The RED OVEN BIRD (_Furnarius rufus_) is about seven inches long and ten
and a half broad; the wing measures three inches and three-quarters, and
the tail three inches. The plumage is principally of a reddish yellow; the
top of the head brownish red, and the quills brown; the under side is of
a lighter tint, and the throat pale white; a bright reddish yellow stripe
passes from the eyes to the back of the head; the quills are grey, the
primaries edged with pale yellow towards their base, and the tail-feathers
yellowish red; the eyes are yellowish brown, the beak brown, except at the
whitish base of the lower mandible; the foot is also brown.
These strange birds live in pairs, and but rarely associate, even in small
parties. Their food consists of insects and various kinds of seeds, the
former, according to Burmeister, being always obtained from the surface
of the ground, over which they run and hop with great facility. Nor are
their movements less adroit amongst the branches, from whence their
most peculiar cry is constantly to be heard as they disport themselves
from bough to bough. These birds are regarded with great respect by
the Brazilians, on account of a very strange but prevalent idea that
they never proceed with their building operations on the Sabbath, a
superstitious fancy that we need hardly say has been frequently disproved,
but has no doubt arisen from the unusually short time required by this
species to complete its remarkable and elaborate home.
"The nest of the Red Oven Bird," says Burmeister, "is usually constructed
upon the branch of a tree, and occasionally upon house-tops, steeples, or
similar situations. Both male and female unite in the labour of building,
and form their nests of round pellets of mud, working each pellet firmly
into place, intermixed with small portions of plants, until the foundation
is some eight or nine inches high. On each end of this groundwork the
birds proceed to erect a side wall of such a form and height as to give
the entire mass the appearance of a half-crescent. When this foundation is
quite dry a second wall of similar shape is erected within the first. This
again is left to dry, and so the work proceeds until the mass has assumed
the proper dome-like form, and is six or seven inches in height, eight or
nine inches long, and some four or five inches deep. The interior of this
remarkable structure (which sometimes weighs as much as nine pounds) is
entered by an oval-shaped hole at the side, and is neatly and warmly lined
with hay, cotton, wool, feathers, or similar materials. The eggs, from two
to four in number, have a white shell, and are incubated by both parents.
The first brood is produced early in September, and a second later in the
season."
* * * * *
The GROUND WOODPECKERS (_Geositta_) are birds with slender bodies, long,
pointed wings, and short incised tails; the slightly curved beak is
triangular at its base, and nearly equals the head in length; the legs are
of medium height, the outer toes short, and the claws small.