& B 2 TOT D77 ATI/HAL :DI ED BY ^CHARD fc ." N.B. — Vol. iii. p. 222. Transpose " and by the presence of from twenty to twenty- live teeth on each side of the jaws," from line 23 to line 42 after "small" ; and in line 38, substitute " movable " for " five." THE ROYAL NATURAL HISTORY. BIRDS CHAPTER VIII. THE PICARIAN BIRDS, — continued. THE CUCKOOS. Family CUCULID^. THE toucans form the last family of the subordinal group, known as climbing picarians, or Scansores. The cuckoos bring us to the first representatives of a second group, termed cuckoo-like picarians, or Coccyges. In this assemblage the palate of the skull is of the bridged, or desmognathous type ; while the arrange- ment of the tendons of the muscles of the foot is different from that in the first group. As a family, the cuckoos are specially distinguished by having a zygodactyle foot, and a naked oil-gland; the after-shafts to the body-feathers are wanting, and the arrangement of the feathers shows the tract on the back forked between the shoulders. They are birds of universal distribution, very VOL. iv. — i 2 PICARIAN BIRDS. varied in form and habits, some being entirely parasitic, while others build nests. They are divided into six subfamilies ; and while the usual number of tail-feathers is ten, in one group (Crotophagince) only eight are present ; the other subfamilies being well distinguished. The first representatives of the typical subfamily Cuculince are ' the crested cuckoos, which, in common with the other members of the group, have pointed wings, and are strong fliers. The genus is distinguished GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO (f Iiat. size). by the presence of a crest on the head ; and of its eight species five are African, while one (Coccystes jacobinus) is common to Africa and India, another (C. coromandus) is peculiar to the Indian region, and the last is European. Although the great spotted cuckoo (C. glandarius) has twice occurred in England, its home is in South- Western Europe and the Mediterranean countries, extending thence through Syria and Asia Minor to Persia, while in winter the bird ranges into Africa, as far as Cape Colony. It is of an ashy brown colour, white below, with a buff-coloured throat, and is easily distinguished by its crested grey head and long tail, which is broadly tipped with white. The length of the bird is about CUCKOOS. 3 16 inches. Its note is described by Canon Tristram as kee-ow, kee-ou, and it has an alarm-note resembling the word cark, as well as a third note, like wurree, wurree. It is parasitic, like the members of the genus Cuculus, but does not victimise small birds like the true cuckoos, selecting the nests of crows and magpies, whose eggs bear a considerable resemblance to its own. The great spotted cuckoo often places two, or even four, of its eggs in a nest ; where the young €uckoos often live in peace with the offspring of the foster-parents, and, so far as is known, not attempting to eject the rightful owners. The Indian pied crested -cuckoo (C. jacobinus) lays blue eggs, resembling in colour those of the babbling thrushes (Crateropus and Argya), in whose nests it places them. Apparently the young cuckoo ejects the rightful owners, when the young are hatched, as the babblers are often seen in attendance on their parasitic dependents without any of their own young being of the party. Sometimes the cuckoo puts two of its eggs into a babbler's nest, and it is said to break some of the foster-parents' eggs to make room for its own. Colonel Butler says that when they discover a nest of a babbler, which does not suit them to lay in, the cuckoos invariably destroy the eggs already there by driving a hole into them with their bills, and sucking the contents. The six species of hawk-cuckoos are remarkable for their exact Hawk-Cuckoos. . r . resemblance in colour and night to a sparrow-hawk, being grey birds with a good deal of rufous below, a large yellow eye, and a very broadly banded tail. They lay white or greenish - blue eggs, and one species (Hierococcyx sparveroides) is said to build its own nest and sit on the eggs. This fact has been recorded in the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India, but in the Himalaya the bird is stated to be parasitic on the babbling thrushes. While the hawk-cuckoos may be distinguished from the crested True Cuckoos. cuckoos by the absence of a crest, the true cuckoos differ from them by the shape of the tail, in which the outer feathers are nearly of the same length as the others, instead of decidedly shorter. Moreover, the tail-feathers lack the transverse dark bars of the hawk-cuckoos. The genus is represented by ten species, all very similar to one another, and hawk-like in coloration and appear- ance, the old birds being grey while the young are more or less rufous, the Oriental Sonnerat's cuckoo (Cuculus sonnerati) having, however, the plumage for the most part rufous barred with black. Of the ten species, four are African, one Australian, and the rest Indian. Their notes vary greatly, only one other species besides the European having the " cuckoo " note from which the bird takes its name, this being the South African cuckoo (C. gularis), which has a note similar to that of the common species, but more slowly uttered, and the first syllable not in such a high key. The red-chested cuckoo of Africa (C. solitarius) has a whistling note, on account of which it is known to the colonists at the Cape by the name of Piet - mijn-vrouw, while the black cuckoo (C. clamosus) is, as its Latin name implies, a noisy bird, uttering a very loud, harsh note. The Indian cuckoo (C. micropterus), has a note, which Mr. Oates renders as bho-kusha-kho, while the Asiatic cuckoo (C. intermedius), on the other hand, has only a single note, a guttural and hollow-sounding hoo, resembling the cry of the hoopoe. One of the most interesting of all birds is the common cuckoo (C. canorus), not the least remarkable feature in its conformation being its great similarity to a hawk, as not 4 PICARIAN BIRDS. only evidenced by its colour and form but by its mode of flight, and which is so marked that the bird is always mobbed by smaller birds, as if it was really a hawk. Its colour is grey above and white below, regularly barred with black like a hawk, while the throat is buff. It has also long thigh feathers, like those of an accipitrine bird, so that with its yellow eye the resemblance is complete, and when flying it is by no means easy to tell at the first glance whether it is a cuckoo or a hawk in the air. An accustomed eye may at last detect the more elongated look of the head, owing to the long bill of the cuckoo, whereas a hawk in flight often looks as if it had no bill at all, so blunt is the aspect of a hawk's head when seen COMMON CUCKOO (| nat. size). at a little distance. The interest in the history of the cuckoo is, however, con- centrated on its nesting-habits, and the success with which it imposes on other birds in getting them to rear its young. There can scarcely be any doubt that the number of males considerably exceeds that of the females, and some naturalists not only speak of the species as polyandrous, but declare that the female bird does all the courting. Certain it is that the presence of a female cuckoo excites the interest of more than one male, as may be seen in spring-time by those who know how to detect what has been well-described as the " water-bubbling " note of the female cuckoo, which Brehm renders as kivik-wik-wik, and Seebohm as kwow-ow- ow-ow. The female, on giving utterance to this note, is answered at once by every male in the neighbourhood, and they lose no time in flying towards the tree CUCKOOS. 5 wlu-re she is seated, so that there are often quarrels and fierce fights amongst them. It is during the love season that the double call cuc-cuc-koo is heard, as if the male were trembling with passion. Although the general belief is that cuckoos do not lay many eggs, it has been recently concluded that each hen deposits about twenty in the course of the season. The variability in the coloration of the eggs is well known, and it appears that in each individual the coloration of the eggs is hereditary. That is to say, that cuckoos brought up by meadow-pipits always select that species to be the foster-parent of their own young in course of time, the same being the case with regard to hedge-sparrows, wagtails, and other ordinary victims of the cuckoo. The small size of the egg, and the extraordinary similarity which it often shows to the egg of the foster-parent, render it difficult to distin- guish the cuckoo's egg from those of the rightful owner of the nest ; and sometimes n cuckoo will lay a blue egg exactly like that of the redstart or pied flycatcher, t!u« nest of which it is about to utilise. This is perhaps the most curious instance known of strict similarity in colour, the true cuckoo's egg looking merely like a somewhat larger egg of the redstart. That such eggs are really those of cuckoos was, however, proved by Messrs. Seebohm and Elwes, who were in Holland together when a redstart's nest was brought to them, the eggs of which were hard set. On blowing them the young birds had to be picked out, and the little cuckoo exhibited the characteristic zygodactyle foot perfectly formed. In the case of eggs laid by the cuckoo in wagtail's nests and those of other birds, the resemblance is exact, and when a cuckoo's egg is found in a nest where the eggs of the foster- parent are different, it is probable that the cuckoo has not been able to find a nest at the moment in which the eggs belonged to its own hereditary type. The nest of a sedge-warbler has indeed been found with a cuckoo's egg in it, which was the exact counterpart of those of the foster-parent ; and a few days after, the finder, having noticed the female cuckoo to be hovering about the neighbourhood all the time, found a cuckoo's egg of the same sedge- warbler type in a reed-bunting's nest, where, of course, it looked thoroughly out of place. From these facts it would appear that a cuckoo, laying a " sedge-warbler " egg, had been unable to find a second sedge- warbler, and had been constrained to put it into a reed bunting's nest. A series of nests of the meadow-pipit, each with a cuckoo's egg, has been recently presented to the British Museum, all of which were taken near Portsmouth in 1893. There would seem to have been three cuckoos who visited these nests, since three of the nests contain a greyish type of egg, three an egg of a lighter character, and three an egg of a purplish grey type. The story of the way in which the young cuckoo ejects the young of its foster-parent from their rightful home is well known. The cuckoo feeds entirely on insects, and it is believed to be the only bird which eats hairy caterpillars. It has also been accused of devouring eggs, and this idea may have arisen from eggs being found in the mouth of a cuckoo. These were no doubt the bird's own eggs, which it was conveying to some nest. Represented in India and Australia by the nearly allied group of Golden Cuckoos. , _ . J the bronze-cuckoos (Cfialcococcyx), the golden cuckoos form a genus confined to Africa, and represented by four species. These birds differ from the true cuckoos by their metallic coloration, of which the latter show no trace. 6 PICARIAN BIRDS. Among them, the emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx smaragdineus) is one of the most beautiful of birds, being of a brilliant metallic emerald-green on the upper-parts, and also on the throat and chest; while the breast and under-parts are bright yellow. Found all over tropical Africa, it inhabits the wooded country, and is conspicuous, not only from its brilliant coloration, but also from its habit of sitting on the top of a tree, sometimes for hours together, uttering its loud call of love or defiance. The typical golden cuckoo (G. cupreus), illustrated on our first page, is a somewhat smaller species, with the plumage of a metallic golden-green YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (\ nat. size). hue, the throat being white. Mr. Layard says that " this beautiful little cuckoo is known by the name of Didric, from its oft-repeated mournful cry of di-di-di- didric. We have frequently seen a dozen or more in a morning, while their loud notes were incessantly ringing in our ears ; they are, however, so shy, that we only procured three specimens in as many months. When calling, they perch on the summit of some dead branch, ready to do battle with any male, or engage in an amorous chase after any female that comes within their ken. They pursue each other with great ardour, turning, twisting, and dashing about with great rapidity. The stomachs of those examined contained nothing but small insects, chiefly swallowed whole." Mr. Ayres has found the remains of an egg of the Cape CUCKOOS. 7 sparrow in the stomach, and as the cuckoo is parasitic on this species it looks as though it sometimes devoured the eggs of the foster-parent to make room for its own. American The American cuckoos, although of sober grey and brown shades Cuckoos. of colouring, and resembling the true cuckoos in this respect, may always be distinguished by their oval and not rounded nostrils. They are grey or brown in colour, generally with an olive gloss, although two species have rufous backs. Except as regards their nesting-habits they are nearly allied to the cuckoos of the Old World. One of the best known species is the yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), which is olive-brown in colour, with white tips to the tail- feathers ; the under-parts being white, and the inner side of the quills rufous. This cuckoo, together with its near ally, the black-billed cuckoo (C. erythroph- Ilialmus) is migratory to the United States in summer, the latter extending its breeding-ranges as far to the north as Manitoba and Labrador. Dr. Coues says that the ways of these cuckoos are shy and retiring. They are more often heard than seen, " passing from one tree to another stealthily, with a rapid, gliding, noiseless flight, and they often rest motionless as statues for a long time, especially when crying out, or when they have detected a suspicious object. The peculiar notes of this bird, sounding like the syllables, koo-koo-koo, indefinitely repeated, are probably uttered more frequently during the atmospheric changes preceding falling weather, and have given rise to the name Kain-crow, by which both our species of Coccyzus are known to the vulgar." He also says that they are great plunderers of the eggs of small birds, and are even said to devour the helpless nestlings. The nest is said to be like that of a crow, but poorly constructed. In connection with the supposition that our English cuckoo lays its eggs at intervals, it is interesting to know that the yellow-billed cuckoo undoubtedly does so, since in its nest there have been found fresh eggs and young in all stages, from the bird just hatched to the one able to fly, showing that there must be a considerable interval between the laying of each egg. Audubon gives an instance in which as many as eleven young birds had been hatched in a season. The eggs are pale greenish in colour. Found only in the Indian and Australian regions, two species being peculiar to the former and four to the latter, the koels show a remarkable sexual difference in colour, the males being black, and the females rufous with black bands. In most birds, when the parents differ in plumage, the young at first resemble the hens, but in the instance of the koels the young of both sexes are black like the cocks. The koels may also be distinguished from the preceding genus by having a much rounder and stouter bill than in the preced- ing genera. The tail is long and wedge-shaped. Regarding the coloration of the young, Mr. Whitehead, writing of the Philippine koel, or phow (Eudynamis mindanensis), asks " why should the young birds not follow the general rule, and take the plumage of the female, or have a plumage distinct from that of both parents ? The answer to this riddle appears to be that the phow lays its eggs in the nest of the yellow-wattled myna. The young cuckoo, being black, does not differ from the young myna, and so the deception is carried on until the young bird can take care of itself. If the young followed the general rule, and resembled their mother in being of a brown colour, the mynas might not feed them. The 8 PICARIAN BIRDS. myna breeds in holes of old rotten trees, sometimes using woodpeckers' holes, making it more difficult to see the intruder in the dark ; and no doubt, when the young bird emerges into daylight, it would startle the old birds to see the young cuckoos of any other colour. One of the young cuckoos was shot whilst being fed by the foster-parents, and no doubt the young cuckoo gets rid of the nestling myna at an early period. Of course it might be argued that it would not be YOUNG MALE OF THE INDIAN KOEL (J nat. size). necessary to deceive the myna, for other birds take care of their parasites ; but perhaps the myna has a greater knowledge of the world." The Indian koel (E. honorata) is the rain - bird of India. The bird is parasitic on crows, and it would appear from the notes of naturalists in India that the koels must look after their offspring to a certain extent, for they have been seen feeding their own young ones after they have left the nest. Long-Clawed Distributed over the great part of Africa, India, China, and coucais. southwards through Malaysia to Australia, the coucals form not CUCKOOS. 9 only a genus but a separate subfamily. They are ground-birds, of medium or large size, remarkable for the long spur on the first toe, whence their English name is derived. They build nests, and lay several white eggs, the shell of which is chalky, showing an approach to the remarkable eggs of the anis described farther on. The general colour of the coucals is red and black, but some of them are entirely black, while the Australian pheasant-cuckoo (Centropus phasianellus) is banded with brown and buff. The young birds of all the other species have a similar kind of plumage, and it is said that some species also possess a winter garb or " seasonal plumage." If this is the case, it lasts for a very short period. EGYPTIAN COUCAL (| iiat. size). The Indian coucal (C. sinensis) is a species of large size, measuring nearly two feet in length, and black in colour, with the mantle and wings chestnut, and having a blue gloss on the head and a green gloss on the under-parts. It is found all over India and Ceylon, and, like the rest of the genus, has a curious howling note, whoot, whoot, whoot, whoot, followed after a pause of four or tive seconds by kurook, kurook, kurook, kurook. The nest is generally domed, and is a rough structure, described by Mr. Hume as a " hollow, oblate spheroid, some eighteen inches in external diameter, and from six to eight inches in height, with a large hole on one side, from the entrance of which to the back of the nest inside may bo twelve inches. This, of course, is not large enough to admit the whole bird, so that, when sitting, its tail is commonly seen projecting outside the nest. The latter 10 PICARIAN BIRDS. is placed at varying heights above the ground, in the centre of thick, thorny bushes or trees. It is usually made of dry twigs, lined with a few green leaves, but all kinds of odds and ends are at times incorporated into the fabric. Occasionally quite different materials are made use of, the nest consisting almost wholly of leaves, rushes, or coarse grass." With these birds we corne to another subfamily, known as the bush-cuckoos (Phoenicophceinai), and including upwards of sixteen genera. Their bright metallic plumage, and short, rounded wings, show that they are resident in the countries where they live, and are not migratory Rain-Cuckoos. THE ROAD-RUNNER (J nat. size). like the long-winged cuckoos. They are mostly Indian and Malayan, but one genus (Ceuthmochares) is African; while two genera (Saurothera and Hyetornis) belong to the New World. With the exception of Coua, which is a Madagascar form, they have all some bright colours on the face or bill, the latter being in many of the genera parti-coloured and brilliant. The rain-cuckoos in the West Indies, are only found inhabiting the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. They attain to a size of 18 or 20 inches, are mostly of an ashy-brown colour with rufous wings, with white-tipped tail-feathers, these having a black bar before the tip. The Jamaican species is a bird of retiring habits, generally sitting immovable in a dull and sluggish manner, but on alighting in a tree it " traverses the branches with facility by a succession of vigorous jumps, when it appears active enough." The CUCKOOS. 1 1 Ground-Cuckoos. ne.-t is placed high on a tree, and is a loose, flat structure of twigs, the egg being chalky white. In India and the Malayan countries there occurs an assemblage of genera of bush-cuckoos, of which the best known are the malkohas (Rhopodytes). These birds are met with in gardens, thin tree -jungles, and secondary scrub, being and having a marvellous capacity for making their way through dense cover. The notes of the malkohas seem to vary considerably, being described as a " cat- like chuckle " in one species, in another as a "hoarse chatter, much like that of a magpie," while another of the malkohas has a " cat-like mew." These cuckoos build their own nests, and lay white eggs. Another subfamily (Neomorphince) is repre- sented by the four genera of ground - cuckoos, all of which are terrestrial birds with powerful feet for run- ning, and weak wings in which the secondary quills are as long as the primaries. In Borneo and Sumatra the pheasant-cuckoos (Carpococcyx) represent the group ; the species from the former island being two feet in length, with the aspect and ways of a game-bird. In South America the subfamily is represented by the genus Neomorphus, which extends from Northern Brazil to Guiana, Amazonia, and Ecuador, thence to Colombia and to Nicaragua. All the five species of this genus are extremely rare, and nothing is known of their habits. In all the genera above mentioned the bill is very stout, but there remain the two American genera Geococcyx and Morococcyx, in which it is longer ; a familiar example of the former of these being the so-called road-runner (Geococcyx mexicanus). In plumage this curious cuckoo has nothing striking to recommend it, being brown with rufous or white streaks; the under surface whitish; and a buff -coloured throat, which is also streaked with black. But if its coloration is somewhat sombre, it has some bright colour on the face, similar to that of the preceding GREEX-BILLED MALKOHA nat. size). 12 PICARIAN BIRDS. genera, for the iris is red, and it has a bare space round the eye of a blue colour, fading off into white behind, and then followed by a patch of orange-red. The length of the bird is about two feet. The road-runner is an inhabitant of the Southern United States, from Texas to New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and California. It has obtained its name of the " road-runner " from the speed with which it flies over the ground, some idea of which may be gained from a state- ment of Colonel Stevenson, that when in Southern California he saw on two occasions the ranchmen of that part of the country chase one of these birds on horseback for a distance of a mile or more at full speed, when the cuckoo, though still in advance, would suddenly stop and fly lip among the upper-limbs of some stunted tree or bush near the roadside, and the rider having kept the bird in view all the way would dismount and easily take the exhausted bird from its perch alive. Savana and The last subfamily of the cuckoos is represented by the so-called Guira Cuckoos. savana and guira cuckoos, three of which belong to one genus, while the fourth constitutes a genus apart. Distinguished from all other cuckoos by having only eight tail-feathers, these birds are further remarkable for their eggs. Externally these eggs are blue, covered with chalky white scratches, produced by contact with the lining of the nest ; and it appears that this blue colour belongs only to the outer covering, so that when this is removed the true egg-shell, which is white, is revealed. The guira cuckoo (Guira) has a very slender beak, and a crest ; the plumage being brown streaked with black, the under surface buff, and the back white ; while the length of the bird is about 18 inches. It inhabits Brazil and Paraguay. The members of the other genus are black, and have an extraordinary bill with a kind of high and narrow keel on the upper mandible, looking as if it had a ridge along it. Of the three species, the largest is Crotophaga major, which is 18 inches in length, and is found from Brazil and Amazonia to Guiana, and also extends to Colombia. The other species, C. anis and C. sulcirostris, are smaller, not exceeding 13 inches in length ; the anis inhabiting much the same areas as its larger relative, but being found also in the West Indian islands, while it has occurred in the Southern United States. It has a smooth bill, while the latter has several grooves on the side of the bill. It likewise occurs in the Southern United States, and extends throughout Central America to Colombia and Peru, but does not seem to reach Brazil and the other countries of South America. The savana cuckoos are gregarious birds, and it will be seen from the notes given below that they also nest in company. Senor Alfaro says that in Costa Rica he found the zopilotillo, as it is called, very abundant in the fields near Tambor, a little town about twenty miles north-west of San Jose, where along the hedgerows and in the scrubby timber they find their insect food, as well as on the hides of the cattle. The wood-ticks or ' garrapatos,' which are found on the legs and about the head and neck of the cattle, are esteemed above all else a favourite morsel. The bird is also called the tijo-tijo in imitation of its peculiar notes, which seem to repeat the word tee-ho over and over again. He likewise tells of the finding of three nests, one of which was situated in the branches of a mango-tree, and contained fourteen eggs. Noticing on one occasion one of these birds building its nest, he returned in a week's time, and found, to his surprise, not only the nest completed but containing six eggs, while in the thorns and leaves CUCKOOS. 13 about it were scattered seven more. He writes that " in the finding of some of the eggs scattered in the leaves was revealed one of the architect's peculiarities. A hole had been left in the centre of the nest, and only recently filled with leaves, whose fresh green colour testified that they had been cut and placed there later than the others, forming the carpeting to the bottom of this common incubator. The eggs were all fresh, the six occupying the nest having the characteristic white calcareous surface perfectly clean, and without the slightest variation in colour. Not so with the eggs found about the outside of the nest : those found in contact with the leaves had taken on a dirty yellowish tinge, while those suspended among the leaves and thorns showed various spots and lines of the lustrous blue colour forming the base for the chalky external coat." THE PLANTAIX-EATERS. Family MusOPHAGID^E Having many characters in common with the cuckoos, the plantain-eaters, or touracos, of Africa, are regarded as indicating a separate suborder, distinguished by having the oil-gland tufted and after-shafts to the body-feathers, while the feet are not wholly zygodactyle, the fourth toe being capable of being turned either back- wards or forwards. The tail-feathers are ten in number. Twenty -five species are known, which may be divided into two sections, one including those which have crimson quills, and the other those in which there is no red in the wings. Crimson-winged These birds are often called louris in South Africa, where Plantain-Eaters, they frequent the forest districts, building an open nest of sticks in a bush, and resembling that of a pigeon, the egg being also white like that of the last-named birds. Of Fraser's plantain -eater (Turacus macrorhynchus) Mr. Biittikofer gives some notes in his account of the birds collected by himself in Liberia, stating that it is a splendid and very lively bird in a wild state, always keeping to the densest crowns of the trees in the virgin forest, where it lives in pairs or in families after the breeding-season. It is so shy that it would not be easily found by the hunter if it was not for its crow-like voice, interrupted now and then by a mewing, exactly like that of a cat. When not disturbed these birds can be very noisy, napping their beautiful red wings, and running after each other like squirrels among the branches. As their bright wings would render them too obvious to their enemies, they seldom fly very far at once, but advance by running through the foliage of the trees, hidden by the resemblance of their colour to that of the surrounding foliage. Their food consists of different kinds of wild fruits, and insects were never found in dissected specimens. A very interesting fact has been discovered with respect to the colouring matter in the wing of the touracous, which consists of a kind of copper, called turacine. It was at one time supposed that this coppery impregnation of the colouring matter of the bird's wing could be accounted for by its picking up grains of malachite, but the touracous are birds which live in trees, and do not apparently descend to the ground, while the red feathers have been assumed by specimens in captivity, some of which moulted more than once. i4 PICARIAN BIRDS. Giant Plantain- The sole representative of this genus (Corytkoeola cristata) is Eater. the largest of all the family, measuring nearly 3 feet in length, and is remarkable for its fine crest and varied colouring. The upper surface is blue, the head and crest bluer, the tail-feathers yellow with blue bases and a broad bar of black near the end ; neck blue with the chin and cheeks white ; rest of under surface of body rufous brown ; bill yellow with the tip scarlet ; eye red. This handsome bird is found all over the forest district of West Africa from Sene- GIANT PLANTAIN-EATER (£ nat. size). gambia to Angola, and extends throughout the Congo region to Equatorial Africa. Mr. Biittikofer says this plantain-eater is confined exclusively to the virgin forest, where it lives in companies of five or six together in the crowns of the tallest trees, generally out of reach of gunshot. It feeds upon a kind of bush-plum and other wild fruits, of which an enormous quantity are sometimes found in its crop. R. BOWDLER SHARPE. CHAPTEK IX. THE PICARIAN BIRDS, — concluded. TROGONS TO OIL-BIRDS. Families TuoGONiD^; to S THE trogons, remarkable for their brilliant coloration and soft plumage, constitute not only a distinct family (Trogonidce) but are likewise regarded as representing a special suborder (Heterodactyli), mainly distinguished from the Picarian families described in the preceding chapters by the structure of the tendons of the foot. In these birds the second toe is turned backwards, and the third and fourth toes are moved by the splitting of one tendon, while a second tendon is likewise divided into two branches to supply the first and second toes. They are further characterised by having the palate of the slit (schizo- gnathous) type ; and the feather-tract on the back is continuous in place of being forked. Then, again, we may notice that the hinder border of the breast-bone has four notches; the intestine is provided with a pair of blind appendages (caeca) ; the oil-gland is naked, and the after-shafts of the feathers of the body are remarkable for their length. Behind the head is a patch of loose skin, and the whole skin is of such a fragile and delicate nature, while the feathers are so loosely attached, that the preservation of these birds tries to the utmost the skill of the taxidermist. As regards their geographical distribution, trogons are found in the Oriental region, Africa south of the Sahara, and Central and South America; one species alone (Trogon ambiguus) being stated to range as far north as Texas and Arizona. Very numerous in Central and South America, in Africa, though widely distributed, they are but poorly represented in species ; but they again become more abundant in the Oriental region, although not ranging eastwards of the islands of Java and Borneo. Fossil trogons have been discovered in Tertiary deposits in Southern France, belonging to the upper part of the Oligocene period. Of the eight genera into which the family is divided, five occur in Central and South America (among these being the typical Trogon) ; and it is noteworthy that the latter and one other genus are exclusively island forms, the one being confined to San Domingo and the other to Cuba. The three African trogons are comprised in a single genus (ffapaloderma) ; but there are two Oriental genera, one of which (Hapalarpactes) is peculiar to Java and Sumatra. Long-Tailed Of these magnificently-plumaged American representatives of the Trogons. family there are four species, among which we may specially notice 1 6 PICARIAN BIRDS. the quezal (Pharomacrus mwcinno) of Guatemala. Every naturalist who has had the good fortune to see this bird in its wild state describes it as extremely beautiful, and even when preserved, its plumage differs from that of its congeners in its retention of the original coloration ; a skin which has been exposed to the light in the British Museum for some half a century still being almost as brilliant as when first mounted. In the other species, on the contrary, the bright yellow or crimson of the breast fades with sad rapidity. The range of the quezal extends from Guatemala to Panama, but as considerable numbers of the skins of these birds are sent yearly to Europe as plumes for bonnets, the species has become very scarce. Ornamented with a large rounded crest on the head, the male bird has the ground - colour of the plumage a brilliant metallic green, while the throat and chest are likewise metallic green, as are also the wings and upper tail-coverts ; the two central plumes of the latter being enormously developed, and fully four times as long as the tail ; while the rest of the under- parts, from the chest downwards, are deep blood -red. The median wing- coverts are metallic green, and so produced as to form elegant drooping plumes ; while the outer tail-feathers are white with black bases. The female is much less brightly coloured than her mate, having a brownish breast and the bill black instead of yellow. The head is golden-green, and the outer tail-feathers are white barred with black. Mr. Salvin gives an interesting account of his hunting the quezal in Guatemala. After a difficult march through the forest, the way barred by swollen torrents and fallen trees, he at last managed to get within sight of one of the birds, which had been attracted by his guide imitating its notes. This imitation is not difficult, since the whistle is described as " a low double note, whe-oo, whe-oo, uttered softly at first, and then gradually swelling into a loud bat not unmelodious cry ; this is succeeded by a long note which begins low, and, after swelling, dies away as it began." The other cries of the bird are harsh, discordant, and not so easily imitated. When detected, the bird was observed sitting almost motionless on its perch, merely moving its head slowly from side to side, with the tail somewhat raised and occasionally jerked open, and again as rapidly closed, thus causing a vibration of its long upper-coverts. In spite of the length of the streaming tail-feathers, which appear to form no bar to its progress, the flight of this trogon is straight and rapid. Of the golden-headed trogon (P. auriceps), of Peru, Mr. Stolzmann writes that it is exclusively a bird of the forests, frequenting the lower branches of the highest trees at a considerable distance from the ground. It is generally seen in pairs, but sometimes two or three pairs may be met with together. " I was struck," he writes, " with the vertical position which it assumes on the large horizontal boughs, and I observed by the aid of. my field-glasses that, instead of perching on the upper surface of the branch, it remains attached to the side of the latter, just as woodpeckers glue themselves to the trunks and vertical branches of trees. Its flight is rapid but weak. It feeds on fruits, especially on nectandras ; and in the stomach of one I found a nectandra-f ruit so large as to fill the whole stomach. I suppose, therefore, that the trogon, like the guacharo, rejects the nut after having digested the flesh, because otherwise some time must elapse before it could swallow another fruit. The species has two cries, both well TJtOGONS. known to me ; one like a mocking laugh is seldom heard ; the other is a plaintive Im-liau, with the second syllable much prolonged. It has a ventriloquial quality and often deceives the hearer, who fancies that the bird is ever so far off, whereas it is close at hand all the while. At Cuterro I had a good opportunity of observing its singular way of clinging in a vertical position to the trees. MALE AND FEMALE QUEZAL. True Trogons. spreading its tail out the while and then shutting it suddenly. In this locality it feeds on certain black fruits, which impart to its flesh an odour of marjoram. I never saw it nesting, but the natives said that it nested in holes and laid eggs of a greenish blue. An egg which my com- panion found on the ground was universally admitted to belong to this trogon. Briefly referring to some of the other genera, it may be mentioned that the South American Euptilotis is characterised by the presence of tufts of hair-like feathers behind the ear-coverts ; the sole representative of the genus being an inhabitant of Mexico. Long hair-like feathers in the same situation are likewise distinctive of the single species of Tnietotrogon, which is confined to the island of San Domingo; while in the Cuban Prionotelus, of which there is also but one species, the tail-feathers are deeply notched. With the single exception of a species (T. ambiguus) occurring just within the southern limits of the United States, the members of the typical genus Trogon are restricted to VOL. IV. 2- 1 8 PIC A R IAN Central and South America, where they are represented by some twenty -four species, ranging as far south as Southern Brazil and Paraguay. They are all birds of moderate size, with metallic blue or green colours above, and the breast and abdomen either bright yellow, scarlet, or blood-red. The females differ from the males in their duller plumage and the colour of the tail; the latter being either chestnut, grey, or blackish, whereas in the males it is as brilliant as the rest of the upper-parts, being either green, blue, or purple. The habits of these trogons seem everywhere to be the same; the birds affecting forest-districts, and feeding almost entirely on fruit and berries. They are described as rather stupid, and not even startled by the report of a gun, so that a whole flock may be shot out of the same tree. Most of the species go about in pairs, but are occa- sionally seen in small flocks, sometimes frequenting the lower branches of trees, but more often the middle and higher levels, where they sit motionless, or utter their curious notes at intervals. Mr. Richmond mentions that when in Nicaragua, a trogon flew into his house ; but in most parts of South America these birds are inhabitants only of the virgin forests, extending their range to a considerable altitude on some of the mountains. In Peru, Mr. Stolzmann met with several species, on some of which he has given short notes. The only example of T. caligatus obtained during his travels was shot from a considerable height on a tree, w^hen he had heard its cry repeated at intervals for the space of a couple of hours ; it resembled the words cou-cou-cou-cou-co-co-co-co, the second half being uttered in a lower tone than the first. Of another kind ( T. melanurus), his companion, Mr Jelski, writes that it was not rare, and allowed of an easy approach, flying off to take up another perch in the neighbourhood of its previous one, always uttering its note cou-cou-cou-cou-cou. Its flight resembles that of a magpie, and the beating of the wings is distinctly heard; from time to time it called ke-ke-ke, lowering the tail at the same time, seldom flying more than a distance of fifty paces at a time, and preferring the lower branches of the trees. In Costa Rica, Mr. Nutting met with three species of trogons, which seem to differ somewhat in habits. Of the Massena trogon (T. massena) he writes : " I have never seen the species associating in flocks as the others do. On the contrary, it seems to be rather a silent bird, preferring the deep recesses of the tropical forests. Its note is a kind of clucking noise, hard to describe ; and its native name is Aula. In common with all the species of the genus, it seems to be rather a stupid bird, hardly ever taking alarm at the approach of man " ; the black-headed trogon (T. melanocephalus), very abundant in Costa Rica, being often seen in flocks of a dozen or more, and commonly found in the dry open woods away from water. It has a sort of chattering note, low and soft. In the same situations is also found T. caligatus, which is the only species giving utter- ance to a clear, distinct whistle. In Africa the trogons are represented by three species belonging ' to the genus Hapaloderma, and characterised by the naked space behind the eye, as also by the colour of the tail, which is the same in both sexes, the three central pairs of tail-feathers being purplish or greenish, without any black bands at the end of the central ones. The Narina trogon (H. narina) ranges from Bogosland in North-Eastern Africa throughout East Africa to Natal, extend- TROGONS. ing as far west as the forests of the Knysna district. On the west coast, from Fanti to the Gabun, we meet with Ussher's trogon (H. constantia) ; while in East Africa, from the Zanzibar forest region into Kikuyu, is found the banded trogon (H. vittatum). Very little has been noted about the habits of these birds, but Mr. Layard states that the Narina trogon is a very shy species, only found in the forest districts ; its food consisting of fruit and in- sects ; while its cry is a loud moaning note, heot, which has been compared to the bark of a poodle with a cold. This trogon is reported to nest in hollow trees, where it lays four white eggs. The In- Indian Trogons. . dian trogons, constituting the genus Harpactes, are beautifully plumaged birds, distin- guished by the bare sides of the face, and the chest- nut tail, barred with black at the tip, of both sexes. The genus is represented by eleven species, some of which measure as much as a foot in length ; while all are characterised by their brilliant coloration. One of the best known is the red-headed trogon (H. erythrocephalus), characterised by the chestnut breast, the deep crimson head, neck, and under-parts, and the black wings, in which the primaries are edged with white, while the wing-coverts and inner second- aries are finely vermiculated with white ; the gape and region of the eye being bare and of a purplish blue colour, while the bill is bluish with a black tip, the feet pinkish, and the eye dull red. The female is not quite so bright in colour as the male, the lower- parts being duller ; the back as well as the neck and breast reddish brown, and the vermiculations on the wing-coverts buff instead of white. The habits of this trogon differ from those of its American allies, for Mr. Oates says that its food consists entirely of insects, on which it swoops after the manner of a flycatcher. It affects thick forests, and, although solitary in its habits, is so common in some of the hill forests that a dozen or more "V>'C 20 PICARIAN BIRDS. may frequently be seen together. The eggs are three or four in number, of a very pale buff colour, and laid on the bare wood in some hollow of a decayed tree. THE COLIES. Family COLIIDJE. The colies bring us to another group of the Picarian order, technically known as the Coraciiformes, often conveniently spoken of (for want of a better name) as the fissirostral group. With the single exception of the humming-birds, all the members of the group have a similar arrangement of the tendons on the lower LONG-TAILED COLY OR MOUSE-BIRD. surface of the foot ; the first toe being supplied by a branch of one tendon, while the fourth is served by a different one. As a rule, the palate is of the desmognathous type ; although in some cases it is of the modification charac- terising the perching birds. The colies themselves are exclusively African, and are remarkable for the structure of their feet, in which all four toes are directed forwards, although it is probable that the first can be turned backwards at will. The breast-bone is characterised by the presence of four notches ; the oil-gland is naked ; the intestine is devoid of blind appendages ; and there are ten tail-feathers. The whole of the colies are included in the single genus Colius, which is represented by half a score of species. To the colonist of South Africa, colies are commonly known by the name of mouse-birds, and they are reported to be good eating. They have a rapid flight, like that of a parrot, with very quick beats of the wings ; and are generally found in flocks of six or eight individuals, which when disturbed HUMMING-BIRDS. 21 fly off together. Their food generally consists of fruit and berries, occasionally insects being taken, when their other sustenance is scanty. At the Cape the white-backed coly (C. capensis) is not uncommon in gardens during the fruit-season, ranging about in small families of from six to eight individuals. They fly with a rapid, though laboured flight, generally at a lower level than the object at which they aim, and on nearing it they rise upward with a sudden abrupt curve. They creep about the branches like parrots, and hang, head downwards, without inconvenience ; indeed, it is said that they invariably sleep in this position, many of them congregated together in a ball. In Natal Mr. Ayres states that the white-backed coly lives entirely on fruits, as does Mr. Andersson, who gives some information as to the flight and nesting-habits of the species. The flight, he says, is short and feeble, seldom extending beyond the nearest bush or tree, on reaching which the bird perches on one of the lower branches, and then gradually glides and creeps upwards through the foliage, using both bill and feet for that purpose. The nest he found in a small bush ; it was composed externally of grass and twigs, lined internally with soft grass ; the eggs were white, and three in number. Another well-known representative of the genus is the South African coly (C. striatus), which is brown above with numerous dusky cross-lines on the plumage, the head being crested and a little more ashy, while the forehead and lores are reddish, the sides of the face, throat, and breast ashy brown, the latter with blackish cross-lines ; the rest of the under surface being ochrey buff. The total length of the typical form is about 14 inches ; but there is considerable local variation in this respect. Large at the Cape, the bird becomes smaller as it approaches Abyssinia, but is of about the same size in Senegambia, and then gradually decreases in size in its west coast habitats ; this variation in size being an invariable rule with African birds. The South African coly breeds in Natal, building its nest in the thick fork of a mimosa or other low tree, well sheltered by creepers and foliage above. THE HUMMING-BIRDS. Family TROCHILID^. Mainly confined to Central and South America, where they range from the steaming tropical forests of Brazil to the cold and barren rocks of Tierra del Fuego, but also extending into Mexico, humming-birds are now regarded, in spite of their difference in form and habits, as near allies of the swifts. To a certain extent, indeed, the difference in the two groups is not so strongly marked in the young as in the adult condition, seeing that, while in the full-grown humming-bird the beak is always long and slender, in the nestling it is short and wide like that of a swift. In the structure of their palate, according to recent researches, both groups conform to the Passerine type. Having the keel of the breast-bone well developed, in accordance with their marvellous power of sustained flight, the humming-birds are characterised by the presence of ten feathers in the tail, and the same number of primary quills in the wing ; while the secondaries are reduced to six, and are thus very different to those of the perching birds. The three forwardly-directed toes are 22 PICARIAN BIRDS. supplied by as many branches of one tendon, while another serves the backwardly- directed first toe. The most remarkable peculiarity of the humming-birds is in the structure of the tongue, this organ being extensile, with its supporting bones carried backwards over the hinder part of the skull. Although adorned with such brilliant metallic colours, the members of this family do not display their tinselled plumage to any great advantage during flight ; many observers having remarked how little of the brilliancy of the bird's body is apparent when it is darting through the trees or hovering in front of a flower. This is due to the extremely rapid motions of a humming-bird's wing, the beats of which are almost invisible from their Habits. CHIMBOBAZAN HILL-STAK (* liat. size). rapidity. Professor Newton has well described the impression conveyed by the bird's flight when he writes that, " one is admiring the clustering stars of a scarlet Cordia, the snowy cornucopias of a Portlandia, or some other brilliant and beautiful flower, when between one's eye and the blossoms 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 fancies 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." Mr. Gould, who specially studied the ways of humming-birds during his visit to HUMMING-BIRDS. 23 America, says that their flight is unlike that of any bird he had ever seen, and quite different from what he had expected — in fact, exactly the opposite. When poised before any object, the tremulous motion of the wings is so rapid that the eye cannot follow it, and a hazy semicircle of indistinctness on each side of the bird is all that is perceptible. Their actions strongly reminded him of a piece of machinery acted upon by a powerful spring, and although frequent intermissions of rest are taken during the day, the bird may be said to live in the air — an element in which it performs every kind of evolution with the utmost ease, frequently rising perpendicularly, flying backward, pirouetting or dancing off, as it were. Mr. Gosse observes that humming-birds have more or less the habit of pausing in the air and throwing the body into rapid and odd contortions, and he noticed this especially with the long-tailed humming-bird, on account of the effect which such motions have on the beautiful long feathers of the tail. He affirms that in these evolutions the birds are engaged in catching insects in the air, and he was close enough to them to see the tiny flies, and to hear the snapping of the bird's bill as it captured them. It will be noticed above that Gould speaks of the capacity of humming-birds for flying backwards. This power has frequently been doubted, and Mr. Terry observes that " the Duke of Argyll lays it down that no bird can ever fly backwards. He mentions the humming-bird as appearing to do so, but maintains that in reality it falls rather than flies, when, for instance, it comes out of a tubular flower. But, while watching the motions of a humming- bird, it occurred to me to test the dictum of the Duke ; and, unless my eyes were altogether at fault, the bird did actually fly backwards. It was probing, one after another, the blossoms of a petunia-bed, and more than once, when the flower happened to be low down, it plainly rose rather than fell as it backed away from it." Mr. Ridgway likewise says that he has observed the same thing, but he has noticed that the backward motion is greatly assisted by a forward flirt of the expanded tail, as the bird shifts from place to place or from one part of a tree to another, sometimes descending, at others ascending. " It often towers up above the trees," writes the last-named author, " and then shoots off", like a little meteor, at a right angle ; at other times it quietly buzzes away among the flowers near the ground ; at one moment it is poised over a diminutive weed, at the next it is seen at a distance of forty yards, whither it has vanished with the quickness of thought. During the heat of the day the shady retreats beneath the trees are very frequently visited; in the morning and evening the sunny banks, the verandas, and other exposed situations are more frequently resorted to." Humming-birds, as a rule, do not possess any kind of song, and their few notes are of a twittering character. Mr. F. Stephens, describing the " feeding "-note of Costa's humming-bird, says that the female, when feeding, keeps up a pretty constant vocal noise, which somewhat resembles the buzz of the wings, and that the feeding-note of the male is finer and not so frequent. " I think," he adds, " that the males are the only ones who sing. The song is sweet and very low, but if it is perfectly quiet around it can be distinctly heard for a distance of ten yards. As might be expected from the size of the bird, it is in a very high key, something like the sound produced by whistling between the teeth, very low, yet at a high pitch. It might be called a warble, and I have heard it kept up for PICARIAN BIRDS. several minutes at a time. On such occasions I have never been able to find a female in the vicinity, and have come to the conclusion that it was sung for the individual's own amusement. There is still another hummer-note — that of the chase. They are very fond of chasing one another, sometimes for sport, often for spite. This note also resembles the feeding-note, but is louder and possesses a chippering character, some- times almost like the sound produced by lightly and rapidly smacking the lips together. I can detect but little difference between the sexes, and it appears much the same whether the chase is in sport or anger. Further- more, it is often made by the pursued as well as by the pursuer. At such times I am always reminded of a lot of schoolboys playing 'tag.' If a hummer is perched and a person passes near, it starts off, uttering a note similar to that made while feeding; but, should it be a female which you have frightened from her nest, she will go oft" silently." Mr. Ridgway men- tions only two other records of the song of the humming- birds, quoting Gosse, to the effect that the tiny mellisirga of Jamaica sings, for ten minutes at a time, a sweet but monotonous little song; while De Oca has observed a similar fact with regard to the wedge-tailed sabre-wing, Mr. Ridgway adds that " al- though the muffled buzzing or humming noise, which has given this family of birds its distinctive name, is the sound usually accompanying the flight of humming-birds, the males of some species accompany their flight by a most remarkable noise, of an entirely different character. While among the mountains of Utah, in 1869, the writer was for a long time mystified by a shrill screeching noise, something like that produced by a rapidly revolving circular saw when rubbed by a splinter. This noise was evidently in the air, but I could not trace its origin, until I discovered a humming-bird passing HUMMING-BIRD AND NEST. HUMMING-BIRDS. 25 through the air overhead in a curious undulating kind of flight. I afterwards heard the same sound produced by males of the same species (the broad-tailed humming- bird) when they were driving other birds away from the vicinity of their nests. At such times they would ascend almost perpendicularly to a considerable height, and then descend with the quickness of a flash at the object of their animosity, which was, perhaps, more frightened or annoyed at the accompanying noise than by the attack itself. Mr. F. Stephens calls this the " courtship-song," but from the circumstance that, in the broad-tailed humming-bird at least, it is often produced by solitary individuals while wending their way between distant points, I hardly think that it can be so considered. Mr. Stephens writes of Costa's humming-bird that " the female is sitting on a twig in a low bush, not on an exposed twig, as is often the case when she is merely resting; but when the male begins she goes farther in, as if she feared that he really intended mischief, while he rises high in the air, and with a headlong swoop conies down, passing her, and, turning with a sharp curve as near her as possible, mounts on high, to repeat the manoeuvre again and again. A shrill whistle is heard as he begins to descend, starting low and becoming louder and louder, until, as he passes her, it becomes a shriek, which is plainly audible for a distance of a hundred yards or more. As he mounts again it dies away, only to be repeated at the next descent. This is a common manoeuvre with the species, the whistle made during the descent being quite low." The nests are tiny little structures, generally made of moss, and covered externally with lichens, which cause them to resemble the surroundings in which they are placed. The eggs are two in number, white, and oval at both ends. Humming-birds are divided into three sections, the characters for which are not very trenchantly marked, the fact being that these birds form a very homo- geneous group, and thus do not lend themselves to any easily recognisable scheme of classification. The number of species described is nearly five hundred, these being divided into one hundred and twenty-seven genera. In these genera every possible variation of form is perceptible, from the longest bill to the tiniest bill, the simplest form of tail to the most elaborate of structures, while the metallic plumage, so characteristic of the humming-birds in general, is absent in not a few of the genera, and the colour of the simplest kind. Saw-Beaked The members of this section, as its name implies, are characterised Group. by the serrated cutting-edges of the fore-part of the upper mandible ; the corresponding portion of the lower jaw being in some instances similarly notched. The group comprises upwards of five-and-twenty genera, the members of which differ infinitely among themselves as regards form and colour. The sole representative of its genus, the long-tailed Jamaican humming-bird (JEthurus polytmus), may be easily recognised by the abnormal conformation of the tail, in which the outermost feather but one on each side is produced to an enormous length. An inhabitant of the island from which it takes its name, its habits have been admirably described by Gosse in the following words : — " The long-tail is a permanent resident in Jamaica, and is not uncommonly seen at all seasons and in all situations. It loves to frequent the margins of woods and roadsides, where it sucks the blossoms of the trees, occasionally descending, however, to the low shrubs. There is one locality where it is abundant, the summit of that range of mountains 26 PICARIAN BIRDS. just behind Bluefields, and known as the Bluefields Ridge. Behind the peaks which are visible from the sea, at an elevation of about half a mile, there runs through the dense woods a narrow path, just passable for a horse, overrun with beautiful ferns of many graceful forms, and always damp and cool. The whirring made by the vibrating wings of the male polytmns is a shriller sound than that produced by the female, and indicates its proximity before the eye has detected it. The male almost constantly utters a monotonous, quick chirk, both while resting on a twig, and while sucking from flower to flower. They do not invariably probe flowers upon the wing ; one may frequently observe them thus engaged, when alighted and sitting with closed wings, and often they partially sustain themselves by clinging with the feet to a leaf while sucking, the wings being expanded and vibrating. The humming-birds in Jamaica do not confine themselves to any particular season for nidi- fication. In almost every month of the year I have either found, or have had brought to me, the nests of polytmus in occupation. Still, as far as my experience goes, they are most numerous in June ; while Mr. Hill con- siders January as the most normal period. It is not improbable that two broods are reared in a season. In the latter part of February, a friend showed me a nest of this species in a singular situation, but which I afterwards found to be quite in accordance with its usual habits. It was at Bognie, situated on the Bluefields Mountain, but at some distance from the scene above described. On the 12th of November, we took, in Blue- fields morass, the nest of a polytmus, con- taining two eggs, one of which had the chick considerably advanced, the other was freshly laid. The nest was placed on a hanging twig of a black mangrove tree, the twig passing perpendicularly through the side, and out at the bottom. It is mainly composed of silk-cotton very closely pressed, mixed with the still more glossy cotton asclepias, particularly round the edge ; the seed remaining attached to some of the filaments." white-Crowned Two species of the curious genus Microchera are known to Humming-Bird. science ; the one confined to the mountains of Western Panama, and the other (M. parvirostris) taking its place in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Both are remarkable for their snow-white crowns and tiny dimensions, being only about 2£ inches in length. According to its describer, Mr. Merrill, the . latter is not so persistent in its flight as most of the humming-birds, and rests more frequently, JAMAICA HUMMING-BIRD. HUMMING-BIRDS. 27 this habit being probably induced by the shortness of its wings. The first specimen seen was perched on a twig preening its feathers, and, for a few moments, the observer was doubtful whether such a tiny creature could really be a bird. Another he noticed bathing, and watched its movements for some time before shooting it. " The little creature," he says, " would poise itself about three feet or so above the surface of the water, and then, as quick as thought, would dart downwards, so as to dip its head in the placid pool, then up again to its original position, quite as quickly as it had descended. These movements of darting up and down, it would repeat in rapid succession, which produced more than a moderate disturbance on the surface of the water, for such a diminutive creature. After a considerable number of dippings it alighted on a twig near at hand, and commenced pluming its feathers." intermediate The forty-eight genera included under this section are character- Group. isec[ by having the sheath of the upper mandible of the bill very feebly serrated towards the end of the cutting-edge. As with the previous section, all kinds of forms are included within its limits, from the lovely hill-stars (Diplogena) to the duller-coloured amazilia. The hill-stars, which inhabit the Andes from Ecuador to Bolivia, are remarkable for their brilliant crown-spots, and are among the largest members of the family, extracting the nectar from flowers in a leisurely manner. Stolzmann indeed relates that he has even seen them perched on the dead branch of a tree, flying out into the air, after the manner of a flycatcher. In this division are likewise included the lovely comets (Sappho), with their long coppery or red tails and green throats; these birds extending from the interior of Argentina to Chili, Bolivia, and Central Peru. Fork-Tailed Forming a genus known as Lesbia, these elegant birds are found Humming-Birds. jn ^e Andes, from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia ; and are dark green in colour, with a short bill, very nearly straight, while they are specially distinguished by their very long, forked tails, in which the feathers are even narrower than in the comets (Sappho). Mr. Stolzmann found one of the species (L. gracilis) at the height of from seven thousand five hundred to ten thousand feet on the Andes of Peru, where it was apparently migratory, as he noticed it to be common at Tambillo in December and January, whereas in June not one was to be seen. The same naturalist is the rediscoverer of the wonderful Loddigesia (mentioned below) ; and he noticed that the fork-tailed species had a great antipathy to the racket -tailed Loddigesia, which it wras always driving away from the flowers. Its voice is quite characteristic, a tsi-tsi-tsi, very loudly uttered, and in a descending scale, and on visiting flowers it makes a sort of clapping noise, like that produced by pigeons when striking their wings together over their backs. Smooth-Beaked Although resembling the last in their variety of form and Group. coloration, this group differs in the absence of serrations in the cutting-edges of the beak. As our first representatives of the group may be noticed the curved-billed hermits (Eutoxeres), of which there are four species, all remarkable for the strong curvature of the beak, which describes fully one- third of a circle. The plumage is dull, and devoid of metallic sheen ; while the tail is rounded, with the extremities of the feathers pointed. In Peru one of these 28 PICARIAN BIRDS. humming-birds (E. condamini) has been observed feeding from the flowers of a plant, in which the curved form of the corolla exactly corresponded with the curva- ture of the bill of the bird, while at the same time the bald patch on the centre of the crown of the latter affords a fair field for the pistils to smear, as the bird probes the flower. The plant in question is abundant on the sides of the paths, and is always covered with plenty of flowers ; but although the bird is often met with, it cannot be called plentiful. It stops but a short time on the flower, and is therefore not very easy to procure. In the stomach remains of different species of gnats have been observed. In Salvin's hermit (E. salvini), ranging from Costa Rica to Panama, the head is wholly feathered ; while the species also differs from the last in having no buff colour on the outer tail-feathers, which have likewise no white tips; there is also no blue patch on the neck. Mr. Merrill, who met with the species in Panama, writes that " one day, while hunting a short distance from the camp for humming-birds, I was startled by the swift approach of a small object through the close thicket, which darted like a rifle-bullet past me, with a loud hum and buzzing of wings. Indeed it was this great noise which accompanied its flight, being so much greater than I had ever heard before from any of these winged meteors of the southern forests, that especially attracted my attention as something uncommon. The bird continued its flight but a short distance beyond the spot where I stood, when it suddenly stopped in its rapid course directly in front of a flower. There for a moment poising itself in this position, it darted upon the flower in a peculiar manner ; in fact, the movements of this little creature which now followed were exceedingly curious to me. Instead of inserting its beak into the calyx by advancing in a direct line towards the flower, as customary with this class of birds according to my limited observations, this one performed a curvilinear movement, at first stooping forward while it introduced its bill into the calyx, and then, when apparently the beak had reached the desired locality in the flower, its body suddenly dropped downwards, so that it seemed as if it was suspended from the flowers by its beak. That this was not actually the case, the continued rapid movement of its wings demonstrated beyond a doubt. In this position it remained for the ordinary length of time, and then by performing these movements, in the reverse order and direction, it freed itself from the flower, and afterwards pro- ceeded to the adjoining one, when the same operation was repeated. The flower was that of a species of palm, the blossoms of which are attached alternately on either side to a pendent stalk. Each flower resembles an inverted Roman helmet, and is attached, as it were, by the point of the crest to the stalk. It is a fleshy mass of a deep crimson colour, and the cavity of the calyx extends in a tortuous manner downwards towards the attachment of the flower to the stalk." The members of the genus Phaethornis are dull-plumaged birds, 'of a fair size generally, and remarkable for their wedge-shaped tails, the feathers of which are mostly tipped with white or buff. The bill is long and curved, but not to the same extent as in the last genus. Sixteen species of hermits are known, ranging from Mexico, throughout Central America to Southern Brazil and Bolivia. The nest is an elongated structure, placed at the extremity of one side of long-pointed leaves, as if for protection from the attacks of monkeys and other animals. The hermits are plentifully represented in Brazil, where they HUMMING-BIRDS. 29 u inhabit the gloomy forests, feeding chiefly on insects, instead of courting the sun- shine and sucking the honey from flowers. Mr. Stolzmann states that in Peru the