The DARK DREAMER (_Chelidoptera tenebrosa_) is of a slaty-black, shaded
with blue. The belly is reddish yellow, and the rump white; the eye is
dark brown, the beak black, and the foot grey. The length of this bird is
eight and the breadth fourteen inches; the wing measures four inches and a
half, and the tail two inches.
The Prince von Wied met with this bird in the bushes about Lagoa Santa,
and describes it as quiet and solitary in its habits, passing the
greatest part of the day in perching almost motionless upon the topmost
twigs, and scarcely rousing from its state of drowsy apathy even when
approached within a few paces of its resting-place. Occasionally it
descends to the ground, but usually obtains its food by capturing such
of the winged inhabitants of the air as venture close to its perch,
seizing them after the manner of a Flycatcher, and at once returning to
its perch. This species is called the "Wood Swallow" by the Brazilians,
on account of its somewhat resembling a Swallow both in form and colour,
and this resemblance is also noticeable in its peculiar gait. As regards
its nidification, the Prince von Wied informs us that in the forests of
Botokuden, near the Rio Grande del Belmont, he observed one of these birds
enter a hole in a perpendicular sandbank, and, on digging to the depth
of a couple of feet, obtained two white eggs, which were laid on a thin
stratum of feathers.
[Illustration: THE DUSKY TRAPPIST, OR BEARDED CUCKOO (_Monasta fusca_).]
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The TOURACOS, or TROGONS (_Trogones_), constitute a numerous group of
equally dreamy, but gloriously plumaged birds, inhabiting the tropical
zones of both hemispheres. All have a slender, but very thickly-feathered
body, short, broad, triangular, and much-curved beak, with a hook at
its tip, and occasionally incised at its margins. The small, slender
legs are almost entirely covered with feathers; the toes, the innermost
of which turns backwards, thus pairing with the hinder toe, are short;
the small, much-rounded wings are composed of narrow, stiff-shafted,
sickle-shaped quills, pointed at their extremity; the long tail contains
twelve feathers; of these, the three outermost are much shorter than the
rest. The lax, downy plumage is resplendent with metallic lustre; and
the base of the beak covered with a bristle-like growth. The various
members of this group are alike remarkable for their dull, indolent
disposition, and spend their lives in lazily droning upon the branches of
their favourite trees, only rousing themselves to take a short flight in
pursuit of a passing insect. Their food principally consists of various
kinds of insects, fruit, seeds, or portions of plants; while some appear
to be entirely restricted to vegetable diet. Holes in trees are used as
receptacles for the eggs, which are from two to four in number, round in
shape, with a very light or white shell.
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The FIRE TOURACOS (_Harpactes_), a group of these birds inhabiting
Southern Asia, are recognisable by their powerful, much-curved, and
smooth-margined beak, their partially-feathered feet, short wings, and
long, graduated tail.