1857 ; and Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xi. 1886.

576

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

leaden or horn-coloured. Roughly speaking, Tanagra contains sixty
species, Euphonia, Chlorospingus, and Buarremon each over thirty.
The flight of these bold, lively, and restless birds — often met
with in small parties — is Finch -like and not uncommonly brief;
the song, frequently heard in chorus, is mellow and pleasing,
accompanied by chattering, whistling, and chirping notes ; the diet
consists of insects and fruits, even the latter being occasionally
snatched upon the wing; while worms, larvae, and molluscs are
eaten, and some species scratch for food among fallen leaves.
The nests are usually shallow fabrics of grass, roots, fibres, moss,

and lichens, lined
with hair or down ;
twigs, broad leaves, or
fern-stems being com-
monly added below :
they are sometimes
placed in forks of trees
or bushes, if not at
the ends of branches ;
sometimes in masses
of creepers, or even
upon the ground ; that
of Pyrruphonia is
domed, while that of
Rhamphocoelus bra-
silius is built in tall
grass in marshy places.
The two to four eggs
are white, bluish,

greenish, grey, salmon-coloured, or rich brown, being at times
uniform, but generally blotched, spotted, freckled, lined, or scrolled
with brown, lilac, red, purple, or black. Procnias is said to lay
three or four white eggs in holes in trees or in the soil, upon a
bed of roots and plant-stems.1

Fam. XXXIV. Ploceidae. — The Weaver-birds, closely allied
to the above, and hardly to be distinguished from the Fringillidae
except by the tenth primary being distinctly developed, may be
divided2 into the Sub-families Viduinae, occurring in the Ethi-
opian, Indian, and Australian Regions, in which this quill is small
1 Euler, J.f. 0. 1867, p. 411. 2 Cf. Shelley, Ibis, 1886, pp. 301-359 ; 1887, pp. 1-47.

FIG. 140. — Brazilian Tanager. Rliamphocoelus
brasilius. x ^\.

VII

PLOCEIDAE

577

and falcate, and Ploceinae, peculiar to Africa and its islands —
with the exception of the genera Ploceus and Ploceella of the Indian
Region — in which it is larger. The former group includes the
long-tailed Widow-birds, the red-beaked Wax-bills, and so forth ;
the latter the more typical Weaver-birds ; Africa furnishing by far
the greatest number of species. The bill is normally strong and
conical, but is unusually long and slender in Emllema, and particu-
larly stout with ridged culmen in Amblyospiza ; the maxilla may
be toothed, as in Pyrenestes, or
festooned, as in Spermestes. The
metatarsus is moderate, and the
hind claw sometimes lengthened,
as in Icteropsis. The rounded
or pointed wings have very
long secondaries, and the tail
shews a slight fork ; while in
the breeding season the four
median rectrices in the males of
Vidua and several allied genera
are extraordinarily elongated, be-
ing then either broad or tapering,
and reduced to threads at the
extremity, or bare-shafted with
" racquet " tips.1 Crests are un-
common, hair-like plumes on the
nape more . frequent, while Pyro-
melaena and Urobrachya have a neck-frill in summer.

The coloration of these rather small birds is most striking,
though the females are usually much duller than the males,
which have in some cases a sober winter garb. Vidua princi-
palis is black and white ; Pentlietri-a ardens is black with scarlet
gorget ; Philetaerus socius is brown, buff, black, and white ; Zonae-
ginthus bellus is brown above, with transverse black lines and
crimson rump, but silver grey below with black bars ; Hypocliera
ultramarina is entirely purplish-blue ; Sporaegintlius amandava,
the Amadavat, is chiefly crimson with white dots ; Munia
oryzivora, the " Java Sparrow," is blue-grey and black with white
cheeks. M. punctulata, the Cowry- or Nutmeg-bird, is brown,

For a full account of the tail-feathers of these remarkable birds, see Strickland,
Contrib. Ornith. 1850, pp. 88, 149 ; A. Newton, Diet. Birds, 1896, p. 1030.
VOL. IX 2 P

FIG. 141. — Weaver-bird.

"<

Pyromelaena

578 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

with white streaks above and spots below, a yellow rump, and a
white middle to the under parts. Poephila mirabilis, one of the
" Grass-finches," shews a beautiful combination of pale green, blue,
lilac, scarlet, yellow, black, brown, and white ; Neochmia phaeton is
crimson, brown, and black ; Foudia is generally crimson and black ;
Hypliantornis cucullatus is golden-yellow, black, and chestnut ;
Ploceus baya is yellow and brown ; Textor albirostris is entirely
black. The bill is not uncommonly coral-red, as in Estrelda and
other " Wax-bills ; " but it varies from red to horn-coloured in
Vidua, and may be whitish, as in Textor albirostris, as well as
black, grey, rose-tinted, brownish, orange, or nearly blue. The
feet may also be red, brown, purplish, dusky, or flesh-coloured.

Weaver-birds are generally tame, and often approach habita-
tions ; the larger species frequenting woods and gardens, open
country, sugar-cane fields, or reed-beds, but many of the smaller
preferring grassy flats, bushy places, or even stony hills. They
are usually social, and frequently pugnacious. The flight, though
somewhat brief and heavy, is fairly rapid ; Chera and Vidua rise
with arched tail, and hover with flapping wings, at times soar-
ing almost out of sight to descend again with great velocity.
Sycolrotus climbs especially well, Donacicola hangs to the reeds
like a Bunting, and indeed it is doubtful whether the Australian
forms are not really generalized Finches. The usual utterance
is a harsh churr, a shrill piping cry, a chattering or a twittering
noise, often preceded by a single mournful note ; but some species
sing fairly well in chorus. The food, generally procured upon the
ground, consists mainly of seeds, but is varied by insects — occa-
sionally taken on the wing, — fruits, and flowers ; while the birds
play havoc with rice and other crops, often clinging to the stems
until they have eaten every grain from the head.

The nest is almost invariably a large mass of roughish grass
or flags, bristling with the thicker ends of the stalks ; it is usually
lined with finer stems, but sometimes with feathers, down, and wool,
while sticks, twigs, roots, and the like may be added exteriorly.
The fabric is normally " retort-shaped," that is to say, globular with
a " spout " or tubular passage, which curves downwards either from
the middle or from the top of one side ; but some of the struc-
tures resemble flasks placed horizontally ; others have little or no
spout, or hang by a sort of rope ; and occasionally the materials do
not quite meet above. Weaver-birds, especially the more typical

vii ICTERIDAE 579

species, commonly build in colonies, the most remarkable instance
being that of Philetaerus, where an umbrella-shaped mass of sticks
and straw is formed among the branches of a tree, and in itg flat
under surface holes for as many as three hundred nests are exca-
vated. Textor makes a somewhat similar joint fabric. In certain
cases the hen is said to sit in the roughly-fashioned shell, and to
receive the thin ends of the straws from her mate, as he, clinging to
the outside, pushes them through with his beak ; she then passes
them through to him again, and so the process is repeated in true
webster fashion. An inner partition is often made to prevent the
eggs from rolling out. The structures are placed in trees or bushes,
frequently overhanging water, in sugar-canes, reeds, foundations
of Eagles' eyries, or — especially by the smaller species — in long
herbage. Exceptionally they are found under eaves. Plocei-
passer mahali makes two " spouts," Ploceus bay a counterpoises its
pensile nursery with lumps of clay. The males add to the fabric
after their consorts begin to incubate, and are asserted to make
nests to sit in; the hens occasionally lay together, though the
cocks are not proved to be polygamous. Munia, Stictospiza,
.Sporaeginthus, and in fact most Indian and Australian forms,
deposit from five to seven dull white eggs ; Ploceus lays two of a
like description ; Ploceella two, which have a whitish or greyish
ground with brown frecklings ; the Ethiopian species about five,
either plain white, blue, or green, or of the same colours, spotted and
blotched with red or purplish-brown. In nests of Hyphantornis
and Pyromdaena very diverse specimens are often found.

Fam. XXXV. Icteridae. — This New World group comprises
the " American Orioles " or " American Starlings," which are cer-
tainly not Orioles, though analogous to the Starlings, and allied
through Dolichonyx to the Buntings. From the Fringillidae they
are distinguished by the more elongated bill, which has no notch,
and by the absence of rictal bristles. Dr. Sclater1 recognises five
Sub-families : Cassicinae, with long, straight, and often large bills,
widening to a frontal shield ; Agdaeinae, where they are . conical
with flattened culmen, being shortest in Dolichonyx and Molobrus ;
Sturnellinae, where they are more slender ; Icterinae and Quisca-
linae, where the culmen is rounded, the length and curvature vary-
ing more than elsewhere. Aphobus and Curaeus have grooved
.mandibles, Gymnostinops a naked space at their base, Clypeicterus

1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xi. 1886, p. 309.

580 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

a horny swelling there. The legs are stout, being long in the
terrestrial Agelaeinae, Sturnellinae, and Quiscalinae, and not much
shorter in the Icterinae and Cassicinae ; Doliclionyx has the middle
toe, and the Sturnellinae the hallux elongated. The wings are
long or moderate, being often pointed with far-extended outer
secondaries in the Sturnellinae. The tail varies in length and
form, but is much graduated in the Quiscalinae (Boat-tails), which
usually carry it in flight with the outer feathers uppermost ; it has
acuminate rectrices in the Sturnellinae, Leistes, and Doliclionyx,.
while in the last-named it is forked. Cassiculus, Eurycorystes>
and some species of Ostinops have crests, the male of Cassidix a
neck-frill, Lampropsar erect frontal plumes, the Sturnellinae bristly
crown-feathers, Hypopyrrhus, Curaeus. and Apliobus lanceolate
feathers on the head. Gymnomystax possesses naked orbits.

The Cassicinae, or Cassiques, are sometimes uniform black, some-
times black relieved by chestnut, yellow, green, or scarlet ; the
bill being frequently white, instead of the usual black or brown.
The Agelaeinae are generally black, varied with red and yellow,
Doliclionyx oryzivorus, the Bobolink, being, however, black, brown,
buff, and white, with a duller plumage in winter. The Sturnel-
linae are brown, variegated with black ; having scarlet or canary
yellow under parts, and in Sturnella magna, the " Meadow-Lark;''
a black gorget. The Icterinae (all but one of which belong to
the extensive genus Icterus) are glossy black, with yellow, bay, or
orange patches — especially upon the rump and lower surface —
and often some white on the wing. The Quiscalinae are black,
occasionally with metallic gloss, and scarlet or brown markings.
The females are commonly similar to the males, especially in
the Cassicinae, but are sometimes comparatively sombre. Agdaeus
phoeniceus, the " Ked-winged Starling," several males of which
have been captured in Britain, Icterus baltimore, the " Baltimore
Oriole " and Quiscalus versicolor, the " Crow-Blackbird," are good
examples of their respective groups. The curious resemblance of
Sturnella and Macronyx has already been mentioned (p. 500).

Some of the Family are large birds for Passeres, Gymnostinops, for
instance, being the size of a Kook; they are commonly gregarious, and
frequent forests or wooded country, the Agelaeinae and Sturnellinae
in particular preferring open grassy places and marshes, and all
seeming fond of the neighbourhood of water. The Cassicinae only
range from South Mexico to Paraguay and Bolivia ; but the other

VII

ICTERIDAE 5 8 I

Sub-families occupy most of America, except the extreme north,
the Quiscalinae extending to Chili and Argentina, the Sturnellinae
to Patagonia. Several species are peculiar to the Antilles.^ The
flight is sufficiently strong and swift, flocks of Agelaeus and
Quiscalus performing evolutions like Starlings ; while these
forms, Dolichonyx, Scolephagus, XantJiocephalus, and others roost
in huge companies on migration. These lively, active, and fairly
tame birds differ considerably in habits, Dolichonyx sitting con-
tinually on fences, clinging to plant-stems, or hovering in the air,
Sturnella sailing or fluttering with jerky movements, the Icterinae

FIG. 142.—" Baltimore Oriole." Icterus baltimore. x |.

and Cassicinae being particularly accustomed to perch, and many
forms walking well or even gracefully. The members of the genus
Icterus have melodious voices, those of /. vulgaris and /. baltimore
being especially rich and varied ; they are therefore favourite cage-
birds. Dolichonyx, perhaps the finest of American songsters,
often sings in chorus ; Sturnella produces tuneful, wild, but not
powerful notes; the Cassicinae utter loud discordant cries or
sweeter strains; while many forms chatter, chuckle, squeak, scream,
or whistle more or less harshly, whether in the air, in the trees, or
on the ground. The food in the breeding season consists almost
entirely of insects, their larvae, and small molluscs ; but fruit is
also eaten, and havoc wrought in maize- and corn-fields, Quiscalus
even pulling up the shooting blades. The terrestrial species often

582 PASSERIFORMES CHAP.

scratch amongst the soil, but the Tcterinae and Cassicinae rarely
feed upon the ground.

The Agelaeinae build cup-shaped nests of grass, sedge, or
rushes, sometimes lined with hair, in bushes or reeds, generally in
damp or marshy spots ; and lay five or six white, drab, greenish,
bluish, or reddish eggs, with purple, black, red, or brown blotches,
dots, and lines : the Quiscalinae deposit similar eggs in rougher
structures of twigs, grass, and the like, placed in tree-forks or
bushes. Both these groups often form societies. Sturnella hides
its deep fabric in grass or rushes, the eggs being speckled rather
than spotted ; the Icterinae, or " Hang-nests," usually weave
pensile nests of plant-stems, tendrils, grasses, or even rags, lined
with wool, down, and so forth, which are rarely domed, and
generally contain five or six eggs of a more delicate colouring
than those of their kindred, varied by marblings, zigzags,
streaks, and spots of brown, purple, black, or red. The Cassi-
cinae commonly join in colonies and hang their elaborate, purse-
like nurseries of grass or palm-fibres, Tillandsia, Bromelia, or
lichens, lined with feathers, from branches above water ; the
two to five eggs are plain white, or greenish- bluish- or reddish-
white, blotched, dotted, dashed, or scrawled with purplish- or
reddish-brown and black.1

The gregarious Cow - birds (Mololrus), included in the
Agelaeinae, lay eggs varying from white to pinkish, greenish,
bluish, or brownish, often spotted or streaked with red, brown,
and grey ; one or more of these are by most species foisted in
Cuckoo fashion upon other birds, the young of which disappear
at an early date. It is a curious fact that M. rufo-axillaris is
ordinarily parasitic on its congener M. ladius, which itself seizes
and uses other birds' nests. Many eggs are destroyed by the
males, or are dropped promiscuously by the females, several of the
latter often laying together. Cow-birds perch on cattle or follow
the plough for insects, and utter ringing screams in concert.2

Fam. XXXVI. Fringillidae. — The Finches are small birds
very closely allied to the Tanagridae and the Ploceidae ; while the
Buntings are here included in the Family, though often separated
as Emberizidae. The most evident points of distinction in the

1 Cassidix oryzivora is parasitic on other forms ; Goeldi, Ibis, 1897, p. 364.

2 For the Pigeon- like conduct of the courting male, see Hudson, Argentine
Ornithology, i. 1888, pp. 73, 87.

VII

FRINGILLIDAE 583

last-named are the considerable deflection of the posterior
portion of the angular gape and the bony knob often present on
the palate ; a gap, moreover, commonly occurs between the .edges
of the maxilla and the mandible. Extreme forms are thus easily
recognised, but it seems almost impossible to draw an exact line
of demarcation, even when the more Lark-like nest of Buntings
and their streaky eggs are taken into consideration. The Frin-
gillidae predominate in the Palaearctic Eegion, but are fairly
plentiful elsewhere, except in the Australian Eegion, whence few
are as yet recorded ; many forms, however, have very limited
ranges ; while some are peculiar to certain islands, as Geospiza,
Camarhynchus, and Cactornis to the Galapagos, Passer jagoensis to
the Cape Yerds, Chaunoproctus to the Bonin Islands and Telespiza
to the Laysan group, Nesospiza to Tristan da Cunha, Melopyrrlia
to Cuba, Rliynclwstrutlius and Passer insularis to Socotra.

The bill is usually stout and cone-shaped, often with a notched
maxilla, occasionally with a ridged culmen ; it is enormous in
Geospiza, Camarhynchus, Chaunoproctus, and some other forms, and
highly developed in Coccothraustes, Pyrrliula, and elsewhere ; but
is at times either remarkably short, or longer and more slender,
as in Cactornis, Chrysomitris, and Carduelis. Frequently it is curved,
with overhanging tip, while a peculiar crossing of the mandibles
at their extremities marks the genus Loxia. An excessive summer
growth has been especially noticed in Redpolls, which is worn
down by hard food in winter. The beak is seldom abnormal in
Buntings. The metatarsus is moderate ; but in Calcarius, Plectro-
phenax, Nesospiza, and Chamaeospiza the hind claw is elongated,
as is the mid-claw in Phonipara. The wings, which have a minute
outer primary, vary from very long, as in Ifesperiphona, to short
as in Passer, and from pointed, as in Plectrophenax, to rounded as
in Ammodramus ; the secondaries are shaped like a bill-hook in
Coccothraustes, while the inner are much lengthened in Emberiza
fucata. The tail is fairly normal, but may be long or decidedly
short, square, round, graduated, or forked ; the rectrices are unusu-
ally acute in Spiza, Coryphospiza, and Eniberizo'ides. Many species
possess a crop. Bristles generally occur at the gape, and the
nostrils are concealed by feathers or by a membrane.

The sexes may be similarly coloured or very different, the
hues being commonly sober, but sometimes particularly brilliant.
Cardinalis, Paroaria, Gubernatrix, Melophus, PyrrJiuloxia, Schis-

584

PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

tospiza,Lophospingus,an(i Tiaris have fine crests; Catamblyrliynchus
exhibits stiff crown-feathers. The feet are usually dull, but occa-
sionally pinkish, as in Embernagra and Pycnorhamphus ; the bill
may be blackish, yellowish, dusky, or even red, as in Cardinalis
(except one form). Of British species, the Greenfinch (Ligurinus
Moris), the Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans), the Sparrow (Passer
domesticus), the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs\ the Brambling (F.
montifringilld), the Linnet (Linota canndbina), the Eedpoll
(Aegiothus rufescens\ the Bullfinch (Pyrrhula europaed), the

FIG. 143. — House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus. x f . (From English
Illustrated Magazine. )

Reed -Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), the Corn -Bunting (E.
miliarid), and the Yellow Hammer (E. citrinelld) hardly need
description ; while several others occur more rarely in our islands
or breed with us in limited numbers, such as the Hawfinch
(Coccothraustes vulgaris), which is bay, black and white ; the
Siskin -(Chrysomitris spinus) and the Serin (Serinus Jiortulanus),
which are chiefly greenish -yellow ; the Pine-Grosbeak (PyrrJiula
enucleator) and the Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), which are
mainly red in the adult male, and respectively yellow and
greenish-orange in the female ; the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza
hortulana), which is brown, green, and yellow ; and the Snow-
Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), with its black, chestnut, and

vii FRINGILLIDAE 585

white plumage, that becomes black and white in summer. The
Kose-Finches (Carpodacus) of the Eastern Palaearctic, the Nearctic,
and the Indian Kegions exhibit fine crimson or rosy tints •;- the
Central and South American Pheucticus, and the Western North
American Hesperiphona, much black and yellow ; the Cardinals
(Cardinalis), of North America, Venezuela, and Trinidad, bright
red with black forehead and throat ; Paroaria, which replaces the
last-named genus southwards, somewhat like colours. Guiraca of
most of America, except the extreme north and south, is mainly
blue ; Cyanospiza cyanea, ranging from the Eastern United States
to Panama, is even more brilliant ; while the Painted Bunting
(C. ciris), of similar range, shews a beautiful combination of blue,

FIG. 144. — Snow-Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis. x \.

Ted, brown, and yellowish-green. Volatinia, of Central and South
America is black ; Geospiza, Camarhynchus, and Cactornis are
the same, or decidedly dull ; Petronia brachydactyla and Passer
simplex, of the deserts from North Africa to Persia, resemble the
sand in tint. The wild Canary (Serinus canarius) of Madeira,
the Azores, and the Canaries — not to be confounded with
the Cape Canary (S. canicollis) — is greenish above with brown
striations, and yellowish below. Finally, many sober-hued North
American genera, such as Pipilo, Peucaea, and Junco, lead up to
the brown-streaked Bunting forms.

The crimson tints exhibited by the adult male Linnet, when
in breeding plumage, afford a well-known instance of seasonal
change of colour. It is in consequence indifferently called the
Red, Brown, or Grey Linnet.

586 PASSERIFORMES

CHAP.

The members of this Family generally frequent wooded dis-
tricts and open grassy spots, Finches on the whole preferring
the former, Buntings the latter ; a few occupy sandy deserts ;
Petronia haunts rocks ; Ammodramus resorts to the shore.
This bird clings to the reeds like a Tit, a habit well-known to
be shared by various other marsh-loving species. CamarJiyncJius
and Geospiza accompany flocks of Doves to dry bushy and rocky
spots near the sea in the Galapagos. The majority are active
and lively birds, social and seldom shy, which flock in winter to
feed or roost ; while the pugnacity of the Sparrow is rather excep-
tional. They not only dust themselves in dry spots, but bathe
freely. Montifringilla breeds in mountainous places, Leucosticte
and Plectrophenax in similar situations, or on rocky Arctic shores.
The flight is ordinarily strong and rapid, some species of Sycalis,
PJirygilus, and Calamospiza soaring, and descending with out-
spread wings ; Cactornis climbs with ease about the prickly pear
(Opuntia), while many Finches hop well, and others run readily and
swiftly. The song is often exceptionally fine, as in the Canary,
Linnet, Cardinal, American Song-Sparrow (Melospiza\ Chondestes,
Zonotrickia, and elsewhere ; the Bullfinch in the wild state has a
plaintive pipe ; while the chirp of Sparrows may be contrasted
with the Cricket - like strain of Petronia IracJiydactyla, the
whistling cry of the Snow-finch (Montifringilla nivalis), the long-
drawn note of the Corn-Bunting, or the sibilant sound at times
made by the Crossbill. The food consists mainly of seeds, but other
fruits, buds, leaves, insects and their larvae, are also eaten, not to
mention peas, crocus flowers, and the like ; Crossbills and some
other forms cleverly extract the -seeds of fir-cones, CamarJiynclius
and Geospiza scratch about upon the ground, and Cactornis devours
seeds and flowers of the Opuntia. The nest varies from the huge,
untidy domed mass of straw and feathers fashioned by Sparrows to
the small compact cup of moss, wool, hair, down, lichen, and such
materials, formed by the Goldfinch, Eedpoll, or Chaffinch ; Haw-
finches and Bullfinches make shallow structures chiefly composed of
twigs and lined with roots ; the British Buntings build with grass
and horse-hair if possible ; PJionipara and other species some-
times make covered fabrics ; Sycalis pelzelni occasionally utilizes
nests of other birds. The site may be in a tree, bush, rock, build-
ing, or on the ground, some forms nidificating under cover, some
in the open. Sparrows have black, grey, and white eggs ; those of

vii FRINGILLIDAE 587

the Linnet, the Goldfinch, and their allies are blue, bluish-white,
or greenish, with reddish or brownish spots ; those of Buntings are
whitish, greenish, or ruddy, with brown, blackish, or rufous marks,
ordinarily including streaks and scrawls ; those of Petronia Irachy-
dactyla are white with blackish blotches ; those of the Hawfinch
green with olive and umber spots or lines ; those of the Snow-
finch white ; those of Spiza guiraca and some other American
species plain bluish or greenish.

With the Fringillidae this volume ends, according to the
Classification which has been here adopted ; but it may be well
to take the opportunity of again reminding the reader that
the " Families " of Oscines are not of equal rank to those of the
Orders which precede them ; and that, as regards the arrange-
ment of these " Families," few writers will be found to agree ;
the truth being that there never can be a perfectly satisfactory
linear system, since affinities point in so many different directions.
When all these affinities have been finally investigated by
anatomists, if ever that time should come, they may very pos-
sibly necessitate an alphabetical arrangement of the groups,
with indications of their various relationships under each head.

INDEX

Every reference is to the page : words in italics are names of genera or species ; figures
in thick type refer to an illustration ; f. = and in following page or pages ;
n. = note.

Abbott, on Penguins, 57 n., 59 n.

Abdimia abdimii, 99

Abdomen, 20

Abou-Hannes, 102

Aburria, 195 ; A. carunculata, 197

Acanthidositta, 472 ; A. chloris, 472, 545

Acanthiza, 355, 514, 518

Acanthochaera, 566

Acanthopneuste, 514

Acanthoptila, 502

Acanthorhynchus, 565

Accentor, 509, 510 ; A. collaris, 512 ; A.

modularis^ 512
Accentor, alpine, 512, 517
Accentorinae, 509
Accipiter, 156, 157 ; plumage of young,

157 : A. bicolor, 158 ; A. chilensis,
159 ; A. chionog 'aster, 158 ; A. cirro-
cephalus, 159 ; A. collaris, 159 ; A.
cooperi, 159 ; A. erythrauchen, 158 ; A.
erythrocnemis, 158 ; A.fuscus, 159 ; A.
guttatus, 159 ; A. hartlaubi, 158 ; A.
madagascariensis, 159 ; A. melanoleucus,

158 ; A. minullus, 159 ; A. niso'ides,
158 ; A. nisus, 157, 158 ; A. ovam-
pensis, 158 ; A. pectoralis, 159 ; A.
pileatus, 150, 159 ; A. rhodogaster, 158 ;
A. rubricollis, 158 ; A. rufiventris, 158 ;
A. subniger, 159 ; A. tinus, 159 ; A.
ventralfe, 158 ; -4. virgatus, 158

Accipitres, 137 f., 140 f., 397 ; cere, 11 ;

claws on manus, 48 ; powder-down, 147
Accipitrinae, 146, 147, 153
Accipitrine, 141, 146, 156, 157
Aceros, 390 ; A. nipalensis, 393
Acestrura, 438
Acetabulum, 9, 9
Acomus, 199, 215 ; A. erythrophthalmus,

215 ; A. inornatus, 215 ; A . pyronotus,

215
Acredula, 538-541

Acridotheres, 559-561; A. cristatellus,

559

Acrocephalus, 515-518
Acromyodi, 467
Acropternis, 490
Acrulocercus, 564-567 ; A. apicalis, 565 ',

A, bishopi, 565 ; A. braccatus, 565 ; A.

nobilis, 565

Acryllium, 199, 201 ; A. vulturinum, 204
Actiornis anglicus, fossil, 86
Actitis hypoleucus, 286 ; A. macularius, 286
Adams, on Tringa maculata, 281 n.
Adelomyia, 427
Adjutant, 96, 97
Aechmophorus, 49 ; A. major, 53 ; A.

occideutalis^ 53
Aechmorhynchus cancellatus, 283 ; A.'par-

virostris, 283
-4ofcm, 517, 518
Aedonopsis, 513
Aegialitis, 268, 269 ; .4. asiatica, 274 ;

4. bicincta, 274 ; ^4. bifrontata, 274 ;

^4. cantiana, 273 ; ^4. curonica, 273 ;

^4. falklandica, 274 ; .4. hiaticola, 273,

273 ; -4. mona^is, 274 ; .4. nivosa,

274 ; .4. novae zealandiae, 274 ; ^4.
placida, 274 ; ^4. sanctae helenae, 274 ^
^4. semipalmata, 274 ; vl. vocifera, 274

Aegialornis, fossil, 315, 426

Aegiothus rufescens, 584

Aegithalus, 538-540

Aegithina, 505, 506

Aegotheles, 415, 417, 419 ; J.. wallacii,

417
Aeluredus, 550, 551 ; ^4. maculosus, 551 ;

^4. viridis, 549, 551
Aepyornis, 43 f.
Aepyornithes, 26, 43 f.
A epy ornithidae, structure, etc., 43 f.
Aepypodius, 190 f. ; A. arfakianus, 192;

^4. bruijni, 192

590

INDEX

Aesacus magnirostris, 297 ; A. recurvi-

rostris, 297

Aesalon colunibarius, 178 ; A. reguliis,
177 ; A. ruficollis, 178 ; A. typus, 178
Aethiopsar, 561
Aethopyga, 569
Aethorhynchus, 504-506
Aex, 111,. 112 ; A. galericulata, 114, 133 ;

A. sponsa, 133
Aftershaft, of feathers, origin of, 3 ; absent,

in Alcedinidae, 383 ; in Apteryx, 39 ; in

Hornbill, 390 ; in Mesites, 187 ; in

Ostrich, 27 ; in Owls, 399 ; in Pandion,

180 ; in Rheidae, 30 ; in Struthionidae,

27

Agami, 258
Agamia agami, 91 f.
Agapornis, 364, 368 ; A. cana, 368 ; A.

pullaria, 368 ; A. roseicollis, 368 ; A.

taranta, 368
Agelaeiuae, 579 f.
Agelaeus, 581 ; A. phoeniceus, 580
Agelastes, 201 ; A. meleagrides, 205
Aglaeactis, 437
Agnopterus, fossil, 108
Agriornis, 473, 475
Air-cells, in Sula, 72
Air-sac, 21 ; in Tetraoninae, 201
Aithurus, 426, 430 ; A. polytmus, 433,

433

Ajaja, young, 105 ; A. rosea, 105
Ala, 21

Alaemon, 497, 498 ; A. alaudipes, 497
Alar bar, 21

Alaska, to which region belonging ? 16
Alauda, 497 ; A. arvensis, 496, 497
Alaudidae, 494, 496 f.; habits, 498
Alaudula raytal, 498
Albatros, 59 f., 61-63, 81, 148 ; Wander-
ing, 63 f., 64
Albinism, its cause, 4 n.
Alca, 315, 320; A. impennis, 315, 320,

321 ; A. torda, 320 f.
Alcae, 268, 315 f.

Alcedinidae, 376, 382 f.; habits, 383 f.
Alcedininae, 382, 386
Alcedo, 383 ; A. beryllina, 387 ; A. ispida,

387
Alcidae, 49, 268, 315 f . ; bill-sheath and

outgrowth shed, 5 n., 317 f. ; habits,

315 f.

Alcippe, 503
AlcuruA, 504
Alcyone, 383, 384 ; toes, 10, 383 ; A.

azurea, 386
Alectorides, 243
Alectoroenas, 326, 346 ; A. madagas-

cariensis, 346 ; A. nitidissima, 346 ;

A. pulcherrima, 346 ; A. rodericana,

fossil, 350 ; A. sganzini, 346
Alectoromorphae, 182
Alectoropodes, 186

Alectrurus, 473, 475, 477; A, risorius,

473, 474 ; A. tricolor, 473, 475
Alethe, 513
Aletornis, fossil, 256
Alexandrine — see Parrot
Alisphenoid, 11
Allantois, 21

Altham, E. and H., on Dodo, 330
Altrices, 21
Alucinae, 398 n.
Alula spuria, 9, 20
Amadavat, 577

Amaurornis, 249 ; A. phoenicura, 249
Amazilia, 435 ; A. cyanura, 435 ; A.

pristina, 435
Amblyornis, 551 ; A.flavifrons, 549 ; A.

inornata, 549, 551 f . ; A. subalaris,

549, 552
Amblyospiza, 577
Ame damnee, 66

Ameghino, on " Stereornithes, " 44
Ammodramus, 583, 586
Ammomanes, 497, 498
Ammoperdix, 202 ; A. bonhami, 228 ; A.

cholmleyi, viii ; A. heyi, 228
Amnion, 21
Ampeliceps, 559
Ampelidae, 529 f.
Ampelion, 480
Ampelis, 529 ; A. cedrorum, 530 ; A.

garrulus, 529, 530 ; A. phoenicoptera,

530

Amphicoelous, 6
Amphimorphae, 105
Amphipelargus, fossil, 99
Amurolimnas, 244
Amytis, 517
Anaeretes, 474
Analogous, meaning, 5
Anarhynchus, 268 ; A. frontalis, 274,

274
Anas, 112 ; fossil, 136 ; A. dberti, 127 ;

A. boscas, 114, 127 ; skull, 11 ; A.

cristata, 128; A. diazi, 127; A.fulvi-

gula, 127 ; A. laysanensis, 127 ; A.

luzonica, 127 ; A. maculosa, 127 ; A.

melleri, 127; A. obscura, 127; A.

poecilorhyncha, 127 ; A. sparsa, 127 ;

A. specularis, 128 ; .4. superciliosa,

127 ; -4. tindulata, 127 ; .4. wyvilliana,

127 ; .4. zonorhyncha, 127
Anastomus, 95, 97 ; sifting apparatus of

bill, 12 ; .4. lamelligerus, 97 ; -4.

oscitans, 97
Anatidae, 108, 111 f. ; habits, 113 f. ; shed

wing-quills simultaneously, 4 ; young,

114

Anatinae, 111, 112, 123
Ancistrops, 484
Andigena, 456 ; -4. bailloni, 456 ; A.lami-

nirostris, 453, 456
Andrews, on Aepyornis and Mullerornis,

INDEX

591

43 n. ; on fossils from Madagascar, 136,

137 n. ; on " Stereornithes," 44
Androdon, 426 ; A. aequatorialis, 432 f.
Andropadus, 504
Angular, 11

Ani, 359 ; habits, 359 ; White, 359
Anna, 242

Anodorhynchus, 364, 371
Anomalopteryginae, 42
Anomalopteryx, viii, 42 ; A. parva, 42
Anomalornis, viii
Anorhinus, 391
Anous, 301, 303 ; A. caeruleus, 311 ; A.

cinereus, 311 ; A. galapagensis, 311 ; A.

hawaiiensis, 311 ; A. leucocapillus, 311 ;

A. stolidus, 310 ; A. tenuirostris, 311
Anseranas, 111-113 ; A. semipalmata, 135
Anseranatinae, 111, 135
Anseres, 108 f., 110 f., 112 ; bill-sheath, 11 ;

claws on manus, 48 ; fossil, 136 ; fusion

of tracheal rings, 13 ; lamellae of bill,

12 ; A. albifrons, 132 ; A. brachyrhyn-

chus, 132 ; A. cinereus, 132 ; A. ery-

thropus, 132; A. gambeli, 132; A.

grandis, 132 ; A. indicus, 132 ; A.

middendorfi, 132 ; A. rubrirostris, 132 ;

A. segetum, 132
Anseriformes, 70, 108 f.
Anserinae, 111, 112, 131 f.
Ant-bird, 488 f.
Anterior limbs, 8
Antigone australasiana, 252, 254 ; A.

collaris, 254

Anthiuae, 494, 498 f. ; habits, 500 f.
Anthobaphes, 569
Anthocinda, 469 ; A. phayrii, 470
Anthornis, 565, 567
Anthracoceros coronatus, 395 ; A. mala-

baricus, 391

Anthropo'ides, 252 ; A. virgo, 255 f.
Anthus, 499 ; A. antarcticus, 499 ; A.

bertheloti, 499 ; A. bogotensis, 499; A.

campestris, 500 ; A. cervinus, 500 ; A.

chloris, 500 ; A. correndera, 501 ; A.

obscurus, 500 ; A . pratensis, 500 ; A .

richardi, 500 ; A. rosaceus, 500 ; A.

rufulus, 501 ; A. spipoletta, 500 ; A.

tenellus, 500 ; A. trivialis, 500
Antrostomus carolinensis, 417 ; A. voci-

ferus, 417
Anumbius, 484, 487, 525 ; A. acuticaudus, \

477 ; nest, 487
Apatornis celer, 49

Aphanapteryx, 244; A. broecki, fossil, 251
Aphelocoma, 554
Aphobus, 579, 580
Aphriza virgata, 276
Aplonis, 559, 561
Aprosmictus, 364
Aptenodytes, 55 ; A. forsteri, 55, 56 ; ^4.

patagonica, 57 ; A. pennanti, 56
Apteria, or uufeathered spaces, 2

Apteryges, 26, 38 f. ; finger, 9
Apterygidae, structure, etc., 38 f.
Apterygiformes, of Parker, 38
Apteryx, 182 ; feathers, 41 ; pelvis, 9 ; A.

australis, 39, 39 ; A. haasti, 3ST; A.

lawryi, 39 ; A. mantelli, 39 ; ^4. maxi-

mus, 39; .4. occidentalis, sub-species,

39; A. oweni, 39
Aptornis, 244 ; .4. defossor, fossil, 251 ;

-4. otidiformis, fossil, 251
42wfo, 146-148, 160, 161 f. ; fossil, 181 ;

A. adalberti, 163 ; A. chrysaetus, 161 ;

A. danga, 162 ; A. fulvescens, 163 ; ^4.

hastata, 162 ; ^4. mogilnik, 163 ; ^4.

naevio'ides, 163 ; .4. nipalensis, 162 ;

A. pomarina, 162 ; .4. rapax, 163 ; -4.

verreauxi, 163 ; A.vindhiana, 163 ; .4.

ivahlbergi, 162
Aquilinae, 146, 159 f.
Aquiline, 147
J.m, 363, 364, 371 ; ^4. ararauna, 371 ;

.4. chloroptera, 371 ; ^4. macao, 371 ;

J. militaris, 371 ; >4. severa, 371
Arabia, to which Kegion belonging ? 16
Aracari, 456
Arachnothera, 569 ; .4. chrysogenys, 569 ;

.4. magna, 570

Aramidae, 243, 256 f. ; habits, 257
Aramides, 247 ; ^4. ypecaha, 247 f.
Aramus pictus, 256 f. ; ^4. scolopaceus, 257
Arboricola, 199, 222 ; ^1. arctews, 222 ;

^4. chloropus, 222 ; .4. javanica, 222 ;

^4. torqueola, 222
Arch of vertebra, 6
Archaeopteryx, 2 ; claws, 9 ; fingers, 9 ;

rib, 6 ; teeth, 12 ; vertebrae, 6 ; A.

lithographica, 23 f., 24; A. macrura, 2S;

A. siemensi, viii

Archaeornitlies, a sub-class, 23 f. ; differ-
ence from Neornithes, 25
Archibuteo, 147, 164 ; A. ferrugineus,

164; A.hemiptilopus, 164; A. lagopus,

164 ; .4. sancti johannis, 164 ; ^4. s^ro-

phiatus, 164
Arctogaea, 15

Arctonetta, 114 ; A.fischeri, 119
^4rc?ea, 91 ; fossil, 95 ; young, 93 ; A.

agami, 91 f. ; A. alba, 92 ; .4. ardesiaca,

91 ; 4. asAa, 91 ; ^4. bubulcus, 88, 91 ;

-4. caerulea, 91 ; ^4. candidissima, 92 ;

^4. cinerea, 92, 93 ; ^4. cocot, 93 ; ^4.

coromanda, 91 ; A.egretta, 92; A.gar-

zetta, 92 ; 4. goliath, 89, 93 ; ^4. ^r«i/i,

91 ; ^4. gularis, 91 ; 4. herodias, 93 ;

-4. nigripes, 92; .4. occidentalis, 93;

-4. pacifica, 91 ; ^4. pealii, 91 ; Ji.
picata, 91 ; 4. purpurea, 93 ; ^4. rwJ-

fol^es, 91 ; ^4. rw/a, 91 ; ^4. sacra, 91 ;

-4. tricolor, 91 ; ^4. wurdemanni, 93 n.
Ardeae, 70 f., 86 f.
Ardeidae, 70, 86 f. ; habits, 87 f.
Ardeinae, 86

592

INDEX

Ardeola rallo'ides, 91

Ardetta, 87, 88, 89 ; A, cinnamomea,
89 ; A. minuta, 89

Argillornis, fossil, 86

Argus, 199 ; A. ocellatus, 208

Argus, 217

Argusianus, 199, 200 ; A. argus, 207 ;
A. bipunctatits, 207 ; A. greyi, 207

Argya, 502-504

Arses, 507

Artamia, 533 ; A. bicolor, o33 ; A. leuco-
cephala, 533

Artamidae, 530 f.

Artamides, 525

Artamus, 494, 531 ; powder-down, 531

Articular, 11 ; process of vertebra, 6

Arundinax, 513 -

Asarcornis, 112 : A. scutulata, 134

^sio, 399, 401-403 ; fossil, 415 ; A. ac-
cipitrinus, 400, 406 f . ; A. americanus,
406 ; A. capensis, 406 ; A. grammicus,
406 ; A. madagascariensis, 406 ; A.
mexicanus, 406 ; ^4. otus, 402, 406 ;
.4. stygius, 406 ; ^4. wilsonianus, 406

Aspatha, 380 ; .4. gularis, 381

Asthenopterus minutus, fossil, 181

Astrapia, 544, 549, 550 ; ,4. nigra, 545 ;
^4. splendidissima, 545 ; ^4. stephaniae,
544, 546

<4*fcw, 156, 166 ; A alphonsi, fossil, 181 ;
.4. atricapillus, 157 ; ^4. badius, 156 f . ;
-4. brutus, 157 ; -4. cinereus, 157 ; .4.
franciscae, 157 ; 4. hensti, 157 ; -4.
leucosomus, 157 ; ^4. wowe hollandiae,
156, 157 ; ^4. palumbarius, 156 ; ^4.
pusillus, 157 ; -4. tachiro, 156 f. ; -4.
trinotatus, 157 ; -4. trivirgatus, 157

Asturina, 166 f . ; -4. nitida, 167 ; .4.
plagiata, 166 f.

Asturinula monogrammica, 156

Asyndesmus torquatus, 461

Atelornis, 378 ; .4. crossleyi, 378 ; ^4.
pittoldes, 378

Atlas, 5, 390

Atmore, on Secretary-bird, 142

Atrichornis, 491, 493; .4. damosa, 493; v4.
rufescens, 493

Atrichornithidae, 491, 493

Attagis chimborazensis, 296 ; .4. ^ayt,
296 ; ^4. malouina, 296

Atticora, 523 ; -4. cyanoleuca, 525

Atttta, 479

Attilinae, 479 f.

Audubon, on Humming-birds, 432

Augastes, 432 ; J. lumachellus, 432

Auk, 49, 54, 268, 315 f., 316 ; habits, 315
f. ; Great, 315, 317, 320, 321 ; Little,
316, 321 ; Parrot, 318 ; Razorbill— see
Razorbill

Auklet, Cassin's, 318; Crested, 318; Knob-
billed, 317 ; Least, 317, 318 ; Rhino-
ceros, 317 f. ; Whiskered, 318

Aulacorhamphus, 453, 456 f . ; ^4. jsra-

smws, 455 ; ^4. wagleri, 455
^M&«, 480
Auriculars, 20
Auriparus, 538-540
Australasia, as a Region, 15
Australian Region, 15 f. ; its contents, 16-
Austro-Columbia, 15
Austro-Coraces, 531 n., 557 n.
Autumn moult, 4 f.
Aves, as a Class, 23
Avestruz, 30
Avocet, 278
Avocetta, 268

Avocettula recurvirostris, 433
Axis, 5
Azara, on Toucan, 454

Back, 20

Badiostes, fossil, 415

Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, on Rhyn-

chops, 304 n. ; on Melanerpes, 461 n.
Baker, 486

Balaeniceps, 86, 87 ; B. rex, 93, 94
Balaenicipitinae, 86
Balearica, 251, 252 ; B. chrysopelargusr

256 ; B. gibbericeps, 256 ; B. pavonina,

255, 256
Bambusicola fytchii, 218 ; B. sonorivox?

219 ; B. thoracica, 219
Baptornis, 25, 46, 47
Barbalula, 450 ; B. minuta, 450 ; B,

pusilla, 449

Barbet, 445, 448 f. ; habits, 448 f.
Barbicels, 3

Barbs, 2, 3 ; absence of, 3
Barbules, 2, 3
Bargander, 128
Barrel of feathers, or quill, 3
Barrere, on Trochilus, 426
Barrett-Hamilton, on Sterna longipennist

313 n.
Bartlett, A. D., on Catheturus, 192 n. ;

on Flamingo ejecting blood-like liquid,

86 n. ; on Hornbill, 392 n. ; on moult of

Penguin, 55 n. ; on Plotus, 81 n. ; on

Rhinochetus, 263 n., 265 n.
Bartlett, E., on Furnarius, 486 ; on

Mesites, 187

Bartramia longicauda, 285 f.
Baryphthengus, 380
Basileuterus, 574
Basilornis, 559
Basitemporal, 11
Bastard wing, 9, 20
Batara, 488, 489

Bates, on Murypyga, 266 ; on Humming-
birds, 432
Batis, 509

Batrachostomus, 415-417, 419
Baza, 146, 173 ; B. borneensis, 173 ; B.

ceylonensis, 173 ; B. cuculo'ides, 173 ;

INDEX

593

B. erythrothorax, 173 ; B. leucopais,
173 ; B. lophotes, 173 ; £. madagas-
cariensis, 173 ; B. magnirostris, 173 ;
B. reinwardti, 173 ; B. rufa, 173 ; B.
subcristata, 173 ; B. sumatrensis, 173 ;
B, timorlaensis, 173 ; B. verreauxi,
173

Beak, 11 f.

Bearcoot, 162

Beddard, on trachea of Paradise -bird, 545
n. ; on Zosterops, 568

Bee-eater, 376, 387 f., 389 ; habits, 388 ;
Blue-tailed, 389

Belding, on Harlequin Duck, 120

Bell-bird, 482, 482, 567, 567 n.

Belly, 20

Beudire, on habits of Canachites, 236

Berenicornis, 391, 393 ; B. comatus, 393

Bergut, 162

Berlepsch, on Humming-birds, 432

Bernida, 131 ; B. brenta, 131 ; B. cana-
densis, 131 f. : B. hutckinsi, 132 ; B.
leucopsis, 131 ; 2?. minima. 132 ; B.
nigricans, 131 ; B. occidentalis, 132 ;
B. ruficollis, 131, 132

Bernieria, 503

Bevies, 221

Bhringa, 528

Bhund-Moorg, 208

Bias, 506

Biconcave vertebrae, in Ichthyornis, and
probably in Archaeopteryx, 6, 49 ; per-
haps in Enaliornis, 49

Bill, 11 f. ; arched, 12 ; of Balaeniceps
and Cancroma, 86 ; scissor-like, 12 ;
wedge-like, 12

Bill-sheath, 11 ; in Chionis, 268 : nature
of, 2 n. ; shed, in Auks, 317, 318

Bird, definition, 1 ; differences from other
Vertebrata, 1 f. ; derivation from Rep-
tiles, 14

Bird of Paradise, 543 f. ; D'Albertis',
544 ; fables concerning, 543 ; habits,
550 f. ; Great, 546 ; Long-tailed, 546 ;
King, 547 ; Magnificent, 547 ; Twelve-
wired, 545 ; Bed, 546 ; Six-wired, 547
f., 548

Birds'-nest soup, 423

Birds of passage, 17

Birds of prey, 108 ; cere, 11 ; moult, 5

Birds of the Gods, 543

Bittern, 70, 90 ; habits, 87 f ; Common,
89 ; Little, 88

Biziura, 111, 114 ; fossil, 136 ; B. lobata,
117, 117

Blacicus, 474

Blackbird, 510, 515

Blackburn, on Cuckoo, 354

Black-Cock, 237 f.

Black Witch, 359

Blake, on Flamingo, 107

Blight-bird, 568

VOL. IX

Blind-sacs, 12

Blue-bird, Fairy, 505

Blue colour in birds, its nature, 3 n.

Blue Darr, 314

Blue-eye, 568

Blue-throat, 512, 516

Boatswain-bird, 72

Boat-tail, 580

Bobolink, 580

Bob-White, 204, 232

Bonasa, 199, 201 ; B. griseiventris, 233

f. ; B. severtzovi, 234 ; B. sylvestris,

233 ; B. umbelhis, 233
Bontekoe, figure of IHdus borbonicus, 330
Bonxie, 304
Booby, 74, 82
Booted, 10

Bostrychia carunculata, 102
Botaurus, 87, 88 ; B. lentiginosus, 89 ; B.

pinnatus, 89 ; B. poeciloptilus, 89 ; B.

stellaris, 89
Bourdons, 426
Bower-bird, 543, 548 f., 550 ; habits,

551 f. ; Satin — see Satin-bird
Brachygalba, 446 ; B. albigularis, 445 ; B.

melanosterna, 445

Brachypteracias, 378 ; B. leptosomus, 378
Brachypteryx, 502
Brachyrhamphus craveri, 319 ; B. hypo-

leucus, 319 ; B. kittlitzi, 318 ; B. mar-

moratus, 318

Bradypteri, of Sharpe, 513
Bradypterus, 514
Brambling, 584
Branta, fossil, 136
Breast, 20
Breast-bone, 6
Brewer— see Baird
Brigade, vi (Preface)
Brisson, on Bucco (including Barbet), 448 ;

on Strigidae, 3-98 n.
Bristle-feathers, 3
Bristles, nature of, 2 n.
Broad-bill, 467 ; habits, 469
Broderip, on Toucan, 454 n.
Brodrick — see Salvin, F. H.
Bromvogel, 392
Bronchi, 13
Bronchial syrinx, 21
Bronu's Thier-reich, 14, 23
Brontornis, 45 ; B. burmeisteri, 45
Bronze-wing — see Pigeon
Brown colour in birds, its nature, 3 n.
Buarremon, 575, 576
Bubo, 398-403 ; fossil, 415 ; B. abyssi-

nicus, 414 ; B. ascalaphus, 414 ; B.

bengalensis, 414 ; B. blakistoni, 414 ; B.

capensis, 414 ; B, cinerascens, 414 ; B.

coromandus, 403, 414 ; B. dorriesi, 414 ;

B. ignavus, 413 f. ; B. lacteus, 414 ; B.

lettii, 414 ; B. leucostictus, 414 ; B.

maculosus) 414 ; B. magellanicus, 414 ;

2 Q

594

INDEX

B. milesi, 414 ; B. nigrescens, 414 ; B.

nipalensis, 414 ; B. orientalis, 414 ; />.

philippensis, 414; B. poensis, 414; B.

shelleyi, 414 ; B. turcomanus, 413 ; .6.

virginianus, 402, 414
Buboninae, 398. 404
Bucco, 447. 448 ; B. bicinctus, 447 ; £.

ckacuru, 447 ; ZJ. collaris, 447 ; £.

dysoni, 447 ; .B. hyperrhynchus, 447,

447 ; J3. maculatiis, 447 ; i>. s^n'a-

tipectus, 447
Bucconinae. 445, 446 f.
Buceros, 390 : .B. rhinoceros, 395
Bucerotidae, 376, 390 f. ; habits, 390
Bucerotinae, 390

Buchanga leucogenys, 528 ; B. atra, mimi-
cry. 529 ; B. ivaldeni, 528
Buck — see Chapman
Buckley, T. E., on Red Grouse, 238 n.
Bucorax, 395
Bucorvinae, 395
Bucorvus, 390, 392, 393, 395 ; B. abyssi-

nicus, 392, 395 ; B. cafer, 392, 395
Budgerigar, 367
Buffel-head, 121
Jjujeranus, 252, 255

Bulbul, 504 f. ; habits, 505 f. ; of poets, 506
Bulla ossea, 13, 113
Bull-bat, 416
Buller. on Meliphagidae, 568 n. ; on Phala-

crocorax, 77 ; on Spheniscus minor,

57 n. : on String ops, 367 11.
Bullfinch, 584, 586
Bulweria, 60 : B. bulweri, 67 ; B. mac-

gittivrayi, 67
Bunting, 578, 579, 582 f. ; Corn-, 584,

586 ; Ortolan, 584 : Painted, 585 ;

Reed-, 584 ; Snow-, 584, 585 ; Yellow

Hammer, 584
B iiphag a, 559
Buphus bubulcus, 91
Burgomaster, 306

Busarelliis, 146 ; B. nigricollis, 168
Bustard. 170, 243, 260 f. ; habits, 262 f. ;

Great, 261-263, 261 ; Little, 262, 263 ;

Ruffed, 262
Butastur indicus, sub-species, 167 ; B.

liventer, 167 ; B. rujipennis, 167 ; B.

teesa, 167
Buteo, 146, 164 f., 166, 172 ; fossil, 181 ;

B. abbreviatus, 166 ; B. albicaudatus,

166 ; B. augur, 166 ; B. auguralis,

166 ; B. borealis, 166 ; B. brachypterus,

166 ; B. desertorum, 165 f . ; B. exsul,

166 ; B. ferox, 166 ; B. galapagensis,

166 ; B. jakal, 165, 166 ; B. leuco-

cephalus, 166 ; B. plumipes, 166 ; B.

poliosomus, 166 ; B. solitarius, 165 ; B,

swainsoni, 166 ; B. vulgaris, 165, 166
Buteogallus aequinoctialis, 168
Buteola brachyura, 166 ; B.- leucorrhoa,

166

Buteoninae, 146, 164 f.

Buthraupis, 575

Butorides, 88-90 ; B. atricapilla, 90 ; B.

mauritianus, fossil, 95 ; B. virescens,

90

Butreron capellii, 349
Buzzard, 146, 148, 160, 162, 164 f., 169,

170 ; habits, 165 ; Common, 165 ;

Honey, 148. 172 ; Rough-legged, 164
Bycanistes buccinator, 393

Cabalus, 244-246 ; C. modestus, 246, 247 ;

C. (Ocydromus] sylvestris. 245
Cabanis, classification, 14 ; on classifica-
tion by song-muscles, 466
Cacatua, 362-364 ; C. galerita, 364, 372 ;

leadbeateri, 372, 372 ; G. roseicapilla,

372

Cacatuinae, 362 f., 364, 372 f.
Caccabis, 198, 202 ; C. chukar, 228 ; C.

magna, 228 ; G. melanocephala, 228 ; 0.

petrosa, 228 ; (7. rufa, 228 ; G. saxatilis,

228 ; G. spatzi, 228
Cachalote, 487
Gacomantis passerinus, 355 ; (7. virescens,

355

Gactornis, 583, 585, 586
Caeca, 12

Caica melanocephala, 369
Gairina, 111 : G. moschata, 134
Galamospiza, 586
Calamus, 3
Galandrella, 497, 498 : G. brachydactyla,

497

Galandria, 519
Calao, 390
Galcarius, 583
Galicalicus, 531-533
Oalidris, 269 ; C. arenaria, 282
Callaeas, 552, 553 ; G. cinerea, 556 f. ; G.

wilsoni, 557
Gallene. 513
Calliope, 509 ; G. camtschatcensis, 512 ;

G. pectoralis, 512; G. tschebaieioi, 512
Callipepla, 200 ; C. squamata, 230
Gallisitta, 537
Galliste, 575

Callocephalon galeatum, 373
Calloo, 120
Calochaetes, 575
Galocitta, 552, 554
Galodromas, 183 ; C. e%aw5, 185
Galoenas, 326-328 ; (7. nicobarica, 334 ;

(7. pelewensis, 334
Caloenatinae, 325
Galopelia puella, 338
Galoperdix, 199 ; C borneensis, 221 ; (7.

ocw^a. 221

Galopezus, 182 ; (7. elegans, 185
Galopsittacus novae hollandiae, 373
Galorhamphus, 448 ; (7. fuliginosus, 450 ;

C. Aayi, 450

INDEX

595

Calornis, 561, 562

Calothorax lucifer, 438

Galypte annae, 438 ; C. costae, 438 ; C.

helenae, 438
Calyptomena, 468, 469 ; C. viridis, 468 ;

C. whiteheadi, 468
Calyptorhynchus, 364, 373
Calyptura, 479, 480
Camarhynchus, 583, 585, 586
Camascelus, fossil, 300
Campanero, 482
Campechaera, 525, 526
Campephaga, 525, 526
Campephagidae, 494, 525 f., 531 ; habits,

526 f.

Campethera, 460 ; (7. punctata, 460
Campophilus, 463 ; (7. principalis, 463
Camptolaemus, 114 ; (7. labradorius, 119
Gampylopterus, 435
Campylorhynchus, 521, 522
Canace canadensis, 236
Canachites canadensis, 236 ; (7. franklini,

236

Canary, 585, 586 ; Cape-, 585
Cancroma, 86, 87 ; (7. cochlearia, 90 f. ;

(7. zeledoni, 91
Canirallus kiololdes, 248
Cannon-bone, 9
Cape-Hen, 67 ; -Penguin, 57 ; -Pigeon, 61,

66

Capercaillie, 202, 203, 236
Ca/wto, 448, 449, 451 ; a w#er, 451 ; C.

salvini, 451

Capitonidae, 445, 448 f.
Capitoninae, 448 f . ; habits, 448 f.
Capitulum of rib, 6

Caprimulgi, 376, 398, 415 f.; toes, 415
Caprimulgidae, 172, 415, 417 f. ; habits,

416 f.

Caprimulginae, 415, 418 ; toes, 10, 415
Caprimulgus, operculum of nostrils, 11 ;

0. aegyptius, 418 ; C. europaeus, 418,

418 ; C. parvulus, 415; C. ruficollis,

418

Capsiempis, 473 ; C. orbitalis, 474
Caracara, 152
Carancho, 152, 153
Carau, 257

Carcwewtes, 383 ; C. pulchellus, 386
Cctrdellina, 574
Cardinal, 585, 586
Cardinalis, 583-585
Carduelis, 583 ; C. elegans, 584
Cariama, 44, 110, 258, 260 ; C. cristata,

258, 259

( 'ariamidae, 243, 258 f. ; habits, 259 f.
Carina, 6
Carinatae, meaning, 6 ; a subdivision of

Neornithes, 23 f.
Carine, 400, 401, 403 ; C. bactriana,

411 ; C. brama, 411 ; C. glaux, 402 ; C.

nodua, 403, 410 f. ; C. plumipes, 411 ;

C. spilogastra, 411 ; (7. superciliaris,

411

Carpal spurs in Palamedeidae, 109
Carphibis, 99 ; C. spinicollis, 102
Carpococcyx radiatus, 358, 358 ; C. viridis,

358

Carpodacus, 585
Carpodectes, 479, 480
Carpometacarpus, 8
Carpophaga, 327, 328, 345 ; C. aenea,

345 ; C. basilica, 345 ; (7. concinna, 345 ;

C. cuprea, 345; C. griseipectus, 345;

C. latrans, 326, 345 ; C. pacifica, 345 ;

C, pinon, 345 ; (7. poecilorrhoa, 345 ;

(7. rubricera, 345 f. ; (7. zorae, 345
Carpus, 8, 8, 22
Carre, on Didus borbonicus, 330
Carrion-Crow, 140

Carrion- Hawk, 137, 146, 151 f., 153
Casarca cana, 129 ; C. rutila, 129 ; C.

tadorno'ides, 129; C. variegata, 129
Cashew-bird, 197
Casque, of Cassowary, 33 f.
Cassicinae, 579 f.
Cassiculus, 580
Cassidix, 580
Cassiques, 580
Cassowary, 26; feathers, 35 ; structure,

etc., 32 f. ; aftershaft, 3 ; breast-bone, 7 ;

nestlings, 34

Casuariformes of Parker, 38
Casuarii ( = Megistanes), 32 f. ; finger, 9
Casuariidae, structure, etc., 32 f.
Casuarius australis, 33 ; C. beccarii, 33 ;

C. bennetti, 34 ; C. bicarunculatus, 33 ;

C. galeatus. 33 ; C. occipitalis, 34 ; C.

papuanus, 34 ; C. picticollis, 34 ; C.

tricarunculatus, 33 ; C. ^miappendi^

ciilatus, 34, 35
Catamblyrhynchus, 584
Cataract-bird, 517
Cat-bird, 519, 549, 550
Catharista, 140 ; C. atratus, 140
Cathartae, 137 f. ; claws on inanus, 48
Cathartes, 140
Cathartidae, 70, 137 f., 143 ; fossil, 140 ;

fossil, Dryornis belongs here, 4 4 ; habits,

137 f.

Catharus, 509, 510, 516
Catherpes, 521, 522

Catheturus, 190 f. ; C. lathami, 192, 193
Catreus, 203 ; C. wallichi, 212
Cedar-bird (Ampdis cedrorum], 530
Celeomorphae, 457
Celeus, 462 f. ; O.flavus, 463
Centrites, 473, 475, 477 ; (7. niger, 477
Centrocercus, 199, 200, 203 ; air-sacs, 201 ;

C. urophasianus, 234
Centropelma micropterum, 53
Centropodinae, 351, 356 ; habits, 356 f.
Centropus, 351, 356 ; C. sinensis, 356 ; C.

toulou, 357 ; C. unirufus, 356

596

INDEX

Centrornis major i, fossil, 136 f.

Centrum of vertebra, 6 ; iu Archaeopteryx,

24

Cephalolepis, 431 ; C. delalandi, 437
Cephalopterus, 480, 482, 483 ; C, glabri-

collis, 481 ; C. ornatus, 481, 481, 482 ;

(7. penduliger, 481
Cepphus carbo, viii, 319 ; C. columba, viii,

319 ; C. grylle, 319 ; G. mandti, 319 ;

C. snowi, viii

Ceratogymna, 393 ; C. elata, 394
Ceratopipra, 477, 478 ; C. cormita, 478
Cercibis, 100 ; (7. oxycerca, 101
Cfcrawiacra, 488, 489
Cere, 20 ; in Anseriformes, 109, 111 ; in

Falconiformes, 137 ; in Psittaci, 362; in

Strigidae, 398
Cereopsinae, 111, 133
Cereopsis, 111, 112 ; C. novae hollandiae,

133
Ceriornis, 199-201, 216; C. blythi, 216;

C. caboti, 216, 217 ; C. melanocephalus,

216 ; C. satyr us, 216 ; C. temmincki, 216
Cerorhyncha monocerata, 317 f.
Certhia, 457, 571, 572 ; C. familaris, 571,

572

Certhidea, 572
Certhiidae, 494, 536, 571 f.
Certhilauda, 497, 498
Certhiola, 573 ; (7. flaveola, 573
Certhionyx leucomelas, 565
Certhiparus, 538-540
Cervix, 20
Cfery^, 383, 387 ; a alcyon, 387 ; C7.

amazona, 384, 387 ; (7. rwdis, 384
Cetn, 165
Cettia, 517, 518
Ceyx, 383, 384, 386 ; C. euerythra, 386 ;

toes, 10, 383
Chaetobias, 502
Chaetocercus bombus, 438
Chaetops, 502, 503
Chaetoptila, 565
Chaetopus, 226
Chaetorhynchus, 528
Chaetura, 422 ; (7. acMta, 423 ; (7. boehmi,

423 ; C. camm, 423 ; (7. caudacuta, 422 ;

(7. grandidieri, 423 ; (7. wovae guineae,

422 f. ; C. pelagica, 422 ; a wssAeri,

423 ; a zo?zam, 422
Chaeturinae, 420, 422
Chaffinch, 584, 586
Chaja, 109, 110
Chaka, 109

Chalcococcyx, 352 ; (7. lucidus, 354, 355

Chalcoparia, 569

Chalcopelia, 335 ; (7. a/ra, 339 ; C. cAaZ-

cospilus, 339
Chalcophaps, 338 ; (7. chrysochlora, 338 ;

C. iTicftca, 338 ; C. mortoni, 338 ; a

natalis, 338 ; C. sanghirensis, 338 ; C.

stephani, 338

Chalcopsittacus, 364, 374
Chalcurus inocellatiis, 208
Chamaea, 495, 522 ; C. fasciata, 522 ; a

henshawi, 522
Chamaeidae, 522
Chamaeospiza, 583
Chamaepetes, 195 ; (7. goudoti, 197 f. ; (7.

^tn^color, 198
Chamaeza, 489
Channel-bill, 356
Chapman, Abel, on Flamingo, 107 ; on

Woodpecker, 459 n.
Chapman and Buck, on Bustard, 263 n. ;

on Egyptian Vulture, 145 n. ; on nest-
ling of Gyps, 143 n.
Chapparal-Cock, 357
Charadriidae, 268, 272 f. ; operculum C.

nostrils, 11

Charadriiformes, 268 f.
Charadriiuae, 268, 269. 272 f.
Charadrius, 268, 269 : fossil. 300 ; C.

dominions, 272 ; C. ftdvus, 272 ; C.

obscums, 273 ; C. pluvialis, 272
Charata, 197
Charitornis, 559, 561
Charmosyna, 364
Ohasiempis, 507, 509
Chasmorhynchus, 479, 480, 482, 567 n. ;

(7. niveus, 481, 482, 482 ; (7. nudicolli?,

481 ; (7. tricarunculatus, 481 ; (7.

variegatiis, 481
Chat, 511, 512, 515-517
Cfiaulelasmus, 111 ; (7. couesi, 127 ; of

streperus, 127
Chauna, 109 ; (7. chararia, 110 ; C.

cristata, 109, 110, 110 ; (7. derbiana*

110

Chaunoproctus, 583
Cheer, 212
Chelidon, 522-524; (7. dasypus, 522; (7.

urbica, 524
Chelidoptera brasiliensis, 448 ; (7. tenebrosa,

448

Chelidorhynx, 506, 509
(7Aew caerulescens, 133 ; (7. hyperboreus,

133 ; (7. mwifts, 133 ; Cy. rom, 111,

133
Chenalopex, 112, 113; fossil, 136; (7.

aegyptiaca, 129 ; (7. jubata, 129 ; (7.

sirabensis, fossil, 137
Chenonetta jubata, 130
Chenonettinae, 111, 112, 130 f.
Chenopis, fossil, 136 ; C\ aerate, 135
Chenornis graculo'ides, fossil, 136
Cftera, 578

Cheramoeca, 523, 525
Chest, 21
Chettnsia gregaria, 275 f. ; C'. leucura,

276

Cheu-can, 490
Cheu-gui, 490
Chibia, 528 ; (7. bimaensis, 528 ; C. 6rac-

INDEX

597

teata, 528 ; C. liQttentotta, 528 ; C. pec-

toralis, 528

Chicquera ruficollis, 178 ; C. typus, 178
Chimarrhornis, 516
Chionididae, 268, 269, 292 f.
Chionis, 269, 270 ; G. alba, 293 ; (7.

minor, 293
Chirocylla, 480
Chiromachaeris, 478, 479 ; (7. aurantiaca^

478 ; (7. manacus, 479
Chiroxiphia, 478 ; (7. caudata, 479 ; (7.

linearis, 478, 479 ; C. pareola, 478
Chlamydodera, 550, 551 ; C. cerviniventris,

551 ; C. maculata, 551 ; (7. nuckalis,

549, 552
Chleuasicus, 502
Chloephaga, 113, 114 ; C. hybrida, 130 ;

(7. inornata, 130 : (7. magellanica, 130

f. : C. melanoptera, 130, 131 , (7. />ofto-

cephala, 130 ; (7. rubidiceps, 131
Chloridops, 562
Chlorochrysa, 575

Chloronerpes, 460 ; (7. rubiginosus, 460
Chloropeta, 506
Chloropipo, 477, 478 ; (7. flavicapilla,

478
Chloropsis, 505, 506 : (7. cyanopogon,

505 ; (7. flavipennis, 505
Chlorospingus, 575, 576
Chlorostilbon, 430, 433
Cholornis, 10, 502
Chondestes, 586

Chordiles, 416 ; (7. virginianus, 416
Chorion, 21

Chosornis praeteritus, fossil, 194
Chotorhea, 450
Chough, 552-556
Chrysococcyx, 352 ; (7. cupreus, 355 ; (7.

smaragdinens, 355
Chrysoenas, 326, 327, 347 ; (7. luteovirens,

347 ; (7. «jcfor, 347 ; C. m'n'^, 347
Chrysolampis mosquitus, 434
Chrysolophus, 199-201 ; (7. amherstiae,

210 ; (7. J9idw5, 200, 209 f.
Chrysomitridops, 562, 563
Chrysomitris, 583 ; (7. spinus, 584
Chrysophlegma, 460 f. ; (7. flavinucha, 460

f. ; (7. miniatum, 461
Chrysotis, 362, 364, 370 ; yellow varieties,

370 ; (7. aestiva, 370
Chthonicola, 518
Chuck- Will's- widow, 417
Chueke, 30

Chunga, 258, 260 ; (7. burmcisteri, 259
Chunia, 243, 259
Chupa-myrta, 426 ; -rosa, 426
Church, on Turacin, 360 n.
Cichladusa, 513
Cichlherminia, 515
Cichlopsis, 513
Cicinnurus, 545, 550, 551 ; (7. regius,

547

96,

Ciconia, 95 ; (7. abdimii, 96, 99 ; (7.

98, 99 ; a. boydana, 99 ; C7.

99

Ciconiae, 70 f., 95 f.
Ciconiidae, 70, 95 f. ; habits, 96
Ciconiiformes, 59, 70 f., 108
Cinclidae, 519
Cinclodes, 486
Cinclorhamphus, 502, 503
Cinclosoma, 503
(7mc^s, 519 ; (7. albicollis, 519, 520 ; (7.

aquaticus, 519, 520; (7. ardesiacus, 519;

(7. leucocephalus, 519 ; (7. leuconotus,

519 .

Oinnamopterus, 559 ; (7. tenuirostris, 560
Cinnicerthia, 521
Cinnyris brevirostris, 568 ; (7. osea, 568 ;

(7. splendidtis, 569
Circaetinae, 153
Circaetus, 153 ; 0. beaudouini, 153 ; C.

cinerascens, 153 ; (7. cinereus, 153 ; (7.

fasciolatus, 153 ; (7. gallicus, 153
(7ircws, 146, 147, 154 ; fossil, 181 ; habits,

154 f . ; (7. aeruginosus, 155 ; (7. o^>-

proximans, 155 ; (7. assimilis, 155 ; (7.

cineraceus, 155 ; (7. cinereus, 155 ; (7.

cyaneus. 155 : C'. gouldi, 155 ; (7. #?^-

somus. 155 ; C. humbloli, 155 ; (7. y«r-

efoVm, 155 ; (7. macrosceles, 155 ; (7

maculosus, 155 ; (7. maillardi, 155 ; (7.

maurus, 155 ; (7. inelanoleucus, 155 ; (7.

ranivorus, 155 ; (7. spilothorax, 155 ;

(7. spilonotus, 155 ; (7. swainsoni, 155 ;

(7. wo(£ 155
Ciridops, 562, 563
Girrhopipra, 478 ; (7. filicauda, 478 ; C.

heterocerca, 478
Cwsa, 376, 552, 553 f.
Cissopis, 575
Cisticola, 514, 518
Cisticolae, of Sharpe, 513
Cistothorus, 521
Cittocincla, 510, 513, 517
Cittura cyanotis, 385
Qladorhynchus pectoralis, 278

Clamatores, 467, 469 f.

Clang ula albeola, 121 ; (7. glaucion, 113,
121 ; (7. islandica, 121

Clark, on bones of Dodo, 330

Clarke, W. E., Digest of Migration Re-
ports, 19 n.

Classification, 13 f.

Claudia squamata, 425

Clavicle, 7, 8, 21, 187— see also Furcula

Claws, nature of, 2 n. ; of recent Birds,
9 : serrated, 10 ; in Archaeopteryx, 9,
25 ; on manus of Carinatae, 48 ; in
Grouse, 199 ; shed in Ptarmigan, 203 ;
in Ratitae, 26

Clibanornis, 484

Climacteric 571, 572

598

INDEX

Glitonyx, 502, 503

Clucking Hen, 256

Glypelcterus, 579 f.

Clytoceyx rex, 386

Clytoctantes, 488

Clytorhynchus pachycephalo'ides, 533

Cnemiornis, 133 ; fossil, 136 ; breast-bone,
7 ; very little keel to sternum, 26, 133

Gnemophilus macgregori, 548 f.

Gnipolegus, 473, 474, 476 ; G. unicolor, 475

Coach-whip bird, 503

Cobbler's Awl, 278, 565

Coccothraustes, 583 ; G. vulgaris, 584

Coccycolius, 559, 560

Coccystes, 352, 355 ; C. americanus, 356 ;
(7. coromandus, 355 ; C. erythrophthal-
mus, 356 ; C. glandarius, 355 ; (7. occi-
dentalis, 356 ; (7. serratus, 355

Gochoa azurea, 510 ; (7. purpurea, 510 ;
(7. viridis, 510

Cock, 203

Cock of the Rock, 480

Cockatoo, 351, 364, 365, 372 f. ; Great
Black, 364, 373; Leadbeater's, 372*372

Cockatoo-Parakeet, 373

Coel, 356

Coerebidae, 572 f.

Colaptes, 458 ; C. agricola, 460 ; G.
auratus, 460 ; G. mexicanus, 460

Colibri, 426

Colii, 376, 439 f.

Coliidae, 439 f.

Colin, 231

Golius, 440 f. ; toes, 10 ; G. capensis, 440,
441 ; C. castanonotus, 441 ; C. ery-
thromelon, 441 ; C. leucocephalus, 441 ;
G. leucotis, 441 ; C. macrurus, 441 ; (7.
nigricollis, 441 ; (7. striatus, 441

Collar-bone, 8

Collingwood, on Sooty Tern, 312

Collocalia, 421-423 f. ; fossil, 426 ; C.
francica, 424 ; C. fuciphaga, 423 f.

Colopterus, 473, 474

Colour of feathers, 3 f.

Golumba, 328, 343 ; fossil, 350 ; G. ajinis,
344 ; G. araucana, 344 ; C. arquatrix,
344 ; G. bollii, 343, 344 ; G. grisea,
344 ; C. guinea, 326, 344 ; G. gymnoph-
thalma, 326, 344 ; G. ianthina, 344 ;
O. intermedia, 344 ; C'. laiirivora, 343,
344 ; (7. leucocephala, 344 ; (7.
meZa, 344 ; C. leuconota, 344 ; (7.
344 ; C. metallica, 344 ; C. oenas, 344 ;
(7. palumboldes, 344 ; (7. palumbus, 343,
344 ; C. phaeonota, 328 ; C'. polleni,
344 ; a rw/ma, 344 ; C. schimperi,
344 ; (7. speciosa, 344 ; (7. torringtoniae,
344 : (7. frocaz, 343, 344

Columbae, 268, 322, 325 f. ; operculum of
nostrils, 11

Columbidae, 268, 325 f., 333 f. ; habits,
327 f.

Golumbigallina, 325, 327, 328, 335, 340 ;

G. buckleyi, 340 ; (7. cruziana, 340 ;

G. minuta, 340 ; C. passerina, 340 ; G.

rufipennis, 340 ; G. talpacoti, 340
Columbinae, 325 f., 342
Golumbula picui, 340
Coly, 439 f. ; Cape, 440, 441
Colymbi, 49
Colymbidae, habits, 51 f. ; structure, etc.,

49 f.

Colymbiformes, 49 f.
Colymboides, fossil, 50
Colymbomorphae, 48
Golymbus adamsi, 50 ; C. arcticus, 50 ;

G. glacialis, 50, 51 ; G. pacificus, 50 ;

G. septentrionalis, 50
Coly-Shrike, 527, 527
Comatibis, 100 ; G. comata, 102
Comet, Sappho, 434
Compressed, 21
Compsotis, 262
Condor, 138, 139, 139
Gonopophaga, 489, 490
Conopophagidae, 469, 489 f.
Gontopus, 473, 474 ; (7. ardesiacus, 476
Contour-feather, 2
Gonurus, 363, 365 ; G. carolinensis, 365,

371 ; G. guarouba, 371 ; (7. patachonius,

525 ; G. pertinax, 366 ; C. solstitialis,

371

Coot, 243-246
Copper-smith, 449
Gopsychus, 510, 513, 516
Gopurus, 473, 477
Coraciae, 376 f.
Goracias, 376 ; G. abyssinicus, 377 ; G.

garrulus, 376 f. ; C. naevius, 377 ; (7.

spatulatus, 377 ; (7. temmincki, 376
Coraciidae, 376 f.
Coraciiformes, 376 f.
Coraciiuae, 376 ; habits, 377 f.
Coraciomorphae, 351
Coracoid, 7, 7, 8, 8 ; unites with furcula

and scapula in Fregata, 72
Coracomorphae, of Huxley, 466
Goracopitta, 469 ; G. lugubris, 471
Goracopsis, 364 ; C. 6ar%i, 369 ; (7.

comorensis, 369 ; C". mascarinus, 365 f. ;

(7. m#ra, 369 ; C. sibilans, 369 ; C.

vasa, 369

Gorcorax, 552, 557 f.
Cordeaux, W. W., on Ibidorhynchus,

277 n.

Gorethrura, 246, 248 ; G. pulchra, 246
Goriphilus, 364 ; (7. taitianus, 373 ; C.

ultramarinus, 373
Cormorant, 70, 75 ; fishing with, 79 ;

habits, 78 ; Common, 75, 76 ; Green,

77 ; Pigmy, 78
Cornay, classification, 14
Corn Crake — see Crake, Corn
Corneous, 11

INDEX

599

Corvidae, 495, 525, 531, 543, 552 f. ;

habits, 554 f.
Corvinae, 552 f.
Corvultur, 552, 553
Corvus, fossil, 496 ; C. caurinus, 555 ; C.

corax, 552, 555 ; C. comix, 355 ; C.

corone, 556 ; C. frugilegus. 552 ; C.

ossifragus, 556 ; C. pastinator, 552 ; C.

scapulatus, 553 ; C. torquatus, 553 ; C.

tropicus, 556

Cory don, 468 ; O. siimatranus, 468
Coryphistera, 484, 485
Coryphoenas, 326 ; (?. crassirostris, 342 f.
Coryphospiza, 583
Corythaeola, 360
Corythaix fischeri, 361
Corythopis, 489, 490
Corythornis cristata, 386 f.
Coscoroba Candida, 135
Gosmonetta, 112 ; 0. histrionica, 120
Cossypha, 513, 516 ; (7. c«/ra, 512 n. ; (7.

natalensis, 510
Cotffe, 523, 525 ; C. concolor. 525 ; C.

fuligula, 524 f. ; (7. riparia, 522, 524 ;

(7. rupestris, 524 f.
Cotinga, 480 ; (7. amdbilis, 480
Cotingidae, 469, 477, 479 f., 567 n ; habits,

482 f.

Cotinginae, 479 f.
Coturnix, 198-200, 202 ; fossil, 240 ; C.

capensis, 220 ; C. communis, 220 ; (7.

coromandelica, 220 ; (7. delegorguii, 220 ;

(7. japonica, 220 ; (7. wovae zealandiae,

220 ; (7. pectoralis, 220
COMO, 351, 352, 357 ; C. caerulea, 357
Coucal, 356 ; habits. 356 f.
Courlan, 257
Courser, 268, 294 f . ; Cream-coloured,

294
Covert, 20, 21 ; Greater. 21 ; Lesser, 21 ;

Median, 21 ; Upper, 21
Cow-bird, 582
Cowry-bird, 577
Crab- Plover — see Plover, Crab
Cracidae, 186, 194 f. ; habits, 195 ; re-
place Pheasants, etc., 192
Cracinae, 194-196

Oracticus, 532, 533 ; C. destructor, 533
Crake, 243, 246 ; Baillon's, 248 ; Corn,

245, 248 ; Little, 248 ; Spotted, 245,

248
Crane, viii, 148, 243, 251 f., 263; habits,

252 f. ; trachea enters keel of sternum,

13 ; young, 256 ; Asiatic White, 253,

254 ; Common, 254 ; Crowned, 253,

255, 256 ; Demoiselle, 255 ; of Japan,

254 ; Kaffir, 256 ; Sandhill, 254 ; Sarus,

253, 254 ; Wattled, 255 ; Whooping,

253, 254

Cranorhinus cassidix, 394 f.
Crapaud-volant, 419 n.
Crateropodes, of Sharpe, 502

Orateropus, 355, 504 ; C. kirki, 503
Orax, 194 f. ; C. alector, 196, 196 ; C.

fasciolata, 196, 197
Crazy Widow, 257
Oreadion carunculatus, 558
Oreciscus, 246 ; C. levraudi, 246
Creeper, 571 f. ; Tree-, 457, 572
Cretaceous epoch, Birds of, 2
Crex pratensis, 245, 248, 248
Criniger, 504-506
Crissum (vent-region), 20
Crocodile-bird, 295
Crocopus, 349 ; C. chlorigaster, 349
Crop, 12 ; in Galliformes, 186 ; in Hum-
ming-birds, 427 ; iu Opisthocomus, 241 ;

in Phasianidae, 200 ; in Sand-grouse,

322 ; in Thinocorythidae, 270 ; in

Tinamidae, 183
Crossbill, 584, 586
Crossleyia, 503
Crossoptilon, 199, 200, 203. 214 ; C.

auritum, 214 ; (7. harmani, 214 ; (7.

leucurum, 214 ; (7. manchuricum, 214 ;

ft tibetanum, 214
Crotophaga, 351, 352 ; C. ani, 359 ; C.

major, 359 ; (7. sulcirostris, 359
Crotophaginae, 351, 359 ; habits, 359
Crow, 149, 175, 356, 552-556 ; -Blackbird,

580 ; Carrion-, 554, 556 ; Grey, 355 ;

Hooded, 553, 556
Crown, 20
Orypsirhina, 552
Cryptolopha, 506, 514, 518
Cryptorhina, 552
Cryptornis, fossil Hornbill in France,

395
Crypturi, incisura ischiadica, 9 ; no

pygostyle, 6 n.
Crypturidae, 182 f.
Crypturus, 183, 184; (7. tataupa, 184,

185

Cubitals, 21, 22
Cuckoo, 351, 352 f., 353 ; habits, 353 f. ;

Hawk, 353 ; migration, 19 ; Opisthocomus

related to, 186 ; parasitic habits, etc.,

354; toes, 10; Black -billed, 356;

Great Spotted, 355 ; Eadiated Ground-,

358 ; Yellow-billed, 356
Cuckoo-Shrike, 525 f. ; habits, 526 f.
Cuckoo's-mate, 465
Cuculi, 351 f., 376
Cuculidae, 351 f. ; toes, 10
Cuculiformes, 351 f.
Cuculinae, 351, 352 ; habits, 353 f.
Cuculus canorus, 352 f., 353 ; (7. clamosus,

352

Culicicapa, 507
Culicivora, 473
Culmen, 20
Cuneate, 21

Cunningham, on Tachyeres 121 n.
Curaeus, 579, 580

6oo

INDEX

Curassow,' 186, 194, 241 ; habits, 195 ;

Crested, 196
Curlew, 282, 287 f., 288 ; bill, 12 ;

Eskimo, 288 ; Stone-, 268, 297
Cursorius, 269, 270, 293., 294 f. ; C.

albifasciatus, 295 ; C. bicinctus, 295 ;

C. bisignalus, 295 ; C. bitorquatus, 295 ;

C. chalcopterus, 270, 295 ; C. cinctus,

295 ; C. coromandelicus, 295 ; C.

gallicus, 294 ; G. hartingi, 295 ; C.

rufus, 294 f. : C. seebohmi, 295 ; C.

senegalensis, 295 ; C. somalensis, 294 ;

C. temmincki, 295
Cushat, 344
Cutis, 2 n.

Cutting edges of bill, 20
Cyanecula, 516 ; C. leucocyana, 512 ; C.

suecica, 512 ; G. wolji, 512
Cyanochen cyanoptera, 130
Gyanocitta, 552, 554
Gyanocorax, 552, 554
Gyanolesbia gorgo, 434
Gyanolyseus, 365 , C. patagonus, 365, 371
Cyanomyias, 506 ; (7. verticalis, 435
Cyanophaea caeruleigularis, 435
Cyanopica, 552 ; (7. cooAi, 355, 553 ; C.

cyana, 553

Cyanops, 450 ; G.fdber, 449
Cyanopsittacus, 364, 371
Gyanorhamphus erythrotis, 365
Cyanospiza ciris, 563, 585 ; C. cyanea,

585

Cyanotis, 475-477 ; (7. azarae, 474
Gybernetes, 473, 475
Cyclopsittacinae, 362 f., 373
Gyclopsittacus, 373
Cydorhis, 536

Gyclorhynchus, 316 ; C. psittaculus, 318
Cycnopsis cycno'ides, 111, 132
Cygninae, 111, 112, 135 f. ; young, 114
Gygnus, fossil, 136 ; (7. ftewridfei, 112, 135,

136 ; (7. buccinator, 112, 135 ; C. colum-

bianus, 112, 135 ; (7. melanocoryphiis,

111, 135 ; (7. musicus, 112, 135 ; C. ofor,

111, 135, 136
Gymbilanius, 488

Gymborhynchus macrorhynchus, 468
Gymodroma, 60, 65
Cynecula leucocyana, 512
Cyphorhinus, 521 ; (7. cantans, 521
Cypseli, 376, 419 f.
Cypselidae, 315 n., 419 f. ; toes, 10, 420 f. ;

habits, 421 f.
Cypselinae, 420, 424
Cypselo'ides, 420, 422, 423 ; (7. 6nw-

neitorques, 423 ; (7. wigrer, 423 ; (7.

rutilus, 423
Cypselomorphae, 419 n.
Cypselus, 424 ; fossil, 426 ; toes, 10 ; C.

affinis, 421, 424 ; C. andicola, 421,

425 ; C. apus, 424, 425 ; C. coffer, 421,

424 f. ; G. horns, 421, 425 ; C. melano-

leucus, 421 n., 424, 425 ; C. melba, 424 ;
G. montivagus, 425 ; C. murinus, 424 ;
eX pacificus, 425 ; G. pallidus, 424 ;

C. squamatus, 424 ; G. unicolor, 424
Gyrtonyx, 199, 231 f. ; (7. montezumae,

231 f.

Dabchick, 52

Dacelo, 383, 384 ; Z). <?«7as, 386
Dactylortyx, 199 ; /). thoracicus, 232
/>a/to, 112, 114 ; D. acuta, 125 ; Z>.

eatoni, 125 ; Z). spinicauda, 125
D'Albertis, on Macropteryx, 421 n.
Dal-riporre, 239
Dames, on Archaeopteryx, 23 n. ; on Scani-

ornis, 108 n.
Dam pier, on Flamingo, 107 ; on Goura,

334

Dance of Cranes, 252
Dancing of Kagu, 265 ; of Sun -bittern,

266 ; of Vanellus cayennensis, 275 n.
Daphoenositta, 537
Daption, 60, 61 ; D. capensis, 66
Darters, 70, 79 f. ; habits, 80 f. ; Indian, 80
Darwin, on breeds of Pigeons, 327 n. ; on

Patagona gigas, 430 ; on Pelecanoides,

69 ; on Tachyeres, 121
Dasornis, 45
Dasylophus, 352

Dasyptilus, 364 ; D. pesqueti, 369
Daulias, 510 ; D. hajizi, 506, 512 ; D.

luscinia, 512 ; D. philomela, 512
De Bry, on Dodo, 329
Decomposed feather, 3
Decorative plumes, 5
Dejttippia crossirostris, 276 ; D. leucoptera,

276

Deglutition, organs of, 12
Demiegretta sacra, 91
Dendragapus, air-sacs, 201 ; D. fuligi-

nosus, 235 ; D. obscurus, 235 ; D.

richardsoni, 235
Dendrobates, 462
Dendrocitta, 552, 553, 556
Dendrocolaptidae, 469, 483 f.; habits, 485 f.
Dendrocolaptinae, 457, 484 f.
Dendrocoptes, 462
Dendrocopus brunneifrons, 461 f.; I), leu-

conotus, 462 ; D. major, 458, 461 ; D.

medius, 462 ; D. minor, 461, 462
Dendrocycna, 111-113, 129; fossil, 136;

D. arborea, 129 ; />. arcuata, 130 ; /).
autumnalis, 129 ; />. discolor, 129 ; Z>>
«ytom, 130 ; D. fulva, 129, 130 ; D.
guttata, 129 ; Z>. javanica, 130 ; Z>.
viduata, 129

Dendroeca, 573, 574 ; D. palmarum, 574 ;

Z>. tigrina, 573
Dendrophila, 537

Dendrortyx, 198, 230 ; D. inacrurus, 230
Dentary, 11
Depressed, 21

INDEX

601

Derma, 2, 2 n.

Deroptyus, 364

Desjardins, on Solitaire, 331

Desmodactyli, 466 f.

Deviling, 424

De Vis, on " Dinornis queenslandiae," 42 ;
on Metapteryx, 40

D'Heguerty, on Solitaire, 330

Diamond-bird, 570 f.

Diaphorapteryx, 244 ; D. hawkinsi, fossil,
251

Diaphorophyia, 506, 507

Diatryma, 45

Dicaeidae, 570 f.

Dicaeum, 571 ; D. erythrorhynchum,
571

Dichoceros bicornis, 391, 393, 395

Dicholophus, 44

Dichromanassa, young, 93 ; D. rufa, 91

Dicrarostreptus, 528

Dicrocercus, 387

Dicruridae, 353, 527 f. ; habits, 528 f.

Dicrurus, 528

Dididae, 268, 325 f., 328

Di-dric, 355

Didunculidae, 268, 325 f., 331

Diduncuhis, 325,326, 328 ; D. strigirostris,
331 f., 332 ; habits, 332, 333

Didus, breast - bone, 7 ; coracoid and
scapula fused, 8 ; little keel to sternum,
26 ; D. borbonicus, 328, 330 ; D. ineptus,
328 f., 329

Digestion, organs of, 5 f., 12

Digits, 8, 8 ; of foot, 8

Diglossa, 572

Diglossopis. 572

Dilophus, 559, 561, 562

Dinornis, 42; D. maximus, 42; " Din-
ornis queenslandiae," 42

Dinornithes, 26, 41 f.

Dinornithidae. 41 ; structure, etc., 42

Dinornithinae, 42

Diomedea, 63 ; fossil, 69 ; D. albatrus,

64 ; D. anglica, fossil, 69 ; D. bulleri,

65 ; D. cauta, 65 ; D. chionoptera, 64 ;
D. chlororhyncha, 65 ; D. culminata, 63,
65 ; D. exulans, 61, 63 f., 64 ; D. im-
mutabilis, 65 ; D. irrorata, 64 ; D.
layardL 65 ; D. melanophrys, 65 ; in
England and Faeroes, 65 ; I), nigripes,
64 ; D. regia, 64 ; D. salvini, 65

Diomedeinae, 59, 60, 63

Diphlogaena iris, 434

Diphyllodes, 545, 550 ; D. yulielmi tertii,

547 ; D. magnified., 547, 547
Diplopterinae, 351, 358
Diplopterus, 352 ; D. naevius, 358 f.
Dipper, 519 f., 520
Disconnected web, 3
Discura, 427
Dissemnro'ides, 528
Dissemurus, 528 ; D. paradiseus, 528

Dissodectes ardesiacus, 174 ; D. dickin-

soni, 174 ; D. zoniventris, 174
Dissura, 96 ; D. episcopus, 98 f . ; D.

maguari, 97, 99
Distal, 21
Diver, 54, 267 ; habits, 51 f. ; structure,

etc., 49 f. ; Black-throated, 50 f. ; Great

Northern, 50, 51 ; Red-throated, 50 f.
Docimastes ensifer, 436
Dodaars, 329
Dodo, 325, 328 f., 329 ; breast-bone, 7 ;

habits, 330

Dolichonyx, 579-581 ; D. orizivorus, 580
Doliornis, 479. 480
Dollar-bird, 377
Donacicola, 578
Donacobius, 515. 519
Dormant action of formative substance of

feather, 4
Dorsal, 21
Dorsum, 20

Dotterel, 272 ; Ring-, 273
Double moult, 4 f.
Dove, Beetle-wing, 338 ; Cinnamon-, 337 ;

Collared Turtle-, 328: Cordillera-, 339 ;

Cuckoo-, 343; Emerald-, 338; Ground-,

328, 340 ; Lemon-, 337 ; Mountain-,

342 ; Mourning, 342; Pea-, 342; Ring-,

344 ; Rock-, 327, 328 : Scaly, 341 ;

Stock-, 328, 344 ; Turtle-, 327, 341
Dowitcher, 289
Down-feather, 2
Down of young suppressed, 3
Drepanididae, 562 : habits, 564
Drepanis, 562 ; D. funerea, 563 ; D.

pacifica, 563, 563, 564
Drepanoptila, 325, 326 ; D. kolosericea,

346 f.

Drepanorhynchus, 569
Drepanornis, 544, 550, 551 ; D. albertisi,

544, 545 ; D. cervinicauda, 551
Dresser, on Bustards, 263 n. ; on Double

Snipe, 291 n. ; on Francolin, 226 n. ;

on Grouse, 240 n. ; on Pelecanus ono-

crotalus, 83 ; on Quail, 221 n.
Dromadinae, 296

Dromaeidae, 36 ; structure, etc., 32 f.
Dromaeocercits, 514
Dromaeus, 182 ; D. ater, extinct, 38 ; D.

gracilipes, fossil, 38 ; 1). irroratus, 36 ;

D. novae hollandiae, 36, 37 ; D. patri-

cius, fossil, 38

Drotnas, 269, 270, 292 ; D. ardeola, 296
Dromococcyx, 352, 359
Dromornis australis, fossil, 38
Drongo, 353, 527 f., 528 ; habits, 528 f.
Dronte« 329
Drumming or booming of Grouse, 233-

238 ; of Snipe, 291 ; of Woodpeckers,

458 f.

Drum-stick, 9
Drymornis, 487 ; Z>. bridgesi. 485

602

INDEX

Dryolimnas cuvieri, 248

Dryonastes, 504

Dryornis, 44, 140 n.

Dryoscopus cubla, 533 ; D. rufiventris,
533

Dryotomus pileatus, 463

Dryotriorchis, 154

Du Bois, on Didus borbonicus, 330

Duck, 114 ; habits of, 113 f. ; fusion of
tracheal rings, 13 — see Sheld - Drake ;
Black, 119; Blue, 116; Brahminy, 129;
Buffel-head, 121 ; Canvas-back, 122 ;
Eider, 118 f. ; Gadwall, 127 ; Garganey,
125 ; habits, 126 ; Golden-Eye, 121 ;
Harlequin-, 114, 120 ; King-Eider, 118
f. ; Lake-, 117 ; Logger -head, 121 ;
Long -tailed, 120 f . ; Mallard, 127 ;
Mandarin-, 114, 133; Muscovy, 134;
Musk-, 117, 117, 134; Pied, 119; Pink-
eyed, 124; Pink-headed, 114; Pintail,
125; Red -crested, 123; Shoveller —
see Shoveller ; Spectacled Eider, 119 ;
Steamer-, 113, 121; Summer-, 133; Teal,
habits, 126 ; Torrent-, 116 ; White-
eyed, 122; Wigeon, 126; Wild, 127;
skull, 11

Dulus, 529 ; Z). dominions, 530

Dumetia, 502

Dunbird, 122

Dunlin, 279

Durnford, on Creciscus, 249 n.

Eagle, 137, 146, 148-150, 160, 161 f., 179 ;

Bald, 164; Black, 161; Bonelli's, 161;

Booted, 161 ; Chilian Sea-, 167 ; Golden,

148, 151, 162, 163, 165 ; habits, 161 f.;

Harrier — see Harrier Eagle ; Hawk-,

160 ; Imperial, 163 ; in Falconry, 162 ;

Pondicherry, 168 ; Sea-, 149, 161-163 ;

Spotted, 162 ; Steppe-, 162 ; Tawny,

163 ; White-shouldered, 163
Ear, in Owls, 399
Ear-coverts, 20
Eaton, on Penguins, 57 n. ; on Petrels, 65

n. , 67 n.
Edectus, 364, 369 ; bright colour of hen,

4, 369 ; E. pectoralis, 369
Eclipse, in Anatidae, 4, 113
Ectopistes, 326, 328 ; E. migratorius, 342
JSdoliiBoma, 525
Edolius, 528 ; E. forficatus, 528
Eggs, burnished in Tinamidae, 183
Egg-tooth of embryo, 12
Egret, 88 ; Little, 92

Egypt, to which region does it belong ? 16
Egyptian Goose, 129
Eider — see Duck
JSlainea, 474, 476 ; E. pagana, 474 ; E.

strepera, 476
Elaineinae, 473 f.

Elano'ides, 146,147,171 ; Kfurcahts,l70f.
Elanus, 146, 147 ; E. axillaris, 171 ; E.

caeruleus, 171 ; E. hypoleucus, 171 ; E.

leucurus, 171 ; E. scriptus, 171
Elaphrocnemus, fossil, 251
Elasmonetta, 111 ; E. chlorotis, 125
Eleutherodactyli, 467
Elliot, on Birds of Paradise, 543 n. ; on

Grouse, 240 n. ; on Humming-birds,

432

Elminia, 506
El Turco, 491
Ema, 30, 36
Emarginate bill, 12
Emberiza citrinella, 584 ; E. fucata, 583 ;

E. hortulana, 584 ; E. miliaria, 584 ;

E. schoeniclus, 584
Emberizidae, 582
Emberizoldes, 583
Embernagra, 584
Emblema, 577
Embryo, 21
Emeinae, 42
Emeu, 26, 36, 37, 170 ; aftershaft, 3 ;

breast-bone, 7 ; structure, etc., 32 f.
Emeus, 42
Empidonax, 474; E. flaviventer, 476; E.

minimus, 475
Enaliornis, vertebrae, 25 ; E. barretti, 47;

E. sedgivicki, 47
Eualiornithes, 25, 46
Endaspidean, 484
Engyptila, 336
Enodes, 559, 561
Entomophila, 567

Entomyza, 565, 566 ; E. cyanotis, 568
Eopsaltria, 509

Eos, 364, 374 ; E. fuscata, 374
Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, 98
Ephthianura, 512 f.
Epidermis, 2, 2 n.
Epops, fables concerning, 396
Ereunetes pusillus, 282
Ergaticus, 573, 574
Eriocnemis, 426, 437 f. ; E. cupreiventris,

438
Erismatura, 111, 112, 117 ; E. aequatori-

alis, 118 ; E. australis, 118 ; E. domi-

nica, 118; E.ferruginea, 118; E. jamai-

censis, 118 ; E. leucocephala, 118 ; E.

maccoa, 118 ; E. vittata, 118
Erismaturinae, 111, 112, 117
Erithacus, 509, 510 ; E. akahige, 512 ; E.

hyrcanus, 512 ; E. komadori, 512 ; E.

rubecula, 512
Erne, 163
Erythrism, 4 n.
Erythrobucco, 449
Erythrogonys cinctus, 272
Erythromachus, 244 ; E. leguati, fossil,

251

Erythromyias, 507
Erythropus, 147 ; E. amurensis, 176 ; E.

vespertinus, 176

INDEX

603

Erythrosterna parva, 507

Erythrotriorchis radiatus, 159

Estrelda, 578

Ethiopian Kegion, 15 f.

Ethmoid, 11

EucicMa, 469

jEucometis, 575

Eucorax, 548, 551

Eudocimus, 100 ; young, 103 ; E. albus,

100 ; E. ruber, 100
Eudromias, 270 ; male incubates, 271 ;

E. austmlis, 272 ; E. modestus, 272 ;

E. morinellus, 272 ; E. veredus, 272
Eudynamis, 355 ; .&. honorata, 356 ; £.

melanorhyncha, 356
Eudyptes, 55, 57 f. ; J£ antarcticus, 57,

59 ; j£. antipodum, 59 ; ./£. atratus, 59 ;

^. chrysocome, 58, 58 ; j£?. chrysolophus,

58 ; J£. pachyrhynchus, 59 ; JE7. schle-
geli, 59 ', E. sclateri, 59 ; E. serresianus,

59 ', E. vittatus, 59
Eudyptula minor, 57

Eugenes fulgens, 435 ; E.spectaMlis, 435 f.
Eulabeornis, 244

Eulabes, 559, 561, 562 ; .#. religiosa, 560
Eulabetidae, 496, 559, 561, 562
Eulampis, 427 ; #. holosericeus, 433 f. ;

^. jugularis, 429, 434
Euler, on Procnias, 576 11.
Eumomota super ciliar is, 381
Eunetta, 112, 114; Kfalcata, 127
Euornithes, 46
Eupetomena macrura, 435
Euphonia, 575, 576
Euplocamus, 198, 213 n.
Eupodotis, 260 ; £. ara&s, 262 ; &'. austra-

lis, 261, 262 ; ^. edwardsi, 261, 262 ; AT.

ton, 261-263
Euprinodes, 514
Eupsyclwrtyx tiristatus, 231
Euptilotis, 441, 442 ; .#. neoxenus, 444
Euryceros prevosti, 535 f.
Eurycerotidae, 496, 536
Eurycorystes, 580
Eurylaemidae, 467 ; habits, 469
Etirylaemus, 468 ; ^. javanicus, 468
Eurynorhynchus, 268 ; bill, 12 ; A\ ^yo'-

maew5, 282
Eurypyga, 186, 263, 265 f. ; J5J. 7ieZms,

265 f., 266 ; JJ. ma/or, 265 f.
Eurypygidae, 243, 265 f.
Eurystomus, 376, 377 ; ^. australis, 377 ;

^. glaucurus, 377 ; -S. orientali-s, 377
Euscarthmus, 473 ; ^. orbitatus, 474 ; J?.

zosterops, 474
Eustephanus fernandensis, 428, 435 ; JJ.

galeritus, 427, 428, 434 f. ; J£. leyboldi,

428, 435

Eutoxeres, 430, 435
Eutriorchis, 154
Entry 'gon, 335 ; -&. leucopctreia, 335 ; J£.

terrestris, 335

Evans — see Wilson

Evolution, 15

Exaspidean, 473

Excalphatoria, 199, 200, 218 n., 21$ ; ^J.

adansoni, 219 ; ^. lepida, 219 ; J£.

sinensis, 202, 219
Excrescence on bill shed by Pelecanus

erythrorhynchus, 83
Exoccipital, 11
Eyelashes, distinct in Opisthocomus, 241 ;

in Hornbilis, 3, 390

Facets of vertebra, 6

Fachach, 63

Faisan, 198

Falcinellus, 544, 550 ; F. speciosus, 545,
546

Falcipennis, 199 ; F. hartlaubi, 236

.Fafco, 175, 177 ; fossil, 181 ; plumage of
young, 178 ; see Gennaea and Hiero-
falco ; .P7. atriceps, 179 ; ^. babylonicus,

178 ; .F. barbarus, 178 ; .f7. biarmicus

179 ; F. cassini, 178 ; j*. ernesti, sub-
species, 178 ; ^ feldeggi, 179 ; ,F.
melanogenys, sub-species, 178 ; .F.
minor, 178 ; .F. peregrinator, 179 ; F.
peregrinus, 178 f. ; F. punicus, 178 ;
F. tanypterus, 179

Falcon, 137, 146, 148, 149, 178; for
nomenclature of parts, 20 ; skeleton of
trunk, 7 ; flown at Herons, 89 ; Arctic,

180 ; Desert-, 179 ; Finch-, 147, 173 ;
Gentle, 156 ; Greenland-, 180 ; Gyr,
180 ; Iceland, 180 ; Jer, 180 ; Peregrine,
148, 174, 178-180 ; Prairie-, 179 f. ;
Bed-footed, 147, 176 ; Koyal, 179 ;
Stone-, 177

Falconidae, 137, 146-150 ; habits, 147 f. ;
markings of young, 147

Falconiformes, 108, 137 f.

Falconinae, 146, 147, 173 f.

Falconine, 156

Falconry, 148 n., 178, 179; use of Eagles
in, 162

Falculia, 561

Falcunculus, 531-534

False rib, 6

Fandango-bird, 479

Fantail, 506

Father John, 102

Feathered spaces or pterylae, 2

Feathers, nature, growth, etc., 2 f.

Female, and young duller in most birds, 4 ;
brighter and larger than male in Rhyn-
chaea, 270 f. ; in Turnix, 188 ; in
Phalaropus, 278 ; larger than male in
Apteryx, 33 ; in Cassowaries, 33 ; in
Emeus, 33 ; in Falconiformes, 137

Femur, 8, 9

Fenestrae, 8

Fern-Owl, 418

Festooned bill, 12

604

INDEX

Fibula, 8, 9

Fieldfare, 510

Filoplumes, 21

Finch, 355, 578, 582 f. ; habits, 586 ; see
Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Hawfinch, Serin ;
Gold-, 584, 586, 587; Grass-, 578;
Green-, 584 ; Eose-, 585 ; Snow-, 586,
587

Finfoot, 243, 267 f. ; habits, 267

Fingers, 8

Fireback, 214 f.

Fire-wood gatherer, 487

Fjeld-riporre, 240

Flamingo, 70, 105 f., 106

Flanks, 21

Flicker, 460

Flight, speed of, 20

Flightless, Birds, 25 ; state, of Anatidae, 4,
113, 125 ; of Dodo, 328 ; of Great Auk,
315, 321; of Moorhen, 4; ofPhoenicop-
teridae, 4, 107 ; of Kails, 4, 245 f.

Florican, 262 ; Lesser, 262

Florida caerulea, 91 ; young, 93

Florisuga mellivora, 436

Flower, on Hornbill, 392 n.

Flower- pecker, 570 f.

Fluvicola, 475-477

Flycatcher, 467, 473, 506 f. ; habits, 508 ;
Paradise-, 507, 508 ; Pied, 507-509 ;
Spotted, 507, 508

Foetopterus ambiguus, fossil, 181

Foot, 9

Foramen, 9 ; for optic nerve, 11 ; for
trigeminal, 11

Forbes, H. 0., on Frigate Bird, 82 n. ; on
Phalacrocorax, 77 n.

Forbes, W. A., on classification, 14 ; on
Barbets and Toucans, 448 ; ou classifi-
cation of Petrels, 59 n. ; on Galbulidae,
445 ; on Mesites, 186 f. ; on Metopidius
and Hydralector, 269 n. ; on trachea of
Paradise-bird, 545 n. ; on Passeres, their
song-muscles, 466 ; on Plotus, 72 n.,
81 n.

Fore-arm, 8

Forehead, 20

Fore-neck, 20

Foreteller, by day, 357 ; at night, 356

Fork-tail, 501

Formicariidae, 469, 479, 488 f. ; habits,
489

Formicariinae, 488 f.

Formicarius, 488, 489

Formicivora, 488 ; F. caudata, 488 ; F.
ferruginea, 488

Fossil Birds, viii, 1 f.

Foudia, 578 ; fossil, 496

Four-o'clock, 567

Fowl, 186, (Gallus] 203

Francolins, called Pheasants, 226 ; Naked-
throated, 225

Francolinus, 198, 202, 226 f. ; F.

adspersus, 227 ; F. albigularis, 227 ; F.

levaillanti, 226 ; F. pondicerianus, 227 ;

F. sinensis, 227 ; F. vulgaris, 226
Franklinia, 518
Fratercula arctica, 317 ; F. corniculata,

317 ; F. glacialis, 317
Freeman and Salvin, on Falconry, 148 n. ;

on fishing with Cormorants, 79 n.
Fregata, 70-72 ; coracoid and scapula

fused, 8 ; habits, 81 f. ; F. aquila, 81,

82 ; F. minor, 81
Fregatidae, 55, 70, 81
Fregilinae, 552 f.

Fregilupus, 559, 561 ; F. varius, 561
Friar-bird, 568

Frigate-bird, 70, 82 ; habits, 81 f.
Fringe lost, in feathers, 5
Fringilla, fossil, 496 ; F. coelebs, 584 ; F.

montif ring ilia, 584
Fringillidae, 439, 494, 575, 576, 579,

582 f. ; fossil, 496 ; habits, 586
Frog-mouth, 419
Frons, 20
Frontal, 11
Fulica, 244, 246, 250 f. ; F. alai, 250 ;

F. americana, 251 ; F. atra, 250 f. ; F.

australis, 251 ; F. cornuta, 244, 251 ;

F. cristata, 244, 251 ; fossil, 251 ; F.

gigantea, 245, 251 ; F. lugubris, 251 ;

F. minor, fossil, 251 ; F. newtoni,

fossil, 251 ; F. prior, fossil, 251
Fulicariae, 243
Fulig-ula, 112, 121 ; fossil, 136 ; habits,

123 ; F. affinis, 122 ; F. collaris, 122 ;

F. cristata, 122 ; F. marila, 121 f. ; F.

novae zealandiae, 122, 123
Fuligulinae, 111-114, 118
Fulmar, 61-63, 65
Fulmarus, 60, 61 ; F. glacialis, 65 ; F.

glupischa, 65 ; F. rodgersi, 65
Fiirbringer, on classification, 14; on classi-
fication of Passeres, 467
Furcula, 7, 8 ; absent in Apterygidae, 39 ;

absent in Dinornithidae, 42 ; absent in

Rheidae, 30 ; absent in Struthionidae,

27 ; ancylosed with sternum in Gruidae,

252 ; in Otididae, 261 ; in Heliorni-

thidae, 267 ; coalesces with coracoids

in Fregata, 72 ; ossifies with keel of

sternum, 8 — see also Clavicle
Furnariinae, 484 f.
Furnarius, 477, 484, 485 ; nest, 485 ; F.

cinnamomeus, 486 ; F. cristatus, 485 ;

F. figulus, 486 ; F. leucopus, 485 ; F.

minor, 486 ; F. rufus, 486, 525 ; -F.

torridus, 486

Gabianus pacificus, 306

Gadow, on classification, 14, 23 ; on classi-
fication of Passeres, 467 ; on classi-
fication of Petrels, 59 n. ; definition
of Bird, 1 ; on skeleton, 5 f. ; on

INDEX

605

Archaeornithes and Neornithes, 25 ; on
Bucerotidae and Upupidae, 390 ; on
Columbae, 325 ; on Cnculiformes, 351 ;
on Drepanididae, 562 ; on Gallinaceous
Birds, 198 ; on Laniidae, 531 ; on
Mesites, 187 ; on Nightjars, 417 n. ; on
Odontornithes, 46 ; on Opisthocomus,
186 ; on Oscines, 495 ; on Owls, 397 ;
on Palaelodus. 70 ; on Panurus, 541 ;
on Pici, 445 ; on Psittaci, 362 ; on
Pterylosis, 2 ; on Ratitae, 26 n. ; on
Sand-Grouse, 322 ; on Steganopodes,
70 n. ; on "Stereornithes," 43 f . ; on
Tinamidae, 182 ; on Zosterops, 568 ; see
Newton, E.

Gadwall — see Duck

Galbalcyrhynchus, 445 ; G. leucotis, 446

Galbula, 446 ; G. albirostris, 445, 446 ;
G. chalcothorax, 446 ; G. cyaneicollis,
445

Galbulidae, 445 f. ; habits, 446

Galbulinae, 445

Galeoscoptes, 514 ; G. carolinensis, 519

Galerita, 497 ; G. cristata, 497, 498 ; G.
isabellina, 497

Galli, 186, 190, 322 ; claws on manus, 48

Gallicrex, 244, 246 ; G. cinerea, 249

Galliformes, 186 f.

Gallinaceous Birds, 186

Gallinae, early attain power of flight, 4

Gallinago, 268, 290 ; fossil, 300 ; G.
aequatorialis, 291 ; G. aucklandica, 291
f. ; G. australis, 291 ; G. bernieri, 291 ;
G. caelestis, 290 f. ; G. delicata, 291 ;
G. frenata, 291 ; G. gallimda, 292 ; G.
gigantea, 291 ; G. imperialis, 291 ; G.
jamesoni, 291 ; G. macrodactyla, 291 ;
G. major, 291 ; G. megala, 292 ; G.
nemoricola, 291 ; G, nigripennis, 291 ;
G. nobilis, 291 ; G. paraguaiae, 291 ;
G. sabinii, 290 ; G. solitaria, 291 ; G.
stenura, 292 ; G. stricklandi, 291 ; G.
undulata, 291 ; G. wilsoni, 291

Galline Birds, habits, 202 f.

Gallinita, 451

GaUinula, 244, 246, 249 ; G. angulata,
249 ; G. chloropus, 249 ; G. comeri,
244, 249 ; G. dionysiana, 249 ; G.
frontata, 249 ; G. galeata, 249 ; G.
nesiotis, 244, 249 ; G. peralata, fossil,
251 ; G. pyrrhorhoa, 249 ; G. sand-
vicensis, 249 ; G. strenuipes, fossil, 251 ;
G. tenebrosa, 249

Gallinule, 243-245, 249 f. ; Purple, 245

Gallirex, 359, 360 ; G. chlorochlamys,
360

Gallito, 491

Gallqperdix, 218 ; G. bicalcarata, 218 ; G.
lunulata, 218 ; G. apadicea, 218

Gallophasis, 213 n.

Callus, 199-201, 203, 204, 208 ; fossil, 241 ;
G. bankiva, 208 f. ; G. ferrugineus, 208

f. ; G. lafayettii, 209 ; G. sonnerati,

209 ; G. stanleyi, 209 ; G. varius, 209
Game-birds, 186
Game-fowl, Black-breasted, 208
Gampsonyx swainsoni, 171
Gampsorhynchus, 502
Gannet, 70, 73, 74, 75 ; habits, 75— see

Goose, Solan

Gare-fowl, 321 ; — see Auk, Great
Garganey — see Duck
Garrod, on classification, 14 ; on Barbets

and Toucans, 448 ; on Galbulidae, 445 ;

on Passeres, their song-muscles, 466 ;

on Tantalus ibis, 96
Garrodia, 60, 65
Garrulax, 503, 504
Garrulinae, 552 f.

Garrulus, 552, 554 ; G. glandarius, 554
Garzetta, 92
Gastornis, 45 ; G. ediuardsi, 45 ; G.

klaasseni, 45 ; G. parisiensis, 45
Gatke, on speed of flight, 20
Gauropico'ides rafflesi, 461
Gazzola, 552, 553

Gecinns, 458 ; G. viridis, 458, 460
Geese, 105, 107 ; habits, 113 f. ; Black, 131 ;

habits, 131 ; Grey, 132 ; habits, 132 ;

Pigmy, 134 ; Spur-winged, 134
Geikie, on head of Ichthyornis, 48
Gelinotte, 233
Gelochelidon anglica, 314
Genera of Birds, 15
Gennaea, 179 ; G. hypoleuca, 180 ; G.

jugger, 179 ; G. lanarius, 179 ; G.

mexicana, 179 f . ; G. milvipes, 179 ;

G.polyagrus, 179 f. ; G. sacer, 179 ; G.

subnigra, 180
Gennaeus, 199, 200, 203, 213 ; G. albi-

cristatus, 213 ; G. andersoni, 213 ; G.

edwardsi, 213 ; G. horsfieldi, 213 ; G.

leucomelanus, 213 ; G. lineatus, 213 ; G.

melanotus, 213 ; G. muthura, 213 ; G.

ni/cthemerus, 200, 213 ; G. sivinhoii,

213

Gentoo, 57

Genyornis newtoni, fossil, 38 n.
Genys (yew3= jaw) or Gonys (70^1; = knee

and hence = bend), 20
Geobates, 484

Geobiastes, 378 ; G. squamigera, 378
Geocichla, 509, 510 ; G. princii, 509
Geococcyx, 351, 353 ; G. mexicanus, 352 ;

habits, 357 f.

Geocolaptes, 458 ; Cr. olivaceus, 460
Geographical distribution, 15 ; variations,

15
Geopelia, 328 ; G. cuneata, 341 ; G.

humeralis, 341 ; G. maugii, 341 ; G.

striata, 341 ; G. tranquilla, 341
Geophaps, 327, 328 ; G. scripta, 337 ; G.

smithi, 337
Geopsittacus, 364 ; G. occidentalis, 367

6o6

INDEX

Geositta, 486, 525 ; G. cunicularia, 485

Geospiza, 583, 585, 586

GeothlypiSi 573

Geotrygon, 336 ; G. chrysia, 336 ; G.
cristata, 336 ; G. linearis, 336 ; <?.
montana, 336 ; £. violacea, 336

Geranoaetus melanoleucus, 167

Geranopsis, fossil, 256

Geranospizias, 156 ; 6r. caerulescens, 156 ;
(?. m#er, 156

Geronticus, 100 ; 6?. caZvws, 102

Gerygone, 355, 508, 509

Gibson, on Chauna, 109 n. ; on Myiopsit-
tacus, 371 n. ; on Rostrhamus, 171

Gizzard, 12

Glareola, 268-270, 293 f. ; 6?. cinerea,
294 ; (7. «T»MU, 294 ; 6?. grallaria, 294 ;
#. wo&eWo, 294 ; G. lactea, 294 ; G.
tnegapoda, 294 ; 6?. melanoptera, 294 ;
(?. nordmanni, 294 ; 6r. nuchalis, 294 ;
(?. ocularis, 293 f. ; (?. orientalis, 293 ;
6?. pratincola, 293

Glareolidae, 268, 270, 293 f.

Glareolinae, 293 f.

Glaucidium, 401, 407 ; 6?. brodiei, 407 ;
6r. capense, 407 ; (r. castanonotum, 407 ;
6-'. castanopterum, 407 ; 6r. cobanense,
400, 407 ; £. cuculoldes, 407 ; G.ferox,
407 ; £. gnoma, 407 ; £. jardinii, 407
f. ; 6-'. nanum, 408 ; #. pardalotum,
407 ; (r. passerinum, 407 ; 6r. perlatum,
407 ; (?. pumilum, 408 ; (•?. radiatum,
407 ; 6s. ay'w, 407 ; G?. sylvaticum, 407 ;
£. whitdyi, 407

Glaucopis, 552, 556

Glead, Fork-tailed, 168

Glenoid cavity, 7

Globicera, 325, 345 ; (?. myristicivora,
328

Glycyphila albifrons, 565 ; 6r. fasciata,
568 ; 6-'. modesta, 568

Glyphorhynchus. 484

Gnatcatcher, 514

Goatsucker, 415, 418

Godwit, 286 f. ; Bar-tailed, 287 ; male
incubates, 271 ; Black-tailed, 286 f. ;
Marbled, 287

Goeldi, on Cassidix oryzivora, 582 n. ; on
Nyctibius, 417 n.

Goiemare, figure of Dodo, 330

Golden-eye — see Duck

Goldfinch, 584, 586

Gom-Paauw, 263

Gonys — see Genys

Goosander, 114-116

Goose, Bean-, 132 ; Bernacle-, 131 ; Brent,
131 ; Cape Barren, 133 ; Chinese, 132 ;
Emperor-, 114, 132 ; Grey-lag, 132 ;
Kelp-, 130 ; Pink -footed, 132 ; Red-
breasted, 114, 131, 132 ; Solan, 73, 75,
302 ; Upland, 130 ; White-fronted, 132

Gorsachius goisagi, 90

Goshawk, 156, 178

Gosling, specimen of Dodo, 330

Gosse, on Aramus, 257 ; on Humming-
birds, 429, 432 ; on Mellisuga, 431 ; on
Nyctibius, 417 n.

Gould, on Darter, 81 ; on Humming-birds,
430, 432 ; on Odontophorinae, 230 n. ;
on Rhynchaea, 292 n. ; on subfamilies
of Humming-birds, 435

Goura, 326-328, 334 ; G. albertisi, 334 ;
G. beccarii, 334 ; G. cinerea, 334 ; G.
coronata, 333, 334 ; G. scheepmakeri,
334 ; G. sdateri, 334 ; G. victoria, 334

Gourinae, 325 f., 334

Graculipica, 559 ; G. melanoptera, 560

Graduated, 21

Grallariinae, 488 f.

Grallina, 535 ; abnormal vocal organs,
535

Grammatoptila, 502

Granatellus, 573, 574

Grandala caelicolor, 510

Grand Due, 413

Grandidier, on Leptosoma, 379 n. ; on
Margaroperdix, 224 n. ; — see Milne-
Edwards

Grant, Ogilvie, on Gallinaceous Birds, 198 ;
on the Partridge, 224 n. ; on Perdicinae,
218 n. ; on Petrels, 63 n., 65 n. ; on
Phaetfon, 72 n. ; on Pithecophaga, 160 ;
on Platalea, 104 n. ; on Red Grouse,
238 ; on Turnix, 188 n.

Graptocephalus, 99, 100 ; G. davisoni, 102

Graucalus, 525, 526 ; G. azureus, 526

Grebe, 54, 267 ; habits, 53 f. ; structure,
etc., 49 f. ; Eared, 53; Great Crested,
53 ; Little, 52, 52 f. ; Red-necked, 53 ;
Slavonian, 53

Green colour in Birds, its nature, 3 n.

Green, on Gollocalia, edible nests, 423

Greenfinch, 584

Greenlet, 536

Greeushank, 284

Grey Hen, 237

Griffon, 151 — see Vulture

Grifo, 151

Grinder, 508

Griphosaurus, fossil, 23

Grosbeak, Pine-, 584

Grouse, 198-200, 202, 203 ; disease, 203 ;
hybrids, 237, 237 n. ; American, 200,
203 ; Black, 237 ; Blue, 235 ; Canada-,
236 ; Dusky, 235 ; Hazel-, 203, 233 ;
Pallas's Sand-, 323, 324 ; Pine-, 235 ;
Pin-tailed Sand-, 322; Red, 202, 204,
238 f., 239 ; habits, 238 f. ; hybrids,
224 ; Ruffed, 233 ; Sage-, 235 ; Sand-,
268, 321 f. ; toes, 10, 322 ; habits, 322 f. ;
Sharp-tailed, 234 ; Willow-, 238-240

Gruidae, 243, 251 f. ; habits, 252 f. ;
trachea enters keel of sternum, 13 ;
young, 256

INDEX

607

Gruiformes, 186, 243 f. ; Phororhachos
and others of the " Stereornithes " per-
haps belong here, 44

Grus, fossil, '256 ; G. americana, 254 ; G.
australasiana, 254 ; G. canadensis, 254 ;
G. carunculata, 255 ; G. collaris, 254 ;
G. communis, 254 ; G.japonensis, 254 ;
G. leucauchen, 254 ; G. leucogeranus,
254 ; G. lilfordi, 254 ; G. melitensis,
fossil, 256 ; G. mexicana, 254 ; G.
monachus, 254 ; G. nigricollis, 254 ; G.
paradisea, 255 ; G. primigenia, fossil,
256 ; G. sharpii, 254 ; G. virgo, 255 f.

Guacharo, 415, 419

Guainumbi, 426

Guan, 194 ; habits, 195

Gubernatrix, 583

Guid-guid, 490

Guillemard, on Bird of Paradise, 550

Guillemot, 316 ; Black, 316, 319 ; Com-
mon, 319 ; Ringed, 319

Guinea-fowl, 198, 203, 204 ; habits, 205 f. ;
its specific name, 206 n.

Guira, 352 ; G. piririgua, 359

Guiraca, 585

Gula, 20

Gull, 49, 148, 268, 300-304 ; habits,
302 f. ; Black -headed, 308 ; Bona-
parte's, 302, 309 ; Common, 307 ;
Glaucous, 304, 306 ; Great Black-
backed, 301, 302, 307 ; Great Black-
headed, 309, 309 ; Herring, 306, 307 ;
Hooded, 308 ; Iceland, 306 ; Ivory, 303,

306 ; Kittiwake, 301, 302, 305 f. ;
Laughing, 309 ; Lesser Black - backed,

307 ; Little, 304, 309 f. ; Peewit, 308 ;
Sabine's, 310 ; Wedge-tailed, 310

Gullet, 12

Gundlach, on Aramus, 257 n.

Gurney, on Astur, 156 ; on Circaetinae, 153

Guttera, 200, 201, 204 ; G. cristata, 204 ;

G. eduardi, 204 ; G. plumifera, 204 ;

G. pucherani, 204 ; G. verreauxi, 204
Gygis, 301, 303 ; G. Candida, 310 ; G.

microrhyncha, 310
Gymnasia, 400

Gymnobucco, 448 ; G. calvus, 450
Gymnocephalus, 479, 480
Gymnocichla, 489
Gymnocorax, 552, 556
Gymnocrex rosenbergi, 247
Gymnoderinae, 479 f.
Gymnoderus, 479, 480; powder -down

patches, 481
Gymnoglaux laiorencii, 409 ; G. nudipes,

409

Gymnomystax, 580

Gymnopelia, 326 ; G. erythrothorax, 340
Gymnopkaps, '626 ; G. albertisi, 344
Gymnopithys, 488

Gymnorhina, 531, 532 ; G. hyperleuca, 532
Gymnorhininae, 531 f. ; habits, 532 f.

Gymnoschizorhis, 360 ; G. leopoldi, 361 ;

G. per sonata, 361
Gymnostinops, 579, 580
Gypaetinae, 146, 150 f.
Gypaetus, 146, 147, 149 ; G. barbatus,

150, 150 ; habits, 151 ; G. meridionalis,

151 ; G. ossifragiis, 151
G 'y 'pan -dmt papa, 137, 139
Gypohierax, 146, 148 ; G. angolensis, 151
Gypoictinia, 149 ; G. melanosternon, 170
Gypopsittacus vulturinus, 369
Gyps, 143 ; nestling, 143 ; G. fulvus,

144 ; G. himalayensis, 144 ; G. indicus,

145 ; G. kolbi, 144 ; G. melitensis,
fossil, 145 ; G. pallescens, 145 ; G.
riippelli, 144

Gypsornis, fossil, 251

Habroptila, 243, 245, 246 ; H. wallacii,

244, 248
Hdbrornis, 514
Hackles, 3, 21
Hadrostomus, 480, 482 ; //. homochrous,

483 ; H. niger, 483
Haemal spine, 6
Haematoderus, 479, 481
Haematopus, 268-270 ; //. ater, 277 ; H.

durnfordi, 277 ; H. frazari, 277 ;

H. galapagensis, 277 ; H. leucopus,

277 ; H. longirostris, 277 ; H. moquini,

277. ; H. niger, 277 ; H. osculans, 276 ;

H. ostralegus, 276 ; H. palliatus, 277 ;

ff. unicolor, 277

Ilaematortyx, 200 ; H. sanguiniceps, 221 f.
Hagedashia, 99, 100 ; H. hayedash, 102
Hagiopsar, 561
Hairs, nature of, 2 n.
Halcyon, 383 ; H. coromandus, 385 ; H.

cyaniventris, 385 ; H. lindsayi, 386 ;

H. nigrocyaneus, 386 ; H. saurophagiis,

386 ; H. semicaeruleus, 385
Halcyoninae, 382, 385
Halcyornis, fossil, 315
Haliaetus, 146, 147 ; fossil, 181 ; H. albi-

cilla, 163 ; H. leucocephalus, 164 ; H.

leucocoryphus, 164 ; H. leucogaster,

164 ; H. vocifer, 164 ; H.vociferoldes, 164
Haliastur, 148 ; H. Indus, 168 ; H.

sphenurus, 168
Hallux, 1, 10, 20

Halobaena, 60, 61 ; H. caerulea, 66
Halocyptena microsoma, 67
Hammer-head, 86 f. , 94, 95 ; habits, 95
Hamuli, 3

Hancock, on Cuckoo, 354
Hand, 8
Hang-nest, 582
Hapalarpactes, 441, 442 ; H. mackloti,

443 ; H. reimvardti, 443
JTapalis, 514

Hapalocercus, 473, 477 ; H.flaviventer, 476
Hapaloderma, 441, 442 ; H. constantia,

6o8

INDEX

443 ; //. narina, 443 ; H. vittatum,

443

Hapaloptila castanea, 447
Haplopelia, 327, 336 f. ; H. bronzina,

337 ; H. inornate, 337 ; H. johnstoni,

337 ; H. larvata, 337 ; H. principalis,

337 : If. simplex, 337
Harelda, 112, 114 ; H. gladalis, 120
Harfang, 412

Hargitt, on Woodpeckers, 458
Jfarpa novae zealandiae, 174
Harpactes, 441, 442, 443 ; H. duvauceli,

442 : H. kasumba, 443 ; H. orescius, 443
Harpagornis moorii, fossil, 181
Harpagus, 146, 173 ; //. bidentatus, 173-;

//. diodon, 150, 173 ; #. fasciatus, 173
Harpiprion cayennensis, 101
Harporhynchus, 514, 515, 519; //". m's-

sa^'s, 519
Harpy, 159
Harpy haliaetus, 146, 147 ; /f. coronatus,

168 ; #. solitarius, 168
Harpy opsis novae guineae, 159
Harrier, 146-149, 165 ; habits, 154 f. ;

-Eagles, 153 ; Hen-, 155 ; Marsh-, 155 ;

Montagu's, 155
Harry, ou Dodo, 330
Hartert, on Humming-birds, 432
Harting — see Mosenthal
Hartlaubius, 561
Harvie-Brown, ou Diomedea melanophrys,

65 n.

Hawfinch, 584, 586, 587
Hawk, 137, 146, 148, 149, 175, 353 ;

Blue, 178 ; Bush-, 174 ; Fish-, 180 ;

Hunting, 178 ; Pigeon-, 178 : Quail-,

174 ; Red, 178 : Bed-tailed. 166 ; Sing-
ing, 156 ; Sparrow-, 157, 158; Sparrow-,

of America, 149, 176 — see Goshawk
Heath-hen, 235
Hedge-sparrow — see Sparrow
Hedydipna, 569

Heilprin, on Geographical Distribution. 15
Heleothreptus, 418 ; H. anomalus. 418
Heliactin cornuta, 439
ffelicura, 478
Heliochera. 480, 482

Heliodilus, 398, 400 ; H. soumagnii, 404
Heliopais, 267 ; H. personata, 268
Heliornis, 243, 267 ; //. fulica, 267
Heliornithidae, 243, 267 f. ; habits, 267
Heliothrix. 431, 432
Helmet, 12 ; -bird, 535 ; -crest, 437
Helornis. fossil. 108, 300
Helotarsus, 146, 147 ; H. ecaudatus, 153 ;

H. leuconolus, 154
Hemicercus, 464
Jfemichelidon, 506
Hemignathus, 562, 563
Hemilophus pulverulentus, 464
Hemiphaga chathamensis, 345 ; //. novae

zealandiae, 344 ; H. spadicea, 344 f.

Hemipode, 188

Hemipodius, 187

Hemipus, 506, 531

Hemixus, 504

Hen, 203

Heniconetta, 114 ; H. stelleri, 119

Henicopernis infuscatus, 173 ; H. longi-
caudatus, 172 f.

Henicophaps albifrons, 338

Henicorhina, 521

Henicornis, 484

Henicuridae, 501

Henicurus ruficapilla, 501 ; H. scouleri,
501 ; H. velatus, 501

Hermit, 430, 435

Hern, 87

Herodias alba, 92

Heron, 70, 86 f., 90, 251,263; habits, 87 f. ;
Boat-billed Night-, 90 f. ; Buff-backed,
88, 91 ; Common, 87, 92, 93 ; Great
White, 92 ; Green, 88 ; in Falconry, 89 ;
Night-, 88, 90 ; Purple, 93 ; Squacco, 91

Herpetotheres cachinnans, 153

Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus, 489

Hesperiphona, 583, 585

Hesperornis, 45 f. ; no keel to sternum,
26 ; no pygostyle, 6 n. ; quadrate bone,
26 ; restoration, 46 ; teeth, 12 ; H.
crassipes, 46 ; H. regalis, 46

Hesperornithes, 25 ; structure, etc., 46 f.

Heteractitis incanus, 285

Heteralocha acutiroslris, 557, 558

Heterocercus, 478

Jfeterocnemis, 488

Heterocoelous, 6

Heterocorax, 552 ; H. capensis, 556

Heterodactylous, 10, 441

Heteroglaux, 400

Heteronetta atricapilla, 123

Heteropelma, 477, 479, 482

Heterorhynchus, 562, 563

Heterospizias meridionalis, 168

Jfeterotetrax, 262

Heuglin, v., on Toucans, 449

Hieracidea berigora. 174 ; H. brunnea,

174 ; If. ferox, 174 ; H. novae guineae,

175 ; H. novae zealandiae, 174 ; H.
orientalis, 175

Hierococcyx, 353

ffierofalco, 180 ; H. candicans, 180 ; //.

gyrfalco, 180 ; H. islandus, 180 ; //.

labradorus, 180
Hilling, of Ruff, 285
Hill-Robin, 503
Himantopns, 268, 269, 277 f. ; fossil,

300 ; H. brasiliensis, 278 ; H. candidus,

277 ; H. knudseni, 278 ; H. leuco-

cephalus, 278 ; H. melas, 278 ; H.

mexicanus, 277 f. ; H. pectoralis, 278
Himantornis, 243 ; H. Jiaematopus, 248
Himatione, 562, 563 ; H. sanguinea, 563,

564 ; H. virens, 564

INDEX

609

Hind-head, 20 ; -neck, 20 ; -toe, 10 I

Hirundinidae, 494, 522 f. ; habits, 524 f.

Hirundo, 523, 52 4> 525 ; H. rustica, 523.
524, 524

Histrioniplutps histrionica, 337 f.

Hoatzin, 186, 241 f., 242 ; habits, 242

Hobby, 176, 177

Hodgsonius, 516

Hoefnagel, figure of Dodo, 330

Holarctic, 16

Homologous, meaning of, 5

Homolopus, fossil, 465

Homorus, 484, 485 ; 77. lophotes, 487

Homrai, 393

Honey -eater, 564 f. ; habits, 566 f. ;
Warty-faced, 566

Honey-guide, 445, 448, 451 ; habits, 452 f.

Hoopoe, 376, 390, 390 n., 395 f.. 396;
habits, 395 f. ; Wood-, 390, 397 ;
habits, 397

Hooting, of Owls, 401

Hoplopterus, 269S 270 ; H. cayanus, 276 ;
H. speciosus, 276 ; H. spinosus, 276,
295 ; If. ventralis, 276

Hornbill, 376, 390 f., 391; bill, 11, 390 f.;
habits, 390; Helmet-, 393 ; Plait-billed,
394

Hornero, 486

Horns, 12 ; in Auks, 315 f., 317, 318

Ifonbara, 260 ; H. fuerteventurae, 262 n. ;
//. macqueeni, 262 ; 77. undulata, 262

Houbaropsis, 260 ; H. bengalensis, 262

Hudson, on Aramides, 248 ; on Chauna,
109 n. ; on Cow-bird, 582 n. ; on Oven-
bird, 485 n. ; on Parrajacana, 300 n. ;
on Rhea, 31 f. ; see Sclater

Huia, 557, 558

Humboldt and Bonpland discover Oil-bird,
419

Hume, on Bubo coromandus, 403 n. ; on.
Francolins, 228 n. : on Ibis melano-
cephala, 100 n. ; on Mycteria, 96 n.

Humerus, 8, 8

Humming-bird, 419, 420, 426 f., 429 ; 568 ;
breast-bone, 6 f. ; habits, 428 f. ; nature
of iridescent feathers, 4 ; operculum of
nostrils, 11 ; Bee-. 438 ; King-, 436 ;
Long-tailed, 433 ; Ruby-and-Topaz, 434

Hurst, on Archaeopteryx, 23 n.

Huttons on Wandering Albatros, 63 f.

Huxley, classification, 14 ; on Amphi-
morphae, 105 ; on Cathartidae, 137 n. ;
on Coracomorphae and their song-
muscles, 466; on Cypselomorphae,419 n.;
on Gallinaceous Birds, 186, 198; on Geo-
graphical Distribution, 15 f. ; on Palae-
eudyptes, fossil, 59 n. ; on Picidae, 457 ;
restoration of ffesperornis, 46 ; Saurop-
sida as a division of Vertebrata, 1

Hybrids, of American Partridges, 233 ; of
Galline Birds, 224 ; of Grouse, 237,
237 n., 238
VOL. IX

ffydralector, 269, 299 ; 77. gallinaceus,

298 ; H. novae guineae, 298
Hydranassa, young, 93 ; H. tricolor, 91
Hydrochelidon, 301, 303, 314 ; H. hybxida,

314 f. ; H. leucoptera, 314 ; H. nigra,

314 ; H. surinamensis, 314
Hydrophasiamis, 270 ; If. chirurgus, 299,.

299, 300

Hydroprogne caspia, 314
Hydropsalis, 418
Hyetornis, 351, 357
Hylactes, 490, 491 ; H. megapodius, 491 ;.

H. tarnii, 490, 491
Hylexetastes, 484

Hylocharis, 427, 435 ; H. sapphirina, 435
Hylomanes, 380

Hylophilus, 536 ; H. ochraceiceps, 536
Hymenolaemus, 111, 113 ; If. malaco-

rhynch^ls, 116

Hyoid, apparatus, 5, 21 ; horns, 457
Ifyperergus, 502

Hyphantornis, 579 ; H. cucullatas, 578
Hypochera ultramarina, 577
Hypocleidium, 21
Hypocnemis, 488
Hypocolius ampelinus, 527, 527
Hypolais, 514, 517, 518
Hypopyrrhus, 580

Hyporhachis, or aftershaft of feather, 3
Hypositta, 537
ffypotaenidia, 246 f. ; H. brachypus, 247 ;

If. mulleri, 246 f. ; If. striata, 246 f.
Hypotriorchis concolor, 177 ; If. cuvieri,

177 ; H. dirolcucus, 177 ; H. eleonorae,

177 ; If. fusco-caerulescens, 177 ; //.

lunulatus, 177 ; H. ophryophanes, 177 ;.

H.rufigularis, 177; H. severus, 177; H.

subbuteo, 176

Hypselornis sivalensis, fossil, 36
Hypsipetes, 504-506 ; H. perniger, 505

lanthothorax, 544, 545

Ibididae, 70, 99 f.

Ibidinae, 99, 100

Ibidopodia, fossil, 105

Ibidopsis, fossil, 105

Ibidorhynchus, 268, 269 ; 7. struthersi, 277'

Ibis, 70, 99', 100 •; fossil, 105 ; young,

103 ; 7. aethiopica, 102 ; 7. bernieri,

103 ; 7. imlanocephala, 100, 103 ; 7.

molucca, 103 ; Glossy, 101 ; Sacred,

102 ; Scarlet, 100 ; Shell-, 97 ; White,.

100 ; Wood-, 70, 97

Ibycter, 152; 7. americanv.s, 152; 7. ater, 1 52
Ickthyornis, 45 f. ; head, 48 ; quadrate

bone, 26 ; teeth, 12 ; vertebrae, 6S 25 ;

7. dispar, 48 ; 7. victor, 48
Ichthyornithes, 25, 48 f.
Ichthyornithidae, structure, etc., 48 f.
Icteria, 573
Icteridae, 542, 559, 579 f. ; habits, 580 ;

parasitic, 582

2 R

6io

INDEX

Icterinae, 579 f.

Icteropsis, 577

Icterus, 580, 581 ; 7. baltimore, 580, 581,

581 ; 7 mdgaris, 581
Ictinia, 146 ; 7. mississippiensis, 171 ; 7.

plumbea, 171

Ignoble, of Falconidae, 146'
liwi, 564
Ilium, 6, 9, 9

Immature plumage of Birds generally, 4
Impervious nostrils, 11
Incisura ischiadica, 9
Index finger, 9
Indian Kegion, 15 f.
Indicator, 451 f. ; 7. archipelagicus, 452 ;

7. major, 452 ; 7. minor, 452 ; habit of

guiding to bees' nests, 452 f. ; 7. sparr-

mani, 452 ; 7. xanthonotus, 452
Indicatorinae, 448, 451 ; habits, 452 f.
Ingluvies, 12

Inocotis, 100 ; 7. papillosus, 102
Insessores, 466
Integument, 2 u.
Intestines, 12
Intrathoracic convolutions of trachea — see

Trachea

lodopleura, 479, 480
Me, 506

Ipocrantor, 463 ; 7. magellanicus, 464
7rwa, 504-506 ; 7. crinigera, 504
Iridescence in feathers, cause of, 3
Iridornis, 575
Iron-smith, 449
Irregular migration, 17 f.
Irrisor, 397 ; 7. JoZ^t, 397 ; 7 erythro-

rhynchus, 397 ; 7. jacksoni, 397 ; 7.

viridis, 397

Irrisorinae, 390, 397 ; habits, 397
Irruptions of Sand-Grouse, 322, 324, 325
Ischium, 9, 9
Island Hen, 244

Ispidina, 386 ; 7. madagascariensis, 386
Ithagenes, 198, 200, 217 ; buries itself in

snow, 218 ; 7. cruentus, 217 ; 7. geo/royi,

218 ; 7. sinensis, 218
Ixocinda, 504, 505
lynginae, 457, 464 f.
lyngipicus, 458, 462 ; 7 obsoletus, 462
7y/i£ aequatorialis, 465 ; 7. pectoralis,

465 ; 7 pulchricollis, 465 ; 7. torquilla,

465, 465

Jabiru, 98

Jacamar, 445 f ; habits, 446

Jacamaralcyon, 445, 446 ; «7. tridactyla,

446

Jacamerops, 445 ; .7. grandis, 445, 446
Jacjaua, 268, 297 f. ; habits, 299 f. ;

Indian, 299
Jackass, 57, 384, 386
Jackdaw, 553-556
Jacobin, 436

Jaws, 5 f., 11 f.

Jay, 552-556; Blue, 554, 555; Green,

554 ; Siberian, 554
Jean-le-blanc, 153
Jenner, on Cuckoo, 354 ; on bones of

Solitaire, 331
Jerdon, on Indian Darter, 81 ; on Inocotis,

100 n. ; on Pelican, 85 n.
Johnny Rook, 152
Jugal,. 11
Jugulum, 20
Junco, 585

Jungle-fowl, Red, 208 f. ; Grey, 209
Jurassic System, Birds from, 2

Kagu, 243, 263 f., 264 : habits, 265 ;
operculurn of nostrils, 11

Kakapo, 366, 366 ; breast-bone, 7

Kallege, 213

Kea, 365, 374, 375

Keel of breast-bone, 6, 7

Kelp-Hen, 247 ; -Pigeon, 293

Kerr, J. G., on Erismatura, 118 n.

Kestrel, 147, 148, 175-177 ; Lesser, 175

Ketupa, 398-401 ; K, ceylonensis, 414 ;
K. flavipes, 414; K. javanensis, 414

Kill-deer, 274

King-bird, 474

Kingfisher, 376, 382 ; habits, 383 ; Belted,
387 ; Racquet-tailed, 385 ; Stork-billed,
387 ; Water-, 382, 383 ; Wood-, 382, 384

Kirk, on Honey-guide, 452

Kirombo, 376, 378, 379

Kite, 146, 148, 155, 164, 165; habits, 168 f.;
Awl-billed, 171 ; Black, 170 ; Black-
winged, 171 ; Brahminy, 168 ; Ever-
glade, 171 ; Mississippi, 171 ; Pariah,
170 ; Red, 168 f., 169 ; Swallow-tailed,
170 ; Whistling, 168

Kittiwake, 305 ; see Gull, Kittiwake

Kiwi, 26, 38 f., 39 ; breast -bone, 7 ;
feathers, 41 ; structure, etc., 38 f.

Knob on bill, 12 ; of Anatidae, 111 ; of
Pigeons, 325

Knot, 281

Koel ( = Coel), 356

Labyrinth, 13, 113

Lacrymal, 11

Lagopus, 199, 200, 202, 204 ; fossil, 241 ;

L. cdbus, 238 f. ; L. hemileucurus, 240 ;

Ii. hyperboreus, 240 ; L. leucurus, 240 ;

L. mutus, 240 ; L. rupestris, 240 ; L.

scoticus, 238 f., 239
Lalage, 525, 526
Lamellae, of bill, 12 ; on bill of Anastomus,

95 ; on bill of Anatidae, 111 f. ; on bill

of Flamingoes, 105 ; on bill of Petrels, 60
Lamenting Bird, 257
Laminiplantar, 468, 496
Lamrnergeier, 146, 147, 150, 150, 151 ;

habits, 151

INDEX

611

Lampornis, 430, 433 ; L. violicauda, 433

Lampribis olivacea, 101

Lamprocolius, 560
1 Lamprolia, 513

Lampropsar, 580

Lamprospiza, 575

Lamprotes, 575

Lamprothorax, 548

Lamprotornis, 559-561 ; Z. caudatus, 559

Lanceolate, 21

Land-Kail — see Kail, Land-

Laniarius, 532, 533 ; X. rubiginosus, 533

Lanielhis, 532, 534

Laniidae, 506, 525, 527, 531 f., 567 n.

Laminae, 534 ; habits, 535

Lanio, 575

Lanioturdus, 508, 509

Lanius, 532, 534 ; fossil, 496 ; Z. borealis,
534 ; Z. collurio, 534 ; Z. excubitor,
534, 534 ; Z. ludovicianus, 534 ; Z.
minor, 534 ; Z. pomeranus, 534

Lanivireo, 536

Lanner, 179

Laopteryx, fossil, 25 n.

Lapwing, Cayenne, 302 ; Spur- winged,
276 ; Wattled, 274 f.

Lari, 268

Laridae, 59, 268, 300 f. ; young, 304

Larinae, 300, 305 ; habits, 302 f.

Lark, 496 f. ; habits, 498 ; moult, 5 ;
Crested, 497 ; Meadow-, 580 ; Shore-,
496 ; Short-toed, 497 ; Sky-, 496, 497,
497, 498 ; White-winged, 497 ; Wood-,
496

Laro-Limicoline, 268

Larus, 301, 306 ; fossil, 315 ; L. offinis,

307 ; Z. argentatus, 306 ; L. atricilla,
309 ; L. audouini, 307 ; L. belcheri,

308 ; L. brachyrhynchus, 307 ; L.
brunneicephdlus, 308 ; L. bulleri, 308 ;
L. cachinnans, 307 ; L. californicus,
307 ; L. canus, 305, 307 ; L, cirro-
cephalus, 308 ; L. crassirostris, 308 ;
L. delawarensis. 307 ; L. dominicanus,
307 ; L.franklini, 304, 309 ; L.fuli-
ginosus, 308 ; L. fuscus, 307 ; L.
gelastes, 308 ; L. glaiicescens, 306 ; L.
glaucodes, 308 ; L. glaucus, 306, 307 ;
L. hartlaubi, 308 ; L. heermani, 308 ;
L. hemprichi, 308 ; L. ichthyaetus, 309,

309 ; L. kumlieni, 306 ; L. leucoph-
thalnms, 308 ; Z. leucopterus, 306 ; L.
maculipennis, 302, 308 ; L. marinus,

307 ; L. melanocephalus, 309 ; L.
minutus, 303, 309 f. ; L. modesties, 308 ;
L. nelsoni, 306 ; L. novae hollandiae,

308 ; L. occidental, 307 ; L. phila-
delphia, 309 ; L. ridibundus, 308 ; L.
saundersi, 309 ; Z. schistisagus, 307 ;
Z. scopulinus, 302, 308 ; Z. serranus,

309 ; Z. i^ae, 307
Larvivora, 516

Larynx, 13

Lathria streptophora, 480

Laticilla, 514

Laughing Jackass, 384, 386

Laurillardia, fossil, 496

La^wenc^a, 474

Layard, on Honey-guide, 452 n. ; on

Mycteria, 96 n. ; on Phaethon, 73 n. ;

on Rhinochetus, 265 n.
Leather-head, 568
Legs, 9

Leguat, on Solitaire, 330
Leistes, 580
Leiotrichidae, 495
Lek, of Capercaillie, 237
Lepidogrammus, 352
Leptasthenura, 486
Lepterodius gularis, 91
'Leptodon, 146 ; Z. cayennensis, 173
Leptofjoecile, 514
Leptopterus, 532
Leptoptila, 326, 335, 336 ; Z. jamaicensis,

336 ; Z. riifinucha, 336
Leptoptilus, 95, 96 ; fossil, 99 ; Z. cnme-

m/er, 98 ; Z. dubius, 97 ; Z. javanicus,

98

Leptornis, 565
Leptosoma, toes, 10 ; Z. discolor, 378,

379

Leptosomatinae, 376, 378 ; habits, 379
Lerwa, 199 ; Z. nivicola, 230
ZesWo, 427, 434 ; Z. victoriae, 434
Lestrange, on Dodo, 330
Leucopeza, 573

Leucophaeus, 301 ; Z. scoresbii, 306
Leucopternis, 167 ; Z. ghiesbreghti, 167 ;

Z. plumbea, 167 ; Z. princeps, 167 ; Z.

schistacea, 167

Leucosarcia, 328 ; Z. picata, 335
Lencosticte, 586
L'Herminier, classification, 14
Lichenops, 474, 477
Licmetis, 364 ; Z. nasica, 364
Ligurinus chloris, 584
Lilford, on Francolin, 226 n.
Limicola platyrhyncha, 282
Limicolae, 260, 268 f., 322 ; bill, 11 ;

habits, 271 f.
Limicoline Birds, 243
Limnaetits, 160 ; Z. alboniger, 160 ; Z.

caligatus, 160 ; Z. cirratus, 160 ; Z.

gurneyi, 160 ; Z. isidori, 160 ; Z.

kieneri, 160 ; Z. lanceolatus, 160, 172 ;

Z. nipalensis, 160 ; Z. philippensis,

160

Limnatornis, fossil, 397
Limnocorax, 246 ; Z. niger, 249
Limnocryptes gallinula, 292
Limnogeranus, 254, 256
Limnophyes, 484, 487
Limnornis, 484, 487
Limonidromus, 500

612

INDEX

Limosa, 286 f. ; fossil, 300 ; L. belgica,

286 f. ; L. fedoa, 287 ; L. hudsonica,

287 ; L, lapponica, 287 ; L. melanu-
ro'ides, 286 ; L. uropygialis, 287

Limpkiu, 243, 256 ; habits, 257

Lines of Flight, vi, 18

Linnet, 584-587 ; Brown, 585 ; Grey. 585 ;

Red, 585

Linota cannabina, 584
Liopttta, 504
Lioptilus, 506
Liosceles, 490

Liothrix, 495, 502 ; L. lutea, 503
Liotriches, 502
Lipauginae, 479 f.
Lipaugus, 479, 482
Lipoa, 190 f., 194 ; L. ocellata, 193
Lissotis, 260, 262
Lithophaps ulnaris, fossil, 350
Lithornis vulturinus, fossil, 181
Little Cock, 491
Lloyd, on Capercaillie, 237 n.
Lobed bill, 12

Lobiophasis, 199-201 ; L. bidweri, 214
Lobipes hyperboreus, 278 f.
Lobipluvia, 275
Lobivanellus, 268-270, 274 f. ; Z. albiceps,

275 ; L. cinereus, 274 ; L. cucullatus,

275 ; L. indicus, 274 ; L. lateralis, 275 ;

L. lobatus, 275 ; L. maXabaricus, 275 ;

L. melanocephalus, 274 f. ; L. miles,

275 ; L. pectoralis, 274 ; L. senegalensis,

275 ; L. superciliosus, 275 ; L. tectus,

275

Loboparadisea sericea, 549
Lobornis, 570
Lobotus, 526

Lochmias, 484 ; Z. nematura, 485
Locustella, 514, 517 ; Z. luscinio'ides, 518
Loddigesia, 426, 427, 430 ; Z. mirabilis,

437 ; its flight, 437
Log-cock, 463

Lophoaetus, 147, 160; L. occipitalis, 160
Lophoceros, 390 ; Z. nasutus, 393
Lophodytes cucullatus, 115 f.
Lophogyps, 143 ; Z. occipitalis, 144
Lophoictinia, 146, 147 ; Z. iswrn, 170
Lopkolaemus, 326 ; X. antarcticus, 345
Lophopliaps, 326, 327 ; I/, ferruginea,

337 ; Z. leucogaster, 337 ; L. plumifera,

337
Lophophorus, 198-200, 203, 215 ; Z. tm-

peyanus, 216; Z. Vhuysi, 216; Z.

refulgens, 216 ; Z. sdateri, 200, 216
Lophopsittacus mauritianus, fossil, 375
Lophorhina, 550 ; Z. superba, 548
Lophornis, 439 ; Z. ornatus, 439
Lophortyx, 200 ;. Z. calif ornicus, 231,

233

Lophospingus, 584
Lophotibis cristata, 101
Lophotis, 262

Lophotriccus, 474

Lophotriorchis, 160 ; Z. kieneri, 160

Lophura, 199, 200, 214 f.; Z. dmnK, 215 ;
Z. ignita, 215 ; Z. nobilis, 215 ; L.prae-
lata, 215 ; Z. vieilloti, 215

Lore, 20, 21

Loria loriae, 549

Loriculus, 362, 364, 365 ; Z. vernalis, 368^

Loriinae, 362-364, 373

Lorikeet, 364

Lorius, 364, 373 f. ; Z. fory, 374

Loro, 370

Lory, 351, 364, .365 ; of South Africa,
361 ; King-, 364 ; Eed, 374 ; Swain-
son's, 373

Love-bird, 364, 368, 370

Loxia, 583 ; fossil, 496 ; Z. curvirostra,
584

Loxio'ides, 562

Loxops, 562, 563 ; Z. awraz, 564

Luggur, 179

Lullula, 498 ; Z. arborea, 496

Lunda cirrhata, 317

Lycocorax, 543-545, 550 ; L.pyrrhopterus,
548

Lydekker, on Actiornis anglicus, 86; on
Colymboides, 50 : on JJiomedea anglica,
69 ; on 6ryj?5 melitensis, 145 n. ; on Oefrra-
tornithes, 45 f. ; on Pseudapteryx, 40 ;
on " Stereornithes," 44

Lyncornis, 416

Lyre-bird, 491 f. ; 492 ; habits, 493

Lyrie, 68

Lyrurus, 199, 200, 202 ; Z. mlokosiewiczi.
238; Z. ^rta, 201, 237 f. ; hybrids,.
238

Macaw, 351, 364-366 ; Blue-and-yellow,

371 ; Green-and-blue, 371 ; Hyacinthine,

371 ; Red-and-blue, 371 ; Red -and -

green, 371

Maccaroni Penguins, 57 f.
Macgregoria pulchra, 546
Machaeropterus, 478 ; Jkf. regulus, 478
Machaerorhamphus alcimis, 172 ; J/.

anderssoni, 172 ; J/. revoili, 172
Machaerorhynchus, 506
Machetes, 270 ; polygamous, 271 ; -M.

pugnax, 285

Machetornis, 474, 475, 477
Macrochires, of Nitzsch, 420
Macrocorax, 552, 556
Macrodipteryx, 418 ; J/. macrodiptems,

418 ; Jf. vexillarius, 418
Macronus, 502
Macronyx, 499, 500 ; J)/. ameliae, 500 ;

Jtf. crocea, 500
Macropsalis, 418
Macropteryginae, 420, 422
Macropteryx, 420, 422 ; J/. comata, 422 ;

^/. coronata, 422 ; J/. longipennis, 422 ;.

J/. mystacea, 422 ; Jf. wallacii, 422

INDEX

613

Macropygia, 326, 343 ; M. doreya, 343 ;

M. leptogrammica, 343 ; M. phasianella,

343 ; M. rufa, 343 ; M. rufo-castanea,

343 ; M. tenuirostris, 343 ; M. tusalia,

343
Macrorhamphus griseus, 289 ; M. scolo-

paceus, 289 ; M. taczanowskii, 289
Macruropsar, 559, 561
Madagascar, a region or sub-region, 17
Magellan, brings Bird of Paradise, 543
Magpie, 355, 552-556, 554
Magpie-lark, 535
Majaqueus aequinoctialis, 67 ; M. parkin-

soni, 67

Malaconotinae, 531 f. ; habits, 533 f.
Malacoptila, 447
Malacorhynchus, 111 ; M. membranaceus,

124
Male, incubates, in Limicolae, 271, 278,

287 ; in Ratitae, 29, 32, 36, 38, 41—

see also Female
Maleo, 192
Mallard — see Duck
Mallee hen, 193
Malpighian layer, 2 n.
Malurus, 507-509
Mamo, 563, 564
Man-of-war bird, 81
Manakin, 477 f., 478 ; habits, 479
Manchots, 55
Mandible, 11, 20
Mango, South American, 433
Mango-bird, 542

Manorhina, 564 ; M. melanophrys, 567 n.
Mantle, 21
Manu-mea, 331, 332
Manuals, 21 f.
Manucodia, 543-545, 550, 551 ; M. atra,

548 ; M. QJialybeata, 548 ; M. comrii,

548

Manukdewata, 543

Manus, its quills, 22 ; in Archaeopteryx, 25
Marabou feathers, 96
Mareca americana, 126 ; M. penelope,

126 ; M. sibilatrix, 127
Margaroperdix madagascariensis, 223
Margarornis, 484
Marmaronetta, 111 ; M. angustirostris,

123
Marsh, restoration of Hesperornis, 46 ;

head of Ichthyornis, 48 ; on Laopteryx,

25 n. ; on Odontornithes, 45, 49 n.
Martin, 522-525 ; Sand-, 524, 525
Martineta, 185
Mascarene Islands, 17
Masius, 477, 478

Matthews, discovery of Loddigesia, 437
Mavis, 515
Maxilla, 11, 11, 20
Maxillopalatine process, 11
May-bird, 289
Maynard, on flamingo, 107

Megacephalon, 190 f., 194 ; M. maleo,

192

Megacrex, 243, 244 ; M. inepta, 248
Megalaema, 450
Megalapteryx, 42
Megalestris antarctica, 305 ; M. catarrh-

actes, 304 ; M. chilensis, 305 ; M.

maccormicki. 305
Megaloprepia, 326, 327, 346 ; M. formosa,

346 ; M. magnified, 346
Megapodes, 190-194

Megapodiidae, 186, 190 f., 194 ; habits, 191
Megapodius, 190 f., 194 ; M. bernsteini,

194 ; M. cumingi, 194 ; M, duperreyi,

194; M. eremita, 194; M. forsteni,

194 ; M. freycineti, 194 ; M. geelvinki-

anus, 194 ; M. laperousii, 194 ; M.

layardi, 194 ; M. macgillivrayi, 194 ;

M. nicobariensis, 194 ; M. pritchardi,

194 ; M. sanghirensis, 194 ; M. tenim-

berensis, 194 ; M. tumulus, 194 ; M.

wallacii, 194

Megarhynchus, 473 ; M. pitangua, 474
Megatriorchis doriae, 159
Megistanes, 26, 32 f., 38
Melanerpes, 4.61 ; M. candidus, 461 ; M.

flavifrons, 461 ; M. formicivoi'us, 458,

461

Melanism, 4 n.
Melanobucco, 449
Melanocharis unicolor, 570
Melanocorypha, 497 ; M. calandra, 498 ;

M. sibirica, 497 ; M. yeltoniensis, 497
Melanoperdix, 199, 200 ; M. nigra, 221
Melanophoyx ardesiaca, 91
Melanoptila, 514, 515, 519
Melanopyrrhus, 561 ; M. orientalis, 560
Melanorhectes, 532
Melanotis, 519

Meleagrinae, 198, 204, 206 ; habits, 206
Meleagris, 199, 201, 202 ; fossil, 241 ; M.

gallipavo, 206, 206 n. ; M. ocellata,

200, 206

Melidectes, 565, 566
Melidora, 383

Melierax, 148, 156 ; M. canorus, 156
Meliopelia leucoptera, 342 ; J/. meloda,

342

Meliornis, 565, 567
Meliphaga, 565, 566 ; J/. phrygia, 566
Meliphagidae, 543 n., 564 f. ; habits,

566 f.

Meliphagmae, 564 f.
Melirrhophetes, 566
Melithreptes, 564, 565
Melitograis, 565

Metittophagus, 387-389 ; J/. gularis, 390
Mellisuga minima, 431, 432, 438
Mdophus, 583
Melopsittacus, 364, 365 ; J/. undulatus,

367
Melopyrrha, 583

INDEX

Melospiza, 586

Melville — see Strickland

Membrane on bill, in Malacorhynchus,

111; in Hymenolaemus, 111, 116; in

Biziura, 111, 117 ; of toes, 10
Menura, 491 f. ; M. alberti, 492, 493 ; M.

superba, 491 f., 492, 493 ; M. victoriae,

492, 493

Menuridae, 491 f. ; habits, 493
Mercerat — see Moreno
Merganetta, 112, 113 ; M. armata, 116 ;

M. columbiana, 116 ; M. frenata, 116 ;

M. garleppi, 116 ; M. leucogenys, 116 ;

M. turneri, 116
Merganettinae, 111, 112, 116 ; habits,

116, 117

Merganser, 114 ; hooded, 115, 116 ; red-
breasted, 115, 116
Merginae, 111-116 ; habits, 116
Mergulus, 315; M. alle, 321
Mergus, 111 ; M . albellus, 115 ; M. ameri-

canus, 115 ; M. australis, 115 ; M.

brasilianus, 115; M. comatus, 115;

M. merganser, 113, 115 ; M. serrator,

113, 115, 116
Merlin, 147, 177
Meropidae, 376, 387 f.
Meropogon, 387-389 ; M.forsteri, 389
Merops, 387, 388 ; M. apiaster, 388, 389,

389 ; M. natalensis, 389 ; M. nubicus,

388, 389 ; M. ornatus, 387 ; M. phil-

ippinus, 388, 389 ; M. superciliosus,

388 ; M. viridis, 389
Merrem, on classification, 14
Merry-thought, 8
Merulaxis, 490
Mesembriornis, 44
Mesitae, 186 f.
Mesites, 186 f . ; M. unicolor, 187 ; M.

variegatus, 187
Mesitidae, 1 86 f.
Mesobucco, 450
Mesomyodi, 467
Mesopicus goertan, 462
Mesopteryx, 42
Metabolus, 507
Metacarpals, 8
Metacarpus, 1, 8
Metallura, 434
Metapteryx bifrons, 40
Metatarsal bones, 10 ; in penguins, 55
Metatarsus, 9, 20
Netopia, 478

M etopiana peposaca, 113, 123
Metopidius, 269, 298 ; M. africanus, 298 ;

M. albinucha, 298 ; M. indicus, 298-

300

Metopothrix, 477, 478
Metriopelia aymara, 339 ; Jf. melanoptera,

339

Mexican star, 438
Mexico, to which region does it belong ? 1 6

Meyer, A. B.. on Oacomantis, 355 ; on
Celebes cuckoos, 356 n., 357 n. ; on
hybrid grouse, 237 n. ; on Notornis,
250 n.

Meyer, H. v., on Archaeopteryx, 23

Micranous hawaiiensis, 311 ; M. leuco-
capillus, 311 ; M. tenuirostris, 311

Micrastur, 156

Micrathene, 400 ; M. whitneyi, 400, 407

Microcerculus, 521, 522

Microchera, 433

Microcorax, 552 ; Jl/. leucognaphalus, 5531

Microeca, 509

Microglossus, 364 ; J/. aterrimus, 373

Microhierax, 147 ; J/. erythrogenys, 174 ;
J/. eutolmus, 174 ; 3/. fringillarius,
173 f. ; 3/. latifrons, 174 ; J/. melano-
leucus, 174 ; Jf. sinensis, 174

Micromonacha lanceolata, 447

Micropalama himantopus, 286

Microparra capensis, 298, 300

Microperdix, 200, 223 ; Jf. blewitti, 223 ;:
J/. erythrorhyncha, 223 ; J/. manipur-
ensis, 223

Mid-opus, 504 ; Jf. melanoleucus, 505

Microsittace ferruginea, 365

Migration, 17 ; causes, directions, mode,
18 f. ; in southern hemisphere 19 ;
Committee's reports, 19 n.

Millais, on hybrid grouse, 237 n.

Milne-Edwards, on Aegialornis, 315 n.,
426 ; on Mesites, 186 n. ; on Palaelodidae,
108 n. ; on Strigidae, 398 n. ; and
Grandidier, on Aepyornis, 43 n. ; and
Oustalet, on Dromaeus ater, 38 n.

Milnea, fossil, 300

Milvago, 147, 148, 152 ; Jf. chimachima,
152 ; J/. chimango, 152

Milvulus, 473, 475

Milvus, 146, 170 ; fossil, 181 ; I/, aegyptius,
170 ; ^f. taints, 170 ; Jf. govinda, 170 ;:
Jf. ictinus, 168 f., 169 ; Jf. melanotis,
170 ; J/". migrans, 170

Mimeta, mimicry, 543 n., 568

Mimicry — see Buchanga, Mimeta, Phile-
mon, Surniculus, Tylas, Xenopirostris

Mimidae, 495

Miminae, 509, 514, 515 ; habits, 518

Mimus, 515, 519 ; M. modulator, 519 ;
Jf. polyglottus, 518 f. ; M. trifasciatus,.
515 ; M. triurus, 519

Mino, 561

Mirafra, 496-498 ; M. apiata, 498 ; M.
hova, 496 ; M. javanica, 496

Miro, 512 n., 515, 518

Mitrephanes, 474

Mitua, 195 ; .M. ?»^t«, 196 ; M. salvini,.
197 ; -Sf. tomentosa, 197

Mniotilta, 573, 574 ; 3/. uana, 574

Mniotiltidae, 494, 573 f. ; habits, 574

Moa, 26, 41 ; breast-bone, 7 ; structure,,
etc., 42

INDEX

615

Mobius, on geographical distribution, 16

Mocking bird, 509, 514 ; habits, 518 f.

Moho, 244, 250

Mollymauk, 64, 65

Molobrus, 579, 582 ; M. badius, 582 ; M.

rufo-axillaris, 582
Molybdophanes caerulescens, 101
Momotidae, 376, 379 f.
Momotinae, 379 f. ; habits, 380
Momotus brasiliensis, 381, 381
Monacha, 447 f.
Monal, 215
Monk, 568
Monticola, 510 ; M. cyanus, 510 ; M.

saxoMlis, 510

Montifringilla, 586 ; M. nivalis, 586
Moor-Buzzard, 155

Moor-heri ( = Water-Hen), 244-246, 249
Mooruk, 36

More-pork, 409 n., 417
Moreno and Mercerat, on fossil Cathartidae,
140 n. ; on fossil Penguins, 59 ; on " Stere-

ornithes," 44
Morphnus, 147 ; M. guianensis, 159 ; M.

taeniatus, 159
Moseley, on Penguins, 57 n.
Mosenthal and Harting, on ostrich farming,

30
Motacilla, fossil, 496 ; M. alba, 500 ; M.

flava, 500 ; M. lugubris, 500 ; M.

mdanope, 500 ; M. rail, 499, 500 ; M.

vidua, 500

Motacillidae, 494, 498 f.
Motacillinae, 498 f. ; habits, 500 f.
Mother Carey's Chicken, 67
Motmot, 376, 379 f., 381 ; habits, 380
Moult, 4 f.

Mound-builders, 186, 190
Mounds of Megapodes, 191 f.
Mountain-Cock, 244 ; -Witch, 336
Mouse-bird, 439
Muirfowl, 238
Mules, 203
M tiller. Johannes, on classification, 14; on

classification by song-muscles, 466
Mutteromia, 43

Mulsant, on humming-birds, 432
Munia, 579 ; M. oryzivora, 577 ; M.

punctulata, 577

Murdoch, on Tringa maculata, 281 n.
Murie, on classification, 14 ; on emeus,

37 n. ; onhornbill, 392 n. ; on Rhinoche-

tus, 263 n.
Murmures, 426
Murre, 319
Muscicapa atricapilla, 507, 509 ; M. gri-

sola, 507 ; M. parva, 507
Muscicapidae, 494, 506 f., 525, 531 ;

habits, 508
Muscipipra, 473
Muscisaxicola, 475, 477 ; M. madoviana,

475

Muscivora, 473, 474 ; M. mexicana, 477 ;

M. regia, 474

Musophaga, 359 ; M. violacea, 360, 361
Musophagidae, 351, 359 f., 439 ; habits,

360 f. ; toes, 10 ; the pigments turaco-

verdin and turacin in, 3 n., 360
Mussel-picker, 276
Mutton-bird, 63
Mycteria, 95, 97 ; M. americana, 98 ; Mr

australis, 98 ; M. indica, 96, 98 ; M.

senegalensis, 96, 98
Myiagra, 506
Myiarchus, 474, 475, 477 ; M. crinitus,.

476

Myiobius, 474
Myiodectes, 513, 518
Myiodectinae, 509, 513, 515
Myiodioctes, 573-575
Myiomoira, 514, 515, 518
Myiophoneus, 502, 503
Myiopsittacus monachus, 365 370
Myiotheretes, 475, 476
Myna, 560, 562
Myristicivora, 327, 345 ; M. bicolor, 328r

345 ; M. luctuosa, 345 ; M. melanura,

345 ; M. spilorrhoa, 345 ; M. subfla-

vescens, 345
Myrmeciza, 488
Myrmecocichla, 510, 511
Myrmotherula pygmaea, 489
Myrtle-sucker, 426
Mystacornis, 503
Myzomela sanguinolenta, 565
Myzomelinae, 564 f.

Naenia, 301, 304 ; N. inca, 311

Nail, on beak of Anseres, 1 1

Nandu, 26, 30 f., 31

Nanodes, 363

Nape, 20

Nasal, 11

Nasica, 484

Nasiterna, 362. 365 : N. pygmaea, 364.

371 f.

NatiVe-Companion, 254 ; -Hen, 249
Nauderus, 146 ; N. riocouri, 171
Nauseous bird, 329

Nearctic Region, 15 f. ; its contents, 16
Neck of rib, 6

Necrastur alacer, fossil, 181
Necrobyas harpax, fossi], 414 ; JV". rossi-

gnoli, fossil, 414
Necropsar, 559, 561
Necropsittacus rodericanus, fossil, 375
Necrornis, Tossil, 361
Nectarinia, 569

Nectariniidae, 427, 568 f. ; habits, 569 f.
Nelly, 65

Nelson, on Tringa macidata, 281 n.
Nemura, 516
Neochloe, 536
Neochmia phaeton, 578

•6 1 6

INDEX

Neocorys, 499, 500

Neoctantes, 488

Neodrepanis, 569

Neogaea, 15

Neolestes, 531, 533

Neomorphinae, 351, 357

Neophema, 364, 367 ; N. petrophila, 367 ;
N. pulchella, 367

Neophron, 143, 145, 151 ; JV. ginginianus,
145 ; N. percnoptems, 145 ; JV. pileatus,
145

Neopsittacus, 373

Neopus, 160 ; JV. inalayensis, 161

Neornis, 514

Neornithes, 25 f.; a Sub-Class, 23; N. Cari-
natae, 25, 48; N. Odoiitolcae, 25, 45 f.;
N. Ratitae, 25

Neotis, 260, 262 ; JV. denhami, 261

Neotropical Region, 15 f. ; its contents, 16

Nerves of bill, in Snipe, 290 n.

Nesochen sandvicensis, 131

Nesocichla, 510, 515

Nesoenas mayeri, 343

Nesolimnas, 244 ; N. dieffenbachi, 247

Nesonetta, 111, 113 ; JV. aucklandica, 125

Nesopdia, 342

Nesospiza, 583

Nestlings, condition of, 21 f.

Nestor, Mountain, 375

Nestor, 362, 364, 374; N. esslingi, 374; JV.
meridionalis, 374 ; JV. norfolcensis, 366,
374 ; JV. notabilis, 364 f., 374, 375 ; oV.
productus, 366, 374

Nestorinae, 362 f., 374 ; habits, 374

Netta rufina, 123

Nettion albigulare, 126 ; N. andium, 126 ;
N. bernieri, 126 ; JV. brasiliense, 126 ;
JV. capense, 126 ; JV. carolinense, 126 ;

- JV. castaneum, 126 ; JV. crecca, 125 f . ;
JV. flavirostre, 126 ; N.formosum, 126 ;
JV. georgicum, 126; J\r. gibberifrons, 126;
JV. punctatum, 126 ; JV. torquatum, 126

Nettopus, 112 ; JV. albipennis, 134 ; JV.
auritus, 134 ; JV. coromandeliamis, 134 ;
JV. pulchellus, 133 f.

Newton, A., on Anatidae, 136 ; on Bird of
Paradise, 543 n. ; on classification of
Passeres, 467 ; on Dodo, 329 n. ; on
Eurypyga, 266 ; on Fregata, 72 ; on
geographical distribution, 16 f, ; on
Great Auk and its literature: 321 n. ;
on habits of Shoveller, 124 n. ; on Hiero-
falco, 180 n. ; on Humming-birds, 426
n. ; on mimicry, 543 n. ; on mode of
progression of young Grebes, 54 n. ; on
Oscines, 495; on Secretary-bird, 142 n. ;
on Solitaire, 331 n. ; on Strigidae, 398 n. ;
on Syrrhaptes (chick), 325 ; on trachea
of Swans, 112 n. ; on Turkey, 206 n. ; on
Widow-bird, 577 n.

Newton, E., on Phaethon, 73 n. ; on
Solitaire, 331

Newton, A. and E., on Eidampis. holo-

sericeus, 428
Newton, E., and Gadow, H., on Dodo,

329 n., 330
Newtonia, 506

New Zealand Region, 15 f. ; its contents, 16
Nicator, 532, 533
Nidicolae, 21
Nidifugae, 22
Night-hawk, 67, 417
Night-heron — see Heron, Night-
Nightingale, 512, 515, 516 ; Ceylon-, 506 ;

Palestine-, 506
Night-jar, 415 f. ; habits, 416 f. ; toes, 10 ;

Common, 416, 418, 418 ; Pennant-
winged, 418
Niltava, 506, 507, 509
Ninox, 399-401, 408 ; N. affinis, 409 ;

JV albaria, 409 ; N. boobook, 408 ; JV,

connivens, 401, 408 ; JV. maculata, 409 ;

N. natalis, 409 ; JV. novae zealandiae,

409; N. obscura, 409; JV. scutidata,

408 ; JV. strenua, 408
Nipponia, young, 103 ; JV. nippon, 102
Nisaetus, 160 ; N. bellicosus, 161 ; JV.

fasciatus, 161 ; JV. morpTwio'ides, 161 ;

JV. pennaius, 161 ; JV. spilogaster, 161
Niso'ides moreli, 157
Nitzsch, on classification, 14; on Alectorides

and Fulicariae, 243 ; on powder-down

patches in Falconidae, 147 ; on Macro-

chires, 420 ; on Odontoglossae, 105 ; on

Picariae, 376 ; Pterylographie, 2
Noble, in Falconry, 146, 178
Noddy, 310— see Tern, Noddy
Nomenclature of external parts, in

Falcon, 20

Nomonyx dom.iniciis, 118
Nonnula, 447 ; JV. rubecula, 447
North, on Emeu's nest, 37 n. ; on Cfypoic-

tinia, 170 n.
Nostril, 20 ; external, 11 ; in Petrels, 60 ;

in Rhinochetus, 264
Notched bill, 12
Nothocercus, 183, 186
Nothocrax, 195 ; JV. urumutum, 196
Nothoprocta, 183, 185 ; N. penOandi, 185
Nothura, 183, 185 ; N. darwini, 185 ; N.

maculosa, 185

Noto-coracomorphae, 531 n.
Notodda, 509, 516
Notogaea, 15
NotopJioyx picata, 91
Notornis, 243, 244, 251 ; little keel to

sternum, 26 ; N. alba, 250, 251 ; JV.

mantelli, 250
Nucha, 20

Nucifraga, 552 ; JV. caryocatactes, 553
Nuinenius. 268, 270, 287 f. ; bill, 12 ;

fossil, 300 ; JV. arquata, 287 f,, 288 ;

JV. borealis, 288, 289; JV7. cyanopus, 288 ;

N. hudsonicus, 289; JV. longirostris, 288;

INDEX

6l7

N. minutus, 289 ; N. phaeopus, 288 f. ;

N. tahitiensis, 270, 289 ; N. tenui-

rostris, 288 ; N. variegatus, 289
Numida, 201, 204 f. ; N. cornuta, 205 ;

N. coronata, 205 ; N. marungensis, 205 ;

^A7". meleagris, 205 ; JV. mitrata, 205 ; JV.
ptilorhyncha, 205, 206 ; -ZV7". reichenoivi,

205

Numidinae, 198-201, 204 ; habits, 205 f.
Nunlet, 447

Nutcracker, 553, 555, 556
Nuthatch, 536 f., 537 ; habits, 538
Nutmeg-bird, 577
Nyctala, 399, 401 ; N. acadica, 405 ; N.

tengmalmi, 405
Nyctea, 398, 403 ; fossil, 415 ; N. scan-

diaca, 400, 412
Nycterodius molaceus, 90
Nyctibiiuae, 415, 416, 418
Nyctibius, 415, 417, 418
Nycticorax, 87, 88, 90, 265 ; young, 94 ;

N. caledonicus, 90 ; N. goisagi, 90 ; N.

griseus, 90 ; JV. leuconotus, 90 ; N.

megacephalus, fossil, 95 ; JV. naevius,

90 ; J\T. pauper, 90 ; .ZV7". pileatus, 90 ;

JV. sibilatrix, 90 ; .TV7", molaceus, 90
Nyctidromus, 415, 416
Nyctiornis, 387-389 ; JV7". amictus, 389
Nymphicus, 364, 365 ; JV. uvaeensis, 363
Nyroca, habits, 123 ; fossil, 136 ; .V.

africana, 122, 123 ; -A7, americana,

122 ; JV7". australis, 122, 123 ; JV7". &am,

122 ; Ar. brunnea, 123 ; N.ferina, 122 ;

.ZV7". innotata, 122 ; .ZV7". nationi, 123 ; .ZV7",

vallisneria, 122

Oar-feathers, 21

Oates, on Sturiudae, 559

Occiput, 20

Oceanites, 60, 62, 65 ; 0. oceanicus, 65

Oceanitinae, 59, 60, 65

Oceanodroma, 61, .62, 67 f. ; 0. crypto-

leucura, 68 ; 0. furcata, 68 ; 0. hornbyi,

68 ; 0. leucorrhoa, 68
Ochromela, 509
Ocreate metatarsus, 60
Ocreated, 10
Ocydromus, 244-247 ; 0. australis, 247 ;

0. ear&, 247 ; 0. fuscus, 247 ; 0. #reyt',

247 ; 0. hectori, 247 ; 0. insignis,

fossil, 251 ; 0. sylvestris, 247
Ocyphaps, 326 ; 0. lophotes, 337
Odontoglossae, 105
Odontolcae, 45 f. ; a subdivision of Neor-

nithes, 23 f.

Odontophorinae, 198, 199,202, 204, 230 f.
Odontophorus, 199, 203, 232; 0. guia-

nensis, 232

Odontopteryx toliapica, fossil, 86
Odontornithes, 2, 45 f.
Odontotormae, 45
Oedemia, 111 ; habits, 120 ; 0. americana,

119 ; 0. car&o, 120 ; 0. deglandi, 120 ;

O.fusca, 113,' 119 f. ; 0. nigra, 119 ; 0.

perspicillata, 113, 120
Oedicnemidae, 268, 269, 297
Oedicnemus, 269, 270 ; 0, affinis, 297 ; 0.

bistriatus, 297 ; 0. capensis, 297 ; 0.

dominicensis, 297 n. ; 0. grallarius,

297 ; 0. scolopax, 297 ; 0. senegalensis,

297 ; 0. superciliaris, 297 ; 0= vermi-

culatus, 297

Oma, 326, 327 ; 0. capensis, 339
Oesophagus, 12
Oestrelata, 66 j 0. brevipes, 66 ; 0. Aaem'-

tote, 66
Oil-bird, 419
Oil-glands, 21
Oiseau-mouche, 426
Old Squaw, 121
Oligomyodae, 466
Oligura, 502
Oncostoma, 473
One -wattled Cassowary, 35
Onychognathus, 559
Onychotes gruberi, 165
O-o, 564, 567, 568
Open-bill, 97
Operculum of nostrils, 11 ; in Caprirmil-

gidae, 415 ; in Columbae, 325 ; in

Plovers, 270 ; in Procellariidae, 60 ; iu

Rhinochetus, 264
Opisthocoelous, 6
Opisthocomi, 186, 241
Opisthocomidae, 186, 241
Opisthocomus, 186, 241 ; affinity to Cuculi.

241 ; 0. cristatus, 241, 242
Opisthodactylus, 45
Opisthoprora euryptera, 437
Ophrysia superciliosa, 218
Orange colour in Birds, its nature, 3 n.
Orbit, 20
Orchesticus, 575
opxtXos, 426
Orchilus ecaudatus, 4.7 o
Oreicola, 511
Oreocorys, 498

Oreoeca, 532, 534 ; 0. cristata, 567 n.
Oreomyza, 562, 563
Oreonympha nobilis, 436
Oreophasinae, 194, 195, 198
Oreophasis, 195; 0. derbianus, 198
Oreophilus ruficollis, 273
Oreopsittacus, 363
Oreortyx pictus, 230 f.
Oreoscoptes, 514, 515, 519
Oreotrochilus, 431 f., 436 ; 0. chimborazo,

428 ; 0. pichincha, 428, 430, 436
Organ-bird, 522, 532
Oriental Region, 17
Origma, 517, 518

Oriole, 542 f. ; habits, 543 ; American,
542, 579 ; Baltimore, 580, 581 ; Golden,
542, 542

6i8

INDEX

Oriolidae, 542 f. ; habits, 543

Oriolus ardens, 542 ; 0. cruentus, 542 ; 0.

galbula, 542, 542 ; 0. hosii, 542 ; 0.

kundoo, 542 ; 0. steerii, 542 ; 0. trailli,

542 ; 0. viridis, 542, 543
Ornithion imberbe, 474, 476
Ortalis, 195, 197 ; 0. canicollis, 197 ; 0.

rujka^lda, 197 ; 0. wfttlo, 195, 197
Orthnocnemus, fossil, 251
Ortholophus, 390, 393
Orthonyx, 503, 504
Orthotomus, 514, 518
Ortygornis, 226

Or^, 202-204; 0. virginianus, 231, 232 f.
Ortyxelus, 293 ; 0. mei/reni, 187, 295
Oscines, 466, 467, 494 ; families of, 495 f. ;

structure, 496; voice- muscles, 13, 491 n.
Osculatia purpurea, 336 ; 0. sapphirina,

336
Osmotreron, 348 ; 0. aromatica, 349 ; 0.

0&&e, 349 ; 0. pompadora, 349 ; 0.

vernans, 348 f.

Osprey, 137, 149, 180 f. ; habits, 181
Ossifraga, 60, 61 ; fossil, 69 ; 0. gigantea,

65

Osteornis, fossil, 496
Ostinops, 580
Ostrich, 26, 27 f., 28 ; breast-bone, 7 ;

claws of toes, 10 ; farming, 30 ; feathers,

30

Otididae, 243, 260 f. ; habits, 262 f.
Otidiphaps, 325, 328 ; 0. cervicalis, 335 ;

0. insularis, 335 ; 0. nobilis, 335
Otis, 260, 262 ; fossil, 263 ; 0. tarda, 261,

261 ; 0. tetrax, 260-262
Otocompsa, 504, 505
Otocorys, 496-498 ; 0. alpestris, 496 f. ;

0. peregrina, 496
Otogyps, 143 ; 0. auricular is, 144 ; 0.

calvus, 144
Otophanes, 416
Ourissia, 426

Ousel, King-, 510 ; Water-, 519
Oustalet — see Milne-Edwards
Oven-bird, 485 ; nest, 485
Oviedo, on a Humming-bird, 426
Owen, on Archaeopteryx, 23 ; on Dinor-

nithidae, 41 ; on Dodo, 330
Owl, 175, 179, 180, 397 f. ; clavicles do

not always unite, 8, 398; habits, 400 f.;

toes, 10 ; American Screech-, 413 ;

Barn-, 403 ; Brown, 405 ; Burrowing,

400, 409 f., 410 ; Eagle-, 402,

413 f . ; Grass-, 404 ; Hairy, 408 ;

Hawk-, 401, 408, 411; Lapp-, 405;

Laughing, 408 ; Little, 403, 410 f. ;

Long-eared, 402, 406 ; Marsh-, 406 f. ;

Mottled, 401, 413 ; of Pallas Athene,

411 ; Pigmy-, 407 : Saw-whet, 405 ;

Scops, 403, 412 f. ; ' Screech-, 398-403,

404 ; Short-eared, 400, 402, 403, 406 ;

Snowy, 399-403, 412 ; Tawny, 398 n.,

405 ; Tengmalm's, 405 ; White, 403 ;
Wood-, 401, 402, 405, 406 ; Wood-
cock-, 407

Oxbird, 279

Ox-pecker, 561

Oxylabes, 503

Oxynotus, 526

Oxypelia, 326 ; 0. cyanopis, 340

Oxypogon guerini, 436 f.

Oxyrhamphidae, 469, 477

Oxyrhamphus, 477

Oxyurus, 484

Oyster-catcher, 276, 302 ; bill, 11

Paauw, 263 n.

Pachycephala, 531, 534 ; P. simplex, 533

Pachycephalinae, 531 f.

Pachyornis, 42 ; P. elephantopus, 42

Pachyrhamphus, 480, 482, 483

Paeoptera, 532

Pagodroma nivea, 67

Pagophila, 301 ; P. eburnea, 306

Palaearctic region, 15 f.

Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, fossil, 59

Palaegithalus, fossil, 496

Palaelodidae, 70, 105, 108

Palaelodus, 70, 108

Palaeocercus cuvieri, fossil, 181

Palaeociconia, fossil, 99

Palaeocorax, fossil, 496

Palaeocycnus, fossil, 136

Palaeogaea, 15

Palaeogrus, fossil, 256

Palaeohierax gervaisi, fossil, 181

Palaeolimnas, fossil, 251

Palaeopelargus, fossil, 99

Palaeoperdix, fossil, 240

Palaeomis, 362-365, 368 ; P. eupatria,

368 ; P. exsul, 366 ; P. t&rquata, 368
Palaeortyx, fossil, 240
Palaeospheniscus bergii, fossil, 59 ; P.

menzbieri, fossil, 59 ; P. patagonicus,

fossil, 59

Palaeospiza, fossil, 496
Palaeotetrix, fossil, 241
Palaeotringa, fossil, 300
Palamedea, 109 ; P. cornuta, 110
Palamedeae, 108 f.
Palamedeidae, 108 f. ; habits, 109 f. ; rib,

6 ; young, 109
Palatine, 11

Palmeria, 562, 564 ; P. dolii, 563
Pamprodactylous, 10
Pandion, 146 ; habits, 181 ; P. caroli-

nensis, 181 ; P. haliaetus, 180 f . ; P.

leucocephalv.s, 181 ; P. solitarius, 165
Pandionidae, 137, 180 f. ; young, 180
Panoplites, 437 f.
Panterpe insignis, 435
Panuridae, 541 f.
Panurus biarmicus, 541 f. , 541
PanycfUora, 433

INDEX

619,

Panyptila, 420, 421, 424 ; toes, 10 ; P.

cayennensis, 424 ; P. sancti hieronymi,

424

Papilla of feather, 2
Parabuteo unicinctus, 166
Paradigalla, 544, 550 ; P. carunculata,

546
Paradisea, 545, 550 ; P. apoda, 543, 546,

551 ; P. augustae victoriae, 551 ; P.

minor, 546 ; P. raggiana, 546, 551 ; P.

rubra, 546 ; P. rudolphi, 546
Paradise-bird — see Bird of Paradise
Paradise-Pie, 546
Paradiseidae, 543 f., 557 n. ; habits,

550 f.

Paradisornis, 545, 546, 550
Paradoxornis, 502-504
Parakeet, 351, 364 ; Grass-, 364, 367 ;

Ground-, 364 ; Rock-, 367 ; Rose-
banded, 368; Roselle, 368; Rose-ringed,

368 ; Uvaean, 363
Paramythia montium, 559 n.
Paraptenodytes antarcticus, fossil, 59
Pardalotus, 570, 571
Pareudiastes, 244-246
Paridae, 494, 536, 538 ; habits, 540
Parietal, 11
Parisoma, 508
Parker, T. J., on Aepyornis, 43 n. ; on

Apteryges, 38 ; on Megistanes, 38 ; on

Dinornithidae, 42
Parker, W. K., on classification, 14 ; on

Oscines, 495 ; on Picidae, 457 ; on

Rhinochetus, 263 n.
Paroaria, 583, 585
Parotia, 550 ; P. laivesi, 551 ; P. sex-

pennis, 547 f., 548
Parra, 270 ; P. gymnostoma, 298 ; P.

jacana, 298-300 ; dance of, 300 ; P.

melanopygia, 298 ; P. nigra, 298 ; P.

variabilis, 298

Parridae, 268-71, 297 f. ; habits, 299 f.
Parrot, 351, 361 f., 366 ; bill, 12 ; cere,

11 ; clavicles sometimes absent, 8 ;

habits, 364 f. ; toes, 10 ; voice, 13 ;

Alexandrine, 368; Amazon-, 370; Black,

359 ; Grey, 362, 369, 370 ; Ground-,

362 ; Kaka, 374 ; Monk-, 370 ; Norfolk

Island, 374 ; Owl-, 366 ; Phillip Island,

374 ; Vasa, 369
Parson -bird, 567
Partial migrants, 18
Partridge. 198-200, 202/ 203 ; habits.

224 f. ; American, 198, 203, 230 ;

Bamboo-, 218 f. ; Barbary, 228; Black,

226 ; Common, 224, 229 ; French, 228 ;

Greek, 228; Mountain-, 336; Red-legged,

203, 228; hybrids, 224; (Ruffed Grouse),

233 ; Snow-, 230 ; Spruce-, 236
Parus, 538, 539 ; P. britannicus, 539 ;

P. caeruleus, 539 ; P. cristatus, 539 ;

P. cyanus, 539 ; P. flavipectus, 539 ; P.

major, 539, 539 ; P. niger, 539 ; P.

palustris, 539 ; P. sultaneus, 539
Paryphephorus, 544, 545
Passaros de sol, 543
Passer, 583 ; P. domesticus, 584, 584 ; P.

insularis, 583 ; P. jagoensis, 583 ; P..

simplex, 585
Passeres, voice-muscles, 13 ; anisomyodae,

467 ; diacromyodae, 467, 491 f.
Passeriformes, 466 f.
Pastor, 559, 561 ; P. roseus, 560
Patagona, 430 ; P. gigas, 430, 432, 437
Patella, 22 ; of Grebes, 49
Paul, on Humming-bird's nest, 436
Pauxis, 195 ; P. galeata, 197
Pavo, 200, 202, 203 ; P. cristatus, 200, 206 ,~

P. muticus, 207 ; P. nigripennis, 207
Pavo del Monte, 197
Peacock, 199, 200, 203, 204, 206 f. ;.

Japanned, 207 ; Pheasant, 208
Pea-fowl, 207 ; superstition about, 207
Pea-hen, 207

Peale, discovery of Didunculus, 331 f.
Pealea, 60, 65
Pectineal process of pubis, 9
Pectoral arch, 8
Pectus, 20
Pedioecetes, 199, 201 ; fossil, 241 ; P.

phasianellus, 234
Pedionomidae, 186, 187, 189
Pedionomus, 187 ; P. torquatus, 189 f., 190
Peewit, 275

Pelagodroma, 60, 63, 65 ; P. marina, 65
Pelagornis, fossil, 86
Pelargodes, fossil, 99
Pelargomorphae, 70
Pelargopsis, 383 ; P. gurial, 387
Pelecanidae, 70, 83
Pelecanoldes, 60 ; P. exsul, 68 ; P. garnoti,.

68 ; P. nrinatrix, 68
Pelecanoidinae, 59, 68
Pelecanus, 70-72 ; fossil, 86 ; habits, 84 f. ;

P. conspicillatus, 84 ; P. crispus, 83, 84 j

P. erythrorhynchus, 83; P.fuscus, 83 f. ;

P. minor, 83 ; P. mitratus, 83 ; P.

molinae, 84 ; P. onocrotalus, 83 ; P.

philippensis, 83, 85 ; P. rufescens, 83 •

P. sharpii, 83
Pelican, 70, 83 ; habits, 84 f. ; fabled to feed

its young with blood, 85 f. ; outgrowth

of culmen shed, 5 n., 83; Crested, 84
Pellorneum, 504
Pelvis of Apteryx, 9
Penelope, 195, 197 ; P. albipennis, 197 -r

P. cristata, 197 ; P. jacucaca, 195 ; P.

montagnii, 197 ; P. obscura, 197 ; P.

pileata, 197

Penelopides manillae, 395
Penelopina, 195 ; P. nigra, 197
Penelopinae, 194, 197
Penguin, 54 f., 315 ; (Auk), 321 ; habits,

55 f. ; meaning of name, 55 ; moult, 5

62O

INDEX

Penis, in Auseriformes, 108 ; in Ratitae, 26

Peimae, 2

Pennula, 244, 245 ; 'P. ecaudata, 244,

250, 251

Penthetria ardens, 577
Perdicinae, 198, 204, 218
Perdicula, 223 ; P. argoondah, 223 ; P.

asiatica, 223
Perdix, 202, 224 ; P. barbata, 225 ; P.

cinerea, 224 ; P. daurica, 225 ; P.

hodgsoniae, 225 ; P. montana, 224 ; P.

sifanica, 225
Perdiz, 335 ; chico, 185 ; comun, 185 ;

graiide, 184

Perdrix d'Angleterre, 323
Pericrocotus, 525, 526
Perisoreus infaustus, 554
Perissoglossa, 573
Peristera, 326-328, 334 ; P. cinerea, 339 ;

P. geoffroyi, 339 ; P. mondetoura,

339 f.

Peristerinae, 325 f., 334 f.
Peristeropodes, 186, 190
Perkins, on Drepanididae, 562 n.
Pernis, 148, 172 ; P. apivorus, 172 ;

P. celebensis, 172 ; P. cristatus, 172 ;

P. ptilorhynchus, 172 ; P. tweeddalii,

172

Pervious nostrils, 11
Petasop/wra, 430, 434
Petherick, on Balaeniceps, 94 n.
Petit Due, 412

Petrel, 54, 59 f. ; breast-bone, 7 f. ; deriva-
tion of name, 68 ; habits, 61 f. ; nostrils,

11 ; size, 61 ; Diving, 62 ; Giant-, 63,

65 ; Leach's, 68 ; Storm-, 62, 65, 68 ;

Wilson's, 65
Petrochelidon, 522, 523, 525 ; P. nigricans,

524 525

Petroeca, 511, 515, 516
Petronia, 586 ; P. brachydactyla, 585-

587

Petrophassa albipennis, 337
Peucaea, 585
Peucedramus, 573
Pezophaps solitarius, 328, 330 f.
Pezoporus, 364, 365 ; P. formosus, 367
Phabotreron, 326, 348 ; P. amethystina,

348

Phacellodomus, 484, 487
Phaenopepla, 529 ; P. m'tews, 530
Phaenoptila, 529 ; P. melanoxantha, 530
Phaenorrhina, 326 ; P. goliath, 345
Phaeornis, 513, 515
Phaethon, 70-72 ; fossil, 86 ; P. aethereus,

72, 73 ; P. americanus, 72 n. ; P.flavi-

rostris, 72 ; P. rubricauda, 72
Phaethontidae, 70, 72 ; habits, 72 f.
Phaethornis, 427, 430, 431, 435
Phaethornithinae, 435
Phaethusa magnirostris, 314
Phalacrocoracidae, 70, 75

Phalacrocorax, 70-72, 75 ; fossil, 86 ;

habits, 78 f. ; P. africanus, 77 ; P.

car&o, 75 f., 76 ; P. carunculatus, 77 ;

P. dilophus, 76 ; P. featherstoni, 77 ;

P. graculus, 77 ', P. impcrialis, 77 ; P.

lucidus, 77 ; P. novae hollandiae, 76 ;

P. onslowi, 77 ; P. pelagicus, 76 ; P.

perspicillatus, 77 ; P. punctatus, 77 ;

P. pygmaeus, 78 ; P. wn7e, 77 ; P.

varius, 77

Phalaenoptilus, 417 ; P. mittalli, 415
Phalanges, of fingers, 9 ; of toes, 10
Phalarope, 270 ; Grey, 278 ; Red-necked,

279

Phalaropodinae, 278 f.
Phalaropus, 269, 270; bright colour of

hen, 4 ; male incubates, 271 ; P. full-

carius, 278 ; P. hyperboreus, 278 f.'; P.

ivilsoni, 279
Phalcobaenus, 152 ; P. albigularis, 152 ;

P. carunculatus, 152 ; P. megalopterus,

152
Phaps, 327, 328, 334 ; P. chalcoptera,

338 ; P. e&pans, 338
Pharaoh's hen, 145
Pharomacrus, 441 ; P. mocinno, 441, 442

444, 444 ; P. pavoninus, 442
Phases of colour in owls, 400
Phasianidae, 186, 198, 219 ; habits, 202 f.
Phasianinae, 198, 204, 206
Phasianus, 199-202 ; fossil, 240 ; P.

chrysomelas, 210 ; P. colchicus, 210,

211, 212 ; P. decollatus, 210 ; P.

elegans, 210 ; P. ellioti, 211 ; P.

formosanus, 210, 211 ; P. humiae,

211: P. mongolicus, 211 ; P. persicus,

210 ; P. principalis, 210 ; P. reevesi,

211, 212 ; P. satscheunensis, 210, 211 ;

P. shaivi, 210 ; P. soemmerringi, 211,

212 ; P. strauchi, 210 ; P. tarimensis,

210 ; P. torquatus, 210-212 ; P. vem'-

co^or, 210-212 ; P. vlangali, 210 ; P.

zerafshanicus, 210
Phasidus, 201 ; P. m#er, 205, 206
Pheasant, 192, 198, 199, 202, 203, 211,

493 ; in Britain, 210 ; Argus-, 207 ;

Blood-, 217; Copper-, 212; Crow-, 356;

Eared, 214 ; Golden, 209 f. ; Green.

212 ; Horned, 216 ; Impeyan, 215, 216;

Koklas, 212 ; Lady Amherst's, 210 ;

Native, 193 ; Peacock-, 208 ; PukraS,

212 ; Reeves's, 212 ; Ring-necked, 210;

(Ruffed Grouse), 233 ; Silver-, 213 ;

Snow-, 214, 229 ; Stinking, 242
Phedina, 523

Phegornis, 269 ; P. mitchelli, 292
Pheucticus, 585
Phibalura, 479, 480, 482, 483 ; P. Jlam-

rostris, 480

Philacte canagica, 132
Philemon, 564-567 ; mimicry, 543 n., 568 ;

P. corniculatus, 567

INDEX

621

Philepitta, 471 ; P. jala, 471, 471 ; P.

schlegeii, 471 f.
Philepittidae, 469, 471
Philetaerus, 579 ; P. socius, 577
Philohela minor, 290
Philortyx fasciatus, 231
Phimosus infuscatus, 101
Phloeocryptes, 486
Phlogoenas, 326, 335 ; P. kubaryi, 336 ;

P. litzonica, 335 ; P. rufigula, 335 ; P.

stairi, 335 ; P. tristigma, 335
Phlogopsis, 488
Phlogothraupis, 575
Phoebe, 476

Phoebetria, 60 ; P. fuliginosa, 63
Phoenicocercus, 479, 480 ; P. carnifex, 480
Phoeniconaias minor, 107
Phoenicoparrus andinus, 107
Phoenicophaes, 352 ; P. pyrrhocephalus,

357

Phoeuicophainae, 351, 357 ; habits, 357
rhoenicopteri, 70 f., 105 f., 108
Phoenicopteridae, 70, 105 f., 112 ; appar-
ently shed wing-quills simultaneously,

4 ; habits, 107

Phoenicopterus, fossil, 108 ; sifting appara-
tus of bill, 12, 107 ; young, 107 ; P.

andinus, 100, 107 ; P. chilensis, 106 ;

P. jamesi, 106, 107 ; P. minor, 106,

107 ; P. rosews, 106 f., 106 ; P. ruber,

105 f.

Pholidauges, 559 ; P. leucogaster, 560 f.
Pholidornis, 570
Phonipara, 583, 586
Phonygammus, 545, 550, 551 ; P. jamesi,

548
Phororliachos, 44 ; fossil, 260 ; P. gracilis,

45 ; P. inflatus, 45 ; P. longissimus, 45 ;

P. modicus, 45 ; P. platygnathus, 45 ;

P. sehuensis, 45

Photodilus, 398, 400 ; P. 6orfw«s, 404 f.
Phoyx purpurea, 93
Phrygilus, 586
Phyller gates, 514
Phylloscopus, 514, 515, 517, 518
Phyllostrephus, 504, 506
Phytotoma, 483 ; P. angustirostris, 483 ;

P. raimondii, 483 ; P. rara, 483 ; P.

rwtfta, 483

Phytotomidae, 469, 483
Piaya, 351, 357 ; P. cayana, 357
Pica, 552 ; P. mauritanica, 355, 552, 553 ;

P. nuttalli, 553 ; P. riwfoca, 355, 553,

554

Picatlor, 426

Picariae, 376 ; of Nitzsch, 466
Picarii, 466
Picathartes, 552, 556
Pici, 376, 445 f. ; toes, 10
Picicorvus columbianus, 553
Picidae, 445, 457 f.
Picinae, 457 f., 464 ; habits, 458 f.

Picoides, 462 ; P. tridactylus, 462

Picolaptes, 487

Piculet, 464

Picumninae, 464

Picumnus, 462, 464 ; P. africanus, 464 ;
P. micromegas, 464 ; P. ochraceus, 464

Picws, 464 ; bill, 12 ; fossil, 465 ; P.
martins, 458, 463, 464 ; P. obsoletits,
462

Pie, 175 ; Sea-, 276

Pierrot, 362

Piezorhynchus, 507, 509 ; P. chrysomelas,
507

Pigafetta, on Bird of Paradise, 543

Pigeon, 325 f. ; breeds of, 327 n. ; origin
of domestic, 327, 344 ; habits, 327 f. ;
operculum of nostrils, 11 ; Brush
Bronze-wing, 338 ; Common Bronze-
wing, 338 ; Crested Bronze-wing, 337 ;
Crowned, 333, 334 ; Fruit-, 325, 327,
328, 344-347 ; Ground-, 326, 327, 338 ;
hollondais, 346 ; Partridge Bronze-
wing, 337 ; Passenger-, 327, 342 ;
Plumed Bronze-wing, 337 ; Rock-, 324,
344 ; Snow-, 344 ; Tooth-billed, 325,
332, 333 ; Tumbler-, 327 ; Wood-, 327,
328, 344 ; White-bellied, 336

Pigment of feathers, 3, 3 n.

Pigmy Parrot, 371 f.

Pilerodius pileatus, 90

Pimlico, 567

Pingre, on Solitaire, 330 f.

Pintados, 204

Pintail— see Duck

Pipile, 195; P. cujubi, 197; P. cuma-
nensis, 197 ; P. jacutinga, 197

Pipilo, 585

Pipit, 498 f. ; habits, 500 f. ; Meadow-,
354, 500 ; moult, 5 ; Red-throated, 500 ;
Richard's, 500 ; Rock-, 500 ; Tawny,
500 ; Tree-, 500, 501 ; Water-, 500

Pipra leucocilla, 478 ; P. mentalis, 478 ;
P. serena, 478 ; P. suavissima, 478 ;
P. velutina, 478

Pipreola, 480, 482 ; P. rie/eri, 483

Pipridae, 469, 477 f. ; habits, 479

Piprinae, 477 f.

Piprisoma, 571

Piprites, 477

Pitangus, 475 ; P. bolivianos, 476

Pithecophaga, 146; P.je/eryi, 160

Pithys, 488, 489

Pitta, 469 f. ; P. angolensis, 471 ; P.
baudi, 471 ; P. brachyura, 470 ; P.
caerulea, 470 f. ; P. cucullata, 470 ; P.
cyanea, 471 ; P. cyanoptera, 471 ; P.
granoMna, 471 ; P. iris, 471 ; P.
mackloti, 471 ; P. maxima, 471 ; P.
moluccensis, 470 ; P. novae guineae,
470 ; P. nympha, 471 ; P. ootesi, 470 ;
P. strepitans, 471

Pittasoma, 488

622

INDEX

Pittidae, 469 f., 472 ; habits, 469 f.

Pitylus, 575

Pityriasis, 532 ; P. gymnocephala, 532

Plain- Wanderer, 190

Plant-cutters, 483

Plantain -eater, 351, 359 f., 439 ; habits,

360 f. ; toes, 10
Platalea, 100; bill, 12; fossil, 105; young,

105 ; P. alba, 103, 104 ; P. 'fiavipes,

104 ; P. leucorodia, 100, 103, 104, 104;

P. minor, 103, 104 ; P. regia, 103, 104
Plataleinae, 99 f. ; habits, 103
Platycercus, 363, 364, 367 ; P. elegans,

367 f. ; P. eximius, 368
Platylophus, 532
Platyrhynchinae, 473 f.
Platyrhynchus, 473
Platysmurus, 552 ; P. aterrimus, 553
Platystira, 506, 507
Plectrophenax, 583, 586 ; P. nivalis, 584

f., 585

Plectropterinae, 111, 133 f.
Plectropterus, 111-113 ; P. gambensis, 134 ;

P. niger, 134 ; P. ruppelli, 134 ; P.

scioanus, 134
Plectrorhynchus, 565
Plegadis, 100 ; P. falcineUus, 101 ; P.

guarauna, 101 ; P. ridgwayi, 101
Pliny, on death of Aeschylus, 151 ; on

Trochttus, 426
Ploceella, 577, 579
Ploceidae, 576 f., 582 ; habits, 578 f.
Ploceinae, 577 f.
Ploceipasser mahali, 579
Ploceus, 577, 579 ; P. baya, 578, 579
Plotus, 70-72 ; habits, 80 f. ; P. anhinga,

79 ; P. chantrii, 80 ; P. levattlanti, 80 ;

P. melanogaster, 80, 80 ; P. nanus,

fossil, 86 ; P. novae hollandiae, 79 f. ;

P. parvus, fossil, 86
Plover, 268, 270; Crab-, 268, 296; Golden,

272 ; Green, 275 ; Grey, 272 ; Kentish,
273 ; Kill-deer, 274 ; Little Ringed,

273 ; Norfolk, 297 ; Ringed, 273, 273,
295

Plumae, 2

Plumule, 2

Pluvianellus sociabilis, 276

Pluvianus, 293 ; P. aegyptius, 295

Pneumaticity, of Chauna, 109 ; of Sula, 72

Pnoepyga, 521, 522

Pochard, 122

Podager, 416

Podargidae, 415-417, 419

Podargus, 415, 417, 419 ; P. cuvieri, 417

Podica, 267 ; P. petersi, 268 ; P. sene-

galensis, 267
Podicipedidae, 49, 52;fnnctionlesstail, 26;

habits, 53 f. ; structure, etc., 49 f.
Podicipedes, 49
Podicipes auritus, 53 ; P. caliparaeus,

53 ; P. cristatus, 53 ; P. domini-

ons, 53 ; P. fluviatilis, 52, 52 ; P.

griseigena, 53 ; P. gularis, 52 ; P.

holboelli, 53 ; P. nestor, 53 ; P. nigri-

collis, 53 ; P. pelzelni, 53 ; P. rollandi,

53 ; P. rufipectus, 53 ; P. taczanowskii,

53 ; P. Zrocofor, 53
Podilymbus, 49 ; P. podiceps, 53
Podoces, 558 ; P. Uddulphi, 558 ; P.

hendersoni, 558 ; P. humilis, 558, 559 ;

P. pander i, 558
Poecilonetta bahamensis, 125 ; P. erythro-

rhyncha, 125 ; P. galapagensis, 125
Poeocephalus, 364 ; P. robustus, 365, 369
Poephila mirabilis, 578
Pogonorhynchus, 448, 449 ; P. dubius,

449 f.

Pogonornis, 565, 567
Polioaetus ichthyaetus, 164; P.plumbeus,

164
Poliohierax insignis, 174 ; P. semitor-

quatus, 174
Poliolophus, 505
Polioptila, 514, 518
Polioptilinae, 509, 514, 515
Pollex, 8

Polyborinae, 146-148, 151 f.
Polyboroldes, 146 ; P. radiatus, 154 ; P.

typicus, 154
Polyborus, 146-148, 152, 153 ; P. c/*m-

way, 152 ; P. lutosus, 152 ; P. tharus,

151, 152

Polygamy, in Galline Birds, 202 ; ques-
tionable in Opisthocomus, 242
Polygonal bodies imbedded in vanes, 3
Polymyodi, 466
Polyplectron, 20Q, 202, 203, 208 ; P.

bicalcaratum, 208 ; P. chinqiiis, 208 ;

P. germaini, 208 ; P. inocellatus, 208 ;

P. napoleonis, 208; P. nehrkornae, 208;

P. schleiermacheri, 208
Polytmus, 427
Pomatorhinus, 502, 504
Pomatostomus, 568
Poor Soldier, 567
Poor- Will, 417
Porphyrio, 243, 245, 246, 250 ; P. cam*-

lescens, fossil, 251 ; P. caeruleus, 250 ;

P. mackintoshi, fossil, 251 ; P. reperta,

251 ; P. veterum, 250
Porphyriola, 244 ; P. aWewi 250 ; P.

martinica, 250 ; P. parva, 250
Porphyriops, 244 ; P. crassirostris, 250 ;

P. melanops, 250
Porphyriornis nesiotis, 244, 249
Pwphyroceplialus spurius, 367
Port Egmont Hen, 305
Porzana bailloni, 246, 248 ; 7J. Carolina,

248 ; P. maruetta, 248
Porzanula, 244, 246 ; P. palmeri, 249 f.
Post-thoracic rib, 6
Posterior limbs, 9
Pouch, 21 ; gular, in Bustards, 261

INDEX

623

Poule Rouge, 251

Powder-down, feathers, 3; patches, 22 ; in

Accipitres, 147 ; in Ardeae, 87 ; in

Artamus, 531 ; in Eurypygidae, 266 ;

in Falconidae, 147; in Gymnoderus, 481;

in Leptosoma, 378 ; in Mesites, 187 ;

in Podargidae, 416 ; in Psittaci, 364 ;

in Rhinoclietus, 264 ; in Tinamidae, 183
Praecoces, 22
Praemaxilla, 11
Prairie, Chicken, 234 ; -Hen, 235 ; Lesser

Prairie-Hen, 235

Pratincola, 510, 515 ; P. rubetra, 511
Pratincole, 268, 293 f.
Pre-Tertiary Birds, 2
Prespheuoid, 11
Primaries, 20, 22

Principal shaft, or rhachis of feather, 3
Prinia, 514, 518
Priocella, 61 ; P. glacialo'ides, 67
Priofinus cinereus, 67
Prion, 60, 61, 66, 112; sifting apparatus

of bill, 12 ; P. arid, 66 ; P. desolatus,

66

Prionirhynchus, 380
Prioniturus, 363
Prionochilus, 570, 571 ; P. squalidus,

571 ; P. vincens, 570
Prionodura, 551 ; P. newtoniana, 548,

551

Prionopiuae, 531 f.
Prionops, 532

Prionotelus, 441, 442 ; P. temnurus, 443 f.
Prismatic, hues in feathers, cause of, 3 ;

structure of vanes, 4
Pristorhamphus, 570
Procellaria, 62, 67 f. ; P. pelagica, 67,

68 ; P. tethys, 68
Procellariidae, 59 f. ; habits, 61 f.
Procellariiformes, 59 f., 70
Procellariinae, 59, 60, 65 f.
Procelsterna, 311
Procne, 523-525 ; P. furcata, 525 ; P.

tapera, 523-525
Procnemial, 22 ; process, of Colymbi-

formes, 49
Procnias, 575, 576
Procoelous, 6
Prodotiscus, 451 f. ; P. insignis, 452 ; P.

regulus, 452

Progura gallinacea, fossil, 350
Proherodius oweni, fossil, 95
Promerops, 568, 569 ; P. cafer, 570
Propelargus, fossil, 99
Prosobonia leucoptera, 283
Prosthemadera, 565, 567 ; P. novae zea-

landiae, 567
Protibis, fossil, 105
Protonotaria, 573
Proventricuhis, 12
Provinces, 17
Proximal, 22

PrymnacantJia, 427 ; P. popelarii, 438 f.
Psalidoprocne, 522-525 ; P. nitens, 522,

524

Psaltria, 538, 539
Psaltriparus, 538-540
Psamathia, 515

Psarisomus, 468, 469; P. dalhousiae, 468 f.
Psaroglossa, 559
Psephotus, 365

Pseudapteryx gracilis, fossil, 40
Pseudochelidon, 530, 531
Pseudocolaptes, 484, 487
Pseudodacnis, 575
Pseudogeranus, 254
Pseudogerygone, 507 ; P. rubra, 507
Pseudogryphus, 137 ; P. calif ornianus,

139
Pseudogyps, 143 ; P. africanus, 145 ; P.

bengalensis, 145
Pseudonestor, 562
Pseudorhectes, 532
Pseudotantalus ibis, 97
Pseudotriccus, 474
Psilopogon pyrolophus, 450
Psilorhamphus, 488
Psilorhinus, 553
Psittaci, 351 f., 361 f., 376; bill, 12;

cere, 11 ; clavicles sometimes absent,

8 ; habits, 364 f. ; metatarsals, 10 ;

toes, 10 ; voice, 13
Psittacidae, 351, 362 f., 366 f.
Psittacinae, 362 f., 367
Psittacirostra, 562, 563
Psittacula, 363, 364, 368, 370
Psittacus, 364 ; fossil, 375 ; P. eritliacus,

362, 369, 370 ; P. timneh, 369
Psophia crepitans, 257, 258 ; P. leuco-

ptera, 258; P. napensis, 258; P. obscura,

258 ; P. ochroptera, 258 ; P. viridis,

258

Psophiidae, 243, 256, 257 f. ; habits, 258
Psophodes, 503
Ptarmigan, 204, 240 ; claws shed, 203 ;

moult, 5

Ptererythrius, 532, 533
Pteridophora, 545 ; P. alberti, 548
Pternistes, 225 f. ; P. afer, 225 ; P.

boehmi, 226 ; P. cranchi, 225 f. ; P.

Jiumboldti, 225 ; P. infuscatus, 226 ;

P. leucoscepus, 226 ; P. nudicollis, 225 ;

P. rubricollis, 225 ; P. rufipictus, 226 ;

P. swainsoni, 226
Pterocles, 268, 321 f. ; fossil, 325 ; P.

arenarius, 323 ; P. bicinctus, 323 ; P.

coronatus, 323 ; P. decoratus, 323 ; P.

fasciatus, 322, 323 ; P. gutturalis, 323 ;

P. lichtensteini, 322, 323 ; P. quadri-

cinctus, 323 ; P. personatus, 323 ; P.

variegatus, 323
Pteroclidae, 268, 321 f. ; habits, 322 f. ;

toes, 10
Pteroclo-Columbine, 268, 321

624

INDEX

Pterodurus, 322 ; P. alchata, 323 ; P.
exustus, 324 ; P. namaqua, 324 ; P.
senegallus, 324

Pteroglossus, 456 ; P. aracari, 456 ; P.
beauharnaisi, 454, 456 ; P. torquatus,
455

Pteronetta hartlaubi, 134
Pterophanes, 427 ; P. temmincki, 430, 434
Pteropodocys, 525, 526
Pteroptochidae, 469, 489, 490
Pteroptochus, 490, 491 ; P. albicollis,

491 ; P. rubecula, 490
Pterygoid, 11

Pterylae, feathered spaces, 2
Pterylographie, of Nitzsch, 2
Pterylosis, 2
Ptilochlorinae, 477 f.
Ptilochloris, 478 ; P. squamata, 479
Ptilogenys caudatus, 529 ; P. cinereus,

530

Ptilonorhynchidae, 496
Ptilopachys fuscus, 2 1 9
Ptilopus, 326, 327, 347 ; P. aurantufrons,
348 ; P. dupetit-thouarsi, 347 ; P. ire-
soZto, 325, 348 ; P. ./amK 347 ; P.
rawws, 348 ; P. superbus, 348 ; P.
swainsoni, 347

Ptilorhis, 544, 550, 551 ; P. magnificat,,
545 ; P. paradisea, 545 ; P, victoriae,
551

Ptilorhynchidae, 543
Ptilorhynchus, 550, 551 ; P, violaceus,

549, 549, 551, 552
Ptilosdera versicolor, 373
Ptttotis, 565-567 ; P. limbata, 564
Ptychorhamphus, 316 ; P. aleuticus, 318
Pubis, 9, 9

Pucrasia, 201, 212 ; P. castanea, 212 ;
P. darwini, 213 ; P. macrolopha, 212 ;
P. meyeri, 212 f. ; P. nipalensis, 212 ;
P. xanthospila, 213
Puff -bird, 445, 447
Puffin, 316, 317 ; Tufted, 317
Puffinus, 60, 66 ; fossil, 69 ; P. anglorum,
63, 66 ; P. assimilis, 66 ; P. brevicauda,
63 ; P. conradii, fossil, 69 ; P. eyer-
ma?u', fossil, 69 ; P. gram's, 66 ; P.
griseus, 66 ; P. major, 66 ; P. obscurus,
66 ; P. ydkouanus, 66
Puttock, 165
Pycnaspidean, 479

Pycnonotidae, 504 f., 531 ; habits, 505 f.
Pycnonotus, 355, 505 ; P. haemorrhous,

506 ; P. xanthopygus, 506
Pycnopygius, 565
Pycnorhamphus, 584
Pycraft, on Archaeopteryx, 23 n.
Pygarrhicus, 484
Pygmornis, 430
Pygopodes, 49

Pygoptila, 488» 489 ; P. margaritata,
488

?, 55 ; P. adeliae, 57 ; P.

ata, 57
Pygostyle, 6, 8 ; absent in Archaeopteryx,

25 ; absent in Hesperornithes, 25, 26 ;

absent in Ratitae, 25. 26 ; absent in

Tinamidae, 25, 26, 182 ; occasionally

found in Apteryx, 26 n. ; occasionally

found in Struthio, 26 n.
Pyranga, 575
Pyrenestes, 577
Pyriglena, 489
Pyrocephahis, 473, 474 ; P. rubineus 474-

477

Pyroderus, 479, 481 ; P. orenocensis, 483
Pyromelaena, 577. 579 ; P. flammiceps,

577

Pyrrhocorax, 552, 553
Pyrrholaemus, 518
Pyrrhula, 583 ; P. enudeator, 584 ; P.

europaea, 584
Pyrrhulauda, 497, 498
Pyrrhuloxia, 583
Pyrrhuphonia, 576

Quadrate bone, 11, 26 ; in Hesperornis,

26, 47 ; in Ichthyornis, 26, 94 ; in

Ratitae, 26 ; in Tinamidae, 26, 182
Quadratojugal, 11
Quail, 199, 200, 2035 220 f. ; Bush- 223;

Bustard-, 188 ; Button-, 186. 188 ;

Chinese, 219 ; Common, 220 ; Least

Swamp-, 219 ; Painted. 219 ; Swamp-,

219 f.

Quebranta-huesos, 145
Queest, 344
Querquedula, 112 ; Q. circia, 125 ; Q.

cyanoptera, 125 ; Q. discors, 125 ; Q.

puna, 125 ; Q, versicolor, 125
Querula, 479, 481
Quezal, 441, 442, 444
Quill, or barrel of feather, 3
Quills shed simultaneously by Anatidae, 4,

113 ; by Phoenicopteridae. 4, 107 ; by

Rallidae, 4 n.
Quiscalinae, 579 f.
Quiscalus, 581 ; Q. versicolor, 580
Quit-quit, 572 f.

Races of birds, 15

Rackelhahn, 237

Racquet-shaped, 22

Radii, 2

Radius, 8, 8

Rail, 243-247 ; breast-bone, 7 ; flightless,

244 ; lose wing-quills simultaneously,

4 n. ; Clapper-, 245, 246 ; King-, 246 ;

Land-, 243, 248,, 248 ; Sora-, 248 ;

Water-, 245, 246; Weka-5 243, 245, 247
Rain-bird, 357, 460, 468
Rain-goose, 52
Rainbow, 434
liallicula, 2445 246, 248

INDEX

625

Rallidae, 243 f., 246

Rallina, 248

Rallus, fossil, 251 ; R. aquaticus, 246 ; R.

crepitans, 246 ; R. elegans, 246 ; R.

longirostris, 246 ; R. maculatus, 246 ;

R. inadagascariensis, 246 ; R. sandvi-

censis, 251 ; R. virginianus, 246
Kami, 2

Ramsay, on Cassowaries, 34 n.
Raptorial, 154
Ratitae, 109 ; coracoid and scapula fused,

8 ; incisura ischiadica, 9 ; meaning of

name, 7 ; no pygostyle, 6 n.; structure,

26 ; a subdivision of Neornithes, 23 f.
Rattlewing, 121
Raven, 554, 555, 555, 556
Razorbill, 316, 317, 320 f.
Rectrices, 20, 21, 22 ; in Archaeopteryx,

25 ; no true, in Grebes, 50
Recurvirostra, 268, 269 ; R. americana,

278 ; R. andina, 278 ; R. avocetta, 278 ;

R. novae hollandiae, 278 ; R. rubri-

collis, 278
Red Bird, 331
Redbreast, 516
Redpoll, 583, 584, 586; beak elongated

in summer, 5 n.
Redshank, 283 ; Dusky, 283 ; Spotted,

283
Redstart, 511, 512, 515-517 ; American,

512 n., 574 ; Black, 511
Redwing, 226, 510
Reed-Pheasant, 541 f., 541
Reeve, 285
Regent-bird, 549
Regerhinus, 147 ; R. cayennensis, 173 ;

R. megarhynchus, 173 ; R. uncinatus,

173 ; R. ivilsoni, 173
Regions, of Heilprin, 15 f. ; of Huxley,

15 f. ; of Newton, 16 f. ; of Sclater, 15

f. ; of Wallace, 15 f. ; of others, 16 f.
Regulidae, 495
Regulinae, 509
Regulus, 513-515, 517, 518
Reinhardt, on Dodo, 330
Reinwardtoenas, 326 ; R. broumi, 343 ;

R. reinwardti, 343
Remiges, 21, 22 ; primarii, 20 ; secundarii,

20 ; of Cassowaries, 33
Remiornis, 45
Reo, 379

Reptilia, difference from Birds, 1 f.
Reticulated, 10
Rhachis of feather, 3
Rhamphastidae, 445, 448, 453 f. ; habits,

454 f.
Rhamphastus, 454, 455 ; R. arid, 455,

456 ; R. carinatus, 455 ; R. toco, 455,

456 ; R. vitellinus, 455
Rhamphocaenus, 488
Rhamphococcyx, 352 ; R. calorhynchus,

357
VOL. IX

Rhamphocoelus, 575 ; R. brasilius, 576,

576

Rhamphocorys, 497
Rhamphodon, 426, 430, 431, 435 ;^R.

naevius, 432
Rhamphomantis, 351
Rhamphomicron heteropogon, 437 ; R.

microrhynchum, 437
Rhamphotheca, 11 ; of Ratitae, 26
Rhea, 30 f. ; breast-bone, 7 ; feathers,

32 ; fossil, 31 ; R. americana, 30 f., 31;

R. darwini, 30 f.; R. macrorhyncha, 30
Rheae, 26, 30 f., 38
Rhectes, 531, 532
Rheidae, structure, etc., 30 f.
Rheinardtius, 199, 200 ; R. ocellatus, 208
Rhinoceros-bird, 561
Rhinochetidae, 243, 263 f.
Rhinochetus, 186, 187, 243 ; habits, 265 ;

operculum of nostrils, 11 ; R. jubatus,

263 f., 264
Rhinocrypta, 490, 491 ; R. lanceolata, 490,

491
Rhinogryphus, 140, 152 ; R. aura, 140 ;

R. burrovianus, 140 ; R. perniger, 140
Rhinoplax, 390, 391 ; R. vigil, 393
Rhinopomastus, 397
Rhinoptilus, 295
Rhinortha, 351
Rhipidura, 506, 508 ; R. motacillo'ides,

508
Rhizothera dulitensis, 225 ; R. longirostris,

225

Rhodacanthis, 562-564
Rhodinocincla, 515
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea, 134
Rhodostethia, 300, 301, 304 ; R. rosea, 310
Rhopocichla, 504
Rhopodytes, 352, 357
Rhopophilus, 513
Rhopoterpe, 488
Rhyacornis, 516
Rhynchaea, 268, 270 ; male incubates,

271 ; R. australis, 292 ; R. capensis,

292 ; R. semicollaris, 292
Rhynchocyclus, 473
Rhynchopidae, 300
Rhynchopinae, 300 f., 310
Rhynchops, 301, 310; habits, 304; R. albi-

collis, 310 ; R. flavirostris, 310 ; R.

intercedens, 310 ; R.. melanura, 310 ; R.

nigra, 310
Rhynchortyx cinctus, 232 ; R. spodio-

stethus, 232
Rhynchostriithus, 583
Rhynchotus, 183 ; R. maculicollis, 184 ;

R. rufescens, 184 f., 184
Rhytidoceros plicatus, 394 ; R. subrufi-

cottis, 393 ; R. undulatus, 394
Rib, 6, 7
Rictal, 22
Ridge of bill, 20

2 S

626

INDEX

Ridged structure of vanes of feathers, 3
Ridgway, on Ardea occidentalis, 93 n. ; on

Ciconiidae, 95 n. ; on Dissura, 96 n. ;

on Humming-birds, 432 ; see Baird
Rifleman, 472, 545 n. ; -bird, 545
Riporre, 238
Rissa, 301 ; R. brevirostris, 303, 306 ; It.

tridactyla, 305 f.
Road-runner, 357
Robin, 354, 512, 515, 516 ; American,

510 ; Australian, 511 ; Cape-, 512 n. ;

Corean, 512 ; Hill-, 503 ; Indian, 512

n. ; Japanese, 512 ; Persian, 512 ; New

Zealand, 512 n.
Roc, 26, 43

Rock-hopper, 56, 58, 58
Roller, 376 f., 467 ; habits, 377 f. ; Ground-

376, 378

Rollulus, 199, 200 ; R. roulroul, 221
Roofed, of tail, 22
Rook, 552, 554, 556
Hose-sucker, 426
Rosenberg, v., on Nasiterna, 372
Rostratula, 292
Rostrhamus, 146, 147, 149 ; R. sociabilis,

17 1

Rotche, 321
Rothschild, on Apteryx, 39 ; on Bird of

Paradise, 550 ; on Drepauididae, 562

n. ; on Houbara, 262 n.
Roy, on Flight, 61 n.
Royal Birds, 136
Rubigula, 505
Rue, 43

Ruff, 234, 270, 285
Rump, 20
Rupicola, 479, 480 ; dances of, 482 ; nest,

482 f. ; R. crocea, 480
Rupicolinae, 479 f.
Rupornis viagnirostris, 167 ; R. nattereri,

167 ; R. pucherani, 167 ; R. ruficauda,

167 ; R. ridgivayi, 169 ; R. saturata,

167
Ruticilla, 509 ; R. moussieri, 512 ; R.

phoenicurus, 511

Sabre-wing, 426, 435

Saddle-back, 558

Sage-cock, 203, 234

Sagittarius, 141

Sagittate, 22

St. Hilaire, on Aepyornis, 43

Saker, 179

Salmon, on Creciscus, 249 n.

Salpinctes, 521, 522

Salpornis, 571, 572

Sattator, 575

Salvador!, on Anatidae, 111, 136 ; on Birds

of Paradise, 543 n. ; on Cassowaries, 33;

on Columbae, 325 ; on Podicipes, 52 ;

on Psittacidae, 362
Salvadorina, 113; S. ivaigiuensis, 116

Salvin, F. H., on fishing with Cormorants
79 ; and Brodrick, on Falconry, 148 n. ;
see also Freeman

Salvin, 0., on Humming Birds, 432 ; on
Lammergeier, 151 n. ; on Motmots,
380 n. ; on nest of Panyptila, 424 ;
on classification of Petrels, 59 n. ; see
Sclater

Sandeman, on Honey-guide, 452 n.

Sanderling, 282

Sand-Grouse — see Grouse, Sand-
Sand-Lark, 273

Sandpiper, 268 ; Bonaparte's, 280; Broad-
billed, 282 ; Buff-breasted, 282 ; Com-
mon, 280, 286 ; Curlew-, 280 ; Green,
271, 284 ; Marsh, 284 ; Pectoral, 280 f. ;
Purple, 281 ; Purple, male incubates,
271 ; Semipalmated, 282 ; Spoon-
billed, 282 ; Spotted, 286 ; Stilt-, 286 ;
White-winged, 283 ; Wood-, 284

Sap-sucker, 461

Sappho, 427, 434 ; S. phaon, 434 ; S.
sparganura, 434

Sarcidiornis, 111-113 ; fossil, 136 ; S.
carunculata, 134 ; S. melanonota, 134

Sarciophorus tectus, 275

Sar cog er amis, 254

Sarcophanops, 468, 469

Sarcops, 559, 561

Sarcorhamphidae, 137 f.

Sarcorhamphus, 137 ; S. gryphus, 138 f.,
139

Sasia, 464

Satin-bird, 549, 549

Saunders, on Black-headed Gull and allies,
308 ; on Laridae, 306 f. ; on Stercora-
riidae, 300

Saurognathae, 457

Sauropsida of Huxley, 1 f.

Saurothera, 351, 357

Sauzier, bones of Dodo, 330

Savannah-blackbird, 359

Savery, figure of Dodo, 329 f.

Saxicola, 509-511

Saxicoline, 516

Sayornis, 475, 476

Scales, nature of, 2 n.

Scaniornis, fossil, 108

Scapula, 7, 8, 8 ; unites with coracoids in
Fregata, 72

Scapulars, 20, 22

Scapus, 3

Scardafella, 335, 340 f. ; S. inca, 341 ; S.
squamosa, 341

Scaup, 121

Scdoglaux, 398, 400, 401 ; S. albifacies,

. 408

Scenopoeetes, 544, 550 ; S: dentirostris,
549, 551

Schistospiza, 583 f.

Schizoeaca, 484

Schizorhis, 360 ; S. concolor, 361

INDEX

627

Schlegelia, 545, 550 ; £ respublica, 547

Schomburgk, on Rupicola, 482

Scissirostrum, 559, 561

Scissor-bill, 310

Sclater, on classification, 14; edits transla-
tion of Nitzscli's Pteryloyraphie, 2 n ;
on geographical distribution, 15 f. ; on
Alectorides and Fulicariae, 243 ; on
Anatidae, 113 ; on method of feeding in
Cormorant, 78 n. ; on Cotingiclae, 479 ;
on Dendrocolaptidae, 484 ; on Forini-
eariidae, 488 ; on Galbulidae and Bucco-
nidae, 445 n. ; on Icteridae, 579 ; on
incubation of Ostrich, 29 ; on classifi-
cation of Passeres, 467 ; on Penguins,
56 n., 57 n. ; on Picariae, 376 ; on
Pipridae, 477 n. ; on Khamphastidae,
455 ; on Tanagridae, 575 n. ; on Tyran-
nidae, 473 ; and Hudson, on Aramus,
257 n. ; and Hudson, on Bitterns, 88
n. ; and Salvin, on Ptilochloris biickleyi,
479 ii.

Sderoptila, 226

Sclerurinae, 484 f.

Sderurus, 486

Scolephagus, 581 ; fossil, 496

Scolopaciuae, 268, 269, 271, 289

Scolopax, 268-270; drumming, 272, 291;
S. megala, 270 ; S. minor, 270 ; S.
rochusseni, 290 ; S. rusticula, 289 f.,
290 ; S. saturata, 290 ; S. stenura, 270

Scopidae, 70, 86 f., 95

Scops, 398, 399, 401, 403, 412 ; S. asio,
413 ; S. brucii, 413 ; S. capnodes, 413 ;
S. flammeola, 413 ; S. giu, 412 f. ; S.
;/i/i/iiif>pus, 398, 413 ; S. icterorhynchus,
413 ; S. leucotis, 413 ; S. magicus, 411,
413 ; S. nudipes, 398, 413 ; & rutilus,
413 ; S. semitorques, 412

Scoptelus, 397

Scopus, 86, 87, 265 ; habits, 95 ; S. um-
bretta, 94, 95

Scoter, 119 ; habits, 120 ; Surf, 120 ; Vel-
vet, 119

Scotopelia,' 398, 400 ; £ bouvieri, 414 ; S.
peli, 414 ; S. ussheri, 414

Scotornis dimacurus, 418

Screamer, Crested, 110 ; Horned, 110

Scrub-bird, 491

Scutellae, 10

Scutellated, 10

Scutelliplantar, 496

Scytolopus, 490 ; S. magellanicus, 491

Scythrops, 351 ; S. novae hollandiae, 356

Sea-Eagle, habits, 163 f . ; -Hen, 305 ;
-Pheasant, 125 ; -Pie, 276 ; -Swallow,
303, 311

Secondaries, 20, 22

Secretarius, 141

Secretary- Bird, 137, 141, 141, 258 ;
habits, 142 f.

Seebohm, on Sula, 74 a.

Seed-Snipe, 268, 296
Seena aurantia, 314
Selasphorus platycercus, 438 ; S. rufus,

427, 438
Selenidera, 454, 456 ; S. piperivora, 456 ;

S. spectabilis, 456
Seleucides, 544, 550, 551 ; S. ignotus,

545

Semi-rings of bronchi, 21
Semioptera, 545, 550, 551 ; S. wallacii,

548

Senex, 152, 153 ; S. australis, 152
Septum, of nostrils, 11
Sericornis, 518
Sericossypha, 575
Sericulus, 550, 551 ; S. melimts, 549, 551,

552

Seriema, 243, 258, 259, 260
Serilophus, 469
Serin, 584
Serinus canarius, 585 ; S. canicollist

585 ; S. hortulanus, 584
Serpentaviidae, 137, 141 f.
Serpentarius secretarius, 141, 141 ; habits,
142 f . ; S. robustus, fossil in France,
143

Serpophaga, 475-477
Serrated bill, 12

Serresius, 326 ; S. galeatus, 346
Setophaga, 573, 574 ; S. ruticilla, 512 n.
Settler's Clock, 386
Shag, 75, 77
Shaheen, 179
Shank, 9

Sharpe, on genus Ardea, 91 n. ; on Birds
of Paradise, 543 n. ; on Brachypteri
and Cisticolae, 513 : on Eudromias, 270
n. ; on plumage of Falcouidae, 157 ; on
Ortyxdus, 295 n. ; families of Oscines,
list of, 495; on Owls, 400; onPodicipes,
52 n. ; on.Sturnidae, 559 ; on Strix, 404 ;
on Thamnobiae, 510 ; on Timeliidae, 502
Sheartail, Peruvian, 438
Shearwater, 61-63, 65, 66 ; Manx, 68
Sheath-bill, 268 ; bill, 11
Sheld-Drake, 114, 128. 128 ; Ruddy, 129
Shell-Ibis, 97

Shelley on Capitonidae, 449 ; on Cuculidae,
351 ; on Promerops (Nectariniidae),
568 n. ; on Weaver-birds, 576 n.
Shield, frontal or on bill, 12
Shikra, 157
Shoe-bill, 93, 94
Shoulder-girdle, 8
Shoveller, 114, 124

Shrike, 473, 531 f. ; Cuckoo-, 525 f.; Great
Grey, 534, 534 ; Grey Coly-, 527, 527 ;
Lesser Grey, 534 ; Red-backed, 535 ;
Wood-, 535 ; Woodchat-, 534
Shufeldt, on Gypselus mdanoleuctts, 421 n.
Sialia, 509, 510, 515, 51 7
Sibia, 502

628

INDEX

Sibree, on Coua, 357 n. ; on Leptosoma,

379 n.
Sigelus, 355
Sigmodus, 532
Simorhynchus, 316, 318 ; S. cristatellus,

318 ; S.pusillus, 318 ; S.pygmaeus, 318
Siptornis albiceps, 485 ; & hudsoni, 487 ;

& maluroides, 487 ; & sordida, 486,

487 ; <£ striaticeps, 487 ; 5. sulphur i-

fera, 487
Sirkeer, 357
Siskin, 584

Sisura, 506, 509 ; 5. inquieta, 508
StteWo, 537, 538

Sttta, 537, 538 ; 5. cama, 537, 538
Sittidae, 494, 536 f. ; habits, 538
Sittiparus, 503
SMosomus, 484, 487
Siurus, 573, 574
Siva, 502

Skeat, on the name Parrot, 362
Skeleton, 5 f. ; appendicular, 5 ; axial, 5

f. ; of Carinate Bird, 8 ; of trunk of

Falcon, 7

Skimmer, 300, 304
Skin, 2 n.
Skua, 81, 268, 300-303 ; Arctic, 305 ;

Button's, 305; Great, 302, 304; Pomato-

rhine, 305

Skull, 10 f. ; of Wild Duck, 11
Slater, bones of Solitaire, 331
Smew, 115, 116
Smicromis, 506, 509
Smithornis, 506, 509
Snake-Bird, 79, 465
Snipe, 268, 270; bill, 11; Common,

290 f. ; Double, 291 ; Full, 290 ; Jack,

292 ; Painted, 292 ; Piu-tailed, 292 ;

Solitary, 291 ; Wood-, 291
Snow-Cock, 229 ; -Partridge, 230 ; -Pheas-
ant, 229

Solan Goose, 73, 75, 302
Solitaire, 325 ; habits, 331 ; of Bourbon,

330 ; of Rodriguez, 328, 330 f.
Somateria, 114 ; S. dresseri, 118 ; S. mol-

lissima, 118 f. ; S. spectabilis, 111, 118

f. ; S. v-nigrum, 118
Sporaeginthus, 579
Sparrow, 584, 586 ; -Hawk, see Hawk,

Sparrow- ; Hedge-, 354, 512, 515-517 ;

House-, 584 ; Java-, 577 ; Song-, 586
Spathura, 427, 437 f.
Spatula, 111 ; S. capensis, 124 ; S. cly-

peata, 124 ; S. platalea, 124 ; £ rhyn-

chotis, 124
Spatulate, 12, 22
Species of Birds, 15
Speculum, 22 ; in ducks, 114 f.
Speed of flight, 20
Spel of Capercaillie, 237
Speotyto, 398-402 ; & cunicularia, 400 f.,

409 f., 410

Sperling, on Sooty Tern, 312 u.
Spermestes, 577

Sphecotheres, 542, 543 ; S. maxillaris, 543 ;
Sphenisci, 54 f. ; fingers, 9 ; metatarsals,

10
Spheniscidae, 54 f., 71, 109 ; habits,

55 f.

Sphenisciformes, 54 f., 59
Spheniscus, 55 ; S. demersus, 57 ; S.

magellanicus, 57 ; S. mendiculus, 57 ; S.

minor, 56, 57
Sphenocercus, 326, 349 ; S. formosae, 350 ;

S. permagnus, 350 ; S. sieboldi, 350 ;

S. sororius, 350 ; & sphenurus, 349 f.
Sphenocichla, 521
Sphenoea,cus, 491 n., 514
Sphenoproctus, 427, 435
Sphenostoma, 538-540
Sphenura, 517

Sphyropicus, 461 ; S. varius, 458, 461
Spicules beneath toes — see Toes
Spiloglaux novae zealandiae, 409
Spilornis. 154 ; S. cheela, 154 ; S. holo-

spilus, 154 ; S. sulaensis, 154 ; S. undu-

latus, 154
Spinal cord, 5
Spindalis, 575
Spiza, 583 ; S. guiraca, 587
Spizaetus, 160 ; S. coronatus, 160 ; S.

ornatus, 160 ; S. tyranmis, 160
Spiziapteryx, 146 ; S. circumcinctus, 174
Spiziastiir melanoleucus, 161
Spizilauda deva, 496
Spizixus, 504, 505

Spodiopsar, 561 ; S. burmanicus, 560
Spoonbill. 70, 99 f., 104 ; bill, 12 ; habits,

103

Sporadinus, 433
Sporaeginthus amandava, 577
Spring moult, 4 f.
Spur-fowl, 218
Squamosal, 11
Square-, of tail, 22
Squatarola helvetica, 272
Squatter, 337
Stachyridopsis, 503
Stachyris, 504
Stactolaema anchietae, 450 ; S. olicaceum,

450

Standard wing, 548
Starling, 559, 560, 560-562 ; habits, 561

f. ; American, 579 ; Red-winged, 580 ;

Tree-, 559

Starnoenas, 327 ; S. cyanocephala, 335
Steatornis, 417 ; nest, 419 ; S. caripensis,

419

Steatornithidae, 415, 419
Steering feathers, 21

Steganopodes, 70 f. ; nostrils, 12 ; toes, 10
Steganopodous, 71
Steganopus ivilsoni, 279
Stegnolaema montaynii, 197

INDEX

629

Stejneger, classification, 14 ; families of

Oscines, list, 495 ; on Stercorariinae, 300
Stelgidopteryx, 522-524
Stephanophorus, 575
Stercorariidae, 300

Stercorariinae, 300 f., 304 ; habits, 302 f.
Stercorarius crepidatits, 301, 305 ; S. para-

siticus, 301, 305 ; S. pomatorhinus, 301,

305 ; S. richardsoni, 305
Stereornithes, 25, 43 f., 260 ; structure, 44 f.
Sterna, 301, 311 ; S. albigena, 313 ; S.

albistriata, 314 ; S. aleutica, 312 ; S.

anaestheta, 312 ; S. antillarum, 311 ;

S. balaenarum, 312 ; S. bergii, 312 ; S.

bernsteini, 312 ; S. cantiaca, 312 ; S.

dougalli, 304, 313 ; S. elegans, 312 ; S.

eurygnatha, 312 ; S. fluviatilis, 313,

313 ; S. forsteri, 314 ; S.frontalis, 312 ;

S. fuliginosa, 312 ; S. hirundinacea,

313 ; S.longipennis,3I3; S. lorata, 312;

S. lunata, 312 ; S. macrura, 313 ; S.

maxima, 312 ; S. media, 312 ; S. melan-

auchen, 311 ; S. melanogastzr, 314 ; S.

minuta, 311 ; S. nereis, 312 ; S. saun-

dersi, 311 ; S. sinensis, 311 ; £ super -

ciliaris, 311 f . ; & trudeaui, 311 ; &

virgata, 313 ; £ vittata, 313
Sterninae, 300 f., 310 f. ; habits, 303 f.
Sternotracheal muscles, two pairs in An-

seriformes, 108
Sternum, 6, 7, 8
Stictonetta, 111 ; S. naevosa, 123
Stictospiza, 579
Stilt, 277, 278
Stint, Little, 279 f., 282 ; Temminck's,

280

Stiphrornis, 514
Stipiturus, 514, 517
Stirling and Zietz on Genyornis, 38 n.
Stitch bird, 567, 568
Stock Eagle, 463
Stolzmann on Loddigesia, 437
Stomach, 12
Stone-Curlew, see Curlew, Stone-; -Runner,

273

Stonechat, 511, 516
Stonehatch, 273
Stork, 70, 86, 95 f., 105, 148 ; habits, 96 ;

Black, 99 ; Saddle- billed, 98 ; White,

96, 97, 98, 99
Strepera, 532
Strepsilas, 268 ; S. interpres, 276 ; S.

melanocephahis, 276
Streptocitta, 561
Striated feathers, 4
Strickland, on Ae.pt/ornis, 43 ; on Widow

bird, 577 n. ; and Melville, on Dodo,

329 n. ; on Solitaire, 331 n.
Striges, 376, 397 f. ; clavicles do not

always unite, 8 ; toes, 10
Strigidae, 398 f. ; habits, 400 f.
Striginae, 398, 403

Stringopinae, 362 f., 366 f.

Stringops, 362, 364; little keel to sternum,

7, 26 ; S. habroptilus, 366, 366
Strix, 398, 399, 402 ; fossil, 415 ; -&

aurantiaca, 404 ; S. Candida, 404 ; S.

capensis, 404 ; S. castanops, 404 ; S.

flammea, 400, 403 f., 404; S. novae

hollandiae, 404 ; S. tenebricosa, 404
Struthidea, 552, 557 f.
Struthio, toes and claws, 10 ; S. asiaticus,

fossil, 27 ; S. australis, 27 ; S. camelus,

27 f., 28 ; S. chersonensis, fossil, 27 ; S.

karatheodori, fossil, 27 ; S. molybdo-

phanes, 27

Struthiolithus chersonensis, fossil, 27
Struthiones, 27 f., 38
Struthionidae, structure, etc., 27
Sturnella, 500, 581, 582 ; S. defilippii,

500 ; & magna, 500, 580
Sturnellinae, 579 f.
Sturnia, 559
Sturnidae, 494, 558 n., 559 ; fossil, 496 ;

habits, 561 f.

Sturnopastor, 559, 562 ; S. contra, 560
Sturnornis, 559
Sturnus, 559 ; S. unicolor, 560 ; S. vul-

garis, 560, 560, 561
Subclamatores, 467
Sub-classes of Aves, 23
Suboscines, 467
Sub-regions, 17
Sugar-bird, 573
Sula, 70-72 ; fossil, 86 ; S. abbotti, 74 ;

S. bassana, 73, 74 ; S. capensis, 73 ;

S. cyanops, 74 ; S. leucog aster, 74 ; S.

piscator, 74 ; S. serrator, 73 ; S. varie-

gata, 74

Sulidae, 70, 73 ; habits, 75
Sultan-bird, 539
Sun-bird, 355, 427, 568 f. ; habits, 569 f. ;

Splendid, 569

Sun-bittern, 243, 266 f., 266
Supra-angular, 11 ; -occipital, 11
Surf- bird, 270
Surnia, 398, 399 ; S. funerea, 411 ; S.

ulula, 401, 411
Surniculus, 352, 353 ; S. dicruro'ides,

mimicry, 529 ; S. lugubris, 355
Suthora, 502, 503
Swallow, 420, 522 f., 524 f., 524 ; habits,

524 f. ; moult, 5 ; -tail, 435 ; -wing,
448 ; Bank-, 525 ; Chimney-, 422 ; Cliff-,

525 ; Sea-, 303 ; Wood-, 530 f.

Swan. 114, 135 f. ; habits, 114 ; marks,
136 ; trachea enters keel of sternum, 13 ;
young, 135 f. ; Bewick's, 136 ; Black,
135, 136 ; Mute, 135, 136 ; Polish,
135 ; Tame, 135

Swift, 419 f., 522 ; breast-bone, 6 f. ; habits,
421 f. ; toes, 10 ; Alpine, 424 ; Ameri-
can Chimney, 421 ; Common, 421, 424,
425 ; Palm-, 421, 425 f. ; Tree-, 422

630

INDEX

Sycalis, 586 ; S. pelzelni, 586

Sycobrotus, 57 '8

Sylvia, 517, 518

Sylvidla, 514

Sylviidae, 494, 495

Sylviinae, 494, 506, 509, 513, 573 ; fossil,

496 ; habits, 517
Sylviorthorhynchus, 484
Syma, 382 ; 8. torotoro, 386
Symnorphu*, 525, 526
Symphemia, 284
Symphysis, 21
Synallaxinae, 484 f.
Synallaxis, 484, 486, 487 ; 8. semicinerea,

485
Synoecus, 200 ; S. australis, 219 ; £

raalteni, 220
Synthliborhamphus, 316 ; A antiquus,

318 ; £. wumizusume, 318
Sypheotis, 260 ; 5. cwm'to, 262
Syrigma sibilatrix, 90
Syrinx, 13, 21 f.
Syrnium, 399, 402 ; A albigulare, 406 ;

£ oluco, 405 ; S. cinereum, 400, 405 ;

S. indranee, 405 ; $. lapponicum, 405 ;

£ leptogrammicum, 405 ; /S1. nebulosum,

406 ; & newarense, 405 ; & nivicola,

405 ; 5. nuchale, 406 ; X occidentale,

406 ; & ocellatum, 405 ; & perspicil-
latum, 406 ; £ rufipes, 406 ; £ sinense,

405 ; £ uralense, 405 ; £ virgatum,

406 ; £ woodfordi, 406
Syrrhaptes, 322-324 ; padded foot, 322 ;

no hallux, 322 ; £ paradoxus, 322,
323, 323, 324 ; breeding, 325 ; & tf&e-
, 323, 324

Taccocua, 351, 352 ; T. sirkee, 357
Tachornis, 425 f. ; 2*. squamata, 425
Tachycineta, 522, 523, 525 ; T. albiventris,

524 ; T. leucorrhous, 525
Tachyeres,^ 112, ]13 ; T. cinereus, 121
Tachyornis, 315 n. ; fossil, 426
Taczanowski and Stolzmann, on Loddigesia,

437 n.
Tadorna, 112 ; T. cornuta, 111, 113, 128,

128 ; T. rod/afc, 128
Taenioptera, 473, 475-477 ; ^. dominicana,

475

Taeniopterinae, 473 f.
Tail, 20 ; in Archaeopteryx, 25 ; coverts,

20 ; functionless in Tinamidae, 182 ; in

Woodpecker, 457
Tailor-bird, 518
Talegallus, 190 f. ; T. cuvieri, 192 ; T.

fuscirostris, 193 ; T.jobiensis, 193
Tanager, 575 f. ; habits, 576 ; Brazilian,

576

Tanagra, 575, 576
Tanagridae, 575 f., 582 ; habits, 576
Tan-cho, 254
Tantalus, 95, 99 ; fossil in France, 99 ; T.

cinereus, 97 ; T. ibis, 96, 97 ; T. leuco-

cephalus, 97 ; T. loculator, 97
Tanysiptera, 383 ; T. dea, 385 ; T.

nympha, 385 ; T. sabrina, 385
Taoniscus, 183, 186
Taoperdix, fossil, 240
Tapaculo, 491

Taphaetus branchicdis, fossil, 181
Tapinopus, fossil, 251
Tarapo, 366
Tarrock, 306
Tarsiger, 513, 516
Tarso-metatarsus, 8, 10
Tarsus, 10
Taste, in Birds, 12
Tatare, 515

Tatton on Didus borbonicus, 330
Taxaspidean, 471
Tchitrea, 507
Teal, 125 f.
Tectrices, 21
Teeth, 12, 25 ; of Archaeopteryx, 24 ; of

Hesperornis, 46 f. ; of Ichthyornis, 49
Tegetmeier, on breeds of Pigeons, 327 n. ;

on Fowls, 208 n. ; 011 Pheasants, 212 n.
Telephonus, 532
Telespiza, 583
Telmatornis, fossil, 251
Temenuchus, 559
Temnurtis truncatus, 553
Tephrocorys cinerea, 498
Teracus littoralis, fossil, 181
Terekia cinerea, 286
Terenum, 488, 489
Teretistris, 573
Terminology, 20 f.
Tern, 82, 268, 300, 301, 310 f. ; habits,

303 f. ; Arctic, 313 ; Black, 314 ; Cas-
pian, 304, 314 ; Common, 313, 313 ;

Gull-billed, 314; Least, 304, 311;

Lesser, 311 ; Marsh-, 314 ; Noddy, 303,

310 f. ; Roseate, 313 ; Sandwich, 312 ;

Sooty, 303, 312 ; Whiskered, 314 f . ;

White-winged Black, 314
Terpsiphone, 506, 507, 509 ; T. mutata,

508 ; T. paradisi, 507, 508
Tertials, 22
Tern-tern, 275
Tetragonops, 448, 449 ; T. frantzii, 451 ;

T. rhamphastinus, 451
Tetrao, 200, 202 ; T. kamtschaticus," 237 ;

T. medius, 237 ; T. parvirostris, 237 ;

T. urogallo'ides, 237 ; T. urogallus, 200-

202, 236 f. ; T. urogallus, fossil, 241 ;

T. uralensis, 236
Tetraogallus, 202 ; T. altaicus, 229 ; T.

caspius, 229 : T. caucasicus, 229 ; T.

henrici, 229 ; T. himcdayensis, 229 ; T.

tibetanus, 229

Tetraonidae, claws shed, 5 n.
Tetraoninae, 198-201, 204, 233 f. ; shed

horny fringes of toes, 203

INDEX

Tetraophasis obscurus, 229 ; T. szechenyii,

230

Tetrapteryx, 252, 255
Tetrastes, 199, 203, 234
Textor, 579 ; T. albirostris, 578
Tlwlassaetus, 146 ; T. branickii, 163 ; T.

pelagicus, 163
Thalassiornis leuconota, 118
Thalassoeca antarctica, 67
Thalassogeron, 65
Thamnistes, 489

Thamnobia, 510, 512 n., 513, 516
Thamnobiae, of Sharpe, 510, 513
Thamnocharis, 489
Thamnomanes, 488, 489
Thanmophilinae, 488 f.
Thamnophilus, 489 ; T7. albinuckalis,

489

Thaumastura cora, 438
Thaumatibis, 99 ; J. gigantea, 102
Theristicus, 100 ; T. branickii, 102 ; T.

caudatus, 101 ; T7. melanopis, 102
Thigh, 22
Thinocorys orbignianus, 296 ; T7. rumi-

civorus, 296
Thinocorythidae, 268-270, 296 ; habits,

296

Thinornis novae zealandiae, 274
Thornbill, 437, 438 f.
Thorn-bird, 487

Thrasaetus, 146, 147 ; T. harpy ia, 159
Thraupis, 575
Throat, 20
Thrush, 509 f., 515 ; Babbling, 503 ;

Ground-, 510, 515 ; Mistletoe-, 510, 511 ;

Hock-, 510, 515, 516 ; Song-, 510, 515,

516 ; Water-, 574— see also Redwing,

Fieldfare

Thryophihis plenrostictus, 522
Thryothorus, 521
Thumb, 8
Thyrorhina, 244
Tiaris, 584
Tibia, 9

Tibio-tarsus, 8, 9

Tichodroma, 571 ; T. muraria, 571
Tickellia, 514
Ticks, on Cypselus, 425 n.
Tiercel, 178
Tiga javanensis, 462 f.
Tiger- Bittern, 90

Tigrisoma, 87, 90 ; T. brasiliense, 90
Tigrornis, 87 ; T7. leucolophus, 90
Tijuca, 479, 480

Timelia, 502-504 ; T7. maculata, 503
Timeliae, 502
Tirneliidae, 501 f., 504, 506, 510 n., 51 3 n.;

habits, 503
Timpoy, 223
Tinami, 182 f.
Tinamidae, 182 f. ; functionless tail, 26 ;

habits, 183 ; quadrate-bone, 26

Tinamiformes, 182 f. ; position of the
Order, 182, 186

Tinamotis, 182, 186 ; T. ingoufi, 184

Tinamou, 183 f. ; habits, 183 ; Great, 184

Tinamus, 183, 184 ; T. tao, 184

Tinker-bird, 449

Tinnunculus, 175 ; T. alaudarius, 175 ;
T. alopex, 176 ; T. caribbaearum, 176 ;
T. cenchris, 175 ; T. cenchro'ides, 176 ;
T. cinnamominus, 176 ; T. dominicensis,
176; T. gracilis, 176: T. isabellinus,
176 ; T.japonicus, sub-species, 175 ; T.
moluccensis, 176 ; T. neglectus, sub-
species, 175 ; T. newtoni, 176 ; T. peki-
nensis, 176 ; T. punctatus, 176 ; T.
rupicoloides, 176 ; T. rupicolus, 176 ; T.
saturatus, sub-species, 175 ; T. sparveri-
o'ides, 176 ; T. sparverius, 149, 176

Tit, habits, 540 ; Bearded, 541 f. ; Blue,
539, 540 ; Bottle-, 540 ; Coal-, 539 ;
Crested, 539, 540 ; Great, 539, 539, 540 ;
Long-tailed, 539, 540 ; Marsh-, 539

Tityra, 480 ; T. semifasciata, 482, 483

Tityrinae, 479 f.

Tmetotrogon, 441, 442 ; T. rhodog aster,
444

Todinae, 379 f., 381 f. ; habits, 382

Todirostrum, 473, 477 ; T. cinereum,
474 f.

Todus, 381 ; T. hypochondriacus, 382 : T.
multicolor, 382 ; T. subulatus, 382 ; ^T.
viridis, 382, 382

Tody, 376, 379 f., 382 ; habits, 382

Toes, 10, 20 ; in Archaeopteryx, 25 ; in
Grouse and Lerwa, 199 ; of Hesperornis,
47 ; only two anterior in Cholornis, 502 ;
with spicules below, in Owls, 398 ; in
Falconiclae, 146 ; in Pandion, 180 ; re-
versible outer in Pandion, 180 ; shed
horny fringes of, in Tetraoninae, 203 f. ;
of Struthionidae, 27 ; in various fami-
lies, 10

Tomia, 20

Toniinejo, 426

Tongue, 12 ; in Coerebidae, 572 ; in
Dicaeidae, 570 ; in Drepanididae, 562 ;
in Meliphagidae, 564 ; in Mniotiltidae,
573 ; in Nectariniidae, 569 ; in Picidae,
457, 465 ; in Trochilidae, 427 ; in Zos-
ter opidae, 568

Topaz, Crimson, 436

Topaza pella, 436 ; T. pyra, 436

Torillo, 188 n.

Tortola cordillerana, 339

Tortolita, 340

Totaninae, 278

Totanus, 268, 269, 283 ; fossil, 300 ; T.
brevipes, 285 ; T. calidris, 283 ; T.
flavipes, 283 f. ; T. fuscus, 283 ; T.
glareola, 284 ; T. glottis, 284 ; T.
guttifer, 284 ; T. hypoleuciis, 270 ; T.
incanus, 284, 285 ; T. melanoleucus.

632

INDEX

284 ; T. ochropus, 284 ; . T. semipal-

matus, 269, 284 ; T. solitarius, 284 ; T.

stagnatilis, 284
Toucan, 390, 445, 448, 451, 453 f. ; habits,

454 f. ; Ariel, 455
Trachea convoluted, in Aramidae, 256 ;

in Manucodia and Phonygammus, 545 ;

in Platalea, 100 ; in Rhynchaea, 270 ;

dilatation, 13 ; dilated in Chauna, 109

n. ; enlarged or with " labyrinth " in Ana-

tidae, 113 ; looped in Anseranas, 113 ;

in Cracidae, 195 ; in Rhynchaea, 292 ;

in Tantalus ibis, 96 ; in Tetrao urogallus

and Guttera, 200 ; penetrates keel of

sternum in certain Swans, 112 ; in

Cranes, 252 ; use and formation, 13
Tracheal syrinx, 22
Trachelotis, 260, 262 ; T. caerulescens,

262

Tracheo-bronchial syrinx, 22
Tracheophonae, 466, 483
Tracheophones, 466
Trachycomus, 505
Trachyphomis, 450 ; T. cafer, 450 f. ; T.

margaritatus, 451
Tragopan, 216, 217 ; Cabot's, 217
Tragopan, 199
Train-bearer, 434
Transverse process of vertebra, 6
Transylvanus, Maximiliauus, on Bird of

Paradise, 543

Traversia, 472 ; T. lyalli, 472
Treron nasica, 349 ; T. nipalensis, 349
Treroninae, 325 f., 344
Triarctic, 16
Tribonyx, 244, 245 ; T. effluxus, fossil,

251 ; T. mortieri, 249 ; T, roberti, fossil,

251 ; T. ventralis, 249
Trichoglossidae, 351, 362 f., 373 f.
Trichoglossus, 364, 373 ; T. novae hoi-

landiae, 373
Tricholaema, 448, 449 ; T. leucomelan,

450

Tricholestes, 504, 505
Tricholimnas, 245 ; T. lafresnayi, 247
Trichophoropsis, 504
Tridactylous, 457 n.
Tringa, 268, 269 ; fossil, 300 ; T acumi-

nata, 281 ; T. alpina, 279 ; T. bairdi

280 ; T. canutus, 281 ; T. couesi, 281
T, crassirostris, 282 ; T.fuscicollis, 280
T, maculata, 280 f. ; T. maritima, 281
T. minuta, 279 f. ; T. minutilla, 279 f.
T. platyrhyncha, 268 ; T. ptilocnemis,

281 ; T. rufaollis, 279 ; T. striata,
281 ; T. subarquata, 280 ; T. sub-
minuta, 280 ; T. temmincki, 280

Tdnginae, 268, 269, 271, 278 f.
Triptorhinus, 490 ; T. paradoxus, 490,

491
Trochalopterum, 504 ; T. chrysopterum,

502 ; T. phoeniceum, 502

Trochilidae, 419, 420, 426 f. ; habits, 428

f. ; operculum of nostrils, 11
Trochilinae, 435
Tpox/\o?, 295, 426
Trochilus, 426 ; T. alexandri, 438 ; T.

colubris, 427, 438
Trochocercus, 506
Troglodytes, 521 ; T. aedon, 522 ; T.

domesticus, 522 ; T. formosus, 521 ; T.

parvulus, 521

Troglodytidae, 494, 509, 521 f.
Trogon, 441-443 ; habits, 442 f.
Trogon ambigmis, 442 ; T. gallicus, fossil,

445 ; T. mexicanus, 443 ; T.surucura, 443
Trogones, 376, 441
Trogonidae, 441 f. ; habits, 442 f.
Tropic-bird, 70, 72, 73 ; habits, 72 f.
Tro-tro, 223
Trouessart, on Geographical Distribution,

16

True rib, 6

Trumpeter, 243, 257 f., 257
Tryngites rufescens, 282
Tsipoy, 223
Tuberculum of rib, 6
Tubinares, 59 f. ; nostrils, 11
Tui, 567 567
Tumbler, 327
Turacin, 3 n., 360
Turaco, Green-mantled, 360
Turacoena, 326 ; T. menadensis, 343 ; T.

modesta, 343
Turacus, 360 ; T. corythaix, 361 ; T.

fischeri, 361
Turdidae, 494, 509 f.
Turdinae, 506, 509 f. ; habits, 515 f.
Turdinus, 503
Turdus, 510 ; fossil. 496 ; T. hancii, 510 ;

T. horsfieldi, 510 ; T. iliacus, 510 ; T.

merula, 510 ; T. migratorius, 510 ; T.

musicus, 510; T. pilaris, 510; T.

torquatus, 510 ; T. varius, 510 ; T.

viscivorus, 510, 511
Turkey, 198, 201, 203 ; habits, 206 ;

origin of domestic, 206 n. ; specific

name, 206 n. ; Brush-, 192, 193 ; -Buz-
zard, 138, 140, 152 ; Native, 262
Turnagra, 509, 510, 513, 516
Turnices, 186, 187
Turnicidae, 186, 187
Turnix, 187, 188; habits, 188; T. albi-

ventris, 189 ; T. blanfordi, 189 ; T.

castanonota, 189 ; T. dussumieri, 189 ;

T. fasciata, 188 ; T. hottentotta, 189 ;

T. leucogaster, 189 ; T. maculosa, 189 ;

T. melanog aster, 189 ; T. nana, 189 ; T.

nigricollis, 189 ; T. ocellata, 187, 189 ;

T. powelli, 189 ; T. pugnax, 188 ; T.

pyrrhothorax, 189 ; T. ritfilata, 188 ; T.

saturata, 189 ; T. sylvatica, 187, 188 n.

189 ; T. taigoor, 188 ; T. tanki, 189 ;

T. varia, 189 ; T. velox, 189

INDEX

633

Turnstone, 276

Turtur, 326, 334, 341 ; T. abbotti, 341 ;

T. aldabranus, 341 ; T. comorensis, 341 ;

T. communis, 341 ; T. coppingeri, 341 ;

T. douraca, 341 ; T. dussumieri, 341 ;

T. isabellinus, 341 ; T. orientates, 341 ;

T. picturatus, 341 ; T. risorius, a cage-
bird, 341 ; T. restrains, 341 ; T. senega-

lensis, 342 ; T. semitorquatus, 341 ; T.

tigrinus, 341
Turturoena, 327, 328 ; T. delegorgii,

343 ; T. iriditorques, 343 ; T. sharpii,

343

Turumti, 178
Tylas, 504, 505 ; T. eduardi, 533 ;

mimicry, 533
Tympanic cavity, 11
Tympaniform membrane, 13, 21
Tympanistria, 327 ; T. bicolor, 339
Tympanuchus, air-sacs, 201 ; T. ameri-

canus, 235 ; T. cupido, 235 ; T.pallidi-

cinctus, 235
Tyrannidae, 469, 473, 479, 494 ; habits,

475 f.

Tyranniuae, 473 f.
Tyrannulus, 474

Tyrannus, 473-476 ; T. pipiri, 474
Tyrant-bird, habits, 475 f.
Tystie, 319

Uintornis, fossil, 465

Ulna, 8, 8 ; its quills, 22

Umbrella-bird, 481, 481

Umbrette, 70

Unfeathered spaces, or apteria, 2

Uncinate process, of ribs, 6, 7 ; absent

in Archaeopteryx, 23 ; in Palamedeidae,

108

Upper arm -bone, 8
Upucerthia, 486
Upupa africana, 397 ; U. epops, 396 f.,

396 ; U. indica, 397 ; U. marginata,

397 ; U. somalensis, 397
Upupidae, 390, 395 f.

Upupinae, 390, 395 f. ; habits, 395 f.

Uranornis, 545, 546

Uratelornis, 378 ; U. chimaera, 378

Una, 315 ; fossil, 321 ; U. arra, 320 ; U.
briinnichi, 319 ; U. calif arnica, sub-
species, 319 ; U. troile, 319

Uroaetus, 146 ; U. audax, 163

Urobrachya, 577

Urocichla, 521, 522

Urocissa, 552, 554

Urodrepanis, 569

Urogalba amazonum, 446 ; U. paradisea,
446

Urolestes, 532, 534

Uroleuca, 552

Uropelia campestris, 340

Uropygium, 20

Urospatha martii, 380 f.

Urosticte, 427

Urubitinga anthracina, 168 ; £7. zonura,
167 .

Vanellus, 268-270, 274 f. ; V.
275 ; F. chilensis, 275 ; F. coronatus,
275 ; F. cristatus, .275 ; F. inornatus,
275 ; F. melanqpterus, 275 ; F. re-
splendens, 275

Vanes, 2

F<wi#a, 533

Vaulted, of tail, 22

Vent, 20

Ventral, 22

Ventriculus, 12

Verreaux, on Secretary-bird, 142 n.

Verreauxia, 464

Vertebrae, cervical, dorsal, sacral, pelvic,
caudal, 5 f. ; of Woodpecker, 6

Vertebral Column, 5

Vertebrarterial foramen, 6

Vertebrata, difference of Birds from other,
1 f.

Vertex, 20

Vestiaria, 562, 564 ; F. coccinea, 563,
564

Vexillum, 2

Vidua, 577, 578; V. principalis, 577

Viduinae, 576 f.

Vigors, on Toucan, 454 n.

Vinago, 348, 349 ; F. australis, 349 ; F.
calva, 325, 349 ; F. crassirostris, 349 ;
F. waalia, 349

Fireo, 536

Vireolanius, 536 ; F. melitophrys, 536 ;
F. pulchellus, 536

Vireonidae, 536

Vireoninae, 531

Vireosylvia, 536

Vizor-bearer, 432

Vogt, on Archaeopteryx, 23 n.

Voice-muscles, 13

Voice, organs of, 12 f.

Volatinia, 585

Vomer, 11

Vorondreo, 378

Vosmaer, on Secretary -Ibird, 141

Vultur, 143 ; fossil, 145 ; F. cinereus,
143 ; F. monachus, 143

Vulture, 148, 149 ; Bearded, 150
Black (of New World), 138, 140
Black (of Old World), 143, 145.n.
Californian, 139; Eared, 144; Egyptian,
145, 145 n. ; Griffon, 143, 144 ; King-,
139, 144 ; New- World, 137 f. ; habits,
137 f. ; Old- World, 137, 143 f. ; Pondi-
cherry, 144 ; White-backed, 145

Vulturidae, 137, 143 f., 150, 151

Wagner, on Archaeopteryx (Griphosaurus),

23
Wagtail, 498 f. ; habits, 500 f . ; moult, 5 ;

634

INDEX

Blue-headed, 500 ; Grey, 500 ; Pied,

354, 500, 501 ; White, 500 ; Yellow,

499, 500, 501
Walghvogel, 329
Wallace, on Geographical Distribution, 15

f. ; on Birds of Paradise, 543 n., 550 ;

on Humming-birds, 432
Wallace's Line, 16, 564
Walpole, on Didunculus, 332
Warbler, 513 ; habits, 517 f. ; American,

573 f.; Black-cap, 51 7; Black-and-white,

574; Garden-, 517; Grasshopper-, 517,

518; Eeed-, 354, 517; Savi's, 518;

Sedge-, 517; Willow-, 517; Wood-,

517

Warrior, 437
Water-Cock, 249
Water-hen ( = Moor-hen) loses wing-quills

simultaneously, 4 n.
Waterton, on Humming-birds, 432
Wattle-bird, 566
Wavy, 133
Wax-bill, 577, 578
Wax-like tips to feathers, 3
Waxwing, 529 f., 530
Weaver-bird, 368, 576 f., 577; habits,

578 f.
Webs, of feathers, 2 ; of toes, 10; in Al-

cidae, 315 ; in Anatidae, 112 ; in

Colymbidae and Podicipedidae, 49 ;

in Laridae, 301 ; in Limicolae, 269 ;

in Steganopodes, 71
Weka, 243, 245, 247
Whale-bird, 66
Whale-head, 93
Whaup, 287
Wheatear, 511, 516
Whew, 126
Whimbrel, 288 f.
Whinchat, 511, 516
Whip-poor- Will, 417
Whip-Tom-Kelly, 536
White colour in Birds, its nature, 3 n.
White, on Furnarius, 486
White Crow, 145
White-eye, 568
White-throat, 517
Whitmee, on Didunculus, 332
Whooper, 135
Whymper, on Condor, 138
Wideawake Fair, 312
Widow-bird, 577
Wigeon — see Duck
Willet, 284
Willock, 319
Wilson, A., on Humming-birds, 432 ; on

Passenger Pigeon, 342
Wilson, S. B., and Evans, on Drepanididae,

562 n. ; on Meliphagidae, 568 n.
Wind-hover, 148, 175
Windpipe, use and formation, 13
Wing, 8

Wing-coverts, 20

Wing-quills — see Quills

Wing-spurs, 9

Wire-bird, 274

Wires, of Birds of Paradise, 3, 545 f.

Witthoos, figure of Didus borbonicus,
330

Woodcock, 289 f., 290 ; bill, 11

Wood-Hen, 247

Wood-Ibis, 70, 97

Wood-Mason, on Rhynchaea, 292 n.

Woodpecker, 149, 445, 457 f. ; bill, 12 ;
habits, 458 f. ; vertebra, 6 ; Black,
458, 464 ; Californian, 461 ; Great
Black, 463 ; Great Spotted, 462, 463 ;
Green, 460 ; Ivory-billed, 463 ; Lesser
Spotted, 462, 462 ; Pileated, 463 :
Spotted, 458, 461

Wood-Swallow, 530 f.

Wren, 426, 519, 521 f., 521 ; Bush-, 472;
Rock-, 472

Wrist, 8

Wry-bill, 274, 274

Wryneck, 445, 457, 459, 464 f., 465

Xanthocephalus, 581

Xanthochroism, 4 n.

Xanthocorys, 499

Xantholaema haematocephala, 449

Xanthomelus, 550 ; X. aureus, 548

Xanthomixis, 503

Xanthura luxuosa, 554

Xema, 301 ; X.furcatum, 310 ; X. sabinii,

304, 310
Xenerpestes, 484
Xenicidae, 469, 472
Xenicus, 472 ; X. gilviventris, 472 ; X.

longipes, 472
Xenocichla, 505
Xenopipo atronitens, 478
Xenopirostris, 531, 533 ; X. polleni,

mimicry, 533
Xenops, 484, 487
Xenopsaris, 482
Xenorhynchus, fossil, 99 ; X. australis,

98

Xerophila, 539, 540
Xipholena, 480 ; X. pompadora, 480
Xiphorhamphus, 502, 504
Xiphorhynchus, 484, 487

Yaffle, 460

Yarrell's British Birds, 212 n., 285 n.

Yellow colour in Birds, its nature, 3 n.

Yellow Hammer, 584

Yellowshank, 283 f.

Yelper, 278

Young, moult late, 4 ; in Turdinae and

Sylviinae, 513 ; of Megapodiidae fly

early, 191

Zandostomus, 351

INDEX

635

Zapornia, 246 ; Z. parva, 246, 248
Zebrilus, 86, 87 ; Z. pumilus, 89
Zenaida, 326, 328, 334, 342 ; Z. amabilis,

342

Zenaidura, 327 ;• Z. carolinensis, 342
Zeocephus, 507
Zic-zac, 276, 295
Zietz — see Stirling
Zonaeginthus bellus, 577
Zonerodius heliosylus, 90
Zonibyx, 272

Zonotrichia, 586

Zoomelanin, 3 n.

Zoonerythrin, 3 n.

Zoothera, 510

Zooxanthin, 3 n.

Zosteropidae, 568

Zosterops, 568 ; J£ caerulescens, 568 ; Z.

' japonica, 568 ; ^. lateralis, 568 ; ^T.

simplex, 568
Zygodactylous feet, 10 ; in Cuculiformes,

351 ; in Picidae, 457

END OF VOL. IX

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presented to the eye, so far as illustrations and printing are concerned, in such a
way as to render its matter as easily intelligible as possible, and readily usable
for purposes of reference. Under both these heads we have nothing but commenda-
tion for Mr. Sharp's- treatise. The illustrations are indeed beautiful, and the use
of the heavy type for the headings of the various sections and leading paragraphs
materially helps the reader in the progress of his study. Certainly this is a book
that should be in every entomologist's library."

DAILY NEWS. — "It would be hard to say too much in praise of this most
admirable volume. It is too often the case that scientific books are written in a
dull and uninteresting style. The reader will find nothing of that kind to complain
of here. The descriptions are clear, the illustrations are excellent ; while, as in the
previous volumes of the series, printing and paper are all that could be desired."

FISHES, ASOIDIANS, etc.

VOLUME VII.

Hemichordata, by S. F. HARMER, Sc.D., F.R.S. ; Ascidians and Amphioxus,
by W. A. HERDMAN, D.Sc., F.R.S. ; Fishes (exclusive of the System-
atic Account of Teleostei), by T. W. BBIDGE, Sc.D., F.R.S. ; Fishes
(Systematic Account of Teleostei), by G. A. BOULENGER, F.R.S.
A THEN^UM. — " All who take a serious interest in the advance of ichthyology
will find this a fascinating book."

NATURE NOTES. — "It is a thoroughly scholarly work for students, amply
sustaining the reputation of an ancient university as being in the van of scientific
progress."

AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES

VOLUME VIII.
By HANS GADOW, M.A., F.R.S.

FIELD. — " The work is worthy of the series in which it appears and we can-
not give it higher praise."

SCIENCE GOSSIP. — "More than maintains the high scientific reputation of
this series. The herpetologists, or students of the Amphibia and Reptiles, have now
a, standard work of the highest class."

LANCET.— " An account of both Amphibia and Reptiles which should satisfy
the expert, and at the same time entertain the reader who is merely interested in
the tit-bits of natural history. ... A book full of accurate information and pleasant
reading."

MORNING POST.— "A delightful as well as a serviceable book. . . . Herein
perhaps lies the great charm and merit of Dr. Gadow's book, that, while satisfying
all the inquiries of the student, it is also in great part written for the ordinary
intelligence, and the naturalist in the crowd may, while necessarily gliding over dis-
tressing technicalities, find in its pages many hours of profitable and entertaining
study of the habits of the classes under notice."

NATURE. — " In concluding the review we would express the opinion that by
this handsome volume a very important addition to science has been made ; that
the beautiful illustrations, together with the clear and charming accounts of the
life-histories which it contains, will do much to popularise the study of a rather
neglected section of zoology ; and that lovers of Reptiles, of which there are more
than one generally thinks, will feel that the new knowledge imparted to them
emanates from one who is thoroughly in sympathy with their enthusiasm."

BIRDS

VOLUME IX.
By A. H. EVANS, M.A

IBIS. — "Mr. Evans has produced a book full of concentrated essence of informa-
tion on birds, especially as regards their outer structure and habits, and one that
we can cordially recommend as a work of reference to all students of ornithology."

NATURE NOTES.—" We venture to predict that, of the ten volumes of which
this excellent series is planned to consist, none will secure a wider popularity than
Mr. Evans's treatise on birds. Strange as it may appear, among the many books
on birds that have appeared of late years, we do not recall any that covers the same
ground. . . . We are grateful to the author for the mine of valuable information
which he has crowded between his two covers."

SCIENCE GOSSIP.— "General readers will find this work most useful in
obtaining a proper understanding of birds, and will be assisted by the effective
diagram of a hawk in the introduction, showing the recognised names of every part
of the exterior appearance. The expressions used in naming the various portions
are fully explained on the adjoining page. As we have already said, the illustra-
tions are admirable. The book is a useful addition to any library, as it treats of
nearly every known kind of bird throughout the world."

SATURDAY REVIEW.— " The expert and the novice alike must be at once
delighted by the accuracy and the beauty of the illustrations. ... It is astonish-
ing to note the mass of information the author has been able to bring together. . . .
With a little practice any observant person would soon learn by the help of this
volume to track down any bird very nearly to its ultimate place in classification."

MAMMALIA r

VOLUME X.
By FRANK EVERS BEDDARD, M.A., F.R.S.

NATURE. — "Cannot fail to be of very high value to all students of the
Mammalia, especially from the standpoints of morphology and palaeontology."

ATHEN^UM. — "Mr. Beddard has produced a volume equal in interest and
value to the others in the Cambridge series."

LAND AND WATER.— "A notable book, the result of long study, patient
labour, sound reasoning, and careful selection, for which we are deeply indebted to
the author."

DAILY NEWS.—" A volume which, for the interest of its contents and for its
style and method of treatment, is not only worthy of its predecessors, but may be
regarded as one of the most successful of a brilliant series."

KNOWLEDGE.— "In this volume Mr. Beddard has undoubtedly made an
important contribution to the history of mammals, his text-book being the only one
which can be said to be up to date and to contain notices of the many important
types — both recent and fossil — discovered during the last few years."

FIELD.—" Its utility to the working zoological student can hardly be overrated.
It is exceedingly well illustrated."

LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO, LTD.

4

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

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NOV13'57

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MAY 14 1959

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General Library

University of California

Berkeley

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