THE JACAMARS, PUFF BIRDS, KINGFISHERS, HORNBILLS, AND HOOPOES.
THE JACAMARS--THE PUFF BIRDS--THE KINGFISHERS--Characters--THE
COMMON KINGFISHER--Distribution--Its Cry--Habits--After
its Prey--Its own Nest-builder--Mr. Rowley’s Note on the
Subject--Nest in the British Museum--Superstitions concerning the
Kingfisher--Colour--Various Species--CRESTED KINGFISHER--PIED
KINGFISHER--Dr. Von Heuglin’s Account of its Habits--New
World Representatives--OMNIVOROUS KINGFISHERS--THE AUSTRALIAN
CINNAMON-BREASTED KINGFISHER--Macgillivray’s Account of its
Habits--THE LAUGHING JACKASS of Australia--Its Discordant Laugh--The
“Bushman’s Clock”--Colour--Habits--THE HORNBILLS--Character--Their
Heavy Flight--Noise produced when on the Wing--Food--Extraordinary
Habit of Imprisoning the Female--Native Testimony--Exception--Fed by
the Male Bird--Dr. Livingstone’s Observations on the point, and Mr.
Bartlett’s Remarks--Strange Gizzard Sacs--Dr. Murie’s Remarks--Mr.
Wallace’s Description of the Habits of the Hornbills--Capture
of a Young One in Sumatra--THE GROUND HORNBILLS--South African
Species--Kaffir Superstition regarding it--Habits--Mr. Ayres’ Account
of the Natal Species--How it Kills Snakes--The Call--Habits--Mr.
Monteiro’s Description of the Angola Form--Turkey-like
Manner--Wariness--Food--THE HOOPOES--Appearance--Distribution--THE
COMMON HOOPOE--Habits--The Name--How does it Produce its Note?--THE
WOOD HOOPOES--Habits.
THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE JACAMARS (_Galbulidæ_).[263]
These birds are usually of metallic green plumage, with long beaks and
wedge-shaped tails, and are found only in Central and Southern America,
where they seem to represent the Bee-eaters of the Old World. Not many
notices have appeared of their habits, the best being that given by Mr.
Waterton, in his “Wanderings” in Demerara:--“A bird called Jacamar is
often taken for a Kingfisher, but it has no relationship to that tribe:
it frequently sits in the trees over the water, and as its beak bears
some resemblance to that of the Kingfisher, this may probably account
for its being taken for one. It feeds entirely upon insects. It sits on
a branch in motionless expectation, and as soon as a Fly, Butterfly, or
Moth passes by, it darts at it, and returns to the branch it had just
left. It seems an indolent, sedentary bird, shunning the society of all
others in the forest. It never visits the plantations, but is found at
all times of the year in the woods. There are four species of Jacamar
in Demerara; they are all beautiful, the largest rich and superb in the
extreme. Its plumage is of so fine a changing blue and golden green,
that it may be ranked with the choicest of the Humming Birds. Nature
has denied it a song, but given a costly garment in lieu of it. The
smallest species of Jacamar is very common in the dry savannas. The
second size, all golden green in the back, must be looked for in the
Wallaba Forest; the third is found throughout the whole extent of these
wilds; and the fourth, which is the largest, frequents the interior,
where you begin to perceive stones in the ground.”
THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE PUFF BIRDS (_Bucconidæ_).
In general form the Puff Birds are not unlike Kingfishers, some of
which they resemble in their habits, feeding chiefly on insects,
which they catch in the air. In many respects also they resemble the
Bee-eaters (_Meropidæ_), and may be considered as representing the
last-named family in South and Central America, to which countries they
are entirely confined. Of the Long-winged Puff Birds (_Chelidoptera
tenebrosa_) the late Prince Maximilian of Neuwied gives the following
account:--“It is not rare in most provinces of South Brazil, and very
common in many of them. It is found in certain spots sitting still and
immovable upon the high isolated branches of the forest trees. From
time to time it flies after an insect in the air, and falls back again
to its place like a true Fly-catcher. It is a stupid, still, melancholy
bird, but likes to sit high, and not low and near the ground, like
other Puff Birds. As in form and colour it rather resembles a Swallow,
the Brazilians call it _Andurinha do mato_ (Wood Swallow). The
resemblance is greatest when the bird sits upon the ground, for its
feet are little adapted for walking, and it consequently shuffles along
as a Swallow does. Its flight is light and undulating. Sitting upon a
high point, whence it can overlook the neighbourhood, it often emits
a short call-note. It is anything but timid, and very easy to shoot.
It is usually found where the woods are varied with open country, on
the edges of the woods, but likewise in the interior of them. The
food of these birds consists of insects, of which I have found the
remains in their stomachs. On the Rio Grande del Belmonte I observed
how these birds nest. In the month of August I saw them enter a round
hole in a perpendicular sand-bank on the river, like a Kingfisher’s.
After digging about two feet in a horizontal direction, we found two
milk-white eggs upon a bad lining of a few feathers.”[264]
THE THIRD FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE KINGFISHERS (_Alcedinidæ_).
The Kingfishers are a very varied family, including within their limits
birds of very different form and habits. The bill is always long and
powerful for the size of the bird, producing, in some of the smaller
species, a top-heavy and ungainly aspect; but this organ is modified
according to the habits of the birds, and is strictly in accordance
with the functions which it has to perform. The foot is similar in all
Kingfishers, the sole being very flat, and the toes joined together for
the greater part of their length, so that the birds always have a very
firm support to their bodies. The legs are very short and weak, the
wings powerful, and the gape very wide. The Kingfishers may be divided
into two sub-families, distinguished by the form of the bill, which is
long and compressed in the fish-eating Kingfishers (_Alcedininæ_), of
which the European bird is a type, with a distinct ridge or keel along
the upper mandible; while in the _Daceloninæ_, which have a stouter and
flatter bill, with a smooth and rounded culmen, the food is varied,
consisting more of insects than of fish.
THE COMMON KINGFISHER (_Alcedo[265] ispida_).
[Illustration: COMMON KINGFISHER.]
This is, perhaps, the most brilliantly-coloured bird there is in
England, but by reason of its shy habits and wonderfully quick flight
it is not often observed, excepting as a flash of bright blue on
the river side, appearing for an instant and gone the next. It is,
however, by no means uncommon in many of the rivers in the south of
England, particularly during the month of October, when a partial
migration of the species evidently takes place. At this season of
the year, the writer once observed a Kingfisher on the ornamental
water in St. James’s Park. Beyond the British Islands it is found in
most parts of the European continent, being replaced in the East by
the little Indian Kingfisher (_A. bengalensis_), a miniature of the
English bird, but with a much longer bill. The following account of the
habits of this bird, the result of several years’ close acquaintance
with the species on the river Thames, is taken from the author’s work
on this subject[266]:--“When in a wild state, flying along the banks
of a stream, or sitting patiently at watch for its finny prey, the
Kingfisher is a beautiful sight. Often has it been our good fortune to
witness the bird at close quarters, but this is by no means easy to
accomplish, owing to the extreme wariness of the bird from repeated
persecution. The presence of the Kingfisher in one’s neighbourhood
can be detected from some distance by the faint cry which falls upon
the ear from afar. This note, which is a shrill, but not unmusical,
scream, generally consists of two syllables, but is very difficult
to render in language. Naumann gives it as _ti-ti_, which is by no
means a bad representation of the cry; and these syllables are quickly
repeated as the bird leaves its perch and skims over the stream. The
flight is rapid and very direct, the bird speeding like a bullet a
little height above the surface of the water. When suddenly disturbed,
it utters its cry shortly after leaving its perch, and then flies
for some distance in silence; but when passing unmolested from one
resting-place to another, its shrill note may be heard at frequent
intervals. Just before perching, the cry is uttered three or four
times successively--_ti-ti-ti_. When resting, it sits uprightly,
with the glance directed downwards, motionlessly scanning the stream
beneath, intent on the capture of any fish or water insect which may
come within its reach. Its unerring dive seldom proves fruitless; and
when secured, a few smart raps on its perch, to which the bird always
returns, deprive the victim of life, after which it is immediately
swallowed. Except in the early morning, it seldom chooses a very open
position for its resting-place; but in the autumn, when the migration
is in progress, at break of day it is not unusual to see two, or even
three, birds in company on a rail or on the side of a punt; in the
day-time, however, it loves solitude, and seldom more than one can
be seen at once, and then it affects more shady and secluded haunts.
In general it is a lonely bird, jealous of intrusion, especially
from individuals of its own species. Each pair appears to choose and
maintain a particular hunting-ground, and should one Kingfisher enter
upon the domain of another, it is speedily and effectually ousted by
the rightful owner with cries of rage. So fierce is the animosity
displayed by these birds, that when excited in combat they fly heedless
of obstacles, and thus occasionally meet their death in their headlong
career.” An instance is on record of two Kingfishers flying with such
violence against a window that both pursuer and pursued met their death
on the spot. The present species does not always pounce on its prey
from a perch, but will occasionally fly out over the mid-stream, and
hover in the air like a Kestrel Hawk; and after making an unsuccessful
plunge, will repeat its hovering position over the same spot, until its
efforts are rewarded with success. It has been seen also to dash into
the water several times in succession, which movement has been supposed
to be for the purpose of attracting fish to the spot by disturbing the
water; it is, however, more probable that in this exercise the bird is
taking a bath. The young have exactly the same cry as their parents,
but the note is less shrill. On leaving the nest, they often congregate
in some well-shaded locality by the side of the stream, where food is
brought to them by their parents, and the presence of the nestlings is
often betrayed by their shrill pipings. The bill in the young birds is
very short, and has a little white tip to it; in the adult male it is
entirely black; but the female may always be distinguished by the base
of the lower mandible being red.
That the Kingfisher makes its own hole is now an ascertained fact,
and the following note on the subject was published in 1866 by Mr. G.
Dawson Rowley:--“Though the subject of the Kingfisher (_Alcedo ispida_)
is somewhat stale, yet, in consequence of the remarks which I have
just read in the October _Quarterly_ on ‘Homes without Hands,’ I send
you the following notes, made this spring, in order to set at rest, if
possible, a mistake regarding the breeding of this bird. Modern writers
on the Kingfisher are hardly more free from error than even Ovid or
Pliny. The bird is a true miner, and makes a nest of fish-bones; but,
as no rule is without an exception, when it cannot find a suitable bank
to bore in, it has been known to nidificate in abnormal situations; and
when abundance of proper fish are not to be caught it is obliged to do
without bones.
“From many years’ constant watching, I can exactly tell the probable
position of the hole, and the day it will be begun. Accordingly, on
Thursday, March 29, I sent two witnesses to a particular spot on the
River Ouse, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. They observed that there was
on that day positively no hole of any kind, no vestige of hole, in
that bank. On Easter Monday, April 2, I sent a keeper to the place.
He reported the hole as begun. On the same day I went in a boat,
and, putting a reed up, found it by actual measurement about fifteen
inches deep, the moulds being quite fresh outside. Droppings of the
bird (which was seen constantly leaving the hole) were visible in two
places. There was also a shallow hole a little to the left of the
above-mentioned one. This was a failure--either from caprice or some
other cause abandoned. We observe the same in Woodpeckers, which will
sometimes bore in three or four places before they get one to their
liking, a circumstance I particularly remarked in a pair of the Greater
Spotted Woodpeckers (_P. major_) last spring. Between March 29 and
April 2 the Kingfisher had made two holes. I thought it best now to
leave the place, only receiving from the keeper each morning a report,
as he went by in his boat, how the bird was going on.
“Saturday, April 7, I made a memorandum: ‘I again observe fresh moulds,
but not, as we consider, to-day’s, but yesterday’s: hence I suppose
the hole to be nearly finished, if not quite.’ Here, I should say,
after taking these nests constantly for nearly thirty years, I find
twenty-one days is the correct time, from the commencement of the
excavation to the end of laying seven eggs. I never had the luck to
find eight; Mr. Gould, however, informs me he once did. ‘Saturday,
April 21. Opened the hole situated in the perpendicular bank to keep
off Water-rats. Found by measurement the entrance was twelve inches
from the surface of the ground, and about five feet from the water. The
length of the ascending gallery was eight inches and a half, and the
oval chamber six inches in diameter more. The top of the chamber was
nine inches from the surface of the ground. It contained the usual nest
of fish-bones, which was one inch and a half deep; and the same, with
the seven fresh eggs, are now before me, with two other nests from the
same locality. The bird flew off after the first dig, which I commonly
made so as to cover up the hole again without disturbance if the
full number of eggs had not been laid. There was no excrement in the
chamber, but much just outside in the gallery.’ The size of the chamber
is just sufficient for the owners to turn round pleasantly. When the
young birds, which I have seen in every stage, have been some time in
the nest, of course the hole gets very foul. Here, then, is a case,
capable of being attested by two or three witnesses step by step--and
concerning which there can be no doubt--where the Kingfisher is proved
to have made its own hole. I have known it when driven from one bank by
floods to revert to an old hole of its own making in the previous year;
but never has there been an instance of its taking up with the abode of
its most deadly enemy, the Water-rat. It is hard to prove a negative,
but it is certainly a most unlikely thing for a Kingfisher to enter a
rat-hole. No one who has seen the eggs of this species _in situ_ as
often as I have can deny that the fish-bones are placed with the design
of making a nest.”
In the British Museum may be seen a nest of the Kingfisher, which was
taken by Mr. Gould under the following circumstances:--“On the 18th
of April, 1859, during one of my fishing excursions on the Thames,
I saw a hole in a precipitous bank, which I felt assured was the
nesting-place of a Kingfisher; and on passing a spare top of my fly
rod to the extremity, a distance of nearly three feet, I brought out
some freshly-cast bones of fish, convincing me that I was right in
my surmise. The day following I again visited the spot with a spade,
and, after removing nearly two feet square of the turf, dug down to
the nest without disturbing the passage which led to it. Here I found
four eggs placed on the usual layer of fish-bones. These I removed with
care, and then replaced the earth, beating it down as hard as the bank
itself, and restored the turfy sod. A fortnight after the bird was seen
to leave the hole again, and my suspicions were aroused that she had
taken to her old breeding quarters a second time. I again visited the
place on the twenty-first day from the date of my former exploration,
and upon passing the top of my fly rod up the hole, found, not only
that it was of the former length, but that the female was within. I
then took a large mass of cotton-wool from my collecting-box, and
stuffed it to the extremity, in order to preserve the eggs from damage
during my again laying it open from above. On removing the sod and
digging down as before, I came to the cotton-wool, and beneath it was
formed a nest of fish-bones the size of a small saucer, the walls of
which were fully half an inch thick, together with eight translucent
pinky-white eggs, and the old female herself. This nest I removed with
the greatest care; and it is now deposited in the proper place for so
interesting an object--the British Museum. This mass of bones, then
weighing 700 grains, had been cast up and deposited by the bird and
its mate in the short space of twenty-one days. Ornithologists are
divided in opinion as to whether the fish-bones are to be considered
in the light of a nest. Some are disposed to believe them to be the
castings and fæces of the young brood of the year, and that the same
hole being frequented for a succession of years, a great mass is at
length formed; while others suppose that they are deposited by the
parents as a platform for the eggs, constituting, in fact, a nest;
and I think, from what I have adduced, we may fairly conclude this is
the case: in fact, nothing could be better adapted to defend the eggs
from the damp earth.” In ancient times there was a legend that when
the Kingfishers made their nests--which were supposed to float upon
the top of the sea--fine weather was always allowed to prevail.[267] A
custom used formerly to be in vogue in England of turning a Kingfisher
into a weathercock; and, according to the late M. Jules Verreaux,
this practice is pursued in France even in the present day, where the
bird is mummified and suspended by a thread with extended wings in
order to show the direction of the wind. Mr. Harting alludes to these
superstitions in his “Ornithology of Shakespeare” (p. 275). It was
formerly believed that during the time the Halcyon, or Kingfisher, was
engaged in hatching her eggs, the water, in kindness to her, remained
so smooth and calm that the mariner might venture on the sea with the
happy certainty of not being exposed to storms or tempests; this period
was therefore called, by Pliny and Aristotle, “the halcyon days.”
“Expect Saint Martin’s summer, _halcyon_ days.”
_Henry VI._, Part i., Act i., sc. 2.
It was also supposed that the dead bird, carefully balanced and
suspended by a single thread, would always turn its beak towards that
point of the compass from which the wind blew. Kent, in _King Lear_
(Act ii. sc. 2), speaks of rogues who--
“Turn their _halcyon_ beaks
With every gale and vary of their masters.”
And, after Shakspere, Marlowe, in his _Jew of Malta_, says:--
“But how now stands the wind?
Into what corner peers my _halcyon’s_ bill?”
The Common Kingfisher measures about seven inches from the tip of his
bill to the end of his tail. The colour of the upper parts is blue,
greener on the mantle and scapulars, and beautiful rich cobalt on the
back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; the head is blue, barred with
black, the wings blue, with spots of brighter cobalt on the coverts; in
front of the eye is a spot of rufous, this being also the colour of the
eye-coverts and under parts; the throat is white, and there is a patch
of white on each side of the neck; the cheeks and sides of the breast
are blue, the bill is black, the feet red. The female is coloured
like the male, but can always be told by the red colour at the base of
the under mandible. This is also present in young birds of both sexes,
but the latter can readily be distinguished by their shorter bills.
[Illustration: PIED KINGFISHER.]
Species of the genus _Alcedo_ are distributed over the greater part
of the Old World, extending even into the Molucca Islands, but in
Australia and the Papuan group they are represented by the genus
_Alcyone_, comprising Kingfishers of similar form to the English bird,
but distinguished by the absence of the inner toe. In Africa and
Madagascar some beautiful little crested Kingfishers (_Corythornis_)
are met with, the largest of which scarcely exceeds five inches in
length. A very familiar species on the banks of the Nile is the Pied
Kingfisher (_Ceryle[268] rudis_), one of the commonest birds in Africa
and India, and of this species Dr. von Heuglin writes[269]:--“It
lives in pairs, is sociable, and, except during the breeding season,
more friendly with members of its own species than other Kingfishers,
and often several pairs dwell in the same neighbourhood. It sits and
watches along the shore on overhanging branches, on roofs, walls,
brickets, rocks, and even on the ground, but seldom pounces from the
latter on its prey. From time to time it takes a flight over shallow
clear water, also right across the river or from one island to another,
sometimes very low, generally, however, several fathoms above the
surface. Its flight is not very swift, but straight, and steadied
by quick, fluttering motions of the wing--not rushing, like that of
_Alcedo ispida_--and it rises and falls according to will and with
great agility. One often sees it, after taking a start by several
quick flaps of the wing, and gliding on for a distance, suddenly, with
one quick movement, alter the direction of the flight and suddenly
stop and hover. When hovering, the bill is held straight down, and
the hind part of the body and tail also rather lowered. Directly it
catches sight of its scaly prey it turns up, lays its feathers close
to the body, and drops like a stone into the water, remaining often
over ten seconds below the surface. It seldom misses its mark, and
devours the fish it has captured either on the wing or at one of its
resting-places. The voice is a shrill whistle, at the same time chirpy,
or at times snickery. During the pairing time the males often fight on
the wing, and roll together, calling loudly, nearly to the surface of
the water. In Egypt the breeding season is our spring; according to
Adams, as early as December. The nest, consisting of a small heap of
clean dry grass, is placed in a horizontal hole about arm’s depth in
a steep bank, and contains four to six pure white roundish eggs, the
shell of which is rather rough compared with that of _Alcedo ispida_.
Often several nest-holes are close together. The plumage of the young
much resembles that of the adult. There is scarcely any bird on the
Nile tamer than the Black and White Kingfisher.” The genus _Ceryle_,
to which the foregoing species belongs, is largely represented in the
New World, one of the best known being the Belted Kingfisher of North
America, and an unusual circumstance in fish-eating Kingfishers is
characteristic of the genus, viz., a difference in the colouring of the
sexes. The Stork-billed Kingfishers (_Pelargopsis_[270]) are the most
powerful members of the sub-family, some of them measuring nearly a
foot and a half in length.
More difference in form and size is perceptible in the omnivorous
Kingfishers (_Daceloninæ_), where some of the little three-toed species
of _Ceyx_ do not exceed five inches in length, whereas the Great
Laughing Jackasses of Australia (_Dacelo_) attain the dimensions of
more than a foot and a half. The smaller birds of this section feed
almost entirely on insects, and the Rose-cheeked Kingfisher of Africa
(_Ispidina[271] picta_) feeds principally on Grasshoppers and small
Locusts, while its representative in Natal (_I. natalensis_) is said to
feed entirely on Butterflies and insects caught on the wing. They are
often found along the banks of rivers, but never catch fish. The large
genus _Halcyon_ is distributed all over Africa, and ranges throughout
Southern Asia, through China, to Japan, inhabiting also the islands
of the Malay Archipelago and the entire Continent of Australia. These
birds prefer a mixed diet, and, in addition to an occasional fish, they
will also eat crustacea, small reptiles, and insects. Perhaps the most
beautiful of all the Kingfisher family are the _Tanysipteræ_,[272]
which are found only in New Guinea, the adjacent Moluccas, and
the north-east peninsula of Australia. These birds have only ten
tail-feathers, the middle pair being very much longer than the rest,
and ending in a spatule or racket. They live entirely in the forests,
feeding on insects, and they are said to roost in the holes of rocks by
the side of small streams. The best known species of _Tanysiptera_ is
the Australian Cinnamon-breasted Kingfisher (_T. sylvia_), which was
discovered by the late Mr. John Macgillivray, who gives the following
account of its habits:--“This pretty _Tanysiptera_ is rather plentiful
in the neighbourhood of Cape York, where it frequents the dense bushes,
and is especially fond of resorting to the sunny openings in the
woods, attracted, probably, by the greater abundance of insect food
found in such places than elsewhere. I never saw it on the ground, and
usually was first made aware of its presence by the glancing of its
bright colours as it darted past with a rapid arrow-like flight, and
disappeared in an instant amongst the dense foliage. Its cry, which
may be represented by _whee-whe-whee_ and _wheet-wheet-wheet_, is
usually uttered when the bird is perched on a bare, transverse branch,
or woody, rope-like climber, which it uses as a look-out station, and
whence it makes short dashes at any passing insect or small Lizard,
generally returning to the same spot. It is a shy, suspicious bird,
and one well calculated to try the patience of the shooter, who
may follow it for an hour without getting a shot, unless he has as
keen an eye as a native, to whom I was indebted for first pointing
it out to me. According to the natives, who know it by the name of
_Quatawur_, it lays three white eggs in a hole dug by itself in one of
the large ant-hills of red clay which form so remarkable a feature in
the neighbourhood, some of them being as much as ten feet in height,
with numerous buttresses and pinnacles. I believe that the bird also
inhabits New Guinea; for at Redscar Bay, on the south-east of that
great island, in long. 146° 15′ E., a head strung upon a necklace was
procured from the natives.”
[Illustration: LAUGHING JACKASS.]
The largest of all the Kingfishers are the Laughing Jackasses of
Australia, this curious name being given to the bird from its strange
note and peculiar look, both of which can be appreciated by any
visitor to the London Zoological Gardens, where there is generally one,
if not two, out of the seven species known. Of the bird in its native
haunts a very good idea is given us by the “Old Bushman,” the late Mr.
Henry Wheelwright, which is here taken from a little work called the
“Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist.” “About an hour before sunrise the
bushman is awakened by the most discordant sounds, as if a troop of
fiends were shouting, whooping, and laughing around him in one wild
chorus: this is the morning song of the ‘Laughing Jackass,’ warning his
feathered mates that daybreak is at hand. At noon the same wild laugh
is heard, and as the sun sinks into the west it again rings through the
forest. I shall never forget the first night I slept in the open bush
in this country. It was in the Black Forest. I woke about daybreak,
after a confused sleep, and for some minutes I could not remember
where I was, such were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears;
the fiendish laugh of the Jackass, the clear, flute-like note of the
Magpie, the hoarse cackle of the Wattle-birds, the jargon of flocks
of Leatherheads, and the screaming of thousands of Parrots as they
dashed through the forest, all joining chorus, formed one of the most
extraordinary concerts I have ever heard, and seemed at the moment to
have been got up for the purpose of welcoming the stranger to this land
of wonders on that eventful morning. I have heard it hundreds of times
since, but never with the same feelings that I listened to it then. The
Laughing Jackass is the bushman’s clock, and being by no means shy,
of a companionable nature, a constant attendant about the bush-tent,
and a destroyer of Snakes, is regarded, like the Robin at home, as a
sacred bird in the Australian forests. It is an uncouth-looking bird, a
huge species of land Kingfisher, nearly the size of a Crow, of a rich
chestnut brown and dirty white colour; the wings slightly chequered
with light blue, after the manner of the British Jay; the tail-feathers
long, rather pointed, and barred with brown. It has the foot of a
Kingfisher; a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a large mouth;
it has also a kind of crest, which it erects when angry or frightened,
and this gives it a very ferocious appearance. It is a common bird in
all the forest throughout the year; breeds in a hole of a tree, and the
eggs are white; generally seen in pairs, and by no means shy. Their
principal food appears to be small reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars.
As I said before, it destroys Snakes. I never but once saw them at
this game: a pair of Jackasses had disabled a Carpet-Snake under an
old gum-tree, and they sat on a dead branch above it, every now and
then darting down and pecking it, and by their antics and chattering
seemed to consider it a capital joke. I can’t say whether they ate the
Snake--I fancy not; at least the only reptiles I have ever found in
their stomachs have been small Lizards. The first sight that struck me
on landing in London was a poor old Laughing Jackass moped up in a cage
in Ratcliffe Highway. I never saw a more miserable, woe-begone object.
I quite pitied my poor old friend, as he sat dejected on his perch;
and the thought struck me at the time that we were probably neither of
us benefited in changing the quiet freedom of the bush for the noise
and bustle of the modern Babylon.” The Common Laughing Jackass has the
sexes alike, but in all the other species the male has a blue tail and
the female a red one.
THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE HORNBILLS (_Bucerotidæ_).
These birds are found in Africa, India, and throughout the Malayan
region and Molucca Islands, as far as New Guinea. They are birds of
rather ungainly appearance, nearly every species having a casque, or
helmet, which is developed in every variety of shape, and in some of
them reaches an extraordinary size. The flat soles which were alluded
to in the Kingfishers are here developed in a greater degree, and the
toes are united together in exactly the same way. The flight, however,
of the Hornbills is very different from that of the Kingfishers,
being heavy and performed with an abundance of noise: so much so that
some explorers in South-eastern New Guinea have been led to speak
of a bird whose wings, when flying, produced a noise “resembling
a locomotive,” but which was doubtless made by the large Hornbill
(_Buceros[273] ruficollis_), which frequents that part of the world.
They are generally found on very lofty trees and at a great height,
which makes them difficult to shoot; and Governor Ussher says that
in ascending the lonely forest-clad rivers of North-western Borneo
the only sign of life is often a solitary Hornbill flying across at a
great height in the air. Wallace states that the Rhinoceros Hornbill
(_Buceros rhinoceros_), a native of the Malayan Peninsula and Borneo,
finds the exertion of flying so great that it is compelled to rest at
intervals of about a mile; and the same author says that he heard the
Great Hornbill (_Dichoceros bicornis_) more than a mile off, so that
the amazement caused by one of these large birds to the travellers in
New Guinea, as mentioned above, does not seem so very inexplicable. The
voice of the last-named species is said to be very harsh and grating,
and the noise it makes is compared by Wallace to something between the
bray of a Jackass and the shriek of a locomotive, and is not to be
surpassed, probably, in power by any sound that an animal is capable
of making. Tickell says that its roar re-echoes through the hills to
such a degree that it is difficult to assign the noise to a bird;
and Wallace observes that this is kept up so continuously as to be
absolutely unbearable. The flight is heavy, and performed by repeated
flappings of its huge wings. It usually flies in a straight line, and
sails only when about to alight upon some tree.[274]
[Illustration: GREAT HORNBILL.]
The food of the Hornbills consists principally of fruits, but under
certain circumstances they become to a great extent omnivorous, and
will devour anything, some of the species searching the ground for
Lizards, which they devour readily, both when wild and in confinement;
and the Pied Hornbill (_Anthracoceros malabaricus_) is stated by Mr.
Inglis to be very fond of live fish, which it catches in shallow pools.
The way he discovered this predilection for an abnormal diet was as
follows: he possessed a tame Otter and three tame Hornbills; at feeding
time the Otter was placed in a tub containing live fish, and these,
when closely pressed, would jump out to escape from their pursuer,
and were immediately swallowed by the Hornbills. Mr. Inglis has also
found bones of fish in the stomachs of birds which he had shot; and the
natives of the Naga Hills affirm that when these Hornbills are intent
on fishing they can be approached sufficiently close to be killed by a
stick.
By far the most curious habit belonging to these birds is that which
takes place during the breeding season, when the male bird plasters
the female into a hollow tree, there to hatch her eggs, nor does he
release her until the young ones are nearly full grown. It is scarcely
possible to conceive a practice more detrimental to the well-being of
any bird than this. The exertion of feeding himself as well as his
wife and nestlings must entail a serious strain upon the male, while
the destruction of the latter must inevitably ensure the starvation of
the female and of the young birds. This curious habit has been well
attested by observers in Asia as well as in Africa; and the writer once
received from an old negro collector on the West Coast of Africa, who
rejoiced in the name of St. Thomas David Aubinn, and styled himself
“Royal Hunter to the King of Denkera,” an adult female of the Black
Hornbill (_Sphagolobus atratus_), together with a nearly full-grown
young one, which, he said, had been taken by him together out of the
hole of a tree; and the habits of the Hornbill in this respect were
given by him in the following words: “When the female go to sit, the
male he her shut in tree. If he no bring food, then she angry. If he no
then bring food, then she more angry--swear. If he no then bring food,
then she curse him for die. Man--beef--beefy--beef!”
If the last sentence is intended to represent the enraged Hornbill,
it is evident that the noises produced by the bird are not of that
startling character ascribed to the Eastern species by Wallace, as
mentioned above. All accounts seem to agree that the female is shut
in the hollow of a tree; but Dr. Kirk noted an exception, on native
authority, and therefore one which must be confirmed by future
research. This is the Crested Hornbill (_Bycanistes cristatus_), which
is a common bird on the river Shiré, where it goes in large flocks, and
roosts regularly in the same places. “The natives say that the female
hatches her eggs in a hole underground, in which she is fastened by
the male.” Our astonishment at the imprisonment of the female Hornbill
is not lessened when it is found that the male bird keeps her supplied
with food by a most curious process, which accounts for the statement
of Dr. Livingstone[275]:--“The first time I saw this bird was at
Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by
a tree, a native looked behind me and exclaimed, ‘There is the nest of
Korwe.’ I saw a slit only, about half an inch wide and three or four
inches long, in a slight hollow of a tree. Thinking the word Korwe
denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would
extract. He broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into
the hole, and brought out a Tockus, or Red-beaked Hornbill, which he
killed. He informed me that when the female enters her nest she submits
to a real confinement. The male plasters up the entrance, leaving
only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and which exactly suits
the form of his beak. The female makes a nest, of her own feathers,
lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are
fully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be two or
three months, the male continues to feed her and the young family. The
prisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a very dainty
morsel by the natives; while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean
that on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which sometimes happens
after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies.” At a
meeting of the Zoological Society on the 25th February, 1869, Mr. A.
D. Bartlett produced a curious envelope, which had been thrown by a
Wrinkled Hornbill (_Anorrhinus corrugatus_) in the Zoological Gardens
of London, which was found to contain plums or grapes well packed
together; and Mr. Bartlett came to the conclusion that it was by means
of fruit packed together in such a wrapper that the male fed the female
during her confinement in the hollow tree. In 1874, Dr. Murie exhibited
to the same society some similar envelopes, or, as he more properly
called them, gizzard sacs, which had been thrown up by a specimen of
Sclater’s Hornbill (_Bycanistes subcylindricus_) in the same way as by
the previous bird. On examination, these gizzard sacs proved to be the
interior lining of the bird’s stomach; and it was evident, from the
short time that elapsed between the throwing up of the envelopes, that,
as Dr. Murie observed, the bird in the interval had made a new one, and
got rid of it also, without apparently being any the worse. One can
readily imagine, however, that this process, being continued during the
long period that the female is shut up in the bole of the tree, must
tend greatly to weaken the bird. The habit of feeding his mate seems
to be inherent in every Hornbill, even in captivity, for Mr. Bartlett
observes:--“The tame male Hornbill is particularly distinguished at all
seasons by this habit of throwing up his food, which he not only offers
to the female, but to the keepers and others who are known to him.
The male Concave Hornbill (_Buceros cavatus_) now in the Gardens will
frequently throw up grapes, and, holding them in the point of the bill,
thrust them into the mouth of the keeper, if he is not on the alert to
prevent or avoid this distinguished mark of his kindness.”
Mr. Wallace thus describes the habits of the Hornbills, as observed
by him during his travels in the East, and he points out certain
peculiarities, proving that the old systematic position of these birds
near the Toucans of America is erroneous:--“From an examination of
the structure of the feet and toes, and from a consideration of their
habits, we are led to conclude that the Hornbills are Fissirostral
birds, though of a very abnormal form. Their very short legs and united
toes, with a broad flat sole, are exactly similar to those of the
Kingfishers. They have powerful wings, but their heavy bodies oblige
them to use much exertion in flight, which is not therefore very rapid,
though often extended to considerable distances. They are (in the
Indian Archipelago, at least) entirely frugivorous, and it is curious
to observe how their structure modifies their mode of feeding. They are
far too heavy to dart after the fruit in the manner of the Trogons;
they cannot even fly quickly from branch to branch, picking up a fruit
here and a fruit there; neither have they strength or agility enough to
venture on the more slender branches with the Pigeons and Barbets; but
they alight heavily on a branch of considerable thickness, and then,
looking cautiously round them, pick off any fruits that may be within
reach, and jerk them down their throats by a motion similar to that
used by the Toucans, which has been erroneously described as throwing
the fruit up in the air before swallowing it. When they have gathered
all within their reach they move sideways along the branch by short
jumps, or, rather, a kind of shuffle, and the smaller species even hop
across to other branches, when they again gather what is within their
reach. When in this way they have progressed as far as the bough will
safely carry them, they take a flight to another part of the tree,
where they pursue the same course. It thus happens that they soon
exhaust all the fruit within their reach; and long after they have
left a tree the Barbets and _Eurylaimi_ find abundance of food on the
slender branches and extreme twigs. We see, therefore, that their very
short legs and syndactyle feet remove them completely from the vicinity
of the Toucans, in which the legs are actively employed in moving about
after their food. Their wings, too, are as powerful as those of the
Toucans are weak; and it is only the great weight of their bodies that
prevents them from being capable of rapid and extensive flight. As it
is, their strength of wing is shown by the great force with which they
beat the air, producing a sound, in the larger species, which can be
distinctly heard a mile off, and is even louder than that made by the
flight of the great Muscovy Duck.” Mr. Wallace[276] also describes the
capture of a young Hornbill in Sumatra:--“I returned to Palembang by
water, and while staying a day at a village while a boat was being made
water-tight, I had the good fortune to obtain a male, female, and young
bird of one of the large Hornbills. I had sent my hunters to shoot,
and while I was at breakfast they returned, bringing me a fine large
male of the _Buceros bicornis_, which one of them assured me he had
shot while feeding the female, which was shut up in a hole in a tree. I
had often read of this curious habit, and immediately returned to the
place, accompanied by several of the natives. After crossing a stream
and a bog, we found a large tree leaning over some water, and on its
lower side, at a height of about twenty feet, appeared a small hole,
and what looked like a quantity of mud, which I was assured had been
used in stopping up the large hole. After a while we heard the harsh
cry of a bird inside, and could see the white extremity of its beak put
out. I offered a rupee to any one who would go up and get out the bird,
with the egg or young one, but they all declared it was too difficult,
and they were afraid to try. I therefore very reluctantly came away.
In about an hour afterwards, much to my surprise, a tremendous loud,
hoarse screaming was heard, and the bird was brought me, together
with a young one, which had been found in the hole. This was a most
curious object, as large as a pigeon, but without a particle of plumage
on any part of it. It was exceedingly plump and soft, and with a
semi-transparent skin, so that it looked more like a bag of jelly, with
head and feet stuck on, than like a real bird.”
One genus of these Hornbills is so remarkable as to demand a special
notice.
THE GROUND HORNBILLS (_Bucorax_).
[Illustration: GROUND HORNBILLS OF ABYSSINIA.]
These are an African form, of which there are two or three kinds,
distinguished by the casque, which is open in the birds from Abyssinia,
compressed and shut in the South African species (_B. cafer_). Of the
habits of the latter bird several accounts have been written, from
which a few extracts are made; and the first is from a letter sent by
Mr. Henry Bowker to Mr. Layard, after the publication of the latter’s
“Birds of South Africa”[277]:--“There are many superstitions connected
with the ‘Bromvogel.’ The bird is held sacred by the Kaffirs, and is
killed only in times of severe drought, when one is killed by order
of the ‘rain-doctor,’ and its body thrown into a pool in a river. The
idea is that the bird has so offensive a smell that it will ‘make
the water sick,’ and that the only way of getting rid of this is to
wash it away to the sea, which can only be done by heavy rains and
flooding of the river. The ground where they feed is considered good
for cattle, and in settling in a new country, spots frequented by these
birds are chosen by the wealthy people. Should the birds, however, by
some chance, fly over a cattle kraal, the kraal is moved to some other
place. They are mostly found in groups of from three to six or seven,
and build their nests in hollow trees, or in the hollow formed by three
or four branches striking off from the same spot. They roost in tall
yellow-wood trees, and commence calling about daylight. I never saw one
eating carrion, as stated in your book, though I have frequently seen
them near the bones of dead cattle, picking up beetles and worms. They
will eat meat, mice, and small birds, and swallow them by throwing them
suddenly in the air, and letting them drop down the throat in falling.
I once had a tame one, and noticed this particularly. It is very weak
on the wing, and when required by the ‘doctor,’ the bird is caught
by the men of a number of kraals turning out at the same time, and a
particular bird is followed from one hill to another by those on the
look-out. After three or four flights it can be run down and caught by
a good runner.”
Mr. Ayres’ account of the species in Natal, though often referred
to by other writers, is so excellent that no work treating of South
African birds can omit it, and is therefore reproduced here in its
entirety:--“In the stomach of the male were snakes, beetles, and other
insects. These birds are gregarious, and to be found here all the year
round, but are not very plentiful, generally three or four, sometimes
more, being found together. They are very fond of hunting for their
food on ground from which the grass has been burnt; with their strong
bills they peck up the hard ground and turn over lumps in search of
insects, making the dust fly again. Having found an insect or other
food they take it up, and giving their head a toss, the bill pointing
upward, appear to let the food roll down their throat. They also kill
large snakes in the following manner, viz.:--On discovering a snake,
three or four of the birds advance sideways towards it with their
wings stretched out, and with their quills flap at and irritate the
snake till he seizes them by the wing-feathers, when they immediately
all close round and give him violent pecks with their long and sharp
bills, quickly withdrawing again when the snake leaves his hold. This
they repeat till the snake is dead. If the reptile advances on them
they place both wings in front of them, completely covering the heads
and most vulnerable parts. Their call, which consists of but one note
repeated--a deep and sonorous _coo-coo_--may be heard at a great
distance. I have myself heard it, under favourable circumstances, at
a distance of nearly two miles. The call of the female is exactly the
same _coo-coo_, only pitched one note higher than the male. The latter
invariably calls first, the female immediately answering, and they
continue this perhaps for five or ten minutes, every now and then, as
they are feeding. Their flight is heavy, and when disturbed, although
very shy, they seldom fly more than half a mile before they alight
again. At a distance they would easily be mistaken for Turkeys, their
body being deep and rather compressed, similarly to those birds, with
the wings carried well on the back. The little pouch on the throat
they are able to fill with air at pleasure, the male bird sent to me
to London doing this before he died. I think their principal range of
country is on the coast and from twenty to thirty miles inland. They
roost on trees at night, but always feed on the ground.”
In Angola, where the bird is called by the natives _Engungoashito_,
Mr. Monteiro had great difficulty in procuring specimens, on account
of the superstitious dread in which they are held by the natives. He
says:--“They are found sparingly nearly everywhere in Angola, becoming
abundant, however, only towards the interior. In the mountain range in
which Pungo Andongo is situated, and running nearly north and south,
they are common, and it was near the base of these mountains that I
shot these two specimens. They are seen in flocks of six or eight (the
natives say always in equal numbers of males and females). Farther in
the interior I was credibly informed that they are found in flocks of
from one to two hundred individuals. The males raise up and open and
close their tails exactly in the manner of a Turkey, and filling out
their bright cockscomb-red, bladder-like wattle on their necks, and
with wings dropping on the ground, make quite a grand appearance. They
do not present a less extraordinary appearance as they walk slowly
with an awkward gait, and peer from side to side with their great eyes
in quest of food in the short grass, poking their large bills at any
frog, snake, &c., that may come in their way. Their flight is feeble
and not long sustained. When alarmed, they generally fly up to the
nearest large tree, preferring such as have thick branches with but
little foliage, as the _Adansonia_, ‘Muenzo’ (a wild fig). Here they
squat close on the branches, and, if further alarmed, raise themselves
quite upright on their legs in an attitude of listening, with wide open
bills. The first to notice a person at once utters the customary cry,
and all fly off to the next tree. They are very wary, and the grass
near the mountains being comparatively short, with but little scrub
or birch, it is very difficult to approach without being observed by
them from the high trees. I followed a flock of six for upwards of two
hours, crawling flat on my stomach, negro fashion, before I obtained
a chance of a shot, when I was so fortunate as to break the wing of
a male without otherwise injuring it. It was quickly captured by the
blacks. They are omnivorous in their food; reptiles, birds, eggs,
beetles, and all other insects, mandioca roots, ginguba or ground-nuts,
constitute their food in the wild state. In confinement I have fed this
bird upon the same food, also upon fresh fish, which it showed itself
very fond of, as well as on entrails of fowls, &c. On letting it loose
in Loanda in a yard where there were several fowls with chickens, it
immediately gulped down its throat six of the latter, and finished
its breakfast with several eggs! The note or cry of the male is like
the hoarse blast of a horn, repeated short three times, and answered
by the female in a lower note. It is very loud, and can be heard at a
considerable distance, particularly at night. They are said to build
their nests on the very highest _Adansonias_, in the hollow or cavity
formed at the base or junction of the branches with the trunk.”
The present species is of a very large size, measuring about forty
inches in length, and about nineteen inches in the wing. It is entirely
black, with the exception of the primary quills, which are white; the
bill and legs are black, but the bare skin on the neck and round the
eye is bright red in the male, but blue in the female.
THE FIFTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.
THE HOOPOES (_Upupidæ_).
Different as these birds are in appearance and habits, ornithologists
now agree that from their structure they must be placed in close
alliance with the Hornbills, with which they are more particularly
connected by the Wood Hoopoes. Instead of the ungainly figures and
top-heavy-looking casques of the Hornbills, the Hoopoes are remarkable
for their graceful carriage and elegant figure, in which the beautiful
crest plays an important part. They are particularly at home in the
desert countries, where their sandy-coloured plumage is no doubt a
great protection to them; and a story is told that the Hoopoe, if it
sees a Hawk approaching, will throw itself flat on the ground, and by
twisting its wings round in front and remaining motionless, with its
bill pointing upwards, it will look like a piece of old rag, and thus
escape detection.
Not more than five species of Hoopoe are known, all inhabitants of
the Old World, and the most widely distributed is the Common Hoopoe
(_Upupa epops_) of Europe, which visits England during the spring and
autumn migration, and at least one instance of its breeding in that
country is known. Mr. Howard Saunders states[278]:--“In the year 1847
a pair of Hoopoes nested in a hole of an old yew-tree in a shrubbery
of an old-fashioned garden at Leatherhead, Surrey. The proprietor was
very anxious that the birds should not be disturbed, and a strict veto
was placed upon any bird’s-nesting in the shrubbery--a severe trial
to our boyish propensities; but we were afterwards rewarded by seeing
the parent birds with their young strutting about upon the lawn. As
well as I remember, there were five young ones besides the two old
birds.” The species is found all over central and southern Europe in
summer, being in some places very plentiful; but it is a rare visitor
to the northern parts, and has disappeared from some countries, like
Denmark, for instance, where the felling of the old and hollow forest
trees has deprived it of its accustomed breeding-places. In some places
the bird is disliked, and in Scandinavia, where it occurs only in the
southern and central portions, it bears a bad name among the peasantry,
who suppose it to be a foreboder of war and hard times, and from this
circumstance its name of Härfugel or “army bird,” is derived. The
Chinese also have an objection to them, branding them by the name of
“Coffin-bird,” as they often breed in the holes of exposed Chinese
coffins. On the other hand, according to Canon Tristram, in the Sahara
the Arabs have a superstitious veneration for the Hoopoe, and its
magical properties enter largely into the arcana of the Arab “hakeem.”
He says that great numbers of Hoopoes resort to the M’zab cities and
frequent oases in winter, where they strut about the courtyards and
round the tents with the familiarity of barn-door fowls. Mons. Favier
says, that in Tangier the superstitious Jews and Mahomedans both
believe that the heart and feathers of the Hoopoe are charms against
the machinations of evil spirits.
[Illustration: COMMON HOOPOE.]
The ordinary name of Hoopoe is derived from the note of the bird, and
in most European languages the latter suggests the vernacular names.
Thus, in Bulgaria it is called _Poo-poo_, in Valentia _Put-Put_,
_Bubbula_, &c., in Italy, _Poupa_ in Portugal, and so on. Mr. Swinhoe
writes of the bird and its note as follows:--“I have already described
the peculiar way in which the Hoopoe produces its notes--by puffing out
the sides of its neck, and hammering on the ground at the production
of each note, thereby exhausting the air at the end of the series of
three, which makes up its song. Before it repeats its call, it repeats
the puffing of the neck with a slight gurgling noise. When it is able
to strike its bill, the sound is the correct _hoo-hoo-hoo_; but when
perched on a rope, and only jerking out the song with nods of the
head, the notes more resemble the syllables _hoh-hoh-hoh_. Mr. Darwin
makes use of this last fact to show that some birds have instrumental
means to produce their music. It is not to this point, however, that
I wish to call attention, but to the fact of the bird’s puffing out
the sides of its neck. It is generally supposed that the song of a
bird is produced by actions of the lower larynx on air passing up the
bronchial tubes onwards and outwards through the main tube, or trachea.
The trachea of the Hoopoe is not dilatable, but its œsophagus is; and
the puffing of the neck is caused by the bulging of the œsophagus with
swallowed air. There is no connection between the œsophagus and the
trachea, and apparently no organ at the entrance to the former that
could modify sound. What action, then, can this swallowed air be made
to take in the production of the bird’s notes? Pigeons have strikingly
large air-crops, which they empty with each _coo_, and refill before
they _coo_ again. Many birds swell out the throat when calling or
singing, and others move it up and down. These actions must also be
caused by the swallowed air in the œsophagus, and must modify the
sounds in some way, as variously used, adding power and richness in
some cases, or giving ventriloquistic effect in others. This question
seems never to have been enquired into before, and I throw out the
hint in hopes that others may help to elucidate the matter with their
investigations.”
The length of the Common Hoopoe is about one foot; the upper surface
is greyish-brown, the wings and shoulders black barred with white, the
rump being pure white; on the head, which is tawny-coloured, is an
enormous crest, the feathers of which have a black tip, before which
is a narrow white bar; the tail is black; with a white band at about a
third of its length from the end; underneath the body is pale cinnamon,
white on the abdomen and under tail coverts, the flanks striped with
brown. The sexes are alike in colour, excepting that the female is a
little paler.
THE WOOD HOOPOES (_Irrisor_).
All the birds belonging to this section of the Hoopoes are remarkable
for their very long and strongly graduated tails, for their brilliant
metallic plumage, which is always dark, and inclining more or less to
black--instead of a sandy colour, as in the true Hoopoes--and most
of them for their very curved, scimitar-like bills. They are all
natives of Africa, and have a remarkably loud, chattering note; and
from its harsh and resounding voice the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe (_I.
erythrorhynchus_) is known among the Dutch at the Cape as “Cackala,”
or the “Chatterer.” The late M. Jules Verreaux told the writer that
the noise made by these birds is tremendous, and that on one occasion
he was attracted by an uproar, which seemed to indicate that something
unusual was the matter. On proceeding to the place whence the noise
came, he was astonished to find on the low branch of a tree three of
these birds, perched one on the back of the other, betokening by their
drooping wings and repeated chatterings the utmost consternation and
fright. The cause of this was not far to seek, for just below the birds
was a cobra, balancing himself in an erect attitude, and perfectly
motionless, the only indication of life being the incessant flicking
of the animal’s tongue. The cacklings of the birds became feebler and
feebler, until at last the bottom one fell off the perch and dropped
into the extended jaws of the snake, which were ready to receive it;
while the other two birds, apparently freed from the spell of the
reptile’s eye, took to instant flight. Having his gun in his hand,
M. Verreaux shot the snake immediately; but on going to rescue the
bird, found that the latter was quite dead. Mr. Thomas Ayres, who has
studied the species in Natal, says:--“The food of these birds consists
almost entirely of a species of cockroach, which they take from the
crevices of rough-barked trees, and in search of which they creep
about the trunk and branches somewhat similarly to the Woodpeckers.
In this manner their tail-feathers frequently become much worn. From
four to eight of these birds are generally together, and frequent busby
country. They have a loud chattering note, and are extremely restless
in their habits. They have a peculiarly powerful and disagreeable
smell.” Mr. Andersson’s account of the species is as follows:--“It
lives in small flocks--probably consisting of entire families--which
frequent trees, chiefly of the larger kinds, and examine them most
assiduously in search of insects and their larvæ, which they extract
from crevices in the wood and from beneath the bark. These birds climb
like Woodpeckers; and their long tails come into constant contact with
the rough surface of the trees, by which the tail-feathers are much
injured. When they have finished their examination of one tree they
move to the next convenient one, but not all together, as a short
interval generally elapses after the departure of each individual.
The moment flight is decided on, they utter harsh discordant cries or
chatterings, which are continued until they are all safely lodged in
their new quarters. These harsh notes are also heard when they conceive
themselves in danger from either man, beast, or bird; and they thus
often betray their presence.”
The present species measures about seventeen inches, the tail being
about ten out of that number, and being thus three inches longer than
the body of the bird. The colour is black, glossed with green on the
head, back, and under surface, with blue on the throat, purple on the
wings and tail, and having a bronzy gloss on the shoulders. All the
tail feathers, except the two centre ones, have a white spot near the
tip and across the wings a white bar. The bill and legs are bright
coral red.