CHAPTER X.

THE BEE-EATERS--MOTMOTS--ROLLERS--TROGONS--NIGHTJARS, OR

GOATSUCKERS--SWIFTS--HUMMING BIRDS.

THE BEE-EATERS--Their Brilliant Plumage--Colonel Irby’s

Account of the Bird in Spain--Shot for Fashion’s sake--THE

MOTMOTS--Appearance--Mr. Waterton on the Houtou--Curious Habit of

Trimming its Tail--Mr. O. Salvin’s Observations on this point--Mr.

Bartlett’s Evidence--THE ROLLERS--Why so called--Canon Tristram’s

Account of their Habits--Colour--Other Species--THE TROGONS--Where

found--Peculiar Foot--Tender Skin--Inability to Climb--Their

Food--THE LONG-TAILED TROGON, OR QUESAL--Mr. Salvin’s Account

of its Habits--Its Magnificent Colour--How they are Hunted--THE

NIGHTJARS, OR GOATSUCKERS--Appearance--Distribution--The Guacharo,

or Oil-bird--“Frog-mouths”--Mr. Gould’s Account of the Habits of the

Tawny-shouldered Podargus--How it Builds its Nest--Mr. Waterton’s

Vindication of the Goatsucker--What Services the Bird does really

render Cattle, Goats, and Sheep--Its Cry--The Common Goatsucker--THE

SWIFTS--THE COMMON SWIFT--Migration--Their Home in the Air--Where

they Breed--Nest--Tree-Swifts--The Edible-Nest Swiftlets--Mr.

E. L. Layard’s Visit to the Cave of the Indian Swiftlet--THE

HUMMING BIRDS--Number of Species--Distribution--Professor Newton’s

Description of the Bird--Mr. Wallace on their Habits--Wilson on the

North American Species.

THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE BEE-EATERS (_Meropidæ_).

The Bee-eaters are among the most brightly plumaged of the Picarian

birds, and are distributed over the whole of Africa, India, the

Moluccas, and Australia. One species (_Merops apiaster_) visits Europe

in the summer, being, however, nowhere so common as in the countries of

the Mediterranean basin, though they occasionally wander to England.

Colonel Irby[279] gives the following account of the Bee-eater in

Southern Spain:--“The bird did not appear to me to be quite so common

in Morocco at the end of April as on the Spanish side of the Strait,

where, during April, May, June, and July, it is one of the most

conspicuous birds in the country; at that season, Andalusia without

Bee-eaters would be like London without Sparrows. Everywhere they are

to be seen; and their single note, _teerp_, heard continually repeated,

magnifies their numbers in imagination. Occasionally, they venture into

the centre of towns when on passage, hovering round the orange-trees

and flowers in some patio or garden. Crossing the Strait for the most

part in the early part of the day, flight follows flight for hours in

succession. When passing at Gibraltar, they sometimes skim low down to

settle for a moment on a bush or a tree, but generally go straight on,

often almost out of sight; but their cry always betrays their presence

in the air. In some places they nest in large colonies; in others there

are, perhaps, only two or three holes. When there are no river-banks

or barrancos in which to bore holes, they tunnel down into the ground,

where the soil is suitable, in a vertical direction, generally on some

slight elevated mound. The shafts to these nests are not usually so

long as those in banks of rivers, which sometimes reach to a distance

of eight or nine feet in all; the end is enlarged into a round sort

of chamber, on the bare soil of which the usual four or five shining

white eggs are placed. After a little they become discoloured from the

castings of the old birds, the nest being, as it were, lined with the

wings and undigested parts of Bees and Wasps. Vast numbers of eggs and

young must be annually destroyed by Snakes and Lizards. The latter are

often seen sunning themselves at the entrance of a hole among a colony

of Bee-eaters; and frequently have I avenged the birds by treating the

yellow reptile to a charge of shot. The bills of Bee-eaters, after

boring out their habitations, are sometimes worn away to less than half

their usual length; but as newly-arrived birds never have these stumpy

bills, it is evident that they grow again to their ordinary length. It

has often been a source of wonder to me how they have the exertion to

make these long tunnels: the amount of exertion must be enormous; but

when one considers the boles of the Sand-Martin, it is perhaps not so

surprising after all. During my stay at Gibraltar, Bee-eaters decreased

very much in the neighbourhood, being continually shot on account

of their bright plumage, to put in ladies’ hats. Owing to this sad

fashion, I saw no less than seven hundred skins, all shot at Tangier

in the spring of 1874, which were consigned by Olcese to some dealer in

London. However, the enormous injury these birds do to the peasants who

keep Bees fully merits any amount of punishment, but, at the same time,

they destroy quantities of Wasps. After being fired at once or twice,

they become very wary and shy at the breeding-places; and the best way

to shoot them is to hide near the _colmenares_, or groups of _corchos_,

or cork bee-hives, which in Spain are placed in rows, sometimes to

the number of seventy or eighty together; and it is no unusual thing

to see as many Bee-eaters whirling round and swooping down, even

seizing the bees at the very entrance of their hives. The reason of

their early departure in August is to be accounted for by the simple

fact that bees cease to work when there are no flowers, and by that

time all vegetation is scorched up.” The Bee-eater suffers probably

less from the fashionable rage after its plumes than do some of the

bright-coloured birds, as it goes in winter to South Africa, where it

rears another brood of young ones.

[Illustration: AUSTRALIAN BEE-EATER.]

THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE MOTMOTS (_Momotidæ_).

[Illustration: BILL OF MOTMOT.]

These birds are peculiar to the New World, being found from Mexico

southwards through the whole of Central America and the South American

continent. Their general plumage is green, and the majority of the

species have a large racket at the end of the centre tail-feathers,

formed by the bird itself, as detailed below. Mr. Waterton gives an

account of the Motmots in Demerara, and he was the first to point out

that the racket in the tail was produced by the bird’s own action.

He writes:--“The Houtou ranks high in beauty amongst the birds of

Demerara. His body is green, with a bluish cast in the wings and tail;

his crown, which he erects at pleasure, consists of black in the

centre, surrounded with lovely blue of two different shades; he has a

triangular black spot, edged with blue, behind the eye, extending to

the ear; and on his breast a sable tuft, consisting of nine feathers,

edged also with blue. This bird seems to suppose that its beauty can

be increased by trimming the tail, which undergoes the same operation

as one’s hair in a barber’s shop, only with this difference, that it

uses its own beak, which is serrated, in lieu of a pair of scissors.

As soon as his tail is full-grown, he begins about an inch from the

extremity of the two longest feathers in it, and cuts away the web on

both sides of the shaft, making a gap about an inch long. Both male

and female adonise their tails in this manner, which gives them a

remarkable appearance amongst all other birds. While we consider the

tail of the Houtou blemished and defective, were he to come amongst us,

he would probably consider our heads, cropped and bald, in no better

light. He who wishes to observe this handsome bird in his native

haunts must be in the forest at the morning’s dawn. The Houtou shuns

the society of man; the plantations and cultivated parts are too much

disturbed to engage it to settle there. The thick and gloomy forests

are the places preferred by the solitary Houtou. In those far-extending

wilds, about day-break, you hear him articulate, in a distinct and

mournful tone, ‘Houtou, houtou.’ Move cautiously on to where the sound

proceeds from, and you will see him sitting in the underwood, about

a couple of yards from the ground, his tail moving up and down every

time he articulates ‘houtou.’ He lives on insects and the berries among

the underwood; and very rarely is seen in the lofty trees, except the

bastard Siloabali-tree, the fruit of which is grateful to him. He makes

no nest, but rears his young in a hole in the sand, generally on the

side of a hill.”

[Illustration: MOTMOT.]

In confirmation of Mr. Waterton’s remarks, a paper was published by Mr.

Osbert Salvin in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society” for 1873

(p. 429):--“Some years ago (1860) this Society possessed a specimen of

_Momotus subrufescens_, which lived in one of the large cages of the

parrot-house all by itself. I have a very distinct recollection of the

bird; for I used every time I saw it to cheer it up a bit by whistling

such of its notes as I had picked up in the forests of America. The

bird always seemed to appreciate this attention; for though it never

replied, it became at once animated, hopped about the cage, and swung

its tail from side to side like the pendulum of a clock. For a long

time its tail had perfect spatules; but towards the end of its life

I noticed that the median feathers were no longer trimmed with such

precision; and on looking at its beak I noticed that from some cause or

other it did not _close properly_, but gaped slightly at the tip, and

had thus become unfitted for removing the vanes of the feathers. Since

the subject has been revived by Dr. Murie, it occurred to me that Mr.

Bartlett could hardly have failed to watch this bird during its moults,

and whilst the tail-feathers were growing. I accordingly wrote to him,

and received the following reply:--

‘DEAR SIR,--During the several years the Motmot lived here I

had many opportunities of watching its habits; and _I have seen the

bird in the act of picking off the webs of the central feathers of its

tail_, and have taken from the bottom of the cage the fragments of web

that fell from the bird’s bill. As the bird lived here for some years,

its bill got rather out of order, that is, it did not close properly

at the point; and consequently the picking off the web at last was

imperfectly performed, and the two sides of the tail-feather presented

an unequal and unfinished appearance. I noticed also that the Motmot

frequently threw up castings, after the manner of the Kingfishers and

other birds that swallow indigestible substances.--Yours faithfully,

A. D. BARTLETT.’

[Illustration: TAIL-FEATHERS OF MOTMOT. (_From the Proceedings of the

Zoological Society._)

(A) Tail of _M. lessoni_: two Central Rectrices shaded; (B) Tail of

_M. mexicanus_: the Central Rectrices, not fully grown, are shaded;

(C) Tail of _M. lessoni_, with stems of Central Rectrices partially

denuded; (D) Tail of _P. platyrhynchus_, with Central Rectrices not

symmetrical.]

“The point is further elucidated by the examination of skins in our

collection. We have a number of specimens of various species in which

the central tail-feathers were growing when the birds were shot. The

drawings now exhibited show some of them. Figure A represents the

tail of a young _Momotus lessoni_ in its first plumage. The central

tail-feathers are here untouched; they merely show the reduction in

the breadth of the web in the part which is subsequently denuded. Of

this more anon. Figure B shows the growing feathers of the tail of a

specimen of _Momotus mexicanus_; in this a few vanes have been removed

from the left-hand feather. Figure C shows the process of denudation

still further advanced. In all these three birds it will be noticed

that the feathers in question have grown symmetrically, both being of

nearly equal length. Figure D represents the tail of a _Prionirhynchus

platyrhynchus_, where these feathers have not grown symmetrically, but

the left-hand one has been developed sooner than the right-hand one.

What has happened? The bird expecting to find two feathers upon which

to operate has commenced to nibble not only the left central rectrix,

but also the next rectrix on the right-hand side! But it seems to

have not felt very certain about the state of its tail, for it has

wandered off to one of the others, and commenced nibbling it also.

When, however, the proper right-hand feather appeared, these mistakes

have been discovered, and the work recommenced in the usual way. I

can interpret in no other way the state in which the feathers on the

right-hand side of the tail of this bird appear.”

THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE ROLLERS (_Coraciadæ_).

These birds constitute a family of birds which are strictly denizens

of the Old World, and are remarkable for their bright plumage. The

vernacular name of Roller is given to them from their habit of mounting

or “rolling” in the air. Canon Tristram, in describing the habits of

the European species (_Coracias garrula_) in Palestine, writes as

follows:--“On the 12th of April I reached Ain Sultan (Jericho) alone,

and remained there in solitude for several days, during which I had

many opportunities of observing the grotesque habits of the Roller. For

several successive evenings, great flocks of Rollers mustered shortly

before sunset on some _dôm_ trees near the fountain, with all the noise

but without the decorum of the Rooks. After a volley of discordant

screams, from the sound of which it derives its Arabic trivial name of

‘Schurkrak,’ a few birds would start from their perch, and commence a

series of somersaults overhead, somewhat after the fashion of Tumbler

Pigeons. In a moment or two they would be followed by the whole flock,

and these gambols would be repeated for a dozen times or more. Every

where it takes its perch on some conspicuous branch or on the top of

a rock, where it can see and be seen. The bare tops of the fig-trees,

before they put forth their leaves, are, in the cultivated terraces,

a particularly favourite resort. In the barren Ghor I have often

watched it perched unconcernedly on a knot of gravel or marl in the

plain, watching apparently for the emergence of beetles from the sand.

Elsewhere I have not seen it settle on the ground. Like Europeans in

the East, it can make itself happy without chairs and tables in the

desert, but prefers a comfortable easy-chair when it is to be found.

Its nest I have seen in ruins, in holes in rocks, in burrows, in steep

sand-cliffs, but far more generally in hollow trees. The colony in

the Wady Kelt used burrows excavated by themselves; and many a hole

did they relinquish, owing to the difficulty of working it. But so

cunningly were the nests placed under a crumbling treacherous ledge,

overhanging a chasm of perhaps one or two hundred feet, that we were

completely foiled in our siege. We obtained a nest of six eggs, quite

fresh, in a hollow tree in Bashan, near Gadara, on the 6th of May.

It is noticed by Russell among the birds of Aleppo.” The colour of

the Common Roller is very beautiful, and we can well understand the

significance of the Turkish name “Alla Carga,” or Beautiful Crow. The

back is pale cinnamon-brown; the wing-coverts pale blue, excepting

those on the edge of the wing, which are rich ultramarine; the quills

brownish-black, deep ultramarine underneath; the secondaries with more

blue on the outer web; the forehead white; the crown of the head and

back of the neck pale blue; the lower back and rump ultramarine; the

upper tail-coverts greenish-blue; the tail blackish-brown, the feathers

blue at the base, the two centre feathers dull green; cheeks and throat

pale blue, streaked with silvery blue; the under surface of the body

pale greenish-blue. The total length is twelve inches. One curious

feature about the European bird is that the outer tail-feather tends

towards a point at the tip, as if there was an inclination to become

elongated; and in Africa there is a species which actually differs from

the European Roller only in having the outer tail-feathers elongated to

an extent of several inches.

In Madagascar, that wonderful island which produces so many peculiar

forms of bird life, there are found the Ground Rollers (_Atelornis_),

extraordinary birds which live entirely on the ground, and only come

out at dusk. Their flight is said by M. Grandidier to be very weak,

so that the birds are never found above the lowest branches. They are

rather local in their habitat, but where they do occur seem not to be

uncommon. The Cyrombo Roller (_Leptosoma discolor_) is also a native

of Madagascar, and has at first sight much the appearance of a Cuckoo,

of which family of birds it was for many years considered to be a

member. The head is extremely large in this bird, and the region of

the nostrils densely plumed; but the latter, instead of being placed

near the base of the bill, as in most Rollers, are situated nearly

in the middle of the upper mandible. Messrs. Pollen and Van Dam give

an interesting account of this bird in their notes on the “Birds of

Madagascar”:--“The natives of the north-west of Madagascar give this

bird the name of Cyrombo. It has the curious habit of hovering in the

air, and uttering a very loud note, striking its wings against its body

as it calls. This cry, resembling the syllables _tu-hou_, _tu-hou_,

_tu-hou_, goes on increasing in force. Nowhere have we found this bird

in greater numbers than in the forests in the neighbourhood of the

bays of Boény and Jongony, in the south-western portion of the island

of Mayotte. The racket that they make during the whole journey is

truly wearisome. Although very active as criers, these birds are lazy

and stupid. As soon as they are perched on the branch of a tree, they

remain, so to speak, immovable, and in perpendicular position, so that

it is easy to see them and knock them over. When seen in this position,

they look like birds impaled. We suppose that they live in polyandry,

because one always sees three times as many males as females; often

we have seen three males in company with one single female, and all

allowed themselves to be killed one after the other. In fact, when one

is killed, the others do not fly away, but content themselves with

merely moving from one branch to another. These birds live principally

on Grasshoppers, but they devour also Chameleons and Lizards, which

gives to their flesh a disagreeable odour, like that we observe in the

Common Cuckoo. In preparing these birds we often found them with a

species of large parasite of the family of the Ornithomyiæ, of a dirty

green colour. We were never able to study the propagation of this bird;

but while in Mayotte we saw an individual make a nest of rushes in the

hole of a great ‘Badamier’ (_Terminalia Catappa_). These birds when

they cry puff out the throat, so that this portion of the body has the

appearance of a pendent bag. When wounded, they erect the feathers of

the forehead and ears as well as those of the throat, all the while

distributing well-aimed blows with the beak. The Cyrombo plays a great

part in the chants and religious recitations of the Malagasy natives.

The French colonists of Mayotte call this bird the ‘Parrot.’ It is

common at Madagascar and Mayotte, and has, according to Mr. Sclater,

been found in the island of Anjounan.”

[Illustration: BLUE ROLLER.]

THE NINTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.--THE TROGONS

(_Trogonidæ_).

These beautiful birds are found both in the Old World and the New, but

are inhabitants of the tropical latitudes only. In Africa two species

only are known, nor does another species occur until the coast of

India is reached, and then in the forests of the peninsula and of the

Himalayas there are some beautiful red-breasted representatives of the

family, whence throughout the Malayan peninsula and the Sunda Islands

some of the handsomest Trogons occur. But it is in America, from Mexico

southwards, that the larger number of species is met with, no less

than thirty-three out of a total of forty-six Trogons being peculiar

to the New World. Their habits vary somewhat, as all the Old World

members are insectivorous, while the American species principally feed

on fruit, and only devour insects in a secondary manner. The Trogons

may be distinguished not only by their broadened bill, but by the foot,

where the first and second toes are turned permanently, two in front

and two behind. This is a different arrangement to that of the Cuckoos

and other climbing _Picariæ_, where the fourth toe is permanently or

temporarily turned backwards as well as the first. The skin of these

birds is remarkably thin and tender, so that their preparation is by

no means an easy matter, and their appearance is also detracted from

by a scantiness of plumage on the nape, where a great want of feathers

takes place. Mr. Wallace, writing of the birds of this present family,

remarks:--“As an instance how totally unable the Trogons are to use

their feet for anything like climbing, we may mention that the Trogons

of South America feed principally on fruit, which one would think they

would get by climbing or walking after, if they could. But no; they

take their station on a bare branch about the middle of the tree, and

having fixed their attention on some particularly tempting fruit, they

dart at it, seize it dexterously on the wing, and return to their

original seat. Often, while waiting under a fruit-tree for Chatterers

or Pigeons, have we received the first intimation of the presence of a

Trogon by the _whir-r-r_ of its wings as it darted after a fruit. It is

curious that this habit seems confined to the Trogons of America. In

the East I have never yet observed it, and in the numerous specimens I

have opened, nothing has been found but insects. The African Trogons

also appear to be wholly insectivorous.”

Again, in his “Naturalist in Nicaragua” (p. 122) Mr. Belt writes:--“The

Trogons are general feeders. I have taken from their crops the remains

of fruits, grasshoppers, beetles, termites, and even small crabs

and land shells. The largest species, the Massena Trogon (_Trogon

massena_), is one foot in length, dark bronze-green above, with the

smaller wing-feathers speckled white and black, and the belly of a

beautiful carmine. Sometimes it sits on a branch above where the army

of ants are foraging below, and when a grasshopper or other large

insect flies up and alights on a leaf it darts after it, picks it up,

and returns to its perch. I sometimes found them breaking into the,

nests of the termites with their strong bills, and eating the large

soft-bodied workers, and it was from the crop of this species that I

took the remains of a small crab and land shell (_Helicina_). They take

short, quick, jerking flights, and are often met with along with flocks

of other birds--Flycatchers, Tanagers, Creepers, Woodpeckers, &c., that

hunt together, traversing the forests in flocks of hundreds, belonging

to more than a score of different species, so that while they are

passing over the trees seem alive with them. Mr. Bates has mentioned

similar gregarious flocks met with by him in Brazil; and I never went

any distance into the woods around St. Domingo without seeing them.

The reason of their association together may be partly for protection,

as no rapacious bird or mammal could approach the flock without being

discovered by one or other of them; but the principal reason appears

to be that they play into each other’s hands in their search for

food. Creepers and Woodpeckers and others drive the insects out of

their hiding-places under bark, amongst moss and withered leaves. The

Flycatchers sit on branches and fly after the larger insects, the

Flycatchers taking them on the wing, the Trogons from the leaves on

which they have settled.”

THE LONG-TAILED TROGON, OR QUESAL (_Pharomacrus[280] mocinno_).

This beautiful species is mentioned in Willughby’s Ornithology, which

was published some two hundred years ago, in which book an appendix is

devoted to such birds as the author suspected to be “fabulous;” and

the Quetzaltototl of Hernandez was placed in this category, nor was it

till the French traveller Delattre visited Guatemala, and published

his account of the habits of the bird in 1843, that it was restored

to its proper position as one of the most beautiful of the feathered

tribe: it is now by no means rare in collections. The best account

of the habits of this species--and, indeed, of any Trogon--is that

given by Mr. Osbert Salvin, in his paper entitled “Quesal-shooting in

Vera Paz,”[281] in Guatemala. He writes from his diary:--“Off to the

mountains at last, with a fine day and a fair prospect of success.

The road, after crossing the river, strikes off to the northward--a

mountain track winding among the hills. Soon after entering the forest,

a river crosses the path--a foaming torrent--a fall into which gives

no hope of escape. A felled tree, one of the largest of the forest,

forms the bridge, over which, slippery with moss and foam, we have

to pass. For ourselves it is nothing; but I must say I tremble for

the Indians, each of whom carries his 75 lbs. of cargo. In the worst

and most slippery part, the foothold is somewhat improved by the tree

being notched with a ‘machete;’ but still it is as dangerous a pass

as I ever crossed. After half-an-hour’s delay, we reach the other

bank. One ‘mozo’ only turned faint-hearted, and another carried his

pack across. From the river the path becomes very precipitous, and

we continue to climb till we reach the foot of a rock, where we find

a deserted rancho, and take possession. A fire having been made to

heat the pixtones, we dine, and afterwards start for the forest close

by to look for Quesals. On entering, the path takes the unpleasant

form of a succession of felled trees, which are slippery from recent

rains, and render progress slow. My companions are ahead, and I am

just balancing myself along the last trunk, when Filipe comes back

to say that they have heard a Quesal. Of course, being especially

anxious to watch as well as to shoot one of these birds myself, I

immediately hurry to the spot. I sit down upon my wide-awake in most

approved style close to Cipriano, who is calling the bird, and wait,

all eyes and ears, for the result. I have not to wait long. A distant

clattering note indicates that the bird is on the wing. He settles--a

splendid male--on a bough of a tree, not seventy yards from where we

are hidden. Cipriano wants to creep up to within shot, but I keep him

back, wishing to risk the chance of losing a specimen rather than miss

such an opportunity of seeing the bird in its living state, and of

watching its movements. It sits almost motionless on its perch, the

body remaining in the same position, the head only moving slowly from

side to side. The tail does not hang quite perpendicularly, the angle

between the true tail and the vertical being perhaps as much as fifteen

or twenty degrees. The tail is occasionally jerked open and closed

again, and now and then slightly raised, causing the long tail-coverts

to vibrate gracefully. I have not seen all. A ripe fruit catches the

Quesal’s eye, and he darts from his perch, hovers for a moment, plucks

the berry, and returns to his former position. This is done with a

degree of elegance that defies description. The remark has often been

made by persons looking at stuffed Humming-birds, ‘What lovely little

things these must look in life, when they are flying about!’ But they

do not. Place a Humming-bird twenty yards from you, and what do you see

of its colours, except in the most favourable position and light? This

is not the case with the Quesal. The rich metallic green of the head,

back, and tail-coverts reflects its colour in every position, whilst

the deep scarlet of the breast and the white of the tail show vividly

at a distance, and contrast with the principal colour of the body.

The living Quesal strikes the eye by its colour at once. It stands

unequalled for splendour among birds of the New World, and is hardly

surpassed among those of the Old. Such are my reflections, when a low

whistle from Cipriano calls the bird nearer, and a moment afterwards it

is in my hand--the first Quesal I have seen and shot.

[Illustration: LONG-TAILED TROGON, OR QUESAL.]

“The cries of the Quesal are various. They consist principally of a low

double note, ‘_whe-oo_, _whe-oo_,’ which the bird repeats, whistling

it softly at first, and then gradually swelling it into a loud but not

unmelodious cry. This is often succeeded by a long note, which begins

low, and after swelling, dies away as it began. Both these notes can be

easily imitated by the human voice. The bird’s other cries are harsh

and discordant. They are best imitated by doubling a pliant leaf over

the first fingers, which must be held about two inches apart. The two

edges of the leaf being then placed in the mouth, and the breath drawn

in, the required sound is produced. Cipriano was an adept at imitating

these cries, but I failed in producing them for want of practice.

When searching for Quesals, the hunter whistles as he walks along,

here and there sitting down and repeating the other notes. As soon as

he hears a bird answering at a distance he stops, and imitates the

bird’s cries until it has approached near enough to enable him either

to shoot it from where he stands, or to creep up to within shot. The

female generally flies up first, and perches on a tree near the hunter,

who takes no notice of her, but continues calling till the male, who

usually quickly follows the female, appears. Should the male not show

himself, the hunter will sometimes shoot the female. Thus it is that

so large a proportion of males are shot. The flight of the Quesal is

rapid and straight; the long tail-feathers, which never seem to be in

his way, stream after him. The bird is never found except in forests

composed of the highest trees, the lower branches of which (_i.e._,

those at about two-thirds of the height of the tree from the ground)

seem to be its favourite resort. Its food consists principally of

fruit, but occasionally a caterpillar may be found in its stomach.”

The distinguishing character of this fine Trogon is the long tail of

the male bird, which measures about three feet in length. The colour of

the upper parts is golden green, as well as the throat and fore neck;

the breast is bright scarlet, and is overshadowed by some beautiful

drooping plumes, which spring from the shoulders, and hang gracefully

over the wings; the outer tail-feathers are white, with black bases,

and the bill is yellow. The female has a black bill, and is much

smaller, and she does not possess the long tail and decorative plumes

of the male.

THE TENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.--THE NIGHTJARS, OR

GOATSUCKERS (_Caprimulgidæ_).

[Illustration: MOUTH OF GOATSUCKER.]

From the adjoining woodcut it will be seen that a Nightjar is

indeed a Fissirostral, or wide-gaping bird, and this large mouth is

characteristic of the whole family. Their soft mottled plumage, their

large eyes, and their habit of flying by night, have induced many

naturalists to place them in close proximity to the Owls, with which

family of birds, however, they have nothing further in common. Members

of the family of Goatsuckers are distributed nearly all over the world,

with the exception of the islands of Oceania, and a great difference

is observable in their size and form, and to some extent in their

habits. Thus the Guacharo, or Oil-bird (_Steatornis[282] caripensis_),

is met with only in the island of Trinidad, where it is also called

_Diablotin_, and where it inhabits the inmost recesses of caverns,

either by the sea or inland. The birds spend the entire day in these

dark recesses, and come out only at night to procure their food, which

consists of the fruits of different palms, the seeds of which are

rejected, and form, with the droppings of the birds, a thick flooring

of guano in some of the caves. Sometimes the bird forms a huge cradle

of this deposit, apparently for the greater security of its young

ones; and one of these singular nests, if such they may be called, is

exhibited in the British Museum. The nestlings become very fat, and

are sometimes eaten, but according to M. Léotand, in his work on the

Birds of Trinidad, there is a certain odour about them which makes them

unpalatable to the appetite of most people.

[Illustration: OIL-BIRD.]

In India and in the Malayan Archipelago is found a group of Nightjars

belonging to the genus _Batrachostomus_[283] popularly known as

“Frog-mouths;” their place is taken in Australia and New Guinea by the

giants of the family--the _Podargi_, examples of which are generally

to be seen in the London Zoological Gardens. Of the Tawny-shouldered

_Podargus_ (_P. strigoides_[284]) Mr. Gould gives the following

account:--“Like the rest of this genus, this species is strictly

nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day on the dead branch of a tree, in

an upright position across, and never parallel to, the branch, which

it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguished from it. I have

occasionally seen it beneath the thick foliage of the _Casuarinæ_, and

I have been informed that it sometimes shelters itself in the hollow

trunks of the _Eucalypti_, but I could never detect one in such a

situation; I mostly found them in pairs, perched near each other on

the branches of the gums, in situations not at all sheltered from the

beams of the midday sun. So lethargic are its slumbers, that it is

almost impossible to arouse it, and I have frequently shot one without

disturbing its mate, sitting close by; it may also be knocked off

with sticks or stones, and sometimes it is even taken with the hand.

When aroused, it flies lazily off, with heavy flapping wings, to a

neighbouring tree, and again resumes its slumbers until the approach

of evening, when it becomes as animated and active as it had been

previously dull and stupid. The stomach of one I dissected induced

me to believe that it does not usually capture its prey while on the

wing, or subsist on nocturnal insects alone, but that it is in the

habit of creeping among the branches in search of such as are in a

state of repose. The power it possesses of shifting the position of the

outer toe backwards, as circumstances may require, is a very singular

feature, and may also tend to assist them in their progress among the

branches. A bird I shot at Yarrundi, in the middle of the night, had

the stomach filled with fresh-captured Mantis and Locusts (_Phasmidæ_

and _Cicadæ_), which seldom move at night, and the latter of which are

generally resting against the upright boles of the trees. In other

specimens I found the remains of small Coleoptera, intermingled with

the fibres of the roots of what appeared to be a parasitic plant, such

as would be found in decayed and hollow trees. The whole contour of the

bird shows that it is not formed for extensive flight or for performing

those rapid evolutions that are necessary for the capture of its prey

in the air: the wing being short and concave in comparison with those

of the true aërial Nightjars, and particularly with the Australian

form, to which I have given the name of _Eurostopodus_.

[Illustration: COMMON GOATSUCKER.]

“Of its mode of nidification I can speak with confidence, having

seen many pairs breeding during my rambles in the woods. It makes

a slightly-constructed flat nest of sticks, carelessly interwoven

together, and placed at the fork of a horizontal branch of sufficient

size to ensure its safety; the trees most frequently chosen are the

_Eucalypti_, but I have occasionally seen the nest on an appletree

(_Angophora_) or a swamp-oak (_Casuarina_). In every instance one

of the birds was sitting on the eggs, and the other perched on a

neighbouring bough, both invariably asleep. That the male participates

in the duty of incubation I ascertained by having shot a bird on the

nest, which, on dissection, proved to be a male. The eggs are generally

two in number, of a beautiful immaculate white, and of a long oval

form, one inch and ten lines in length by one inch and three lines in

diameter.

[Illustration: WHIP-POOR-WILL.]

“Like the other species of the genus, it is subject to considerable

variation in its colouring, the young, which assume the adult livery at

an early age, being somewhat darker in all their markings. In some a

rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more grey. The night

call of this species is a hoarse noise, consisting of two distinct

sounds, which cannot correctly be described. The stomach is thick and

muscular, and is lined with a hair-like substance, like that of the

common Cuckoo.”

Mr. Waterton gives the following notes on Goatsuckers in his

“Wanderings” (p. 139):--“When the sun has sunk in the western woods,

no longer agitated by the breeze, when you can only see a straggler or

two of the feathered tribe hastening to join its mate, already at its

roosting-place, then it is that the Goatsucker comes out of the forest,

where it has sat all day long in slumbering ease, unmindful of the gay

and busy scenes around it. Its eyes are too delicately formed to bear

the light, and thus it is forced to shun the flaming face of day, and

wait in patience till night invites him to partake of the pleasures her

dusky presence brings. The harmless, unoffending Goatsucker, from the

time of Aristotle down to the present day, has been in disgrace with

man. Father has handed it down to son, and author to author, that this

nocturnal thief subsists by milking the flocks. Poor injured little

bird of night, how sadly hast thou suffered, and how foul a stain has

inattention to facts put upon thy character! Thou hast never robbed man

of any part of his property, nor deprived the kid of a drop of milk.

“When the moon shines bright you may have a fair opportunity of

examining the Goatsucker. You will see it close by the Cows, Goats,

and Sheep, jumping up every now and then under their bellies. Approach

a little nearer--he is not shy: ‘he fears no danger, for he knows no

sin.’ See how the nocturnal flies are tormenting the herd, and with

what dexterity he springs up and catches them as fast as they alight on

the bellies, legs, and udders of the animals. Observe how quiet they

stand, and how sensible they seem of his good offices, for they neither

strike at him nor hit him with their tails, nor tread on him, nor try

to drive him away as an uncivil intruder. Were you to dissect him and

inspect his stomach, you would find no milk there. It is full of the

flies which have been annoying the herd.

[Illustration: LYRE-TAILED NIGHTJAR.]

“The pretty mottled plumage of the Goatsucker, like that of the Owl,

wants the lustre which is observed in the feathers of the birds of day.

This at once marks him as a lover of the pale moon’s nightly beams.

There are nine species here (Demerara); the largest appears nearly the

size of the English Wood Owl. Its cry is so remarkable that, having

once heard it, you will never forget it. When night reigns over these

immeasurable wilds, whilst lying in your hammock, you will hear this

Goatsucker lamenting like one in deep distress. A stranger would never

conceive it to be the cry of a bird; he would say it was the departing

voice of a midnight murdered victim, or the last wailing of Niobe for

her poor children before she was turned into stone. Suppose yourself

in hopeless sorrow, begin with a high loud note, and pronounce ‘Ha,

ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!’ each note lower and lower, till the last

is scarcely heard, pausing a moment or two betwixt every note, and

you will have some idea of the moaning of the largest Goatsucker in

Demerara. Four other species of the Goatsucker articulate some words

so distinctly that they have received their names from the sentences

they utter, and absolutely bewilder the stranger on his arrival in

these parts. The most common one sits down close by your door, and

flies, and alights three or four yards before you as you walk along

the road, crying ‘Who are you, who-who-who-are-you.’ Another bids

you ‘Work away, work-work-work-away.’ A third cries mournfully,

‘Willy-come-go, willy-willy-willy-come-go.’ And high up in the country

a fourth tells you to ‘Whip-poor-will, whip-whip-whip-poor-will.’ You

will never persuade the negro to destroy these birds, or get the Indian

to let fly his arrows at them. They are birds of omen and reverential

dread. Jumbo, the demon of Africa, has them under his command, and

they equally obey the Yabahou, or Demeraran Indian Devil. They are

receptacles for departed souls who come back again to earth, unable to

rest for crimes done in their days of nature; or they are expressly

sent by Jumbo or Yabahou to haunt cruel or hard-hearted monsters, and

retaliate injuries received from them. If the largest Goatsucker chance

to cry near the white man’s door, sorrow and grief will soon be inside;

and they expect to see the master waste away with a slow consuming

sickness. If it be heard close to the negro’s or Indian’s hut, from

that night misfortune sits brooding over it, and they await the event

in terrible suspense.”

The common Goatsucker, which is also popularly known as the “Fern Owl,”

or “Nightjar,” visits England only in the spring, when it arrives from

Southern Africa, and distributes itself over the country. It is by

no means an uncommon bird, but is rarely seen, owing to its habit of

coming out only at night, or at least in the twilight. They may then

often be disturbed from the ground in a country road, when they take

to flight in a heavy manner, often making a flapping noise, which

appears to be caused by bringing the wings sharply together above the

body of the bird. The call-note may be described as “churring,” and

is disagreeable in sound; it is generally uttered by the Goatsucker

when sitting on a low branch of a tree or on a railing. It should be

mentioned that the Caprimulgidæ do not, as a rule, sit crosswise on a

branch, but always along the latter; their favourite haunt, however,

is generally the ground, and it is supposed by some naturalists that

the curious pectinated claw is used by the Goatsucker for scratching

the ground. Dr. Günther, F.R.S., who kept one of these birds alive,

says that it frequently used its comb-like claw for this purpose. Other

people have thought that its claw was intended for clearing away the

_débris_ of moths and other insects, which would clog the bristles on

the bill. The true use of this comb-like appendage on the foot has not

yet, however, been thoroughly determined.

[Illustration: FOOT OF THE COMMON GOATSUCKER.]

THE ELEVENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.

THE SWIFTS (_Cypselidæ_).

These birds, with the Humming-birds, are separated from the other

Fissirostral _Picariæ_ by many anatomical characters, the chief being

the arrangement of the feather-tracts on the body, which are quite

peculiar; the muscles are also unlike those of the other families, and

hence these two groups are often divided off by modern naturalists

under the name of _Macrochires_.[285]

THE COMMON SWIFT (_Cypselus apus_).[286]

In the beginning of May the Common Swift comes to Great Britain and

the rest of Europe, after passing his winter sojourn in South Africa.

He is one of the latest arrivals, as he comes only when summer has

fairly begun and fine weather is pretty well assured; again, in autumn,

he is almost the first of the summer migrants to take his departure,

and the absence of the Swifts from their accustomed haunts is a sure

sign of the approach of the fall of the year. So incumbent does this

early migration seem to be upon the species, that the Swifts have been

known to leave their young to perish of starvation rather than delay

their departure if cold weather suddenly approaches. All birds appear

to have at times a failure of instinct, and the Swift is no exception

to the rule, for sometimes they are caught in some cold weather on

their arrival, and it is not uncommon to find them benumbed with cold,

and fluttering helplessly or even lying dead on the ground. In this

latter position they are peculiarly helpless, their little legs being

unable to raise them so as to give them the proper momentum to rise

into the air again, while their long wings are much in the way, and

only assist in their entire discomfiture. The home of the Swift, then,

is in the air, and here his evolutions are most rapid, and performed

with extreme quickness and yet with consummate ease. For his breeding

home he often selects water-spouts on lofty buildings, such as the

English cathedrals, or else places his nest under the roofs of houses,

to the edge of which he is able to shuffle, and then to launch himself

suddenly down, after which his course is easy. In the evening there

is generally a little gathering of Swifts together, when they fly

screaming round and round the buildings in which their nests have been

placed, separating again for a few moments to rejoin in an excited

flock, which passes with incredible swiftness and much noise round the

edges of the towers or homesteads. When about to migrate, however, they

are silent, and the flocks which may be seen coursing along the sides

of the downs in the southern counties of England in August utter no

sound, as if impressed with the gravity of the long journey they are

about to undertake.

[Illustration: COMMON SWIFT.]

Macgillivray describes the nest of the Common Swift as follows:--“It is

very rudely constructed, flattened, about six inches in diameter and

half an inch thick; composed of particles of Aira cæspitosa, straws

of oats, wheat, and grasses, intermixed with fibrous roots, moss,

wool, cotton, hair, and feathers of the domestic fowl, partridge, and

rook. These materials are confusedly felted and agglutinated, the

glueing matter being of a gelatinous, not of a resinous, nature, and

in extremely thin shreds, which crackle, but do not readily burn,

when flame is applied to them. There is, however, a small quantity of

the membranous scales of the Scotch fir, together with some resinous

matter, in one of these nests.” The eggs are generally two in number,

of a long oval shape, and entirely white.

[Illustration: TREE SWIFT.]

[Illustration: EDIBLE-NEST SWIFTLETS.]

Swifts appear to be found all over the world, the most graceful being

perhaps the Tree Swifts (_Dendrochelidon_), which inhabit India and

the Malayan region. In this same part of the world are also found the

Edible-nest Swiftlets (_Collocalia_), which breed in caves, their

nests being eaten by the Chinese and other Asiatic people. Dr. Jerdon

says:--“The nest, when pure and of the first make, is composed entirely

of inspissated mucus from the large salivary glands of the bird.

It is very small, bluntly triangular in form, and slightly concave

within; of a semi-transparent, fibrous sort of texture, bluish-white

in colour, and with the fibres, as it were, crossed and interlaced.

When the nests of the first make are taken away, the second nests are

mixed with feathers, and occasionally other foreign substances. The

eggs are two in number, and pure white.” Mr. E. L. Layard gives the

following account of a visit to a cave inhabited by the Indian Swiftlet

in Ceylon:--“I have at last visited the cave in which _Collocalia

nidifica_[287] builds, and will now, with the aid of my journal, give

all the information I can, sending you birds skinned and in spirit,

and a young nestling taken from the nest with my own hand. The cave is

situated at a place called Havissay, about thirty-five miles from the

sea and twenty from the river, and about 500 feet up a fine wood-clad

hill, called Diagallagoolawa, or Hoonoomooloocota. Its dimensions are

as follows:--Length between fifty and sixty feet, about twenty-six

broad, and twenty high. It is a mass of limestone rock, which has

cracked off the hill-side, and slipped down on to some boulders below

its original position, forming a hollow triangle. There are three

entrances to the cave; one at each end, and one very small one in the

centre. The floor consists of large boulders, covered to the depth of

two or three inches with the droppings of the birds, old and young,

and the bits of grass they bring in to fabricate their nests. The only

light which penetrates the cavern from the entrances above mentioned is

very dim. When my eyes, however, got accustomed to the light, I could

see many hundreds of nests glued to the side of the fallen rock, but

none to the other side, or hill itself. This I attribute to the fact

of the face of the main rock being evidently subject to the influence

of the weather, and perhaps to the heavy dews off the trees; but for

this, the side in question would have been far more convenient for

the birds to have built on, as it sloped gently outward, whereas the

other was much overhung, and caused the birds to build their nests of

an awkward shape, besides taking up more substance. I was at the spot

a few days before Christmas, and fancy that must be about the time

to see the nests in perfection. This is corroborated by the fact of

my finding young birds in all the nests taken by me, and by what the

old Chinaman said, that the ‘take’ came on in October. I find that

they have three different qualities of nests, and send two for your

inspection. The best is very clean, white as snow, and thin, and is

also very expensive. The most inferior are composed of dry grasses,

hair, &c., but I could not detect anything like the bloody secretion,

as described (‘though only under peculiar circumstances of exhaustion’)

by Mr. Barbe, even in a fresh nest. I was in the cave late (after 5

P.M.) in the evening of a day which threatened rain, but the

old birds were still flying round the summit of the mountain at a vast

altitude, occasionally dashing down into the cave with food for their

nestlings. By daylight next morning I was on foot, but the birds were

before me, hawking on the plain below and all about the hills. I have

found the birds here, in Colombo, in Kandy, and all along the road we

went. I could learn nothing of the number of eggs laid, nor of their

colour. I found one bird in each nest. The Chinese who live on the

spot pretend not to understand anything asked them, and the apathetic

Cingalese have never taken the trouble to see for themselves, so they

could give me no information. The aspect of the country, broken and

rugged, coupled with the numerous flocks of birds I saw flying round

the various hills, leads me to think there must be many breeding-places

yet undiscovered. One, however, was pointed out, but we had not time to

visit it. I could not hear of any other kind of _Swift_ breeding there,

but have just received such information as leads me to suppose that _C.

fuciphaga_ builds near Jaffna on some rocks overhanging the sea. I may

further add that there were no Bats in the cave with _C. nidifica_, nor

did I see any bird of prey, save a fine _Hæmatornis_, which I shot. The

Cingalese name for _C. nidifica_ is _Wahlæna_.”

[Illustration: WHITE-THROATED SPINE-TAILED SWIFT.]

THE TWELFTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.--THE HUMMING

BIRDS (_Trochilidæ_).

These exquisite little creatures are perhaps the largest family of

birds known, numbering, at the present day, nearly five hundred

species. It is simply impossible in a work like the present to do

more than allude to a family, the full description of which by Mr.

Gould has occupied five large folio volumes. An immense variety of form

and colour is presented to us. All the birds are of small size, some

of them being no larger than Hawk-moths, to which in their manner of

flight they bear considerable resemblance.

[Illustration: SWORD-BILL HUMMING BIRD.]

In some countries Humming-birds are tolerably common, but some

species are of extreme rarity, such, for instance, as the _Loddigesia

mirabilis_, which was discovered forty years ago, and still remains

represented by a single specimen in the collection of the late Mr.

George Loddiges, and of which a reward of fifty pounds, offered by Mr.

Gould, has not succeeded in obtaining a second example. As a rule,

Humming-birds are a Neotropical family, that is to say, the vast

majority of the species occur in South America, and do not wander

above the line of Northern Mexico; but a few species are found in

the Southern United States, while one occurs in summer even in North

America, ranging as far as, and even breeding in, Canada. Professor

Newton writes:--“Wilson, Audubon, Mr. Gosse, and several others gifted

with the ‘pen of a ready writer,’ have so fully described, as far

as words will admit, the habits of different members of the family

_Trochilidæ_, that it is unnecessary to say much on this score.

Their appearance is so entirely unlike that of any other birds that

it is hopeless to attempt in any way to bring a just conception

of it to the ideas of those who have not crossed the Atlantic; and

even the comparison so often made between them and the _Sphingidæ_,

though doubtless in the main true, is much to the advantage of the

latter. One is admiring the clustering stars of a scarlet _Cordia_,

the snowy cornucopias of a _Portlandia_, or some other brilliant and

beautiful flower, when between the blossoms and one’s eye suddenly

appears a small dark object, suspended as it were between four short

black threads meeting each other in a cross. For an instant it shows

in front of the flower; an instant more it steadies itself, and one

perceives the space between each pair of threads occupied by a grey

film; again another instant, and, emitting a momentary flash of emerald

and sapphire light, it is vanishing, lessening in the distance as it

shoots away, to a speck that the eye cannot take note of--and all this

so rapidly that the word on one’s lips is still unspoken, scarcely the

thought in one’s mind changed. It was a bold man or an ignorant one

who first ventured to depict Humming birds flying; but it cannot be

denied that representations of them are often of special use to the

ornithologist. The peculiar action of one, and probably of many or all

other species of the family, is such, that at times in flying it makes

the wings almost meet, both in front and behind, at each vibration.

Thus, when a bird chances to enter a room it will generally go buzzing

along the cornice. Standing beneath where it is, one will find that

the axis of the body is vertical, and each wing is describing a nearly

perfect semicircle. As might be expected, the pectoral muscles are

very large; indeed, the sternum of this bird is a good deal bigger

than that of the common Chimney Swallow (_Hirundo rustica_). But the

extraordinary rapidity with which the vibrations are effected seems to

be chiefly caused by these powerful muscles acting on the very short

wingbones, which are not half the length of the same parts in the

Swallow; and accordingly, great as this alar action is, and in spite

of the contrary opinion entertained by Mr. Gosse, it is yet sometimes

wanting in power, owing, doubtless, to the disadvantageous leverage

thus obtained; and the old authors must be credited who speak of

cobwebs catching Humming birds. On the 3rd of May, 1857, a bird of this

species flew into the room where I was sitting, and after fluttering

for some minutes against the ceiling, came in contact with a deserted

spider’s web, in which it got entangled, and remained suspended and

perfectly helpless for more than a minute, when by a violent effort it

freed itself. I soon after caught it, still having fragments of the web

on its head, neck, and wings; and I feel pretty sure, that had this

web been inhabited and in good repair, instead of being deserted and

dilapidated, the bird would never have escaped.”

[Illustration: WHITE-BOOTED RACKET TAIL.]

[Illustration: COMMON TOPAZ HUMMING BIRD.]

Mr. A. R. Wallace has written the following account of the habits of

Humming birds on the River Amazon:--“The greater number of species

that frequent flowers do so, I am convinced, for the small insects

found there, and not for the nectar. In dozens, and perhaps hundreds,

of common flower-frequenting species which I have examined, the crop,

stomach, and intestines have been filled with minute beetles, ants, and

spiders, which abound in most flowers in South America. Very rarely

indeed have I found a trace of honey or of any liquid in the crop or

stomach. The flowers they most frequent are the various species of

_Inga_ and the papilionaceous flowers of many large forest trees. I

have never seen them at the bignonias, or any flowers but those which

grow in large masses, covering a whole tree or shrub, as they visit

perhaps a hundred flowers in a minute and never stop at a single one.

The little Emerald Hummer I have seen in gardens and at the common

orange (_Asclepias_), which often covers large spaces of waste ground

in the tropics. But there are many, such as _Phaëthornis eremita_ and

some larger allied species, which I have never seen at flowers. These

inhabit the gloomy forest-shades, where they dart about among the

foliage; and I have distinctly observed them visit in rapid succession

every leaf on a branch, balancing themselves vertically in the air,

passing their beak closely over the under surface of each leaf, and

thus capturing, no doubt, any small insects that may be upon them.

While doing this, the two long feathers of the tail have a vibrating

motion, apparently serving as a rudder to assist them in performing

the delicate operation. I have seen others searching up and down stems

and dead sticks in the same manner, every now and then picking off

something, exactly as a Bush Shrike or Tree Creeper does, with this

exception, that the Humming-bird is continually on the wing. They also

capture insects in the true Fissirostral fashion. How often may they

be seen perched on the dead twig of a lofty tree--the station that is

chosen by the tyrant Flycatchers and the Jacamars--from which, like

those birds, they dart off a short distance, and after a few whirls and

balancings return to the identical twig they had left. In the evening,

too, just after sunset, when the Goatsuckers are beginning their search

after insects over the rivers, I have seen Humming birds come out of

the forest and remain a long time on the wing--now stationary, now

darting about with the greatest rapidity, imitating in a limited space

the evolutions of their companions the Goatsuckers, and evidently for

the same end and purpose.”

Wilson, the poet-naturalist, observes of the North American species as

follows:--“Nature in every department of her works seems to delight

in variety, and the present subject is almost as singular for its

minuteness, beauty, want of song, and manner of feeding, as the Mocking

Bird is for unrivalled excellence of note and plainness of plumage.

This is one of the few birds that are universally beloved, and amidst

the sweet dewy serenity of a summer’s morning his appearance amongst

the arbours of honeysuckles and beds of flowers is truly interesting.

“‘When morning dawns, and the blest sun again

Lifts his red glories from the Eastern main,

Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,

The flower-fed Humming bird his round pursues;

Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms,

And chirps his gratitude as round he roams;

While richest roses, though in crimson drest,

Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast,

What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly!

Each rapid movement gives a different dye:

Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show,

Now sink to shade, now to a furnace glow.’”

[Illustration: CRESTED HUMMING BIRD.]

PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON,

E.C.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The genus _Ovis_.

[2] _Ovis Poli._

[3] The genus _Capra_.

[4] “Falling from a height, it protects its whole body, between its

horns, from shock, and receives upon its horns the concussion of the

huge stones.”

[5] The genus _Gazella_.

[6] _Saïga tartarica._

[7] _Panthalops Hodgsoni._

[8] _Æpyceros melampus._

[9] _Antilope bezoartica._

[10] The genus _Cephalophus_.

[11] The genus _Tetraceros_.

[12] The genus _Eleotragus_ and its allies.

[13] _Oreas canna._

[14] _Strepsiceros kudu._

[15] _Euryceros Angasii._

[16] The genus _Tragelaphus._

[17] The _Damalidæ_.

[18] The genus _Catoblepas_.

[19] _Rupicapra tragus._

[20] The genus _Oryx_.

[21] _Portax picta._

[22] _Ovibos moschatus._

[23] _Bos taurus._

[24] The genus _Bison_.

[25] The genus _Bubalus_.

[26] _Antilocapra americana._

[27] _Moschus moschiferus._

[28] _Camelopardalis giraffa._

[29] _Alces machlis._

[30] The restricted genus _Cervus_.

[31] _Cervus elaphus._

[32] The genera _Pseudaxis_ and _Dama_.

[33] _Dama mesopotamica._

[34] The genus _Rusa_ and its allies.

[35] _Rusa Alfredi._

[36] _Rucervus Duvaucelli._

[37] _Rucervus Eldi._

[38] The genus _Cervulus_.

[39] _Capreolus caprea._

[40] _Hydropotes inermis._

[41] _Elaphurus Davidianus._

[42] _Transactions of the Zoological Society_, Vol. VII. p. 333.

[43] _Rangifer tarandus._

[44] _Tragulidæ._

[45] _Camelus dromedarius._

[46] _Camelus bactrianus._

[47] _Auchenia._

[48] In the young there are four of these small additional teeth, but

the outer pair disappear after a short time.

[49] The upper teeth always constitute a larger segment of a smaller

circle than the lower ones.

[50] The genus _Heliophobius_ among the Mole Rats is described as

having six molars on each side in both jaws; but the number in this

genus appears to be variable, the sixth molar being often undeveloped.

[51] See Note on p. 83.

[52] Having the hind feet hand-like.

[53] See _Arvicola rutilus_, p. 117.

[54] Dr. Coues has proposed this generic name for the American Jumping

Mouse, as the names _Jaculus_ and _Meriones_, given to the genus by

various authors, had been previously used for other groups.

[55] Described almost at the same time by M. Bravard under the name of

_Typotherium_. We here employ M. Serres’ name.

[56] Waterton’s “Wanderings,” pp. 161, 284.

[57] _Arctopithecus castaniceps._

[58] _Bradypus torquatus_, or _Bradypus crinitus_.

[59] _Arctopithecus flaccidus._--_Arctopithecus Ai._

[60] _Cholœpus didactylus._

[61] _Cholœpus Hoffmanni._

[62] _Orycteropus capensis_ (Geoffroy).

[63] The uterus is double, and the placenta is disc-shaped, and is cast

off (deciduate). There are chest and inguinal. teats. The vertebræ

are--seven cervical, thirteen dorsal, eight lumbar, six sacral,

twenty-five caudal.

[64] The muscle called pronator quadratus is a fleshy band, four-sided

in shape more or less. One side is attached to one of the bones of

the fore-arm, the ulna in front above the wrist; and the other and

opposite side adheres to the radius. The ulna being motionless, the

muscle contracts and pulls the radius over, so as to turn the back of

the wrist forwards, or upwards. The prone position is thus produced,

and hence the name of the muscle. The other muscle which produces this

movement is fixed to the fore-arm in front, near the inner elbow, and

it is long, having a tendon which is implanted on the radius. As this

muscle contracts, it pulls the radius over the ulna, and makes the

wrist take up a prone position. It is called the pronator teres.

[65] Genus _Manis_.

[66] _Manis tetradactyla_ (Linn.).

[67] _Manis gigantea_ (Illiger).

[68] _Manis brachyura._--_Manis pentadactyla_ (Linn.).

[69] _Myrmecophaga jubata._

[70] It is certainly remarkable that the brain of this animal should

present numerous convolutions, whilst the brain of the Sloth has

barely any. The commissures of the brain are large, especially that of

the centre, or corpus callosum, and also the anterior. The uterus is

simple, the os is double, and the placenta is said to be discoidal.

[71] _Tamandua tetradactyla._

[72] _Cyclothurus didactylus._

[73] _Dasypus gigas_ (Cuvier).

[74] _Dasypus Tatouay_ (Desmarest).

[75] _Dasypus sexcintus_ (Linn.).

[76] _Dasypus villosus_ (Desmarest).

[77] _Dasypus minutus_ (Desmarest).

[78] _Dasypus Peba_ (Desmarest).

[79] _Dasypus (Tolypeutes) apar_ (Geoffroy).

[80] _Chlamydophorus truncatus_ (Harlan).

[81] The _Macropodidæ_.

[82] _Macropus giganteus_ (Shaw).

[83] The presence of the pouch, or marsupium, containing the teats,

involves many structural and physiological peculiarities which separate

the Marsupialia, in a classificatory sense, from the rest of the

Mammalia. The Great Kangaroo, which may be considered a fair example

of the Marsupials, has in the female a set of skin muscles, around the

pouch, beneath the skin, which close it. The milk, or mammary gland,

has four long, slender teats in the pouch, and beneath the skin of

it is a muscle called the cremaster, which is largely developed. It

spreads over the surface of the gland, and its action is to squeeze it

and to force out the milk through the teat. There is thus protection

for the young, and milk is given forth, without the effort of the young

in sucking. The reason for this is obvious. The Great Kangaroo, which

is often as tall as a man, is pregnant for about thirty-nine days

only, and then a little one, not bigger than a thumb, is born; it is

not completely formed, and is blind and cannot move itself. The mother

places it in her pouch, and it fixes on to a teat, where it hangs for

about eight months, and then it begins to look out of the pouch. The

duration of the life of the young in the womb is thus very small, and

it has no placenta there, which in the other and non-marsupial Mammalia

forms the life-union between the mother and the offspring before its

birth. Thus, the Marsupials form one great group of Mammalia which

are “implacentalia,” without placentas or “after-births,” and all the

other Mammalia are “placentalia,” and have this link between mother

and young. In all the Mammalia hitherto described the young come into

the world by a single passage. In those now under consideration (the

Marsupialia) there is a double passage, and the womb is separated

into two portions, being double; so they are termed Didelphia. The

marsupium has two remarkable bones more or less in relation to it,

and all animals thus furnished are termed Marsupialia, and they form

two sections or sub-orders--(1) The Marsupiata proper, with marsupial

bones, mostly with pouches, and with inflected lower jaws. (2) The

Monotremata, which have marsupial bones, depressions in the skin, when

suckling, like ill-developed pouches, and beak-like jaws in front,

which are not inflected.

[84] See Footnote 83 on previous page.

[85] Waterhouse’s “Natural History of the Mammalia,” order Marsupiata,

from which much of this description of the order has been taken.

[86] R. Owen, “Marsupialia;” “Todd’s Cyclopædia of Anatomy and

Physiology.”

[87] See also Vol. I., page 58, Note.

[88] Mr. Gould’s works on Australian animals, occasionally quoted by me.

[89] _Macropus leporoides_ (Gould).

[90] _Macropus rufus_ (Desm.).

[91] _Macropus agilis_ (Gould, sp.).

[92] _Dendrolagus ursinus_ (Müll.).

[93] Sub-genus _Hypsiprymnus_.

[94] _Hypsiprymnus rufescens._

[95] _Hypsiprymnus penicillatus._

[96] _Hypsiprymnus murinus._

[97] Description by E. P. Ramsay, F.L.S., and communication from Sir R.

Owen to Linnean Society, London.

[98] _Phascolomys wombat_ (Peron and Lesson). φάσκωλος, a pouch, and

μῦς, a mouse.

[99] _Phascolarctus_ (pouched-bear) _cinereus_.

[100] _Phalangista ursina._

[101] _Phalangista (Cuscus) maculatus._

[102] _Phalangista vulpina._

[103] _Phalangista fuliginosa._

[104] _Phalangista Nana._

[105] _Petaurus sciureus_ (Shaw).

[106] _Petaurus ariel._

[107] _Petaurus breviceps._

[108] _Petaurus pygmæus._

[109] _Tarsipes rostratus._

[110] _Perameles lagotis._

[111] _Perameles Gunnii._

[112] _Perameles fasciata._

[113] _Perameles doreyanus._

[114] _Perameles moresbyensis_ (Rams.).

[115] _Chœropus castanotis_--χοῖρος, a hog; and πούς, a foot.

[116] _Myrmecobius fasciatus_--μύρμηξ, ant; βίος, life.

[117] _Dasyurus ursinus._

[118] _Dasyurus macrurus_, or _maculatus_.

[119] _Dasyurus Maugei_ (Geoffroy).

[120] θύλακος, a pouch.

[121] _Thylacinus cynocephalus._

[122] _Phascogale penicillata._

[123] _Didelphys virginianum._

[124] _Didelphys D’Azaræ._

[125] _Didelphys cancrivora._

[126] _Didelphys crassicaudatus._

[127] _Chironectes variegatus._

[128] The sub-genera Halmaturus and Heteropus, Osphranter,

Lagorchestes, and Petrogale, are included in Macropus, and many other

sub-genera relating to the other families merely complicate the

classification. Bettongia, Potoroiis, are sub-genera or artificial

groups of the genus Hypsiprymnus; Cuscus, Trichosurus, Pseudochirus,

and Dromicia, are groups of Phalangistidæ; Petaurista, Belideus, and

Acrobata are divisions of the genus Petaurus; Macrotis is a sub-genus

of Perameles; Antechinus is a division of the genus Phascogale;

Sarcophilus is a sub-genus of Dasyurus. These are unnecessary

sub-divisions.

[129] μόνος, one; τρῆμα, opening.

[130] _Echidna hystrix_ (Cuvier). Much confusion has been produced by

Illiger, who changed the generic title to Tachyglossus, ταχύς, quick,

and γλῶσσα, tongue; but the name given by Cuvier must stand, except in

the minds of those zoologists who delight in novelties, and believe

that the use of long words carries wisdom. Lately more confusion has

been produced by the introduction of the generic term _Acanthoglossus_,

which we do not admit or use.

[131] _Ornithorhynchus anatinus._

[132] Dr. Brehm: “Bird-life,” pp. 503, 504.

[133] Huxley, “Anatomy of Vertebrates,” p. 274.

[134] παλαιός, old; ἄρκτος, north: _i.e._, the northern division of the

_Old_ World.

[135] νέος, new; ἄρκτος, north: _i.e._, the northern division of the

_New_ World.

[136] νέος, new; τροπικός, tropical: _i.e._, the tropical division of

the _New_ World.

[137] Dr. Sclater, F.R.S., originated, in 1858, this scheme of the six

zoogeographical divisions of the globe.

[138] In the preparation of this chapter, the author begs to

acknowledge the assistance he has received from his friend Professor F.

Jeffrey Bell, B.A.

[139] These lines are thus translated by Mr. Hayward:--“I hurry on

to drink his everlasting light--the day before me and the night

behind--the heavens above, and under me the waves. A glorious dream!

as it is passing, he is gone. Alas! no bodily wing will so easily keep

pace with the wings of the mind! Yet it is the inborn tendency of our

being for feeling to strive upwards and onwards; when, over us, lost in

the blue expanse the lark sings its thrilling lay; when, over rugged

pine-covered heights, the out-spread eagle soars; and, over marsh and

sea, the crane struggles onward to her home.”

[140] These plates may become united with one another in the middle

line, and the birds that possess this arrangement have been called

_Desmognathæ_ (δεσμός, “a bond;” γνάθος, “jaw”); or they may be

separated by a more or less narrow cleft, in which case the birds in

which this is found are called _Schizognathæ_ (σχίζω, “I cleave”). As a

matter of fact, the term Schizognathous is confined to those birds in

which the above-mentioned vomer is pointed in front, while where it is

truncated the birds are called _Ægithognathæ_ (αἴγιθος, “a sparrow,” as

the character is seen in these birds). In these groups, however, the

Ostriches, or running birds, which are distinguished by having no keel

to their sternum, are not included; nor in them is the vomer narrow

behind. This broad character of the hinder end of the vomer is seen

also in one group of birds with a keeled sternum--the Tinamous--which

are consequently distinguished from other “Carinate” birds by the term

_Dromæognathæ_ (_Dromæus_, the Emu).

[141] The presence or absence of it, or of the other muscles, is used

as a means for arranging the smaller divisions of the larger groups

into which the two first-named sub-classes are, by the aid of other

anatomical facts, divided. One striking advantage of this system, as

suggested by the late Prof. A. H. Garrod, is that the characters of

the _ambiens_ have been observed to go hand in hand with certain other

characters. Thus, the cæca found at the end of the small intestine

are always present in the Homalogonatæ, or birds having the normal

arrangement of knee-muscles; but in this connection there is another

structure to be mentioned, namely, the so-called oil-gland, or gland

by the secretion of which the bird “preens” its feathers, and which is

always set in the skin in the region of the tail. Now this “uropygial,”

or oil-gland, may or may not be provided with a tuft of feathers, and

as there may or may not be cæca to the intestine, it follows that--(1)

the gland may be tufted and there may be cæca, or (2) the gland may

have no feathers and cæca may be present, or (3) there may be no

cæca and a tufted gland, or (4) there may be no cæca and no tufts

(the possible arrangement of neither being present is found in a few

Pigeons). But this is not the place to follow out the details of this

classification.

With regard to the proposition made by a French observer, M. Alix,

that birds should be divided into the Homœomyarii, Entomyarii, and

Ectomyarii, according to the character of certain of the flexor muscles

at the back of the leg, it seems only necessary to remark that so far

anatomical investigations have not supported his views, while his

system would separate birds which seem to be closely allied.

[142] Compare Vol. I., p. 213

[143] _Accipitres diurni_ of authors.

[144] _Accipitres nocturni_ of authors.

[145] _Machærhamphus Anderssoni._

[146] _Accipitrinæ._

[147] _Falco_, a Falcon.

[148] Πανδίων, a Greek mythological name.

[149] στρίγξ, an Owl.

[150] “Song of Hiawatha,” Book XIX.

[151] “Essays on Natural History,” 1866, p. 17.

[152] “Notes on the Birds of Damara Land and the adjacent countries of

South-west Africa,” 1872, p. 3.

[153] 1864, p. 307.

[154] 1859, p. 277.

[155] _Vultur monachus._

[156] _Gyps fulvus._

[157] J. H. Gurney: “Descriptive Catalogue of the Raptorial Birds in

the Norfolk and Norwich Museum.”

[158] οὖς, ὠτός, an ear; γύψ, a vulture.

[159] _Auricularis_, having ears.

[160] A mythological name.

[161] περκνός, dark-coloured; πτερόν, a wing; so called from the colour

of its wings.

[162] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 31.

[163] σάρξ, flesh; ῤάμφος, a bill; so called on account of the fleshy

wattles on the base of the bill.

[164] _Gryphus_, a mythological name, a Griffon.

[165] καθαρτής, a scavenger.

[166] _Papa_, a pope.

[167] D’Orbigny, “Voyage dans l’Amérique Meridionale,” p. 30.

[168] ῤίν (ῤίς), ῤινός, a nose; _gryphus_, as before, a Griffon, or

Vulture; so called on account of its peculiar perforated nose.

[169] _Helotarsus ecaudatus._

[170] _Serpentarius_, a devourer of Serpents.

[171] _Secretarius_, a secretary.

[172] _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_, 1856, p. 348.

[173] Gymnogene: from two Greek words (γυμνός, bare, naked; γένυς, a

cheek).

[174] _Polyboroides_: like a _Polyborus_ or Caracara.

[175] Col. Irby, “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 34.

[176] μικρός, small; _astur_, a Goshawk. See “Lawrence’s Birds of

Western and North-Western Mexico.” “Memoirs of the Boston Soc. of Nat.

Hist.,” Vol. ii., p. 299.

[177] μέλι honey; ἱέραξ, a Hawk.

[178] _Rete_, Lat., a net, so called on account of the network pattern.

[179] _Buteo_, Lat., a Buzzard.

[180] “Birds of the West of Scotland,” p. 46.

[181] θράσος, daring; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[182] ἄρπη, a bird of prey.

[183] “Sketches of Nature in the Alps.”

[184] οὐρά, a tail; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[185] _Audax_, bold.

[186] Newton Ed., Yarrell’s “British Birds,” i., p. 19.

[187] “Rough Notes on Indian Ornithology,” p. 145.

[188] χρυσός, gold; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[189] νέος, new; πούς, a foot: meaning that there was something novel

and extraordinary about its foot.

[190] “Birds of Ceylon,” p. 49.

[191] κίρκος, a Harrier; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[192] Ibis, 1865, p. 253.

[193] ἕλω (αἱρέω), to lift; ταρσός, a tarsus.

[194] Ecaudatus, Latin, meaning “without tail,” on account of its

shortness.

[195] ἁλιάετος, a Sea Eagle.

[196] “Ootheca Woolleyana,” p. 47.

[197] ἰκτῖνος, a Kite.

[198] “Bird-life,” p. 543.

[199] μάχαιρα, a sharp knife; ῥάμφος, a bill.

[200] Andersson’s “Birds of Damara Land.” Edited by J. H. Gurney, 1872,

p. 22.

[201] Lit., like a Cuckoo.

[202] μικρός, small, tiny; ἱέραξ, a Hawk.

[203] A wanderer.

[204] μέλας, black; γένυς, a cheek.

[205] _Nigriceps_, black-headed.

[206] “Ootheca Woolleyana,” p. 93.

[207] ἱερός, sacred; _falco_, a Falcon; _candicans_, white.

[208] κερχνηίς, or κέρχνη, Gr., a Kestrel; _tinnunculus_, Lat., a Hawk.

[209] pp. 82, 95.

[210] Ornithology of Shakspere.

[211] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” &c., p. 56.

[212] “Essays on Natural History,” p. 8.

[213] _Ketupa_, a “barbarous” name, with no meaning.

[214] σκότος, darkness; πέλεια, a Dove, with a covert allusion to the

name of the discoverer (Sclater).

[215] Ibis, 1859, p. 447.

[216] _Bubo_, a Horned Owl (Vergil); _ignavus_, dastardly--an

inappropriate title for so fine a bird.

[217] νύκτιος, nightly, _i.e._, a bird of night--a most inappropriate

title for the Snowy Owl, which is a day-flier.

[218] _Scandiaca_, Scandinavian.

[219] A proper name.

[220] A “barbarous” name, of no meaning.

[221] From γλαυκός, blue or grey.

[222] Passerine, or Sparrow-like: _i.e._, of the size of a Sparrow.

[223] A proper name.

[224] Σύρνιον, a proper name.

[225] νυκταλός, nocturnal.

[226] Like a Hawk.

[227] ὦτος, long-eared Owl.

[228] στρίγξ, an Owl.

[229] Fiery; flame-coloured.

[230] Newton’s edition of Yarrell’s “British Birds,” Vol. I., p. 147.

[231] From _Picus_, a Woodpecker.

[232] _Fissus_, cleft; _rostrum_, a beak.

[233] ζυγόν, a yoke; δάκτυλος, a toe.

[234] ὀρθός, straight; γνάθος, a jaw.

[235] κάμπτω, to bend; λόφος, a crest.

[236] μικρός, small; γλῶσσα, a tongue.

[237] Very black.

[238] ἀνήρ, a man; γλῶσσα, a tongue.

[239] χρυσός, gold; οὖς, an ear.

[240] “Birds of Jamaica,” p. 266.

[241] G. D. Rowley, “Ornithological Miscellany,” Vol. I, p. 175.

[242] “Natural History of Cage-birds,” Part I.

[243] Jerdon, “Birds of India,” I., p. 258.

[244] στρίγξ, an Owl; ὤψ, a face, _i.e._, having the appearance of an

Owl.

[245] ἁβρός, soft; πτίλον, feather.

[246] ὀρθός, straight; γνάθος, jaw.

[247] _Trichoglossi._

[248] Professor Garrod in _Proceedings of the Zoological Society for

1872_, p. 787.

[249] “Stray Feathers,” 1877, p. 385.

[250] “Bird-life,” p. 595.

[251] Sharpe’s edition of Layard’s “Birds of South Africa,” p. 141.

[252] γῆ, earth, and κινέω, I shake; _viridis_, green.

[253] The classical Greek name, from its double note sounding like the

exclamation ἰΰ, hence the verb ἰΰζω, I cry out.

[254] Compare Fig. 1, _ch._; this bone usually exists in a paired

condition, but in Woodpeckers and some other birds it appears single

by the confluence of its members. In many birds the “basi-hyal” is

succeeded by the “uro-hyal” (Fig. 1, _b. br._), a bone altogether

absent whenever the tongue is capable of extraordinary protrusion.

[255] σφῦρα, a hammer; _picus_, a woodpecker.

[256] Yarrell, “British Birds,” vol. ii., p. 137.

[257] μέλας, black; ἕρπω, I creep; _formicivorus_, ant-eating.

[258] Linnæus. A proper name.

[259] From ῥάμφος, a bill.

[260] “Monograph of the _Rhamphastidæ_, or Family of Toucans,” by John

Gould, F.R.S. Introduction.

[261] From _Capito_, the principal genus: a proper name.

[262] “A Monograph of the Capitonidæ, or Scansorial Barbets,” by C. H.

T. Marshall and G. F. L. Marshall (1871).

[263] _Galbula_, a proper name.

[264] Sclater, “Synopsis of the Fissirostral Family Bucconidæ,” 8vo,

1854.

[265] _Alcedo_, a Kingfisher.

[266] Sharpe’s “Monograph of the Alcedinidæ, or Kingfishers.”

[267]

“Perque dies placidos hiberno tempore septem

Incubat alcyone pendentibus æquore nidis.”--Ovid, _Met._ xi. 745.

[268] κηρύλος, a sea-bird of the halcyon kind.

[269] “Ornithologie Nord Ost Afrikas,” p. 185.

[270] πελαργός, a stork; ὤψ, a face.

[271] Diminutive of _Ispida_, a Kingfisher.

[272] τανύω, to stretch; πτερόν, a wing.

[273] βούκερως, having the horn (κέρας) of a cow (βοῦς).

[274] Elliot: “Monograph of the Bucerotidæ, or family of the

Hornbills,” Part IV.

[275] “Missionary Travels in South Africa.”

[276] “Malay Archipelago,” Vol. I., p. 212.

[277] See Sharpe’s Edition of Layard’s “Birds of South Africa,” p. 122.

[278] Sharpe and Dresser, “Birds of Europe,” Part VII., 1871.

[279] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 66.

[280] φᾶρος, a mantle; μακρός, large.

[281] Ibis, 1861, p. 138.

[282] στέαρ, στέατος, fat; ὄρνις, a bird.

[283] βάτραχος, a frog; στόμα, a mouth.

[284] Owl-like.

[285] μακρός, long; χείρ, a hand, in the sense of a wing of a bird.

[286] Cypselus, a swift; α, not; πούς, a foot.

[287] Nest-building.