CHAPTER VI

NEORNITHES CARINATAE _CONTINUED_

BRIGADE II–LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE). ORDERS: CUCULIFORMES–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 _Psittacidae_, or Parrots, Parrakeets, 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.[214]

Fam. I. CUCULIDAE.–Here we may accept, in default of full anatomical investigation, the Sub-families of Captain Shelley,[215] namely, (1) _Cuculinae_, (2) _Centropodinae_, (3) _Phaenicophainae_, (4) _Neomorphinae_, (5) _Diplopterinae_, and (6) _Crotophaginae_.

The bill is generally long and curved, being strongly arched in _Hyetornis_, _Piaya_, _Taccocua_, and _Zanclostomus_; it is straight in _Saurothera_ and _Rhinortha_, abnormally large in _Rhamphomantis_ 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 secondaries usually nine or ten, but thirteen in _Scythrops_; in the Neomorphinae the quills are about equal in extent. The rounded {352}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 _Dasylophus_ and _Lepidogrammus_. The furcula is Y-shaped, the tongue is sagittate with retroverted 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 covering half the metatarsi; _Chrysococcyx_, however, contains several beautiful emerald-green forms; while _Chalcococcyx_ is scarcely less brilliant; but _Surniculus_ and _Cuculus clamosus_ are black. _Crotophaga_ 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_, _Phoenicophaës_, _Rhopodytes_ and elsewhere, on the head, neck, mantle and chest; _Crotophaga_ has stiff, scale-like borders, and _Lepidogrammus_ metallic horny tips, to the feathers of the first two of these; _Dasylophus_ 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 Regions 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. {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, and 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 (_Hierococcyx_); whereas several of the Centropodinae unconsciously mimic Pheasants in their colour, 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).

[Illustration: FIG. 69.–Cuckoo. _Cuculus canorus_. × 2/7.]

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 {354}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 Müller, a forester in Darmstadt.

Closely connected with the above parasitic habit is the question of the colour of the egg. Red 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, Wagtails, 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, Reed Warbler, Hedge-Sparrow and Robin, perhaps in the above order. They seldom, if ever, seem to resent the intrusion, 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 becoming 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. _Chalcococcyx lucidus_ bruises its food before swallowing it.

{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 cornix_; 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, and foists its greenish-white eggs with brown spots upon _Acanthiza_ and _Gerygone_.

Of _Eudynamis_, ranging from India and Ceylon to Australia {356}and Polynesia, the black males are barely distinguishable, but the females vary, and are black, brown, rufous, and white. _E. honorata_, the noisy Indian Koël, 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. melanorhyncha_ is the "foreteller at night" of Celebes.[216] The extraordinary _Scythrops 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, pairing 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. _C. erythrophthalmus_, 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-fam. 2. _Centropodinae._–This group comprises only the thirty or more large Coucals (_Centropus_) of the Ethiopian Region, Egypt, Madagascar, India, and the countries thence to China, Papuasia, and Australia. _C. sinensis_, the Crow-Pheasant, extending 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, climb, 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, {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. _Phoenicophainae._–_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.[217]

_Saurothera_, _Hyetornis_, and _Piaya_ are the "Rain-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. _Phoenicophaës pyrrhocephalus_ 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 Region lays two or three white eggs in a slight nest of sticks and leaves, while the pugnacious _Rhamphococcyx calorhynchus_, the "foreteller by day" of Celebes, builds a similar structure.[218]

Sub-fam. 4. _Neomorphinae._–_Geococcyx mexicanus_, the curious Chapparal-Cock or Road-runner of the South-Western United States and Mexico, frequents thinly-wooded country, hilly cactus-regions {358}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 flights: 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 incubation. _Carpococcyx radiatus_ of Borneo, and _C. viridis_ of Sumatra, are the only Old World species in this group.

[Illustration: FIG. 70.–Radiated Ground-Cuckoo. _Carpococcyx radiatus._ × ⅙. (From _Nature_.)]

Sub-fam. 5. _Diplopterinae._–_Diplopterus naevius_, a pale brown {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, _Crotophaga 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 appearance 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 and greener. Far from shifting the burden of incubation upon other species, the females form huge co-operative nests of interlaced 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 _Crotophaga_ 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 Region, 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}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 sagittate–with bristly apex in _Gallirex_; the nostrils–hidden in _Turacus_–are usually oval, but are linear in _Schizorhis_ and _Gymnoschizorhis_; the aftershaft is large; the nestlings lack down. The red or grey orbits are naked, save in _Schizorhis_; in _Gymnoschizorhis_ the cheeks and throat are bare and blackish.

[Illustration: FIG. 71.–Green-mantled Turaco. _Gallirex chlorochlamys._ × ¼.]

The six genera comprise two dozen or more species from about 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 _Corythaeola_ 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, containing 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.[219]

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 {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 and 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 _Gymnoschizorhis 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. corythaix_ is called the Lory in South Africa. _Musophaga 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. fischeri_. _Schizorhis concolor_ of South Africa is nearly uniform ash-coloured; _Gymnoschizorhis 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, {362}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 Rome under Nero.

In default of a really satisfactory arrangement we may accept that of Dr. Gadow,[220] who agrees in the main with Count Salvadori,[221] 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 mandible, 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 comparatively 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 {363}acuminate feathers in _Stringops_, 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 completely 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 72.–Uvaean Parakeet. _Nymphicus uvaeensis._ × ½. (From _Nature_.)]

The coloration is commonly gaudy, and particularly so in {364}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, _Nymphicus_ and the Cacatuinae possess crests, _Deroptyus_ broad erectile nape-plumes. Bare foreheads, cheeks or orbits, of a red, pink, blue, yellow, black, grey, or white hue are found in _Microglossus_, _Cacatua_, _Licmetis_, _Anodorhynchus_, _Cyanopsittacus_, _Ara_, _Poeocephalus_, _Psittacus_, _Coracopsis_, and _Dasyptilus_; while powder-down patches or tufts occur on the neck, shoulders, and sides of the Cacatuinae, _Psittacus_, and _Chrysotis_. 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_, _Chalcopsittacus_, 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, _Melopsittacus_ and _Neophema_ (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 _Platycercus_ 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_, _Casuarina_, _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, _Calyptorhynchus_ 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 notabilis_, {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 or 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, _Nymphicus_ and _Melopsittacus_ 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, occasionally 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 Region and the Malay countries, which possess a majority of the genera and peculiar species; next follows the Neotropical Region; 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 ferruginea_ occur at the Straits of Magellan, _Poeocephalus robustus_ 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}of Réunion, _Nestor productus_ of Phillip Island, and _N. norfolcensis_ of Norfolk Island, only a few specimens exist, and those in collections; _Palaeornis exsul_ of Rodriguez and _Conurus pertinax_ 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 73.–Kakapo. _Stringops habroptilus._ × ⅕. (From _Nature_.)]

Fam. III. PSITTACIDAE.–Sub-fam. 1. _Stringopinae._–_Stringops 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 {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.[222]

Sub-fam. 2. _Psittacinae._–Of this group the nocturnal _Geopsittacus 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 graceful 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 sometimes extending around the eyes. _N. petrophila_, the Rock-Parakeet, breeds in holes in steep cliffs near water, _N. pulchella_ also shewing a liking for rocks. _Porphyrocephalus 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, {368}primary-coverts, 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 outspread tail, and lay from four to seven eggs in holes in trees without a nest. _P. eximius_ is the Roselle 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 North-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 Rose-banded Parakeet or Alexandrine, and _P. torquata_, the Rose-ringed Parakeet, are similar species from the Indian Region; 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.

{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 green, and 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 Réunion, _C. comorensis_ and _C. sibilans_ inhabit the Comoros, _C. barklyi_ the Seychelles.

That clever talker, _Psittacus erithacus_, the Grey Parrot, which ranges across Equatorial Africa, is ashy-grey, with black primaries, 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 probably nesting in holes in trees. _P. timneh_ is not known to talk.

_Poeocephalus robustus_ of Southern Africa is green, with brownish 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.

{370}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 secondaries 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 in holes in high trees, and fly in small flocks, which utter screaming cries, and feed on plantains, berries, oranges, and so forth.

[Illustration: FIG. 74.–Grey Parrot. _Psittacus erithacus._ × ⅓.]

_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, Paraguay, 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. {371}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.[223] _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 Red-and-blue Macaw, _A. macao_, which differs in its yellow and green wing-coverts, and _A. militaris_, the Red-and-green Macaw, occur from Mexico and Central America to Bolivia; _A. ararauna_, the Blue-and-yellow Macaw, and _A. severa_, the Green-and-blue 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 _Anodorhynchus_ 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 {372}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 Rosenberg to lay two eggs, no larger than those of the Long-tailed Tit, in holes in trees.[224]

[Illustration: FIG. 75.–Leadbeater's Cockatoo. _Cacatua leadbeateri._ × ¼.]

Sub-fam. 3. _Cacatuinae._–Of the Cockatoos, which are restricted to the Australian Region, 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. leadbeateri_ 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. roseicapilla_ 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. {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. _Callocephalon galeatum_ is grey, with a scarlet head and crest. In these two Australian genera the supposed females exhibit yellow markings. _Microglossus 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.

Fam. 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._–_Trichoglossus novae hollandiae_, Swainson'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 _Eucalyptus_-forests 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 _Trichoglossus_ 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}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 seem to resemble _Trichoglossus_. The members of _Eos_ (Red 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 consists largely of juicy fruits, blossoms, and nectar from the Rata (_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 vegetation. 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 {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 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 76.–The Kea or Mountain Nestor. _Nestor notabilis._ × ¼. (From _Nature_.)]

Of fossil Parrots, _Psittacus_ occurs in the Lower Miocene of France, the large _Necropsittacus rodericanus_ in Rodriguez, and the still bigger _Lophopsittacus mauritianus_, known from an old picture to be crested, in the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius.

{376}ORDER XIII. CORACIIFORMES.

The Order Coraciiformes contains the Sub-Orders CORACIAE, STRIGES, CAPRIMULGI, CYPSELI, COLII, 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 Nitzsch 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 Kingfishers, _Meropidae_ or Bee-eaters, _Bucerotidae_ or Hornbills, and _Upupidae_ or Hoopoes.

Fam. I. CORACIIDAE.–Two Sub-families may be recognised of these Old World birds, (1) _Coraciinae_, and (2) _Leptosomatinae_; the latter containing only the remarkable "Kirombo" of Madagascar.

Sub-fam. 1. _Coraciinae._–Most of the twenty or more species of Rollers are brilliant blue and green, varied with reddish, and bear a resemblance to certain of the Crow-tribe, especially to the genus _Cissa_. The short metatarsus, however, scutellated in front and reticulated behind, is a clear distinction, as in _Cissa_ and so forth it is longer and smooth behind, with elongated scutes anteriorly. It is comparatively long in Ground-Rollers, but they are quite unmistakeable. 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. temmincki_ 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 {377}tail with light blue on the lateral feathers, the outer pair alone having black tips. In the similar _C. abyssinicus_ the two outer rectrices are elongated and tapering; in the more purple _C. spatulatus_ 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 genus _Eurystomus_ occupies Tropical Africa, and extends 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 ultramarine 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 occasionally 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 somersaults 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}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 _Brachypteracias_, are curious forms, peculiar to Madagascar. _A. pittoïdes_ 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 combination of green, blue, black, and brown. _Brachypteracias 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 {379}syllables "tu-hou" thrice repeated, either while hovering in the air or while ascending or descending in vertical fashion. Meanwhile 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 nest is said to be made of rushes and placed in holes, the eggs to be white. One female is often accompanied by several males. The Malagasy consider that the "Reò" brings ill-luck, and make it the theme of various tales and chants.[225]

[Illustration: FIG. 77.–Kirombo. _Leptosoma discolor._ × 2/7.]

Fam. II. MOMOTIDAE.–The Motmots and Todies fall naturally between the Rollers and Kingfishers, but are also closely connected 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.

{380}Sub-fam. 1. _Momotinae._–Motmots have loose-webbed green, blue, cinnamon, and black plumage; the sexes being barely distinguishable, 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 _Prionirhynchus_ 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 _Baryphthengus_ 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 _Hylomanes_, _Aspatha_ and _Baryphthengus_. 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 aftershaft 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.[226]

_Urospatha martii_, ranging from Costa Rica to Amazonia, is {381}oil-green above, with a blue tinge on the blackish primaries and the end of the tail, the two median rectrices being much elongated 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. _Momotus brasiliensis_, 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. _Aspatha gularis_ of Guatemala is bright green above, and has a yellowish breast; the abdomen and throat are pale blue, with a black tuft at the base of the latter; the sides of the head are reddish-fawn with black ear-coverts. The tail is normal.

[Illustration: FIG. 78.–Motmot. _Momotus brasiliensis._ × ⅓.]

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}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 flights 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. subulatus_ Hispaniola; _T. multicolor_, which has a blue spot on each cheek, Cuba; _T. hypochondriacus_ Porto Rico. The length varies from three and a half to four and a half inches.

[Illustration: FIG. 79.–Tody. _Todus viridis._ × ⅝.]

Fam. III. ALCEDINIDAE.–The Kingfishers, with the Sub-families (1) _Halcyoninae_, or Wood-Kingfishers, and (2) _Alcedininae_, 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 {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_, _Alcedo_, 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}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 occasionally 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.

{385}[Illustration: FIG. 80.–Racquet-tailed Kingfisher. _Tanysiptera dea._ × ½. (From _Malay Archipelago_.)]

Sub-fam. 1. _Halcyoninae._–_Tanysiptera sabrina_ of the Moluccas, 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 cyanotis_ 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. _H. cyaniventris_ of Java is rich blue above; the head and wing-coverts are mainly black, the lower parts ultramarine, the throat and cheeks rufous, extending as a collar to the nape; the bill is dark red. _H. semicaeruleus_ of Arabia, West and East Africa, has a whitish head and under parts, with a chestnut {386}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. _H. 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 pulchellus_ of the Malay countries, Sumatra, and Java has the forehead, 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 _I. 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, however, 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 {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. beryllina_ 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 Region, 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 posteriorly; 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 _Melittophagus_ and _Nyctiornis_, 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}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 neighbourhood of swamps or rivers, as well as arid districts. _Merops_ is constantly seen in flocks, _Melittophagus_ 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 circumstances, 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 philippinus_, 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 _Melittophagus_ 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 {389}never much elongated; _Meropogon_ and _Nyctiornis_ have the gular feathers broad and lengthened into a tuft.

[Illustration: FIG. 81.–Bee-eater. _Merops apiaster._ × 3/7.]

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 _Melittophagus_. _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 and 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 Senegambia 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. nubicus_ of the northern half of the Ethiopian Region has crimson-pink upper parts, blue-green head and throat, light blue rump and abdomen, {390}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 forehead, 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. Gadow,[227] 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. V. 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 _Lophoceros_ 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 _Rhinoplax_ and _Ortholophus_. The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue rudimentary; the aftershaft 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.

{391}[Illustration: FIG. 82.–Hornbill. _Dichoceros bicornis._ Female and young. (From _Malay Archipelago_.)]

The flight, often prolonged to considerable distances, is heavy and slow, 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, possibly due to the open nature of the quills; but _Rhinoplax_, _Berenicornis_, _Anorhinus_, and _Anthracoceros malabaricus_ are said to fly noiselessly. In some species the wing-action is regular; in others, rapid strokes alternate with sailing movements on outspread pinions; the head is usually drawn in and the tail depressed; while flocks proceed in single file. Individuals alight heavily, and {392}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 constantly 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 "hūm-hūm," and that of _B. cafer_, the "Bromvogel" 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 _Strychnos_ 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.[228]

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 débris 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 {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 _Rhytidoceros 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 _Ortholophus_ 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.

_Rhinoplax 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. _Berenicornis 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 and rudimentary 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}[Illustration: FIG. 83.–Plait-billed Hornbill. _Rhytidoceros undulatus._ × ⅕-⅙. (From _Nature_.)]

_Ceratogymna elata_ 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. _Rhytidoceros plicatus_ of Papuasia and the Moluccas has a reddish and white casque with obliquely overlapping plates, pale blue naked 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. {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 bicornis_ (Fig. 82) of India and the Malay countries has a large yellowish-red casque, hollowed and ending in two points anteriorly, 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. cafer_ 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}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 Hawks; they can also run rapidly. The nest, placed in holes in trees, walls, or rocks, consists 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.[229] During incubation the cock feeds the hen, who hardly stirs from her post; the eggs number from four to seven, and are pale greenish-blue with distinct pores. These birds are fond of dusting 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 84.–Hoopoe. _Upupa epops._ × ¼. (From _Natural History of Selborne_.)]

_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 {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 _Rhinopomastus_, 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, _I. viridis_ and _I. erythrorhynchus_ having the head and throat bluish-green, _I. bollii_ those parts buff, _I. 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}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_.[230] In the former, or Screech-Owl section,[231] 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 metatarsus 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 Region, 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 instances of greater length, _Bubo_, _Sceloglaux_, _Speotyto_, and _Photodilus_ of shortness; the primaries number eleven and the secondaries from eleven to eighteen. The tail of twelve rectrices is generally short and somewhat rounded, though longer in _Surnia_. The large {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 extraordinary 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 _Asio_ and _Syrnium_ the ear-openings are asymmetrical, those of the former reaching nearly the whole height of the skull and being directed respectively upwards and downwards; 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 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 _Surnia_–are soft, with an admixture of hairs and with weak, brittle shafts, to which facts the noiseless flight is largely due. An erectile tuft decorates each side of the crown in _Bubo_, _Asio_, _Scops_, and _Ketupa_; but the most striking 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 overlying 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_, _Speotyto_, _Bubo_, and _Scops_, not to mention other cases, it is far less perfect.

{400}_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, _Micrathene 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 indication 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_, _Photodilus_ and _Heliodilus_ are, however, peculiar to the Old World, _Speotyto_, _Gymnasio_ 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 Sandwich, Galápagos, 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.[232]

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 scandiaca_) 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 {401}than Falcons or Eagles. In the perpetual day 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_, _Carine_, _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 somewhat 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 awkward, and being arboreal birds–with the exception 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 proceeding 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 {402}simply deposit their eggs on the débris 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 (_Bubo_) 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 virginianus_ 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 generally 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 varying 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 {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_.[233] 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 invariably 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 {404}feathers. As mentioned above (p. 400), the bird is almost cosmopolitan, if we disregard the sub-species proposed. It is rare in northern Scotland. It lays its four to six dull white eggs, without any nest, in hollow trees, crevices in masonry or rocks, towers, belfries, lofts, and so forth, and has been known to breed in holes in banks or cliffs in America, between forking branches in the Philippines, and on the ground in Madagascar. The eggs are not uncommonly deposited at considerable 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 dovecotes it destroys the rats which prey upon the eggs and young of pigeons, and is itself practically harmless. According to Dr. Sharpe[234] the following may also be admitted as valid species: _S. novae hollandiae_ of Australia, _S. tenebricosa_ of 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 85.–Screech-Owl. _Strix flammea._ × ⅖.]

_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 badius_, found from the Eastern Himalayas to Ceylon, the Burmese Countries, Borneo, {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 hŏo-hŏo-hŏo-hōo once or twice repeated, rather than the Shakespearean tu-whit, to-who. Surface-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 Region; some of the best known members being the northern _S. lapponicum_, the Lapp Owl, and its American race _S. 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. nivicola_ and _S. newarense_ of the Himalayas, _S. ocellatum_ and _S. indranee_, the last-named extending to the Malay Peninsula; _S. sinense_ occurs in that district Burma, Cochin China and Java, _S. leptogrammicum_ in Borneo. {406}_S. nebulosum_ of eastern and _S. occidentale_ of southern North America extend to Mexico; whence _S. virgatum_, _S. perspicillatum_, _S. albigulare_ and other species range to the middle of South America. _S. rufipes_ is a native of Chili and Patagonia. Finally, _S. nuchale_ inhabits Western, _S. woodfordi_ Southern and North-Eastern Africa.

_Asio 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 {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 whitneyi_, 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 markings; 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. passerinum_ 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. cuculoïdes_, found from the Himalayas to Siam, does not attain twelve inches (_G. whitelyi_ 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. brodiei_ the Himalayas, _G. castanonotum_ Ceylon, _G. sylvaticum_ Sumatra, _G. castanopterum_ Java, _G. pardalotum_ Formosa, _G. perlatum_ most of the Ethiopian Region, _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}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, uttering 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 somewhat imperfect. The thirty or more species extend from Madagascar, 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. scutulata_, 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. boobook_. 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 {409}Cuckoo visits Australia and there assumes nocturnal habits. The flight 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,"[235] 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 snoring 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, _N. albaria_ to Lord Howe Island, _N. obscura_ and _N. affinis_ to the Andamans and perhaps the Nicobars, and _N. 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 incomplete 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 Region, 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, {410}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 the breeding colonies, while individuals often sit bowing or twisting their heads about on the roofs of houses.

[Illustration: FIG. 86.–Burrowing Owl. _Speotyto cunicularia._ × ½. (From _Nature_.)]

_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 {411}feathered in the race from Northern and Central Asia (_C. plumipes_ or _bactriana_). Another race (_C. glaux_), of a more sandy colour, occupies 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 débris 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 Scandinavia and North Russia 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}_Nyctea scandiaca_, the white Snowy Owl, occasionally exhibiting 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 Harfäng (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 information, 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 distinctly 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 Duc of France, which visits Britain and Holland, extends over Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Palestine, 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 {413}Siam; _S. brucii_, 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 more 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. _S. flammeola_ occurs from Colorado and California to Guatemala; and thence various species carry the range to Brazil. The Ethiopian Region 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 Region 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 Duc 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 transverse 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 deposited 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 _B. turcomanus_ of South-West Siberia and Turkestan, {414}_B. blakistoni_ 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. coromandus_–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. philippensis_ in the Philippines. _B. lacteus_ covers all the Ethiopian Region, except the west, where _B. shelleyi_, _B. lettii_, _B. leucostictus_ and _B. poënsis_ 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 _B. 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 buffish-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 Himalayas 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 {415}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, _Badiostes_ in Patagonia.

* * * * *

The Sub-Order CAPRIMULGI consists of the Nightjar or Goat-sucker group, with the Families _Caprimulgidae_, _Podargidae_, and _Steatornithidae_, of which the latter contains only the remarkable Guácharo. The _Caprimulgidae_ may be divided into the Sub-families (1) _Caprimulginae_ and (2) _Nyctibiinae_. Authorities disagree 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 Caprimulginae 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 _Batrachostomus_, 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 rudimentary; 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 {416}_Phalaenoptilus nuttalli_. 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 virginianus_) hawks in the full glare of the sun. The more diurnal species frequently rise to a considerable 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 {417}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_), as well 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.[236]

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, and _Batrachostomus_ 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.[237] _Aegotheles_ lays from three to five in hollow trees, the parent hissing if caught upon them. Eggs of _Ae. wallacii_ are stated to shew pale streaks. _Nyctibius_ appears to breed in hollows of branches or stumps, and not on the ground.[238] 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 apparitions. The Indians of Central and South America think that they portend serious evil, but refuse to kill them; while in England 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 {418}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. _C. 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, 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 87.–Nightjar or Goatsucker. _Caprimulgus europaeus._ × ⅓.]

Sub-fam. 2. _Nyctibiinae._–Six species of _Nyctibius_ occur in Tropical America, including Jamaica, and utter wailing cries.

{419}Fam. IX. PODARGIDAE.–This group includes some five and twenty members of the genera _Podargus_, _Batrachostomus_[239] (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 Guácharo, or Oil-bird (_Steatornis caripensis_) discovered in 1799 by Humboldt and Bonpland at Caripé 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 surrounded 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 plaintive 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 _Trochilidae_ or Humming-birds,[240] which were first {420}grouped together by Nitzsch 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. XI. 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 Cypselinae have the further peculiarity of possessing only three joints, while the metatarsi or even the toes are feathered. The ten primaries, 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 _Cypseloïdes_, 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.

{421}Swifts are essentially aërial, seldom alighting upon the ground, or perching except at night,[241] 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 description, _Cypselus andicola_ and _C. horus_ 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 _Collocalia_ 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; {422}two or four being the usual complement, though three are exceptionally 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. wallacii_, _M. comata_, and the larger and most eastern _M. mystacea_.

Sub-fam. 2. _Chaeturinae._–Of the three genera, _Chaetura_, _Cypseloïdes_, 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 {423}exceptionally 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 _C. boehmi_ 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 _Cypseloïdes_ the shafts of the rectrices scarcely project perceptibly; 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,[242] 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 {424}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 Mascarene 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 hieronymi_ of Guatemala is described as follows by Mr. Salvin:[243] "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, and 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 may be 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 Verd Islands; _C. affinis_ reaches from Africa and Palestine to India; _C. melba_, the "Alpine Swift," inhabits the same Asiatic countries, extending westward to South Europe and North Africa, and wandering north to Britain and Heligoland.

{425}[Illustration: FIG. 88.–Swift. _Cypselus apus._ × ⅓. (From _Natural History of Selborne_.)]

_C. caffer_ occurs in South Africa, Abyssinia, and Uganda, and exceptionally on the Congo; _C. horus_ across Tropical Africa; _C. andicola_ in Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia: _C. montivagus_ in the last two countries. _C. pacificus_ of East Asia, with Japan and the Burmese countries, reaches Australia in winter. Some species lay four or five eggs, and _C. melanoleucus_ of western North America utters a peculiar twitter in its nest, placed in clefts of rocks.[244] Five species of _Tachornis_, or Palm-Swift, here included under _Cypselus_, are found throughout the Ethiopian Region, from India and the Malay countries to China, and in the West Indies; _T._ (_Claudia_) _squamata_ occupying Guiana, Brazil, and East Peru. The toes point forward in two pairs, the tail is forked. These birds usually attach their nests {426}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 _Tachyornis_.

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 Barrère, who believed Humming-birds to be allied to the Wren, the _Trochilus_ in part of the Latin author. Τροχίλος, however, was applied by the Greeks to the smaller Plovers (p. 295), and apparently ὄρχιλος 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" (Rose-sucker and Myrtle-sucker); from the West Indies "Murmures" and "Bourdons."[245]

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 _Rhamphodon_; 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 primaries, of which the outermost is the longest, except in _Aithurus_–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 {427}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 _Phaëthornis_ 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_, _Spathura_, 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 aftershaft 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[246] 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 Regions 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 {428}even in snowy weather, while _Oreotrochilus chimborazo_ and _O. 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 altitudinal movements of the same nature. Only eighteen species are recognised as occurring north of Mexico by New World ornithologists, 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; _Eustephanus galeritus_, _E. fernandensis_ and _E. leyboldi_ 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 powerfully, 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 vibratory movement of the tail, which in some cases opens and shuts like a fan. The humming sound, produced at each new departure 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 holosericeus_[247]:–"One is admiring the clustering stars of a Scarlet _Cordia_, the snowy cornucopias of a _Portlandia_, or some other {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 representations of them in that attitude are often of special use to the ornithologist. 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 front and behind at each vibration. 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 extraordinary 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."

[Illustration: FIG. 89.–Humming-bird. _Eulampis jugularus._ × ⅔.]

{430}Darwin[248] 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 _Syrphus_ 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 alimentary canal shews but little trace of honey, which the birds nevertheless 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_, _Phaëthornis_, _Eutoxeres_, and _Chlorostilbon_ 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_, _Pygmornis_, _Lampornis_, _Patagona_ and 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.

{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 a 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 _Mellisuga minima_ utters a weak, sweet warble, lasting for ten minutes.[249]

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 exceptionally fastened to thatch. In _Rhamphodon_, _Phaëthornis_, _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 Reed-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 {432}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. Humming-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,[250] 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, Ridgway, and Wallace may be mentioned among other Trochilidists. The largest form, _Patagona gigas_, measures nearly nine inches, _Mellisuga minima_ and others about two and a half.

(1) Forms with distinctly serrated beaks. _Heliothrix_ of Central and 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. _Rhamphodon naevius_ of the same country, and _Androdon aequatorialis_ of Colombia and Ecuador, have the bill strongly hooked; the latter is brownish-green above and greyish below, with a blue nape and white rump-bar.

{433}[Illustration: FIG. 90.–Long-tailed Humming-bird. _Aithurus polytmus._ × ½.]

_Chlorostilbon_, ranging from Mexico to Argentina, possesses some dozen green species with blue or purplish tails, which are forked or rounded; _Panychlora_ of Colombia and Venezuela is similar; _Sporadinus_, differing in its bronzy-black rectrices, inhabits Florida, the Bahamas, and the greater Antilles. In _Aithurus polytmus_, peculiar to Jamaica, the two tail-feathers next to the outer pair are immensely 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 Rica, 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 holosericeus_, extending from Barbados to St. Thomas, is golden-green, {434}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. _Petasophora_ contains some seven members, ranging from South Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil, with fine blue or purple ear-tufts, which occasionally meet in front. _Chrysolampis 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. _Cyanolesbia 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. _S. 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 countries. _Eustephanus galeritus_ of Chili, the Straits of Magellan, {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 Rica 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. cyanura_ of Guatemala and Nicaragua is entirely green, though bluer towards the tail, and shining below. _Cyanophaea caeruleigularis_ of Costa Rica, 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 _Rhamphodon_ and _Phaëthornis_ in a Sub-family _Phaëthornithinae_, as opposed to _Trochilinae_, but this has not been generally accepted. The sixteen or more species of _Phaëthornis_, 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 Rica is similar. {436}_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. _Florisuga 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 Rio Negro and Eastern Ecuador, is redder above, with no cinnamon on the wings or lateral rectrices. The genus _Oreotrochilus_, and the four next succeeding, have particularly strong feet. In common with some half a dozen congeners which range southwards to Chili, _O. pichincha_ 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 {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 abdomen, and purplish and white lateral rectrices. The female lacks the elongated feathers, and has white under parts spotted with dusky. _Rhamphomicron heteropogon_ 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. _R. microrhynchum_, 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. _Opisthoprora 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 mirabilis_, originally found in Northern Peru by a botanist named Matthews, and rediscovered by M. Stolzmann[251] 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 extraordinarily 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. _Cephalolepis 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 spatulate-tailed _Spathura_ of the same regions the characteristic of possessing {438}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. _Calothorax 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. _Selasphorus 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 Rocky 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 Humming-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. _Prymnacantha 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 {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 Rica to Bolivia and Brazil. _Lophornis_ covers the same area, 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 resemblance, 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 reticulations 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}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 disagreeable 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.

[Illustration: FIG. 91.–Cape Coly. _Colius capensis._ × ⅓.]

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 {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 _C. castanonotus_ have maroon rumps. The bare skin surrounding the eye is scarlet in _C. erythromelon_, _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 _Harpactes_ 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 secondaries; 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 mocinno_, 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 nestlings are said to be naked for a short period. The large soft {442}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 Regions, _Harpactes_ and _Hapalarpactes_ being found in the first, _Hapaloderma_ in the second, and the other five genera in the third. _Trogon ambiguus_ reaches northwards 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 sometimes in small flocks; they are rarely shy, and often so unsuspicious 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 opening 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 tempting fruit, since nearly all their food is taken on the wing. The noiseless flight is rapid, but short and jerky, with occasional undulations. 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 {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 River 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 vermiculations 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 temnurus_, peculiar to Cuba, has the sexes similar; the upper parts are bronzy-green, the head is black, glossed with purple and blue, the under parts are grey with crimson abdomen.

{444}[Illustration: FIG. 92.–Quezal. _Pharomacrus mocinno_. × ¼.]

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 greenish-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 mocinno_, 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 rectrices 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 surface brownish-grey, with a {445}green tinge on the former and on the chest; the vent crimson. Three other species range from Colombia to Bolivia. The decorative 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 gallicus_ in the Lower Miocene of France.

* * * * *

The Sub-Order PICI contains, according to Dr. Gadow, the Families _Galbulidae_, or Jacamars and Puff-birds, _Capitonidae_, or Barbets and Honey-guides, _Rhamphastidae_ or Toucans, and _Picidae_, or Woodpeckers and Wrynecks. All these undoubtedly belong to that author's Order Coraciiformes, though Garrod and W. A. Forbes included the _Galbulidae_ and several of the allied Families in their Passeriformes.

Fam. XV. GALBULIDAE.[252]–This may be divided into the Sub-families, (1) _Galbulinae_, or Jacamars, and (2) _Bucconinae_, or Puff-birds.[253] 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 zygodactylous; 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 sometimes 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. _Galbulinae_.–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 _Galbalcyrhynchus_, _Brachygalba albigularis_, and _B. 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, {446}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 insects–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 _Jacamaralcyon_ has, according to the natives, an agreeable whistling song. The flight is quick and jerky. Generally found solitary 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. chalcothorax_ has a decided red and blue gloss on both surfaces and a white abdomen. _Brachygalba_, which extends from Colombia to Amazonia, includes six diminutive forms, with a varying 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. _Galbalcyrhynchus leucotis_ of East Ecuador and Upper Amazonia is chestnut, with white cheeks and darker head and quills. _Jacamerops grandis_, ranging from Veragua to Amazonia and Ecuador, is bright coppery-green, with blackish wings and tail, a white throat-patch, and a chestnut abdomen.

{447}[Illustration: FIG. 93.–Puff-bird. _Bucco hyperrhynchus_. × ⅜.]

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 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. collaris_, and red or yellow in _Monacha_. The entire range of the Family, extending from Guatemala and Honduras to Argentina, 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. hyperrhynchus_ 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 {448}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 _C. 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) _Capitoninae_, 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 subsequently Garrod and W. A. Forbes combined the _Rhamphastidae_ (Toucans) with the above-mentioned groups in their _Capitonidae_.

Sub-fam. 1. _Capitoninae._–Barbets are heavy, ungraceful birds, with large stout bills, which are swollen at the base, occasionally sulcated, and more or less beset with bristles. _Pogonorhynchus_ and _Tricholaema_ 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 _Calorhamphus_ and _Gymnobucco_ are sombre in hue; different species, moreover, have crests, naked orbits, or brightly coloured bills. The sexes are alike, except in _Capito_; 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 {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 reluctance. They cut neat circular nesting-holes, which turn downwards 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 _Capito_ and the two species of _Tetragonops_, whereas the other regions divide the remaining groups fairly evenly between them. Captain Shelley[254] 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 _Erythrobucco_ 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. dubius_ 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; {450}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-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. _Gymnobucco 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 anchietae_ 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_, _Chotorhea_, _Cyanops_ and _Mesobucco_, 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 Ethiopian species of _Trachyphonus_, where the tail is similar. _T. cafer_ of South-East Africa is bluish-black above with white markings; {451}the rump being yellow; the upper tail-coverts scarlet; the forehead, 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 _Capito_ 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 Rica 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 rhamphastinus_ 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 Rica, 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 {452}Finch-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 generally 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. _I. archipelagicus_ of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, and _I. sparrmani_ of Tropical Africa, except the western forests, exhibit a yellow shoulder-patch; while the males of the latter and of _I. major_ of the same districts have black throats, which are whitish and yellow in the respective females. _I. 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 conducted; 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.[255] Sir John Kirk writes[256] 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 neighbouring trees, calling attention. If this be responded to, as the natives do by whistling and starting to their feet, the bird will {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 knowledge 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 containing the grubs be torn out when it is seen pecking at it."

Fam. XVII. RHAMPHASTIDAE.–The Toucans[257] are easily recognisable by their huge beak, only paralleled by that of the Hornbills, of which some authors have considered them the Neotropical representatives; but whereas in the latter this beak is usually surmounted 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 _Aulacorhamphus_ 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 secondaries; 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 {454}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 beauharnaisi_ 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,[258] 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, Toucans, like Rooks, post a sentinel, whose harsh, chattering scream can be heard for at least a mile: they are especially noisy in the morning 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 {455}the colonists and natives, the latter using their plumage to decorate 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 mountains; northwards _Rhamphastus carinatus_, _Pteroglossus torquatus_, _Aulacorhamphus prasinus_, and _A. wagleri_ reach South Mexico; southwards, _Rhamphastus 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 _Rhamphastus vitellinus_ extends to Trinidad. Dr. Sclater[259] recognises five genera, comprising fifty-nine species, the majority inhabiting Amazonia and Guiana.

[Illustration: FIG. 94.–Ariel Toucan. _Rhamphastus ariel._ × ⅓.]

The genus _Rhamphastus_ contains fourteen members, with {456}nearly the same range as that of the Family, including the type and sole Argentine species _R. 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 combination, _A. laminirostris_ having a square ivory-white basal plate on each side of the maxilla. _A. bailloni_, of South-East Brazil, doubtfully 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 surface in thirteen out of eighteen species. The tail is graduated, and the feathers below are somewhat hair-like. These Araçarís, 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. {457}_Aulacorhamphus_ 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) _Iynginae_, 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 Dendrocolaptinae. 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.[260]

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 rudimentary, 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 {458}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[261] 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 _Iyngipicus_ 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; on 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 martius_, _Gecinus viridis_, and _Melanerpes formicivorus_, 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 {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 occasionally 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 commonly stated that Woodpeckers always choose for their excavations 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.[262] 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 Region, Madagascar, and Egypt. Its members are {460}most abundant in the Indian and Neotropical Regions, 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 remarkable 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 Republic 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 Rocky 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 Rain-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 Regions. _Chloronerpes_ is a Central and South American genus of smaller birds, among which _C. 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. _Chrysophlegma_ extends from the Himalayas to China and the Malay Islands. _C. flavinucha_ is about the size of the Green Woodpecker, but {461}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 _Gauropicoïdes 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 sometimes seen studded with them to a height of forty feet or more.[263] 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 {462}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 congeners widen the range until it includes nearly all the Palaeartic, Nearctic, and Indian Regions. They are also found south of lat. 20° S. in the Neotropical. _D. leuconotus_ and _D._ (_Dendrocoptes_) _medius_ are other European forms, with varying races. _Picoïdes_ 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, reaching southward to Central Europe, China, and (west of the Rocky Mountains) to New Mexico. _P. tridactylus_ is well-known in Europe.

[Illustration: FIG. 95.–Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. _Dendrocopus minor._ × ½. (From _Bird Life in Sweden_.)]

_Iyngipicus_ 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, approaching 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 throughout most of the Ethiopian Region, 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 _Tiga javanensis_ and its congeners, extending from India to Cochin China. The last-named has a brilliant golden-orange back, a crimson {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.

[Illustration: FIG. 96.–Great Black Woodpecker. _Picus martius._ × ⅕. (From _Bird Life in Sweden_.)]

_Campephilus_, ranging from the Gulf States and the Lower Mississippi to Argentina, and _Ipocrantor_, of Chili and Patagonia, are noticeable for the concave ends of their tail-feathers. _C. principalis_, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker 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 considered 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. {464}_Ipocrantor 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. _Hemilophus 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. martius_, 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 _Iynginae_, being the least specialized of the former; they constitute the genus _Picumnus_, of which the thirty or more members have short, rounded tails without spiny shafts, and nostrils hidden by bristles. These diminutive birds occupy America from Honduras to Northern Argentina, as well as most of the Indian Region, 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._ (_Verreauxia_) _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. _Iynginae._–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 {465}utter a loud, triple note, frequently reiterated, which has been compared 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. _Iynx torquilla_, the Cuckoo's-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in 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 _I. pulchricollis_ occurring in East Equatorial Africa, and _I. aequatorialis_, in which the red extends to the whole breast, being met with only in Abyssinia.

[Illustration: FIG. 97.–Wryneck. _Iynx torquilla._ × 3/7. (From _Natural History of Selborne_.)]

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.

{466}