The TODY, or GREEN FLAT-BILL (_Todus viridis_), is of a blueish green
on the back, and greyish-white on the under side. The throat and upper
breast are bright rose red, and the belly pale yellow; the quills are
greyish green; the centre tail-feathers green, and those at the exterior
grey; the eye is pale grey, the beak reddish horn-grey above, and bright
scarlet beneath; the foot flesh-pink or brownish red. This species is four
inches and a quarter long, and six and a half broad; the wing measures one
inch and four-fifths, and the tail one inch and a half. The sexes closely
resemble each other in the coloration of their plumage.
"In all parts of Jamaica," says Gosse, "that I have visited, the Tody is
a very common bird. On the summit of Bluefields Mountain, about 3,000
feet above the level of the sea, and particularly where the deserted
provision-grounds are overgrown with an almost impenetrable thicket of
joint-wood, it is especially abundant. Always conspicuous, from its
bright, grass-green coat, and crimson velvet gorget, it is still a very
tame bird; yet this seems rather the tameness of indifference than
of confidence: it will allow a person to approach very near, and, if
disturbed, alight on another twig a few yards distant. We have often
captured specimens with an insect-net, and struck them down with a
switch; it is not uncommon for the little boys to creep up behind one,
and actually to clap the hand over it as it sits, and thus secure
it. It is a general favourite, and has received a familiar name--that
of Robin Redbreast. There is little resemblance, however, between the
European Robin and its West Indian namesake. I have never seen the Tody
on the ground; but it hops about the twigs of low trees, searching for
minute insects, occasionally uttering a querulous, sibilant note. But
more commonly it is seen sitting patiently on a twig, with the head
drawn in, the beak pointing upwards, and the lower plumage puffed out,
when it appears much larger than it really is. It certainly has an air
of stupidity when thus seen; but this abstraction is more apparent than
real. If we watch it we shall see that the odd-looking grey eyes are
glancing hither and thither, and that ever and anon the bird sallies out
upon a short, feeble flight, snaps at something in the air, and returns
to his twig to swallow it. I have never seen the Tody eat vegetable food;
but I have occasionally found in its stomach, among minute coleopterous
and hymenopterous insects, a few small seeds. One of these birds, which
I kept in a cage, would snatch worms from me with impudent audacity,
and then beat them violently against the perch or sides of the cage, to
divide before he swallowed them. One captured in April, on being turned
into a room, began immediately to catch flies and other minute insects
that flitted about. At this employment he continued incessantly and most
successfully all that evening and all the next day, from earliest dawn
till dark. He would sit on the edge of the table, on shelves, or on
the floor, ever glancing about, now and then flitting up into the air,
when the snap of his beak announced a capture, and he returned to his
station to eat it; he would peep into the lowest and darkest corners,
even under the tables, for the little globose, long-legged spiders, which
he would drag from their webs and swallow. He sought these also about
the ceilings and walls. I have said that he continued at this employment
all day without intermission, and I judge that on the average he made a
capture per minute. We may thus form some idea of the immense number of
insects destroyed by these and similar birds. Water in a basin was in
the room, but I did not see him drink. Though so actively engaged in his
own occupation, he cared nothing for the presence of man; he sometimes
alighted voluntarily on our heads, shoulders, or fingers, and when sitting
would permit me at any time to put my hand over him and take him up,
though when in the hand he would struggle to get out. He seemed likely
to thrive; but incautiously settling in front of a dove-cage, a surly
bald-pate poked his head through the wires, and aimed a blow at the head
of the unoffending Tody. She did not appear to mind it at first, but an
hour afterwards shivered and died."
"The Green Tody," says Mr. Hill, "is a bird of peculiar structure and
habits; he is exclusively an insect-feeder, and burrows in the earth to
breed. The subterranean nest is made wherever there is mould easy of
excavation; ravines and gullies, whose banks are earthy, and where the
water passes rapidly from the surface-soil, are generally selected. The
excavation is made by the beak and claws. It is a winding gallery, rounded
at the bottom, and terminating in a sufficiently wide lodging, lined
with pliant fibres, dry moss, and cotton, placed with much attention to
arrangement. Four or five grey, brown-spotted eggs are laid, and the young
are fed within the cave till they are full-fledged."
* * * * *
The KINGFISHERS (_Alcedines_) principally frequent the warmer latitudes.
The members of this group possess a powerful body, large head, and short
or moderate-sized wings and tail, with a very long, straight, and powerful
beak, pointed at its extremity; the small foot is furnished with either
three or four toes. The plumage is of most brilliant hues, and varies but
little in the sexes, or with the age of the bird.
All the various species of Kingfishers prefer the vicinity of water;
and, where fish is to be found, venture to a very considerable altitude
when following mountain-streams. Like all such members of the feathered
creation as subsist by fishing, they are quiet, indolent, and wary in
their habits, seeking their prey either alone or, at most, in pairs. As
regards their powers of locomotion, they have little to distinguish them;
it is true, they possess a certain skill in diving and swimming, but on
the ground or in the air their deportment is extremely clumsy. Of their
senses, sight and hearing appear to be highly developed; but, with these
exceptions, we must pronounce these birds to hold a very low place in the
scale of intelligence, and to exhibit but one attractive quality--that
of warm attachment to their eggs and young. Fish, insects, and crabs
constitute their principal means of subsistence, and these are principally
obtained by diving. The numerous eggs laid by the members of this group
are deposited in a hole excavated in the ground, the extreme end of which
forms the actual nest.
[Illustration: THE EUROPEAN KINGFISHER (_Alcedo ispida_).]