_TOUCANS, HONEY-GUIDES, JACAMARS AND PUFF-BIRDS, BARBETS AND WOODPECKERS._
Gaudy in plumage, and somewhat ungainly in appearance, it must nevertheless
be admitted that the TOUCANS form an exceedingly interesting group of
birds. On account of their huge and gaily coloured beaks, they have been
imagined to be related to the Hornbills; but even judging by this
character, the two groups may be readily distinguished; for whereas the
typical beak of the hornbill is surmounted by a large casque, the beak of
the toucan is never so ornamented. The solid appearance of the beak in the
toucan, by the way, is as much a fiction as with the hornbill, since the
horny sheath is supported, not on a core of solid bone, but on a frame of
delicate bony filigree-work, the spaces being filled by air. The coloration
of the plumage (which is somewhat loose in character), as well as of the
bare skin round the eye and the beak-sheath, is most brilliant, and
displays immense variation amongst the different species.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
TROGON.
Trogons haunt the recesses of the thickest forests.]
Shy and restless in their habits, toucans travel generally in small flocks
amongst the forest-trees and mangrove-swamps in search of food, which
consists mainly of fruits and seeds, varying this diet occasionally with
ants and caterpillars. It is to this diet of fruit that the great size of
the bill and its peculiar saw-like edges are to be traced--at least this is
the opinion of the great traveller-naturalist Bates, who had so many
opportunities of watching these birds. "Flowers and fruit," he writes, "on
the crowns of the large trees of South American forests grow principally
towards the end of slender twigs, which will not bear any considerable
weight. All animals, therefore, which feed principally upon fruit, or on
insects contained in flowers, must, of course, have some means of reaching
the ends of the stalks from a distance. Monkeys obtain their food by
stretching forth their long arms, and in some instances their tails, to
bring the fruit near to their mouths; humming-birds are endowed with highly
perfected organs of flight, with corresponding muscular development, by
which they are enabled to sustain themselves on the wing before blossoms
whilst rifling them of their contents; [and the long bill of the toucan
enables it] to reach and devour fruit whilst remaining seated, and thus to
counterbalance the disadvantage which its heavy body and gluttonous
appetite would otherwise give it in the competition with allied groups of
birds."
Toucans appear to be much esteemed as articles of food--at least during the
months of June and July, when these birds get very fat, the flesh being
exceedingly sweet and tender. They nest in holes of trees at a great height
from the ground, and lay white eggs.
One of the most remarkable of the group is the CURL-CRESTED TOUCAN, from
the fact that the feathers on the crown of the head are peculiarly modified
to form scroll-like, glossy curls, which have been compared to shavings of
steel or ebony. Mr. Bates writes: "I had an amusing adventure one day with
one of these birds. I had shot one from a rather high tree in a dark glen
in the forest, and entered the thicket where the bird had fallen to secure
my booty. It was only wounded, and on my attempting to seize it set up a
loud scream. In an instant, as if by magic, the shady nook seemed alive
with these birds, although there was certainly none visible when I entered
the jungle. They descended towards me, hopping from bough to bough, some of
them swinging on the loops and cables of woody lianas, and all croaking and
fluttering their wings like so many furies. If I had had a long stick in my
hand, I could have knocked several of them over. After killing the wounded
one, I began to prepare for obtaining more specimens and punishing the
viragos for their boldness. But the screaming of their companion having
ceased, they remounted the trees, and before I could reload every one of
them had disappeared."
With neither charm of colour nor peculiar shape, the small African birds
known as HONEY-GUIDES are some of the most remarkable of birds, and this on
account of a quite unique habit of inducing other animals, not even
excepting man, to hunt for them. Sir John Kirk, writing of its habits in
the Zambesi district, says: "The honey-guide is found in forests and often
far from water, even during the dry season. On observing a man, it comes
fluttering from branch to branch in the neighbouring trees, calling
attention. If this be responded to--as the natives do by whistling and
starting to their feet--the bird will go in a certain direction, and remain
at a little distance, hopping from one tree to another. On being followed,
it goes 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 required to discover the nest, even when pointed out to within a few
trees. I have known this bird, if the man, after taking up the direction
for a little, then turns away, come back and offer to point out another
nest in a different part. But if it does not know of two nests, it will
remain behind. The difficulty is that the bird 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 ... 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 is torn out, when it is seen
pecking at it."
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
CURL-CRESTED TOUCAN.
So called from the curiously curled feathers on the head, resembling black
and glistening shavings.]
An old rumour had it that honey-guides occasionally lured men on to spots
where lions or other large and dangerous beasts lay hid. No credence
whatever is now given to such tales, it being readily understood that the
bird's course may by accident pass directly above perils of this kind,
without the slightest cognisance of this on the part of the bird.
The honey-guide, however, presses into its service one of the lower
mammals--the ratel. The fondness of this animal for bees is well known, and
by none better than this little bird, which, by pointing out nests to its
more powerful companion, earns as a reward the broken bits which remain
after the feast.
Allies of the sombre-coloured Honey-guides are the JACAMARS and PUFF-BIRDS.
The former are rather handsome birds, though small, having the upper-parts
of a metallic coppery golden green, and more or less rufous below. Ranging
from Mexico to South Brazil, they may usually be found on the outskirts of
forests, near water, sitting perched on the bare boughs of lofty trees for
hours at a time. They feed on moths and other insects, caught on the wing,
and brought back and crushed against the bough before swallowing. They lay
white eggs in the holes of trees.
The PUFF-BIRDS, though closely allied to the foregoing, are more soberly
clad. Black, brown, and rufous in hue, they lack the resplendent metallic
markings of the Jacamars. Their geographical range extends from Guatemala
and Honduras to Argentina. Though numerous species and genera are known,
the nest and eggs appear to have been discovered in the case of one species
only: these were found in a hole in a bank, and contained two shining white
eggs.
The BARBETS are possibly more closely related to the Honey-guides than the
Jacamars and Puff-birds. Brilliantly coloured, and having a plumage
exhibiting violent contrasts of red, blue, purple, and yellow, on a green
ground, sometimes with crests, bare skin round the eye, and brightly
coloured bills, the barbets are, in spite of a somewhat hairy appearance,
exceedingly attractive birds.
Forest-dwellers, like their allies, they feed upon fruit, seeds, insects,
bark, and buds; but so noiseless are they said to be when feeding that
their presence is betrayed only by the falling of berries they have
accidentally released.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
HONEY-GUIDE.
The name is bestowed on account of its remarkable habit of drawing
attention to bees' nests.]
It is interesting to note that the geographical range of the barbet is much
wider than that of its immediate allies, extending through tropical Asia,
Africa, and America.
The Woodpecker Tribe constitutes a large group, generally divided into two
sections--the WOODPECKERS and the WRYNECKS.
The former are characterised by their large heads and very powerful bills
and long and exceedingly stiff tails. The feet are also peculiar, two toes
pointing directly forwards and two backwards. Beak, feet, and tail are all
specially adapted to the peculiar habits of these birds, which pass their
lives upon trees, climbing the trunks, and searching the interstices of the
bark for ants, or drilling holes into the unsound portions of the trunk
itself for the purpose of extracting the grubs which feed upon decaying
wood.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
A FAMILY OF GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKERS.
This woodpecker is a British species.]
That ants and other small insects form the staple diet of the woodpecker is
evident from the extraordinary length of the tongue. This is a long,
worm-like structure, capable of being protruded many inches from the beak,
and covered with a sticky secretion, so that, thrust into colonies of ants,
it quickly becomes covered with them, to be withdrawn immediately into the
mouth and cleared again for further action.
Woodpeckers are all birds of bright plumage, some particularly so, and have
a wide geographical distribution, inhabiting all parts of the world save
Madagascar, the Australasian region, and Egypt.
Three species occur in the British Islands, though they are exceedingly
rare in Scotland and Ireland. The GREEN WOODPECKER is a particularly
handsome bird. Grass-green is the predominating colour of its livery,
relieved by a light scarlet cap, a golden patch over the lower part of the
back, and chequered bars on the wings and quills.
Scarcely less beautiful, in their way, are the GREATER and LESSER SPOTTED
WOODPECKERS. The plumage of these birds has a very rich effect, steely
blue-black and white being contrasted with scarlet.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. F. Piggott_] [_Leighton Buzzard._
LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKERS
One of the members of the group is using its stiff tail feathers as a
support.]
The SPOTTED and BLACK WOODPECKERS are remarkable for a curious drumming
sound, so powerful as to be distinctly audible even a mile off. It appears
to be caused by hammering vigorously on the bark of some rotten branch, the
bird's head moving with amazing rapidity as it beats out this curious
tattoo.
Three North American species, known as SAP-SUCKERS, have the curious habit
of piercing the boles of trees for the purpose of procuring the sap which
flows copiously when the tree is so "tapped." Another species of the same
region seems to be possessed of a persistent dread of famine, storing up
immense quantities of nuts, which it appears never afterwards to use. These
nuts are tightly fixed into holes in the bark of trees, and in such numbers
that "a large pine 40 or 50 feet high will present the appearance of being
closely studded with brass nails, the heads only being visible."
The WRYNECKS differ from the Woodpeckers mainly in that the tail-feathers
are soft instead of spiny. Although sombre, the plumage is yet very
beautiful, having a velvety appearance, variegated with pearl-grey,
powdered or dusted over a general groundwork of nut-brown, buff, and grey.
Bars and fine lines add still more to the general effect, and render
description still more difficult. One species is common in England. It is
known also as the CUCKOO'S MATE and the SNAKE-BIRD. The former name is
given in allusion to the fact that it arrives with the cuckoo, the latter
from its strange habit of writhing its head and neck, and also on account
of its curious hissing note, made when disturbed on its nest. It has the
long, worm-like tongue of the woodpecker, but without a barbed tip.
The habit of writhing the head and neck often serves the wryneck in good
stead. Nesting in a hole in a tree, escape is difficult so soon as the
discoverer has come to close quarters. The untried egg-collector, for
instance, peering down into the nest, and seeing nothing distinctly, but
only a moving head, and hearing a hissing sound, imagines the hole to be
tenanted by a snake, and beats a hasty retreat, only to catch a glimpse, a
moment later, of the bird hurrying out of its perilous hiding-place. Should
he, however, discovering the true state of affairs, put down his hand and
seize the bird, it will adopt yet other resources. Clinging tightly to its
captor's finger, it will ruffle up its feathers, stretch out its neck, and
at the same time move it jerkily and stiffly about, and finally, closing
its eyes, hang downwards, as if dead. Then, before the puzzled captor has
had time to realise what has happened, it loosens its hold and takes
instant flight.
The young are easily, though rarely, tamed, and form extremely interesting
pets, feeding readily from the hand, and affording endless amusement by
their remarkable manner of capturing flies and other insects; but they do
not appear to live long in confinement.
The wryneck is one of the few birds which will persistently go on laying
eggs, no matter how many times they may be stolen from the nest. A case is
on record where as many as forty-two were laid in a single summer by one
bird--an exceedingly cruel experiment.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid, Wishaw._ _Printed at Lyons, France._
WAXBILLS.
Waxbills are relatives of the Weaver birds, and take their name from the
waxen appearance of the beak which is coral red.]
[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid, Wishaw._ _Printed at Lyons, France._
INDIGO FINCHES
The Indigo Finch or Indigo Bird is a well known member of a group of
American Finches of which the Nonpareil Finch is another representative.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
AMERICAN CROW.
In some parts of the United States this crow, everywhere regarded as a
pest, is replaced by the raven.]
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