Of the last group of Auks, with feathered nostrils, _Uria troile_, the

well-known Common Guillemot, Willock, or Murre, breeds numerously in

Britain, where the cliffs are suitable; it extends from Bear Island near

Spitsbergen to the Magdalen Islands in America and the Tagus in Europe,

occurring on migration southwards to the New England States and the

Canaries. The plumage is dusky above and white below, with a brownish head

and white alar bar. The throat, cheeks, and a few feathers on the head are

white in winter; the long pointed bill and feet are blackish. The Ringed

Guillemot is a mere variety with a white ring round the eye and a streak

behind it; but _U. californica_, with stouter bill, from the Pacific coast

of North America, may be considered a sub-species. _U. brünnichi_,

distinguishable by its blacker crown, and deeper beak with a white edge to

the maxilla, {320}ranges from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Iceland to the

Arctic Seas of both worlds in summer, moving further south in winter; the

North Pacific race being denominated _U. arra_. Descriptions of the

colonies of Guillemots in the icy seas, and of the smaller but equally

crowded stations in Britain, have been too frequently given to need

repetition here; but it may be mentioned that during incubation, which

lasts about a month, the parent holds the egg between its thighs, and not

unfrequently carries it off a ledge, when suddenly scared. On flat-topped

stacks these eggs (p. 316) often lie in the closest juxtaposition.

[Illustration: FIG. 64.–Great Auk. _Alca impennis._ × ⅙. (After Hancock.)]

In _Alca_ the black bill is deep and highly compressed, with a curved

culmen; and shews oblique or transverse grooves, which are wanting in the

young. _A. torda_, the Razorbill, less common in Britain than the

Guillemot, ranges from Jan Mayen and Greenland to Maine and Brittany,

visiting North Carolina and the Canaries in some winters. It is

greenish-black with brown throat-region and white lower parts, a white line

stretching from the top of the {321}beak to the eye, and another crossing

both mandibles in the adult only. The tips of the secondaries are white,

forming an alar bar, the feet are black. The throat and cheeks are white in

the winter and immature plumage. _A. impennis_, the extinct Great Auk or

Garefowl, inhabited the North Atlantic, chiefly in the neighbourhood of

Iceland and Newfoundland, but apparently never reached north of the Arctic

Circle. Remains have been found in the kitchen-middens of Denmark, North

and West Scotland, and North and South Ireland; in a cave on the coast of

Durham; and abundantly on Funk Island in the Newfoundland Seas, where the

bird was called "Penguin"; that name being subsequently transferred to the

Spheniscidae. The last two living examples were obtained at the isle of

Eldey, off Iceland, in 1844, while 1812, 1821, and 1834 are the last dates

of capture in Orkney, St. Kilda, and Ireland respectively, allowing for a

possible instance in St. Kilda (Borrera) in 1840. This species, extirpated

chiefly by the persecution of fishermen, but subsequently by collectors,

resembled a flightless Razorbill, though double the size; it had no white

stripes on the head or bill, but shewed a large white patch before each

eye. The huge egg was white or buff, with scattered round spots or

plentiful fine scrawls of black or brown; about seventy of these eggs, and

a somewhat greater number of birds, existing at present in

collections.[204]

_Mergulus alle_, the Little Auk or Rotche, occurring on migration in

Britain, and occasionally in the Canaries, Azores, and New Jersey, breeds

from Greenland and the Kara Sea to North Iceland. It is black above and

white below, with a spot over the eye, streaks on the scapulars, and an

alar bar also of white; the throat is black in summer only. The short,

broad, arched bill is black, the feet are brownish. The single greenish- or

bluish-white egg, often shewing faint rufous markings, is deposited in a

deep crevice of a cliff, or among boulders on beaches.

As regards fossil forms, _Uria_ has been found in the Miocene of Maine and

North Carolina, and in the Pliocene of Tuscany.

* * * * *

Of the second or Pteroclo-Columbine group of Charadriiform Birds (p. 268)

the Old World Sub-Order PTEROCLES contains only–

Fam. IX. PTEROCLIDAE, or the Sand-Grouse, equally interesting as regards

their structure and their habits. Originally considered {322}akin to

Grouse, they have since given rise to much discussion; Dr. Gadow's

view–here adopted–being that they are highly specialized forms, analogous

to the Galli in their digestive organs, but homologically constituting a

link between the Limicolae and the Columbae.[205] From the Pigeons they

certainly differ remarkably in the condition of the chicks, which are

covered with brown, creamy, and black down, and run almost immediately from

the shell; yet they agree with them in most points of osteology, myology,

and pterylosis, while the eggs recall those of Rails, and the flight

resembles that of a Plover.

The body is compact; the bill short, arched, and fairly stout; the

metatarsus abbreviated and feathered anteriorly, or entirely in

_Syrrhaptes_. In this genus, moreover, the hallux, much reduced elsewhere,

is totally absent; and the short front toes are enclosed in a sort of

casing, which is covered as far as the thick claws with hairy plumage, the

whole forming a padded foot unique among Birds. The long pointed wings have

sixteen or seventeen secondaries, and eleven primaries, of which the outer

has its shaft produced into a thin filament in _Syrrhaptes paradoxus_; the

wedge-shaped tail has sixteen rectrices, the median pair being elongated

and pointed in that genus and _Pteroclurus_ (Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse), if

the latter be allowed to stand. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx

tracheo-bronchial, the tongue lanceolate; there is a small aftershaft, and

a large crop; while the down of the adults is sparingly distributed.

Sand-Grouse are true desert-birds, affording excellent instances of

protective coloration in their buff or brownish tints, slightly varied with

grey, black, orange, and white; _Pterocles fasciatus_ and _P.

lichtensteini_, however, prefer bushy and rocky ground to bare, sandy, or

stony plains. Gregarious yet monogamous, they are shy and wary, but very

pugnacious among themselves; their flight is swift, strong, and noisy;

their powers of walking and running good, though rather clumsy, owing to

the extremely short legs. All the species lie closely until flushed, and

are fond of basking in the sun on their sides, in holes scraped out for the

purpose. Migration probably prevails to some extent throughout the Family,

while the irruptions of _Syrrhaptes paradoxus_ into Europe (p. 324) are

quite unparalleled. The cry, often uttered upon the wing, is a piercing

whistle, or a twittering {323}or clucking sound; though that of

_Syrrhaptes_ appears to be hoarser, and has been syllabled as

"truck-turuck" and "caga-caga" in _S. paradoxus_ and _S. tibetanus_

respectively. The alarm-note is of a croaking nature. The food consists of

seeds, tender shoots, bulbous grass-roots, and insects, or even of berries,

peas, and beans; while the birds flock to drink at certain favourite spots,

and are variously stated to take continuous or interrupted draughts. The

nest is a mere hollow in the soil, frequently lined with a little grass;

the three oval, but peculiarly cylindrical, eggs vary from whitish to buff,

or greenish in _Syrrhaptes_, and are marked with brown, reddish, and

violet. Both sexes assist in incubation, which lasts from twenty-five to

twenty-eight days. Opinions vary as to the edible quality of the flesh.

[Illustration: FIG. 65.–Pallas's Sand-Grouse. _Syrrhaptes paradoxus._ ×

3/10.]

_Pterocles arenarius_, ranging from the Canary Islands, North Africa, and

Madagascar to South Europe and Central Asia, has dark grey upper parts,

with orange-yellow markings, except on the white-tipped primaries and tail;

the chestnut throat surmounts a black patch, which is succeeded by a breast

of the same dove-colour as the head, crossed by a black band; the belly

being black also. The bill is horn-coloured, the feet are greyish. The

female is buff, barred above and spotted below with black; her throat is

yellowish-white, and the black areas on her lower surface are as in the

male. _P. decoratus_ of East Africa, _P. bicinctus_ and _P. variegatus_ of

South Africa, _P. coronatus_ and _P. lichtensteini_, extending from the

Sahara and Kordofan respectively to North-West India, _P. gutturalis_ of

East Africa, _P. personatus_ of Madagascar, _P. fasciatus_ of India–the

only species peculiar to Asia–and _P. quadricinctus_, found from Senegambia

to Abyssinia, are fairly similar to the above, though chiefly sandy in some

cases.

_Pteroclurus alchata_, absurdly termed "Perdrix d'Angleterre" {324}in

France, and Rock-Pigeon in India, is grey above, with yellow tips to the

dorsal feathers; it has black, brown, and greyish-white wings, shewing

chestnut and yellow on the coverts; yellowish rump and long median

rectrices barred with black. The cheeks are orange, the throat is black

with a little yellow beneath, the upper breast is chestnut-red, bordered by

a black line above and below, the remaining under parts are white, the bill

and feet brownish. The female differs in her white throat, and in her upper

surface irregularly marked with buff, grey, and black. This species occurs

in South Europe, North Africa, and South-West Asia; _P. namaqua_ inhabits

South Africa; _P. exustus_ ranges from Senegal to the Pangani River in East

Africa, and through Palestine to Central Asia and India; while _P.

senegallus_ extends from the Sahara to Palestine, Arabia, and North-West

India.

_Syrrhaptes paradoxus_, Pallas's Sand-Grouse, has buff upper parts barred

with black; mainly blue-grey wings and tail, with black and chestnut

markings on the former, and white tips to the lateral rectrices; dull

yellow crown and cheeks; orange nape and throat; greyish-buff neck and

breast, white abdomen and metatarsal plumage, an interrupted black gorget,

and a broader black band towards the belly. The female has less elongated

median tail-feathers, black streaks on the buff head, a black bar across

the throat, and is duller generally. _S. tibetanus_, with entirely white

belly, the largest of the Family, extends from the Sutlej and South Kashmir

to Koko-Nor; but its congener reaches from the Lower Volga or the Kirghiz

Steppes to the north of Lake Baikal and North China, while some erratic

impulse of uncertain origin causes it to invade the plains of China and the

whole of Europe at irregular intervals. One specimen was obtained at

Sarepta on the Volga in 1848, and again in 1860, when flocks visited Pekin;

in 1859 a few examples occurred on the Continent, and between July and

November three wandered to Britain; while in 1863 some 700 individuals

reached our shores by May 21, straying as far as Ireland, but vanishing

towards autumn. Several pairs bred on the sand-hills of Holland and

Jutland. In 1872 and 1876 small parties visited us; and in 1888 another and

incalculably larger invasion took place, which extended farther southward

than that of 1863, and after entering Europe before the beginning of April,

occupied Britain between May 6 and May 15, to remain there throughout

{325}that year and the succeeding. Besides breeding in Denmark, Holstein,

and no doubt elsewhere on the Continent, two pairs nested in 1888 in the

east of Yorkshire, and one or more on the Culbin Sands in Moray, whence in

1889 Professor Newton received on August 8 a chick of two or three days

old. This was exhibited at the Newcastle Meeting of the British

Association, and subsequently figured in _The Ibis_.[206] Doubtless the

above were not the only cases of reproduction in England, and it was hoped

that a protective Act, which came into force in February 1889, would lead

to permanent colonization; but by 1890, or, according to some, 1892, all

the birds had disappeared.

As a fossil, _Pterocles_ occurs in the Eocene and Miocene of France.

* * * * *

The Sub-Order COLUMBAE must certainly be divided into the Families

_Dididae_ for the Dodo and Solitaire, and _Columbidae_ for the Pigeons,

while a third, _Didunculidae_, may be added to contain the Tooth-billed

Pigeon of Samoa, to which _Otidiphaps_ of Papuasia is possibly allied. For

convenience sake we may accept four Sub-families of the _Columbidae_,

namely (1) _Gourinae_, (2) _Peristerinae_, (3) _Columbinae_, and (4)

_Treroninae_, though the arrangement is somewhat arbitrary. Dr. Gadow[207]

segregates _Caloenatinae_, but not _Peristerinae_, while he and Count

Salvadori[208] agree in considering _Didunculus_ merely on a level with

these subdivisions.

Throughout the group the body is compact, while the bill varies from stout

to slender, being swollen and hardened at the decurved tip, which forms a

hook in the Dididae and Didunculidae. The base of this feature is covered

with a soft skin or cere, containing the nostrils; _Globicera_, _Vinago

calva_, and _Ptilopus insolitus_ have a fleshy or bony knob at the

posterior part of the culmen, said to be most prominent in the breeding

season; and _Didunculus_ has the mandible toothed and truncated. The

metatarsi, reticulated in the Gourinae, but scutellated elsewhere, are

usually partly feathered, especially in Fruit-Pigeons; some species of

_Columbigallina_, however, have them naked; _Drepanoptila_ has them

entirely covered; and in many domestic breeds the plumage extends over the

toes, which are all on the same level, and possess moderate claws. The skin

is more or less expanded {326}on each side of the digits. The rounded wings

are commonly long, but are short in Ground-Pigeons, and aborted in the

flightless Dididae, the primaries numbering eleven and the secondaries from

ten to seventeen; the former are bifurcated at the tip in _Drepanoptila_,

attenuated in some members of _Ptilopus_, _Oxypelia_, _Peristera_, and

_Leptoptila_, while one or more of the three outer feathers is not

uncommonly scalloped. The tail varies considerably in form and dimensions,

being wedge-shaped in _Sphenocercus_, rounded in _Zenaida_, _Phabotreron_,

and _Megaloprepia_, acuminate in _Ectopistes_, long and graduated in

_Oena_, _Macropygia_, and _Reinwardtoenas_, and so forth. The rectrices

range from twelve to twenty, sixteen being the normal number in the

Gourinae, twelve in the Columbinae, and fourteen in the Treroninae. The

neck-feathers may be bifurcated, as in _Alectoroenas_, _Columba guinea_,

and occasionally in _Turtur_, or those of the breast, as in some species of

_Macropygia_, _Ptilopus_, and _Phaenorrhina_; the neck, moreover, is

hackled in _Caloenas_ and _Lopholaemus_, and the body-plumage is generally

narrow with widely-separated barbs in _Chrysoenas_. Five members of

_Phlogoenas_ have a patch of stiff feathers over the crop; while the

splendid decomposed crest of _Goura_ is exceptionally striking, and more

ordinary tufts grace the head in _Lopholaemus_, _Coryphoenas_,

_Lophophaps_, _Ocyphaps_, and elsewhere. The forehead is sometimes nearly

bare, as are the lores and eyelids in _Gymnophaps_; naked red or yellow

orbits are found in _Gymnopelia_, _Reinwardtoenas_, _Macropygia_,

_Turacoena_, _Didunculus_, and _Columba gymnophthalma_, not to mention

other instances; while the tendency reaches its height in the huge

circumocular wattles of several fanciers' races. In _Serresius_ a feathered

"saddle" extends over half the culmen.

The furcula is U-shaped, being much reduced in the Dididae; the syrinx is

remarkable for the asymmetrical union of the sterno-tracheal muscles; the

tongue is lanceolate; the impervious nostrils are linear in the Columbidae

and Didunculidae, oblique in the Dididae. The crop is more highly developed

than in other Families. The gizzard of _Caloenas_ is remarkable for an

indurated horn-like patch on each side of the epithelial lining, that of

_Carpophaga latrans_ has the interior beset with similar conical

prominences, correlated with a diet of hard fruit. _Phaenorrhina_ has these

cones still more developed, and _Ptilopus_ agrees with _Drepanoptila_ in

possessing four pads in the above organ instead {327}of two, the regular

number in Birds. The after-shaft is rudimentary or absent, the adults have

no down, the young are hatched blind and naked, and remain for a long time

in the nest. The plumage is commonly dull blue or brown, with an iridescent

sheen; but remarkably brilliant purple, red, yellow, and green hues

manifest themselves in forms such as _Ptilopus_, _Chrysoenas_, and

_Caloenas_ from the islands of the Eastern Seas, the headquarters of the

Family. Though smaller, the female usually resembles the male; but

_Turturoena_, _Oena_, and _Peristera_ are examples of diversity, while

immature examples are duller than adults. _Goura_ approaches the size of a

goose, whereas _Columbigallina_ is little larger than a sparrow. Of

domestic Pigeons the Rock-Dove is undoubtedly the origin, but the breeds

are now infinite in their variety.[209]

Omitting the abnormal Didine Birds, the habits of the members of this group

are fairly uniform, the majority of them inhabiting wooded country; while

even those like _Phaps_, _Lophophaps_, and _Geophaps_, which occupy the

arid plains of Australia, are to be found at times where vegetation is

plentiful; and in all cases the proximity of water seems indispensable.

Fruit-Pigeons frequent trees, and the most typical Columbine forms are

found in woods or among rocks, though the smaller Doves naturally prefer

the lower bushes. Wood-Pigeons towards winter, and Passenger-Pigeons when

nesting–not to mention other instances–gather in large flocks; in some

cases, however, the parties only number about half a dozen, and more

solitary habits are by no means uncommon. The flight is strong, rapid, and

direct, though the Ground-Pigeons remain a comparatively short time upon

the wing, and some species prefer to run unless forced to rise, _Oena_

being an especially good walker. The well-known "homing" powers of trained

birds, the curious backward somersaults of the Tumbler, and the sudden rise

and clap of the wings so noticeable in the Wood-Pigeon when courting, merit

a passing mention. Every member of the Family perches, and many delight to

bask in the sun. The note is always of the nature of a coo, but is

especially loud and deep in _Myristicivora_, _Megaloprepia_, and some

members of _Carpophaga_, guttural in _Haplopelia_, mournful in _Peristera_

and _Zenaidura_, harsh and trumpet-like in _Goura_; the voice of the

Turtle-Dove suggests a purr, while _Tympanistria_ and _Starnoenas_ possess

powers of ventriloquism. {328}The food of the Wood-Pigeon is grain,

beech-mast, acorns, turnips, and tender shoots of plants; that of

Fruit-Pigeons consists of figs, palm-nuts, grapes, and so forth, plucked

from the tree, and in the case of _Myristicivora bicolor_ and _Globicera

myristicivora_, largely of the mace which encases the nutmeg; Ground-Doves

and other small forms subsist mainly on seeds of grasses; and it may be

safely inferred that in most cases the diet varies considerably.

_Turturoena_ is stated to eat Cicada larvae; _Leucosarcia_ those of

Diptera; _Goura_ and _Otidiphaps_ worms, snails, and insects. Pigeons,

unlike birds generally, take continuous draughts of water, immersing the

bill to the base. The nest is usually a slight platform of sticks, placed

aloft on a branch or in a bush; but our Rock-Dove and _Columba phaeonota_

of South Africa breed in caves or holes in rocks; the Stock-Dove prefers

hollow trees, rabbit-burrows, and the like; _Geophaps_ the bare soil; and

so forth. _Phaps_, _Peristera_, and _Zenaida_ nest either on the ground or

in bushes, but the latter appear to be almost invariably chosen by

Ground-Doves like _Columbigallina_ and _Geopelia_. The white eggs are two,

or exceptionally three, in number; the Dodo, however, laid only one, and so

do _Caloenas_, _Ectopistes_, _Didunculus_, and some species of _Carpophaga_

and _Columba_, as well as _Goura_, where it is larger than that of a tame

Duck. Societies, such as those of _Ectopistes_ and _Caloenas_, are most

unusual. Some Pigeons breed three times a year, the male commonly assisting

in incubation, which lasts from fourteen to twenty-eight days. The members

of this Family are shy, but readily tamed; yet the Collared Turtle-Dove is

perhaps the only really good cage-bird. Most of them are excellent for the

table, _Leucosarcia_, _Geophaps_, _Goura_, and the Treroninae being

accounted particularly delicate, while the Wood-Pigeon and the domestic

breeds speak for themselves. The great damage, however, done to crops, such

as turnips, peas, or barley, by the flocks counterbalances their economic

value to a considerable extent, the most typical forms being undoubtedly

the worst offenders.

Fam. X. DIDIDAE.–This consists of three extinct species–_Didus ineptus_,

the Dodo of Mauritius, _D. borbonicus_ of Réunion (Bourbon), and _Pezophaps

solitarius_, the Solitaire of Rodriguez.

The Dodo, familiar to all by name, if not by pictures, was an immense

Pigeon-like bird bigger than a Turkey, with an aborted keel to the sternum

and the wings also aborted. The coracoid and scapula met at an obtuse

angle, as in many other flightless species. {329}The huge blackish bill

terminated in a large horny hook, the cheeks were partly bare, the short

yellow legs were stout, scaly, and feathered on the upper portion; the

plumage was dark ash-coloured, with whitish breast and tail,

yellowish-white wings, and black tips to their coverts. The short rectrices

formed a curled tuft, and the first four primaries were directed backwards.

[Illustration: FIG. 66.–Dodo. _Didus ineptus._ (After Savery's Vienna

picture.)]

This uncouth and unwieldy species, of which a full account will be found in

the works mentioned below,[210] which have been largely utilized here, was

noticed as early as 1598 by the Dutch, who called it Walghvogel, or

Nauseous Bird, from their dislike of its flesh, and the island, where it

was then found abundantly, Mauritius. The earliest representation was given

in 1601 by De Bry, who stated that an example was brought alive to Holland.

Other Dutch fleets subsequently visited the island, and several sketches of

the Dodo were made, while one of the captains records that it was

indifferently called Dodaars or Dronte. Roelandt Savery of Courtrai

(1576-1639) painted the Dodo–probably from life–more than once, pictures by

him still existing in {330}Berlin (1626), Vienna (1628), the Hague,

Pommersfelden, Stuttgart, and London, the last-named belonging to the

Zoological Society. The British Museum also possesses an undated picture,

another is at Haarlem, a third at Oxford; while one by Goiemare at Sion

House (dated 1627), and one said to be by Hoefnagel in the library of the

late Emperor of Austria (_circa_ 1620) were possibly taken from living

birds. In 1628 Englishmen appeared on the scene, Emanuel Altham having sent

a specimen home alive to his brother, while Herbert, accompanying the same

fleet, mentioned the Dodo and figured it. About 1634 an example was given

to the Anatomy School at Oxford by a Mr. Gosling, and some four years later

Sir Hamon Lestrange saw a captive bird in London. Finally, we may note that

individuals existed in Mauritius until 1681, as proved by the journal of

Benjamin Harry.

In 1865 the discovery of a large quantity of remains in the Mare aux

Songes, by Mr. G. Clark, enabled Owen and others to confirm the suggestion

of the Danish naturalist, Reinhardt, of the Dodo's affinity to the Pigeons;

while in 1889 M. Sauzier, acting for the Government of Mauritius, sent to

the late Sir Edward Newton a series of bones from the same spot, enabling

the first correctly restored and properly mounted skeleton to be returned

for the museum of that island, and the important paper, noticed above, to

be published by the last-named and Dr. Gadow. Nearly perfect specimens

exist at Cambridge, in the British Museum, and at Paris.

The Dodo is said to have inhabited forests, to have swallowed pebbles, to

have uttered a cry like that of a gosling, and to have laid one large white

egg on a mass of grass. Hogs and other imported animals seem to have

conduced to its extermination, as well as the hand of man.

_Didus borbonicus_ had white plumage, varied with yellow, the first four

primaries being directed forwards and downwards. It is mentioned by Tatton

(1625), Du Bois (1669), and Carré (1699); while Bontekoe (1646) gave a

figure apparently intended to represent it, and another by Pierre Witthoos

(_ob._ 1693) was in existence a few years ago. It was originally called the

Solitaire, but this name was also applied to _Pezophaps solitarius_ of

Rodriguez by the Huguenot exile Leguat, who described and figured the

latter about 1691. _Pezophaps_ was subsequently briefly noticed by

D'Heguerty (1751) and again by Pingré (1761), who heard {331}that it still

existed in inaccessible districts; while it is also mentioned in an

anonymous manuscript discovered at Paris, written perhaps about 1729.

Remains came into the hands of Desjardins in 1789 (not fully recognised

until 1832), and others were forwarded to England; but much the most

important finds were those of the late Sir Edward Newton in 1864, followed

up by Mr. Jenner in the succeeding years, and of Mr. H. H. Slater in

1874.[211] In 1875 two complete skeletons were obtained, and fairly perfect

specimens of those of each sex are at Cambridge, with others elsewhere.

This Solitaire was larger than a Swan, the male standing about 2 feet 9

inches, and the female 2 feet 3 inches high; the colour of the former was

brownish-grey, but the latter varied from the hue of "fair hair" to brown,

and had a whitish breast. The slightly-hooked, elongated beak had a

feathered ridge or peak at the base of the culmen, the neck was elongated

and straight, the legs were longer and weaker than in the Dodo, the wings

were rudimentary, the hind part (pelvis) was rounded, the tail was hardly

noticeable, and the thigh-feathers were thick, and curved like shells at

the end. A spherical mass of bone, "as big as a musket-ball," was developed

on the wings of the males; and they used it, in addition to the beak, as a

weapon of offence, while they whirled themselves about twenty or thirty

times in four or five minutes, making a noise with their pinions like a

rattle. The mien was fine and the walk stately, the birds being seen singly

or in pairs; the nest was a heap of palm-leaves a foot or more high, the

single large egg was incubated by both parents. The food is said to have

consisted of seeds and leaves, and a stone as big as a hen's egg was often

found in the stomach.

Fam. XI. DIDUNCULIDAE.–_Didunculus strigirostris_, the Manu-meà or Red Bird

of the islands of Upolu, Savai, and Tutuila in the Samoan group, is glossy

greenish-black, with chestnut back, rump, wing-coverts, tail and under

tail-coverts, but browner wing-quills and abdomen. The hooked and toothed

bill is orange, the feet are reddish, and the naked orbits red. The sexes

are similar, the young entirely brown. First made known by Strickland on

the strength of its discovery in the autumn of 1839 by Peale {332}during

the United States Exploring Expedition under Commander Wilkes, it has since

been met with by several travellers and missionaries, three living

specimens having been exhibited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of

London. By 1863 it was regarded as nearly extinct on Upolu, where it was

formerly abundant, though it still held its own on Savai; but in 1874 an

increase was reported from the latter island, which was attributed to a

change of habits, the birds having become arboreal instead of terrestrial.

[Illustration: FIG. 67.–Manu-meà or Tooth-billed Pigeon. _Didunculus

strigirostris._ × ¼.]

The oldest accounts, derived from native sources, stated that _Didunculus_

was essentially a ground species, living on thickly-wooded mountain-sides

in flocks of about a dozen, and feeding on berries, plantains (bananas),

and yam fruit, while it roosted on low stumps, and bred on the ground,

being rather shy, and taking to flight noisily with much flapping of the

wings. Mr. Whitmee[212] and others, however, tell us that it now feeds

almost exclusively on high trees, roosting aloft, and building in the

forks. But as early as 1852 Lieutenant Walpole[213] asserted that the bird

bred among rocks, perched and fed on trees, and flew from wood to wood, or

even from island to island, so that it is not impossible that its supposed

affinity to the Dodo led writers astray, and that its fondness for the

ground was greatly exaggerated. No doubt danger from introduced cats and

rats would force the nest to be placed higher.

{333}The Tooth-billed Pigeon was usually found in pairs or small parties,

and was in great request for food among the natives, who, moreover, kept

individuals tethered to sticks as pets, while the chiefs erected small huts

in which to feed the flocks. They were often attracted by decoys, and

caught with bird-lime. The habits are diurnal, or somewhat crepuscular; the

note apparently varies from deep and guttural to low and plaintive; and

breeding takes place from May to September, the single egg being white. The

birds are decidedly pugnacious in captivity, and occasionally nibble their

food in Parrot fashion.

[Illustration: FIG. 68.–Crowned Pigeon. _Goura coronata._ × ⅑.]

Fam. XII. COLUMBIDAE.–If we omit the Arctic and Antarctic countries, this

group forms a remarkably cosmopolitan Family, though with an irregular

distribution. Roughly speaking, there are recognised some dozen

Palaearctic, and still fewer Nearctic species, with about seventy

Neotropical and forty Ethiopian; India possesses about thirty, the Malay

Archipelago perhaps a hundred and twenty, New Guinea and the Moluccas a

hundred. Many island forms occur in Polynesia, but Australia can barely

claim twenty, the New Zealand seas only furnish two, and the Sandwich

Islands none.

{334}Sub-fam. 1. _Gourinae._–This contains seven species of _Goura_–_G.

coronata_ of Western New Guinea, Waigiou, Batanta, Salawatti, and Mysol,

_G. cinerea_ of the Arfak Mountains, _G. sclateri_ of Central and Southern

New Guinea, _G. albertisi_ of South-East New Guinea, _G. scheepmakeri_,

probably from South-West New Guinea–all of which have the erect

crest-feathers with entirely decomposed webs–_G. victoria_ of Jobi and

Mysori, and _G. beccarii_ of Central and North New Guinea–which have them

with spatulate tips. The first of these, discovered by Dampier in 1699, is

bluish-slate-coloured, with darker wings, and some black on the chin and

sides of the head; a broad chestnut band crossing the back, one of white

shewing conspicuously on the wing, and one of grey terminating the tail.

The other species differ in the amount of chestnut above, the wing-bar

being grey and the breast chestnut in some cases. These birds are found

near open or cultivated lands, ranging from the coast regions to an

altitude of a thousand feet; they feed in small flocks, and eat seeds,

berries, and other fruits, buds of plants, worms, and insects. The usual

note is long, harsh, and trumpet-like, the love-call a short mournful coo.

When disturbed they take to cover, and pitch upon low branches, where they

also roost; in the heat of the day they lie in the shade with outspread

wings and tail; and in the courting-season the cocks fight savagely for the

hens. The nest, a careless platform of sticks, contains one large white

egg.

Sub-fam. 2. _Peristerinae._–This ranges over both the Old and the New

World, _Zenaida_, _Peristera_, and their closest allies being confined to

the latter, while _Turtur_, _Phaps_, and so forth belong to the former.

Group (_a_).–_Caloenas nicobarica_, which extends from the Nicobar Islands

through the Malay Archipelago to the Solomons, is a metallic-green bird,

with bronzy reflexions and blackish head, neck, and upper breast, most of

the remiges being black, and the tail with its coverts white. The long

narrow neck-hackles, the roughly-scaled legs, and the black knob at the

base of the bill are also remarkable features. Partly but not entirely

terrestrial, it walks at a great rate, feeds mainly upon the ground on

seeds, utters a croaking note, often builds in societies on trees, and lays

one white egg. _C. pelewensis_, of the Pelew Islands, is smaller and bluer.

Group (_b_).–This section of the Sub-family contains several robust forms,

with fairly long, stout legs, and short, rounded wings. {335}_Otidiphaps

nobilis_ of Western New Guinea and Batanta, _O. cervicalis_ of South-East

New Guinea, and _O. insularis_ of Fergusson Island, are greenish-black,

chestnut, and purple, with the bill red, the feet reddish with rough yellow

scales, and the nape green, grey, and black respectively. They have no less

than twenty rectrices, while the first two have an occipital crest. These

Pigeons, said to resemble Megapodes in habits, frequent hills or dense

thickets, often near the sea-coast, but are difficult of observation, owing

to their shyness; they run swiftly with erect outspread tail, perch on low

boughs, and have a harsh cry, varied by a plaintive note; the food consists

of fruits, roots, and snails. The nest, containing one egg, is said to be

placed at the foot of a tree. _Starnoenas cyanocephala_, of Cuba and the

Florida Keys, is brown above and purplish-rufous below, with a blue crown

surrounded by black, a black throat with a white basal line, a white stripe

across each cheek, and red bill and feet varied with bluish. This bird, the

"Perdiz" of the Cubans, frequents wooded hills and has somewhat

gallinaceous habits; the food consists of seeds, berries, and snails, the

hollow note having the effect of ventriloquism. Another long-legged,

terrestrial genus from New Guinea is _Eutrygon_; _E. terrestris_ being

olivaceous lead-coloured, with rufous outer margins to the brown remiges,

while _E. leucopareia_ has a reddish hue on the wing-coverts. _Leucosarcia

picata_, the white-fleshed Wonga-wonga of Eastern Australia, is blue-black

with white forehead, pectoral band, and central abdomen. It inhabits the

brushes, and feeds chiefly upon the ground on seeds, fruits, and

insect-larvae; the flight is of short duration and the habits somewhat

Pheasant-like; the nest is in a tree. _Phlogoenas_ contains a score of

members ranging from the Philippines and Timor to the Society Islands. _P.

luzonica_ of Luzon has purplish upper parts, a greyish-blue head, and

yellowish-white lower parts, with a patch of stiff red decomposed feathers

over the crop; the inner webs of the remiges are more or less rufous, a

characteristic found also in _Chalcopelia_, _Columbigallina_,

_Scardafella_, and _Leptoptila_, from very different parts of the world.

_P. rufigula_, of New Guinea and the islands to the north-west, has the

crop-patch yellowish-ochre; _P. tristigma_ of North Celebes is perhaps most

striking of all, with its yellow breast and forehead, green head, purple

nape, and green and purple tints on the brown upper back; _P. stairi_ of

the Fiji and Tonga {336}Islands has a greenish-grey head and brownish upper

surface, with brilliant violet-purple on the wings and a vinous breast,

while the female differs in being olive-brown, with the head and breast

dull cinnamon. _P. kubaryi_ of the Caroline group is almost entirely

violet-purple above, the head being grey, the forehead, sides of the neck,

throat, and breast white. _Geotrygon_ with some dozen and a half species

extends from South Mexico to Paraguay, several of them being peculiar to

the West Indies. _G. montana_, the "Mountain-Partridge," ranges from Key

West and Cuba to Paraguay. It has a purplish-rufous upper surface, while

the lower parts are whitish-fawn colour, with a purplish breast. The female

is olive with a tinge of gold above, and chiefly buff below, with browner

breast. _G. chrysia_ of Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys has

reddish-brown upper parts, with reflexions of brilliant purple, green, and

gold, and vinaceous-white lower parts. _G. violacea_ of Central America and

Brazil, _G. cristata_, the Mountain-Witch, of Jamaica, _G. linearis_ of

Colombia, and other species, bear a general resemblance to the above. These

birds frequent thickly-wooded districts or mountainous tracts, where they

feed upon the ground on seeds, fallen berries, snails, and slugs. They

often have recourse to running, yet the flight is rapid and whirring; the

note is a moaning coo, the nest a slight structure on bushes, trees, or

even the ground. _Osculatia purpurea_ and _O. sapphirina_ are two beautiful

Ecuadorian Pigeons, of which the former has a rich purple crown and

occiput, a purplish-violet mantle with duller wings, a violet rump, a

bronzy-green hind-neck, a white forehead, throat, and abdomen, a greyish

breast, and white cheeks with a black transverse stripe below. The latter

has the crown grey, the occiput golden-green. _Leptoptila_ (_Engyptila_ of

some authors), distributed from Texas to Argentina, contains about

seventeen somewhat similar forms, which have olive-brown upper parts, with

red, green, and dove-coloured reflexions, and usually pinkish-white or

greyish under parts. The wing-quills almost invariably shew some cinnamon

on their inner webs, while in _L. rufinucha_, the region of the nape is

rufous. The White-bellied Pigeon of Jamaica (_L. jamaicensis_) is an

unsuspicious bird which habitually lives on the ground in woods, eats seeds

and fruits, runs, walks, or flies for short distances, and sometimes uses

straw instead of sticks for its nest. The genus _Haplopelia_ is restricted

to the Ethiopian {337}Region, _H. larvata_ of South Africa, _H. bronzina_

of Abyssinia and Shoa, _H. principalis_ of Prince's Island, _H. simplex_ of

St. Thomas, _H. johnstoni_ of Nyassa-Land, and _H. inornata_ of the

Cameroons, being all much alike. The first-mentioned–common in woods near

Cape Town–is plain brown, with green and purple gloss on the crown and

nape, a white forehead and throat, and vinaceous breast with coppery

reflexions. It is the Cinnamon or Lemon Dove of the colonists, and feeds

chiefly on berries, obtained upon the ground.

Group (_c_).–The third section of the Peristerinae is confined to the Old

World, and shews metallic blue or green wing-spots or patches. _Ocyphaps

lophotes_, the swift Crested Bronze-wing of the interior of Australia, is

found in flocks, especially near water, and has a remarkable habit, when

alighting, of erecting its long, black crest and elevating its tail until

they almost meet. It is a grey bird, possessing bronzy-green wing-coverts

tipped with white, a metallic purple gloss on the secondaries, and

peacock-blue outer rectrices. _Lophophaps plumifera_ of North-West

Australia, which has a western race, _L. ferruginea_, and a southern, _L.

leucogaster_, is a terrestrial species, frequenting creeks in the desert,

and running on the ground like a Quail. The nest is a mere hole in the

ground lined with a little grass; the eggs are said to be creamy-white. The

Plumed Bronze-wing, as it is called, has the general plumage and full crest

pale cinnamon, the throat white, with a black median stripe, a black

gorget, a crescentic band of grey on the chest with a black line below, and

a few purple spots on the secondaries. _Geophaps scripta_, the Partridge

Bronze-wing or Squatter of North-West and East Australia, has a peculiar

habit of squatting on the ground or on the branches of any tree in which it

takes refuge. It is light brown above and grey below, with curious black

and white markings on the sides of the head and throat; the wing-coverts

have pale tips, and the innermost of the greater series greenish-purple

outer webs. _G. smithi_ of North-West Australia is browner. From the same

parts comes _Petrophassa albipennis_, which frequents rocks, though its

nest has not yet been recorded; it is a reddish-brown bird with greyer

head, grey centres to the feathers, and concealed purplish spots on the

wing-coverts; the throat is black and white, the primaries brown with white

bases. _Histrioniphaps histrionica_, of the interior and North-West of

Australia, has brown upper {338}and grey under parts; the head is finely

varied with jet-black and pure white, the secondaries shew patches of

metallic-purple, and the primaries have white tips and partly rufous inner

webs. The female is much duller. It is essentially a Ground-Pigeon, and

breeds on the bare soil of the plains; but the flight is much stronger than

might be expected, as is also the case with _Geophaps_. _Phaps chalcoptera_

and _P. elegans_, of Australia and Tasmania, in their mode of life resemble

the preceding, though the latter species is the more terrestrial, while

both usually build in low trees or bushes. _P. chalcoptera_, the Common

Bronze-wing, is extremely handsome, the greyish-brown upper surface being

relieved by a purple band on the crown and most brilliant bronze and green

spots upon the wing; the breast is pinkish, the throat white, and the

forehead white with a wash of yellow. The inner webs of the remiges are

partly rufous. _P. elegans_, the Brush Bronze-wing, is a shorter-winged

bird, with chestnut throat and grey breast. _Henicophaps albifrons_ of New

Guinea and the adjacent western islands has the forehead whitish, the neck

and under parts rich reddish-purple, the back blue-black, the wings glossed

with golden-green and bronze, and their coverts margined with chestnut. The

beak is longer and stouter than in the allied forms, and the bird is partly

arboreal. _Calopelia puella_ of West Africa is a fine cinnamon-coloured

bird, with blue head and iridescent green spots on the wings. Of

_Chalcophaps_, ranging from India, Burma, and South China, through the

islands to Australia and the New Hebrides, Count Salvadori makes two

divisions, though the species are little more than local races. Of the

first of these, with golden-green mid-back and scapulars, _C. indica_, the

Emerald Dove or Beetle-wing, may be taken as typical; the head is blue with

white forehead and sides, the upper back is purplish, the wing-coverts

golden-green, the lower back bronzy with two grey bars, the rump nearly

black, and the under parts purplish-pink. The female is brown and somewhat

redder below, with grey forehead. This species covers nearly the whole

range of the genus, but only stretches eastward to Geelvink Bay in New

Guinea. _C. chrysochlora_ reaches from Timor to the New Hebrides; _C.

sanghirensis_ occurs in Great Sanghir Island; _C. natalis_ in Christmas

Island, Indian Ocean. _C. stephani_, of Celebes and Papuasia, and _C.

mortoni_, of the Solomon Islands, constitute the second division, where the

mid-back and {339}scapulars are reddish-cinnamon. These Pigeons frequent

bushy districts, feed on the ground on seeds and fruits, run fast, and fly

swiftly for short distances. They have a mournful note, breed on low trees,

and make a fairly compact nest of roots, grass, or twigs. _Chalcopelia

afra_ inhabits Africa south of Abyssinia and Senegambia. It has olive-brown

upper parts, with two black stripes across the lower back, and a few large

spots of brilliant purple and green on the wing; the under parts are

pinkish, and the inner webs of the primaries and their coverts bright

rufous. _C. chalcospilus_, with the spots golden-green, is probably a

variety. They inhabit bushy country in pairs, the flight, food, note, and

nest being similar to those of _Chalcophaps_. _Tympanistria bicolor_ is a

similar but greyer bird, with the purple spots almost black and the lower

parts white; it inhabits Southern Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros, and

Fernando Po. The very long-tailed _Oena capensis_ is pale brown above and

white below, with black face and throat, grey crown, two black bands across

the lower back, and steel-blue patches on the wings. The inner webs of the

primaries and their coverts are cinnamon. The female has a white face and

throat. It is a bird of rough bushy country, which is seldom found in

flocks, utters a deep plaintive note, and breeds in low trees. This species

walks with the utmost rapidity, and feeds upon the ground on seeds of

grasses and grain. It is found in tropical and Southern Africa, in

Madagascar, and at Aden and Jeddah.

Group (_d_).–The most typical Peristerinae constitute a fourth section,

usually with metallic wing-spots, restricted to America. _Metriopelia

melanoptera_ and _M. aymara_ range from Ecuador and Peru respectively to

Chili and the borders of Argentina. The former is greyish-brown above and

vinaceous below, with black wings and tail, the latter has golden spots on

the wing-coverts. They are found in small flocks in the valleys of the

Andes, and in winter on the coast, being called by the natives "Tortola

cordillerana," or "Cordillera Dove." _Peristera cinerea_ is bluish-grey in

the male, with lighter under parts, black remiges and outer rectrices, some

velvety black spots being very conspicuous on the wings and scapulars. The

female is brown, with cinnamon wing-spots. This species ranges from South

Mexico to Paraguay; while _P. geoffroyi_, with white-tipped lateral

tail-feathers and a grey breast, inhabits South-East Brazil; _P.

mondetoura_, with {340}chestnut breast, occurs from South Mexico to Peru.

They frequent wooded and hilly districts, forming small flocks and uttering

a cry resembling "huup-huup." _Oxypelia cyanopis_, of the interior of

Brazil, and _Uropelia campestris_, of that country and Bolivia, link the

above genus to _Columbigallina_, which contains six species. _C. passerina_

extends from the southern United States and the West Indies to Peru and

Paraguay; _C. minuta_ occupies a similar range, except for the United

States; and _C. cruziana_ reaches from Ecuador to North Chili–all with

naked feet; _C. buckleyi_ inhabits Ecuador and Peru; _C. talpacoti_, most

of South America north of Paraguay; _C. rufipennis_ ranges from Mexico to

the north of South America, these three having the metatarsi feathered

laterally. _C. passerina_ is olive-grey, with violet spots on the wing and

purplish coverts; the feathers of the forehead and under parts being

vinous, with dull brown centres to the latter, and those of the hinder

portion of the head bluish, with dusky margins, which cause a scaly

appearance. The female lacks the purple and red tints. _C. minuta_, the

most diminutive Pigeon known,–though _Oena_ would be smaller but for its

tail,–is uniform below. The other species differ but little, though only

_C. rufipennis_ has, like the above, the under surface of the wing

cinnamon. Flocks of the Ground-Dove or Tortolita, as _C. passerina_ is

called, are found amongst open woods and pastures, running about with

elevated tails, and feeding chiefly upon the ground on seeds, berries,

peas, and grain; if disturbed, they betake themselves with low and noisy

flight to a tree; but they are usually very tame, and may often be heard

uttering their mournful notes on the roofs of outbuildings. The nest,

placed in low bushes or on the ground, is carefully constructed and lined

with grass, two or three broods being reared in the season. The hen is said

to feign disablement at its nest like a Plover, while the birds apparently

dust themselves in gallinaceous fashion. _Columbula picui_, distinguished

by a blue band on the wing-coverts, occurs in South America from Bolivia

and Chili eastward.

Group (_e_).–The fifth section of the Peristerinae exhibit no metallic

spots or lustre, while the wings are rounded and the tail is rather long.

_Gymnopelia erythrothorax_, of the mountains of Peru, Bolivia, and North

Chili, is brown, with vinaceous head and breast, and remarkably large naked

orbits of orange margined with black. _Scardafella_ has crescentic black

edges to the feathers, the upper parts being brown and the lower pinky

white, while the {341}primaries have cinnamon inner webs. _S. squamosa_, of

Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia, has a white wing-patch, absent in _S.

inca_, extending from Texas to Nicaragua. These "Scaly Doves," as they are

called, seem to be essentially terrestrial. _Geopelia humeralis_, of

Australia and Southern New Guinea, is brown above, with black scale-like

markings, a rufous nape, a bluish forehead and chest, a pinkish breast, and

a white mid-belly. The remiges are rufous on the inner web. _G. cuneata_,

of Australia only, has small white wing-spots, and no black marginal

markings on the feathers. _G. tranquilla_, of the same country, _G.

striata_, ranging from South Tenasserim to the Philippines and the

Moluccas–introduced into Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, and St.

Helena–and _G. maugei_, found from the Timor group to the Ké Islands, are

distinctly banded with black and white, the first round the neck only, the

other two on the breast also. These long-tailed species, resembling

miniature Turtle-Doves, frequent grassy plains, thickets, or swampy

river-sides in small flocks, and flit tamely from tree to tree, alighting

with upturned tail; the coo is rarely loud; the food consists of seeds and

berries, usually obtained upon the ground; the nest, placed rather low, is

of twigs or grass.

Group (_f_).–_Turtur_ contains twenty-eight Old World forms, reaching

eastward to Japan, the Ladrones, and the Moluccas. In habits resembling the

members of the genus _Columba_, they are browner in coloration, and about

three quarters of the size; while some exhibit lateral patches of dark

feathers tipped with blue, grey, or white on the neck, the plumage whereof

in other species is bifurcated and spotted with rufous or white. Many have

a black nuchal collar, and a few somewhat fawn-coloured upper parts; the

lower surface is more or less vinaceous, and the rectrices, except the two

median, are tipped with white or grey. The following may exemplify the

range of this sixth section of the Peristerinae:–_Turtur communis_, the

Turtle-Dove of Europe, winters in Northern Africa and Western Asia; _T.

douraca_ or _risorius_ (our common cage-bird), extends from Turkey to India

and Japan; _T. orientalis_, accidental in Europe, only from India to Japan;

_T. tigrinus_ from the Malay countries to the Moluccas; _T. dussumieri_

from Borneo to the Ladrones; _T. semitorquatus_, _T. isabellinus_, and so

forth, inhabit Africa; _T. picturatus_ Madagascar, _T. aldabranus_, _T.

comorensis_, _T. coppingeri_, _T. abbotti_, and _T. rostratus_ the

neighbouring {342}Islands. The African _T. senegalensis_ is found in the

Canaries, and several introduced species occur in Madagascar or Mauritius.

Group (_g_).–The seventh section of the Peristerinae is characterized by

metallic spots near the ear-coverts and an iridescent gloss on the sides of

the neck. _Melopelia leucoptera_, found from Texas to Costa Rica and the

West Indies, and the very similar _M. meloda_ of Peru and Chili, have a

white wing-patch. One of the notes resembles a cock's crow. _Nesopelia_, of

the Galápagos, links these closely to _Zenaida_, with six members, found

from the Florida Keys, Yucatan, and the Antilles, through South America to

Patagonia. _Z. amabilis_, the Pea- or Mountain-Dove of the islands from the

Florida Keys to Antigua, is reddish-olive, with vinous head and breast, two

peacock-blue ear-spots, black blotches on the scapulars and wing-coverts,

black remiges, and a white band across the secondaries. Chiefly

terrestrial, it roosts and nests either on trees or on the ground, the

flight being swift, and the note very soft. _Zenaidura carolinensis_, the

Mourning-Dove of North America, including Southern Canada, is not unlike

the above, but has the crown, sides of the body, and edges of the wings

blue, and in the male the breast purplish. Small flocks often frequent the

neighbourhood of houses, while the flight is strong, the note guttural and

melancholy, the food of grain, berries, acorns, shoots of plants, and

apparently worms. The nest is placed indifferently on the earth or aloft.

Sub-fam. 3. _Columbinae._–_Ectopistes migratorius_, the well-known

Passenger-Pigeon, breeds in eastern North America, chiefly in Canada and

the adjoining United States, and wanders to the Pacific and Cuba. Its

immense colonies are seemingly a thing of the past, though as lately as

1888 a northward flight crossed Michigan, where in 1878, at Petosky, the

"roost," or area occupied, is said to have been twenty-eight miles long by

three or four broad. The trees were often laden with nests, and during a

stay of five weeks several millions of birds are stated to have been

captured, chiefly by means of nets and decoys; though earlier authors, such

as Wilson, mention many different methods of slaughter. The parents were

very noisy, and covered vast distances in search of food; but, save for the

sharp call-note, and the single egg, the other habits were as in most

arboreal Pigeons.

_Coryphoenas crassirostris_, of the Solomon Islands, a slate-coloured

species with brownish head and crest, resembles in its {343}very stout bill

and long graduated rectrices _Reinwardtoenas reinwardti_, ranging from

Celebes to Papuasia, and _R. browni_, of the Duke of York Island and New

Britain. In the two last-named the head is grey, the under parts are white,

and the naked orbits red, the former having the back chestnut, the latter

black. Closely allied are the two dozen Pheasant-like members of

_Macropygia_, with elongated wedge-shaped tails, from the Indian and

Australian Regions, which have rich chestnut, purplish-brown, or cinnamon

plumage, with darker shading and iridescent sheen, chiefly confined to the

upper surface. The head is usually lighter, the under parts are often buff

or vinaceous, and the irides parti-coloured; the naked orbits vary in tint.

Inhabiting bushy country or hills up to about eight thousand feet, they fly

but short distances, feeding upon the ground on seeds and berries, and

uttering a loud monotonous note. _M. tusalia_, the Cuckoo-Dove, occurs from

North India to West China; _M. leptogrammica_ inhabits the Malay Countries;

several other species carry the range to the Moluccas; _M. tenuirostris_

occupies the Philippine and Sulu Islands; _M. phasianella_ the eastern half

of Australia; _M. doreya_ and so forth New Guinea and its islands; _M.

rufa_ the New Hebrides; _M. rufo-castanea_ the Solomons. The two last-named

have bifurcated breast-feathers.

_Turacoena menadensis_, of Celebes, the Togian and Sula Islands, is

slate-black with golden-green occiput, neck, and breast, white face and

throat, and naked red orbits; _T. modesta_, of Timor, has the orbits

yellow, and lacks the white. _Turturoena delegorgii_, of Natal, is

slaty-black, with a chestnut mantle surmounted by a white band, lilac and

green reflexions on the occiput, neck, and chest, vinous under parts, and

bare pink orbits. The female is brownish-grey, having a cinnamon head and

nape glossed with green, but no white collar. _T. sharpii_, of East

Equatorial Africa, differs in its green crown and nuchal region; _T.

iriditorques_, found from the Gaboon to Liberia, lacks the white band, and

has the lateral rectrices tipped with buff; _Nesoenas mayeri_, of

Mauritius, is reddish-brown, with pink head, neck, and lower surface.

The cosmopolitan genus _Columba_ contains nearly sixty members, of which

comparatively few inhabit the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions; the general

coloration is blue, relieved by black and rufous, or a metallic red and

green sheen. Want of space forbids a description of every form, and the

following are in no definite order: but _C. palumbus_, _C. laurivora_, _C.

bollii_, _C. trocaz_, {344}_C. leucocephala_, and so forth, are

Wood-Pigeons; _C. livia_, _C. schimperi_, _C. affinis_, _C. intermedia_,

and _C. leuconota_ are true Rock-Pigeons; _C. oenas_ and its nearest allies

being somewhat intermediate. _C. rufina_, extending from Guatemala to Peru

and Brazil, and _C. speciosa_, ranging further north to Mexico, are

especially ruddy; _C. ianthina_, of Japan and the Liu-Kiu Islands, is

unusually metallic; _C. grisea_, of Borneo and Sumatra, is mainly light

grey; _C. polleni_, of the Comoro Islands, olive-brown; _C. arquatrix_, of

Eastern and South-Western Africa, is flecked with white above and below;

_C. speciosa_, only on the hind neck; _C. guinea_, of Western and

North-Eastern Africa, has bifurcated neck-feathers and triangular white

wing-spots; _C. leucocephala_, of the Florida Keys, Bahamas, Antilles, and

Honduras, and _C. leucomela_, of East Australia, have the crown, and the

latter the neck and under parts white; _C. leuconota_, the "Snow-Pigeon" of

Kashmir, Yarkand, and Tibet, has the neck, lower back, and breast white;

_C. palumbus_, our Ring-Dove, Wood-Pigeon, Cushat, or Queest, the habits of

which are universally known, extends through the Palaearctic Region from

Madeira and the Azores to Persia; it differs from the smaller and darker

Stock-Dove (_C. oenas_), of the same Region eastward to Turkestan, by the

white patches on the sides of its neck and the white wing-bar. _C. livia_,

the Rock-Dove, from which our domestic races have sprung, is easily

distinguishable from other British species by the white rump and the two

black alar bands. The breeding habits of our native birds, and the damage

done by flocks of Wood-Pigeons, partly composed of immigrants, have already

been mentioned (p. 328). _Columba laurivora_ and _C. bollii_, which lays

but one egg, are peculiar to the Canary Islands; _C. trocaz_ to Madeira,

_C. torringtoniae_ to Ceylon, _C. palumboïdes_ to the Andamans and

Nicobars, _C. metallica_ to Timor, _C. gymnophthalma_, apparently to

Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, and several forms to Samoa, the Liu-Kiu,

Bonin, Fiji, and other groups. _C. araucana_ reaches the Straits of

Magellan.

_Gymnophaps albertisi_, of New Guinea, is grey, with whitish breast,

purplish-chestnut under parts elsewhere, and naked red orbits.

Sub-fam. 4. _Treroninae._–This includes the Fruit-Pigeons in the widest

sense, natives of the Old World, of which the bigger are contained in the

first eight genera. _Hemiphaga novae zealandiae_, of New Zealand, is green,

with brilliant coppery reflexions, brownish-purple back, and white abdomen;

_H. spadicea_, of {345}Norfolk Island, and _H. chathamensis_, of the

Chatham group, have greyer wing-coverts and green nape. _Lopholaemus

antarcticus_, of Eastern Australia, is grey, with a fine rufous crest,

black remiges, black rectrices banded with grey, and bare reddish orbits;

the neck-feathers being hackled as in _Caloenas_. In _Myristicivora_ the

general plumage is white, but _M. bicolor_, of the Malay Archipelago, has

black wing-quills and tip to the tail; the similar _M. spilorrhoa_ of

Australia and Papuasia, the yellower _M. subflavescens_ of New Ireland, and

the blacker-tailed _M. melanura_ of the Moluccas, have black spots near the

vent; _M. luctuosa_, of Celebes and the Sula Islands, has the remiges

nearly grey.

_Phaenorrhina goliath_, of New Caledonia and the Isle of Pines, is

slaty-black, with maroon patches on the wing-coverts and abdomen, black

quills, and a broad chestnut tail-bar.

The forty to fifty species of _Carpophaga_ range from India to Hainan and

Fiji. _C. concinna_, found in the Moluccas, Tenimber, Ké, and Aru Islands,

is metallic bronzy-green with grey head and lower surface; _C. aenea_,

extending from India and Ceylon to Hainan and Flores, has more vinaceous

lower parts and greener tail; _C. latrans_, of Fiji, is nearly brown above;

_C. zoeae_, of Papuasia, has a chestnut mantle and black pectoral band. _C.

griseipectus_, of the Philippines, has a grey back with blackish-green

spots, and a chestnut lower breast; _C. basilica_, of the Halmahera group,

has a pinkish-white head and upper breast, a rufous lower breast, and a

broad grey tip to the tail; _C. cuprea_, of Southern India, is brown, with

white throat, greyish-pink head, neck, mantle, and under parts; _C.

poecilorrhoa_, of North Celebes, is glossy greenish-black above with grey

head, mantle, and chest, and brown breast with ochre markings; _C. pinon_,

of New Guinea and the Western Papuan Islands, is slaty-grey with a white

forehead, a ring of white feathers round the naked red orbits, and a

purplish-chestnut lower breast. Large flocks commonly gather after

breeding. The seven species of _Globicera_, remarkable for a fleshy knob at

the base of the bill, may be represented by _C. pacifica_, ranging from New

Guinea to Samoa, and _C. rubricera_, of New Ireland, New Britain, New

Hanover, and the Duke of York Island. The former has a grey head,

bronzy-green upper parts, bluer remiges and rectrices and pinkish lower

surface, the knob being black. The latter has a vinous head, grey mantle,

chestnut abdomen, and red knob. {346}_Serresius galeatus_, of the Marquesas

Islands, noted for the feathered skin or "saddle" covering half the culmen,

is deep glossy green, with dark grey head and under parts. All these

Fruit-Pigeons feed and build on lofty trees, and seldom, if ever, descend

to the ground–possessing short legs and broad-soled grasping feet; they

have a powerful rapid flight and utter varied notes, occasionally deep and

booming like a wild beast's roar; they eat vast quantities of fruit, and

some are very fond of mice; while they normally lay two eggs, but

exceptionally one.

The five splendid species of _Megaloprepia_ occupy the Northern Moluccas,

Papuasia, and Eastern Australia. _M. magnifica_ of the latter country has a

greenish-grey head and neck, golden-green upper parts with an oblique

yellow band on the wing-coverts, rich purple breast and abdomen, and yellow

vent. _M. formosa_ of the Halmahera group lacks the yellow on the wings and

has, in the male only, a crimson patch on the greenish breast. The other

three species are barely separable. The habits resemble those of

_Carpophaga_, the note being peculiarly hoarse.

_Alectoroenas_ comprises four remarkable forms from Madagascar and the

neighbouring islands, of which _A. nitidissima_ of Mauritius has become

extinct within historic times, three specimens being still extant at Port

Louis, Paris, and Edinburgh respectively. This species, called "Pigeon

hollondais" from its colours, which are those of the Dutch flag, is

indigo-blue, with white head and neck, vermilion tail-coverts and tail

edged with black, and red carunculated orbits, lores, and forehead. _A.

madagascariensis_, of Madagascar and Nossibé Island, has most of the neck

slaty-grey, but the head blue, and the tail crimson with a wash of blue and

green at the base, while the naked skin only surrounds the eyes. _A.

pulcherrima_ of the Seychelles, to which the name of "Pigeon hollondais"

has been transferred, has the neck and breast grey, the upper parts,

including the tail, black with blue reflexions, the crown crimson, the

orbits, lores, and forehead wattled. _A. sganzini_ of the Comoro Islands

differs in having a grey head and only the orbits bare. Throughout the

genus the long, loosely webbed and bifurcated neck-feathers resemble

hackles in appearance. The members are, according to circumstances, tame

and stupid, or shy and wary; they are arboreal and fly powerfully, while

they feed on dates, figs, berries and grain, the flocks being very

destructive to rice-crops. _Drepanoptila holosericea_, of New Caledonia and

{347}the Isle of Pines, with its feathered white metatarsi and fork-tipped

primaries, is green, with grey wing- and tail-bars, white throat and yellow

abdomen, the last being divided from the breast by a yellowish-white and a

black band.

Of the smaller Fruit-Pigeons, which differ but little in habits from the

larger, the lovely genus _Chrysoenas_ is confined to Fiji. _C. luteovirens_

has an olive-yellow head, and a bright yellow abdomen and collar; the

remaining plumage being yellow, more or less tinged with green, especially

on the wings and tail. The feathers of the neck and back are narrowly

lanceolate and the tail-coverts long. The female is green, with a yellow

wash below, and has nearly brown remiges. _C. victor_ is bright orange,

with olive-yellow head and throat and browner wing-quills; the coverts

almost conceal the tail, but the long decomposed body-feathers are not

especially narrow. The female is green, with yellowish head and

orange-margined remiges. _C. viridis_ is dark green, with a golden hue on

the back and breast, the head being almost yellow, as are the edges of the

quills. The female is green, with grey vent-region. The seventy or more

brilliantly coloured members of the genus _Ptilopus_ range from the Malay

Peninsula to the Marquesas; New Guinea and Polynesia accounting for a large

majority. The following are some of the most striking. _P. jambu_ of the

Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Bangka, and Billiton has the front half

of the head crimson, the upper parts bright green, the primaries black,

margined with bluish-green, the tip of the tail yellowish, and the under

parts white, with a purplish-brown streak down the throat, a rosy smear on

the breast, and a red-brown anal region. The female has dull purple on the

head and a greyish-green breast. The following three species have

bifurcated breast-feathers. _P. dupetit-thouarsi_ of the Marquesas has the

crown whitish, encircled by a yellowish line, the upper surface green with

yellow margins to the wing-quills and tip to the tail, the scapulars and

inner secondaries spotted with blue, the under parts yellowish-green, with

a cherry-coloured patch surrounded by orange on the breast, the throat and

vent pale yellow. _P. swainsoni_ of Eastern Australia, straying to

South-East New Guinea, has a rose-lilac forehead and crown with a yellow

margin behind, bright green upper parts with yellow edges to the

wing-quills and peacock-blue tips to the inner secondaries and scapulars, a

yellow tip to the tail, a {348}pale yellow throat, a dull green breast with

silvery grey tips to the feathers, and a lilac band dividing this from the

orange abdomen. The female is rather brighter green. _P. superbus_ of the

Moluccas, Papuasia and North Australia, has a purple cap, rufous-orange

nape and sides of the neck, rich green upper surface, with deep blue spots

on the scapulars and wings and a patch of the same colour at the bend of

the latter, black primaries with yellow margins, a whitish throat, and a

purple and grey breast, separated from the white abdomen and green and

white vent by a broad violet-black band. The female has green upper parts,

with blue spots on the wing-region and one on the occiput, and a grey and

green breast. _P. insolitus_ of New Ireland, New Britain, and the Duke of

York Island, with its curious orange frontal knob, is green, with grey

lesser wing-coverts and inner secondaries, a grey-tipped tail, an orange

abdomen, and a yellowish vent-region. _P. aurantiifrons_ of Papuasia has a

yellowish-green head with orange forehead; a white throat; grey neck, upper

breast, tip of the tail, and spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts; the

remaining plumage being chiefly green. _P. nanus_ of the same districts,

the smallest of the Sub-family, is bronzy-green with a greyish band on each

side of the breast, a yellow vent, and a purple abdominal patch, lacking in

the female. _Phabotreron_ is a group of similar species confined to the

Philippines. _P. amethystina_ is bronzy-brown with an amethystine nape and

lower surface, the cheeks are crossed by a black line over a white one, the

throat is reddish, the tip of the tail grey. The lines on the cheeks and a

rounded tail are characteristic of the genus.

The remaining members of the Treroninae are of a greenish or yellowish

coloration, generally varied with patches or bands of dull purple, red,

orange, or lilac–nearly or quite absent in the females, except in _Vinago_,

where the sexes are similar. This genus is Ethiopian, while the others

reach from India eastward to Japan, Formosa, and the Moluccas. _Osmotreron_

contains a dozen and a half species, of which the following may serve as

examples. _O. vernans_, ranging from the Malay countries to Cochin-China,

the Philippines, and Celebes, has a greyish head and throat,

vinaceous-purple neck, dull green upper parts, yellowish-green lower

surface with an orange pectoral patch, rufescent upper and chestnut under

tail-coverts; the wing-quills are black with yellow margins to the coverts,

and the grey tail exhibits a black {349}subterminal bar on the lateral

feathers. The small _O. olax_ of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo,

has the back maroon, the head and neck grey. _O. pompadora_ of Ceylon has

the forehead and throat yellow, the mantle maroon, and the median rectrices

green. _O. aromatica_ of Bouru differs in having no yellow forehead, and

the bend of the wing blackish.

_Treron nipalensis_ and the very closely allied _T. nasica_ are found from

Bengal and Nepal to the Indo-Malay Islands, the Philippines, and

Cochin-China; they have grey heads, chestnut mantles, black wings with

yellow edges to the coverts and secondaries, cinnamon under tail-coverts,

grey lateral rectrices banded with black, and green plumage elsewhere.

_Butreron capellii_, of the Malay Peninsula and neighbouring islands, has

the head and upper parts greyish-green, the wings nearly as in the last

species, the throat and abdomen yellowish-green, the breast orange, and the

under tail-coverts chestnut.

_Crocopus_, with its three similar members, extends from India and Ceylon

to Cochin-China. _C. chlorigaster_ has a grey head and tail, a

yellowish-green neck and under surface, a grey band across the mantle, a

yellow alar bar, an olive-green back and rump, a purple patch at the bend

of the wing, and rufous and white lower tail-coverts.

Half a dozen species of _Vinago_ range from Senegambia and Abyssinia to

Madagascar and Cape Colony. _V. waalia_, found from West to North-East

Africa, has a greenish-grey head and neck, olive upper parts,

blackish-brown remiges with yellow outer margins, a rich vinous patch on

the wing-coverts, a slaty-blue tail, a bright yellow breast, and a buff

abdomen. _V. calva_, of the Ethiopian Region northward of Angola and the

Zambesi, has a curious bare forehead and frontal swelling, a

yellowish-green head, neck, and lower surface, and a grey collar at the

base of the hind-neck. _V. crassirostris_ is confined to St. Thomas and

Rollas Islands, West Africa; _V. australis_ to Madagascar. _Sphenocercus_,

with some eight members, having wedge-shaped tails and a general

resemblance in colour, reaches from North India, Sumatra, Borneo, and Java,

to Japan and Formosa. _S. sphenurus_, of the Himalayas and the Burmese

countries, has the head, neck, and under parts greenish-yellow with a

rufous tinge, the back purplish- and bluish-green, the rump and

wing-coverts olive with a maroon patch on the latter, and the remiges

slaty-black with yellow {350}margins. _S. sieboldi_ is peculiar to Japan,

_S. sororius_ and _S. formosae_ to Formosa, _S. permagnus_ to the Liu-Kiu

Islands.

Comparatively few fossil forms of the Columbidae have been discovered, but

_Columba_ occurs in the Lower Miocene of France and in Malta, while

_Lithophaps ulnaris_ and _Progura gallinacea_ are recorded from the

Queensland Drifts, and _Alectoroenas? rodericana_ is an extinct species

from Rodriguez.

{351}CHAPTER VI

NEORNITHES CARINATAE _CONTINUED_

BRIGADE II–LEGION II (CORACIOMORPHAE). ORDERS: CUCULIFORMES–CORACIIFORMES

ORDER XII. CUCULIFORMES.

The Order Cuculiformes commences the last great division of Carinate Birds.

It contains the Sub-Orders CUCULI and PSITTACI; the former consisting of

the Families _Cuculidae_, or Cuckoos, and _Musophagidae_, or

Plantain-eaters; the latter of the _Psittacidae_, or Parrots, Parrakeets,

Macaws, and Cockatoos, and the _Trichoglossidae_, or Lory group.

Zygodactylous feet (p. 10) are characteristic of the Order, while further

structural details are to be found below. Dr. Gadow confirms the close

connexion of the two Sub-Orders.[214]

Fam. I. CUCULIDAE.–Here we may accept, in default of full anatomical

investigation, the Sub-families of Captain Shelley,[215] namely, (1)

_Cuculinae_, (2) _Centropodinae_, (3) _Phaenicophainae_, (4)

_Neomorphinae_, (5) _Diplopterinae_, and (6) _Crotophaginae_.

The bill is generally long and curved, being strongly arched in

_Hyetornis_, _Piaya_, _Taccocua_, and _Zanclostomus_; it is straight in

_Saurothera_ and _Rhinortha_, abnormally large in _Rhamphomantis_ and

_Scythrops_, and has the maxilla compressed into a thin elevated plate in

_Crotophaga_. The scutellated metatarsi are commonly stout, and are

especially long in the cursorial genera _Coua_ and _Geococcyx_; in

_Centropus_ the hallux terminates in an elongated spur-like claw. The wings

are long and straight in the Cuculinae, Diplopterinae, and Crotophaginae,

short and curved elsewhere; the primaries numbering ten, and the

secondaries usually nine or ten, but thirteen in _Scythrops_; in the

Neomorphinae the quills are about equal in extent. The rounded {352}or

wedge-shaped tail is nearly always long, and has ten feathers, except in

the Crotophaginae, which have eight; it is forked in two species of

_Surniculus_. _Diplopterus_ has the upper coverts half as long as the

rectrices, _Dromococcyx_ has them of the entire length. The impervious

nostrils, usually pierced in a swollen membrane, are hidden by bristly

plumes in _Dasylophus_ and _Lepidogrammus_. The furcula is Y-shaped, the

tongue is sagittate with retroverted spines on the posterior margin, the

syrinx is tracheo-bronchial or occasionally bronchial. Distinct eyelashes

are often visible, the after-shaft is rudimentary or absent, the nestlings

are naked, and down is only found in adults on the unfeathered spaces.

The plumage of the more typical Cuckoos is brownish or grey, usually with

barred under parts, the long flank-feathers covering half the metatarsi;

_Chrysococcyx_, however, contains several beautiful emerald-green forms;

while _Chalcococcyx_ is scarcely less brilliant; but _Surniculus_ and

_Cuculus clamosus_ are black. _Crotophaga_ is also black. _Coccystes_, and

several species of _Coua_, have well-developed crests, while

_Lepidogrammus_ has a rounded tuft, _Guira_ one of long narrow plumes, and

_Geococcyx mexicanus_ an erectile patch. Fork-tipped feathers on the head

and neck are not uncommon. The colour of the bill, feet, and iris varies

much; the cheeks and orbits are often naked, and may be bright red, blue,

or greyish, as in the Phoenicophainae and Centropodinae. Strong glossy

feather-shafts, often with filiform extremities, are found in _Coua_,

_Taccocua_, _Phoenicophaës_, _Rhopodytes_ and elsewhere, on the head, neck,

mantle and chest; _Crotophaga_ has stiff, scale-like borders, and

_Lepidogrammus_ metallic horny tips, to the feathers of the first two of

these; _Dasylophus_ has fine crimson hair-like tufts springing from above

each eye. The beak may be black, green, yellowish, or even, as in

_Rhamphococcyx_, chiefly red. The sexes are alike in most cases.

The Ethiopian and Indian Regions are richest in Cuculidae. New Zealand

possesses only two species; but Madagascar, besides other forms, claims the

entire genus _Coua_. In all there are more than a hundred and sixty species

of some forty-two genera.

Sub-fam. 1. _Cuculinae_.–_Cuculus canorus_, the familiar Cuckoo of Britain

and nearly all the Old World, is greyish-brown above and on the throat, the

lower parts being white barred with dusky, and the wings and tail shewing a

few white markings. A chestnut-brown or "hepatic" phase is sometimes met

with. {353}The young are brown mottled with white on the nape. Its flight

and general coloration give the Cuckoo a distinctly Hawk-like appearance,

and cause it to be systematically mobbed by small birds, while ignorant

peasants persecute it mercilessly, and assert that it "changes to a Hawk"

in winter. Certain other members of the Family have the same raptorial

aspect, notably the Asiatic Hawk-Cuckoo (_Hierococcyx_); whereas several of

the Centropodinae unconsciously mimic Pheasants in their colour, in their

red orbits and their wedge-shaped tail. _Geococcyx_ is still more like a

Galline bird in some respects; and _Surniculus_ is a decidedly good

imitation of a Drongo (Dicruridae).

[Illustration: FIG. 69.–Cuckoo. _Cuculus canorus_. × 2/7.]

In early April the Cuckoo's note heralds the approaching summer in Britain,

and continues to be heard until June, after which it becomes hoarser and

the first syllable is doubled; in July the adults begin to disappear, yet

stray examples–chiefly, if not entirely, young–remain up to October, when

they migrate as far as South Africa, Ceylon, and Celebes. None breed south

of North Africa and the Himalayas. The eggs are invariably deposited in the

nests of other birds, which rear the intruder and feed it until it leaves

the country; but it is doubtful how many are {354}produced in a

season–possibly five or six–or whether the same hen ever places two or more

in one nest. It is now certain that the egg is laid on the ground and

conveyed to the chosen nursery in the bill, an occurrence said to have been

actually witnessed by Adolf Müller, a forester in Darmstadt.

Closely connected with the above parasitic habit is the question of the

colour of the egg. Red or blue specimens have undoubtedly been found in

Germany and elsewhere, as well as the typical brown or greyish varieties;

but they do not always assimilate to those of the foster-parent, albeit to

the eggs of Pipits, Wagtails, and so forth, that of a Cuckoo is often

exactly similar. The theories advanced to account for this are by no means

conclusive, though hereditary habit may afford a clue; we may, however, be

sure that the hen cannot determine the colour of her egg.

With us the most usual foster-parents are the Meadow-Pipit, Pied Wagtail,

Reed Warbler, Hedge-Sparrow and Robin, perhaps in the above order. They

seldom, if ever, seem to resent the intrusion, or to notice their

consequent losses. The careful observations of Jenner, Hancock, and Mrs.

Blackburn shew that the young Cuckoo, when some thirty hours old, begins

unaided to remove from the nest the rightful progeny or unhatched eggs by

means of its broad back, which has a central depression for the first

twelve days; but after this hollow is filled up the desire is said to

cease. It pushes below a nestling with its wings, and raises it with much

exertion to the edge of the nest, finally ejecting it by a supreme effort.

The probable reason why the Cuckoo's egg often hatches first is the hen's

habit of selecting nests with only one or two fresh eggs. Subsequently she

neglects her offspring entirely. It is stated that the males, who alone

utter the well-known notes, decidedly outnumber the females, and that no

strict pairing takes place; while in the courting season a curious bubbling

sound, attributed to the hen, may be heard as two or three individuals

chase each other along the hedgerows. Wooded districts and bare hill-moors

are equally frequented, trees being constantly used as perches. The quick,

straight flight is varied by twists and swoops; the food consists of

insects and their larvae, the stomach often becoming lined with hairs of

caterpillars. Our Cuckoo does not eat eggs, but various foreign species add

to their diet seeds and other fruits, land-molluscs, worms, frogs, lizards,

small snakes, birds, and mice. _Chalcococcyx lucidus_ bruises its food

before swallowing it.

{355}The genus _Coccystes_, of South Europe, Africa, and Tropical Asia,

includes the Great Spotted Cuckoo (_C. glandarius_), which has twice

occurred in Britain, a crested greyish-brown bird, with a yellowish throat,

white under parts and markings above. In Southern Spain and Northern Africa

it deposits from two to four eggs in the nests of the Magpies, _Pica

rustica_, _P. mauritanica_, and _Cyanopica cooki_, or of the Grey Crow,

_Corvus cornix_; these eggs, like those of the foster parents, being pale

green with brown and lilac markings. The note of the male is "kee-ou,

kee-ou" or "kark-kark", of the female "burroo-burroo." _C. coromandus_,

chiefly greenish- and bluish-black above with rufous wings and white nuchal

collar, and buff below with grey abdomen, ranges from India and Ceylon to

China and Celebes, laying roundish, plain green-blue eggs in nests of

_Crateropus_ and other birds, and having a true Cuckoo's note. _C.

serratus_ of South Africa, which is greenish-black with a white alar band,

is somewhat terrestrial, and lays a white egg in nests of _Pycnonotus_ and

_Sigelus_.

_Surniculus lugubris_, extending from India to China and the Malay Islands,

is black, with green and purple reflexions and a few scattered white

markings. The tail is sometimes forked. _Cacomantis passerinus_, of India,

Java, and Sumatra, is grey, having an olive gloss above, blue-black

rectrices with white bars, and white abdomen. It frequents jungles, utters

a plaintive series of whistles, continuing for hours, and lays bluish eggs

with purplish, markings in various birds' nests. _C. virescens_ of Celebes

and Bouru is said by Dr. Meyer to build its own nest. _Chrysococcyx

smaragdineus_, of Tropical and Southern Africa, is a lovely emerald-green

bird, with yellow breast and white-barred lateral rectrices. The female has

a partially rufous head and mantle, coppery, bronze, and green upper parts,

and white lower surface banded with green. The males whistle loudly to

their mates for long periods, perched on tall trees, or hawk for insects in

the air. _C. cupreus_, of the same countries, is in both sexes

coppery-green varied with white above, and white with bronzy bars below; it

is called "Di-dric" from its cry, and lays white eggs in Sun-birds' and

Finches' nests. The similarly coloured _Chalcococcyx lucidus_ of Australia,

New Zealand, and the Chatham Islands has a reiterated plaintive note, with

the effect of ventriloquism, and foists its greenish-white eggs with brown

spots upon _Acanthiza_ and _Gerygone_.

Of _Eudynamis_, ranging from India and Ceylon to Australia {356}and

Polynesia, the black males are barely distinguishable, but the females

vary, and are black, brown, rufous, and white. _E. honorata_, the noisy

Indian Koël, has a loud melodious or hoarse whistling note, supposed to

portend rain; it feeds on fruit, and lays from one to four greenish eggs

with brown and grey blotches in nests of Crows. _E. melanorhyncha_ is the

"foreteller at night" of Celebes.[216] The extraordinary _Scythrops novae

hollandiae_, or Channel-bill, of Australia, Papuasia, and the Moluccas, has

a grey head, brownish back, and whitish under parts with indistinct dusky

bars, the tail exhibiting a subterminal blackish and a terminal white band.

The large maxilla has two lateral grooves, the bare lores and orbits are

scarlet. This big bird flies like a Hawk, and is possibly parasitic; while

eggs, taken from the oviduct, are white with pinkish-brown spots. The weird

cry or shriek is syllabled krok, and the flocks feed on fruits and insects.

_Coccyzus americanus_, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo of America, has occurred in

Britain, and ranges from the Great Plains, Canada, and New Brunswick to

Argentina; it is an arboreal species, pairing and building–apparently twice

a year–a slight flat nest of twigs, grass, and moss, lined with leaves. It

lays from three to five light greenish eggs, and the hen feigns lameness

when danger threatens the young. _C. occidentalis_ is a more western form.

_C. erythrophthalmus_, the American Black-billed Cuckoo, has been killed in

Ireland and Italy. The coloration in the eight members of this genus is

brownish-grey, relieved by rufous, the under parts being buff or white.

Sub-fam. 2. _Centropodinae._–This group comprises only the thirty or more

large Coucals (_Centropus_) of the Ethiopian Region, Egypt, Madagascar,

India, and the countries thence to China, Papuasia, and Australia. _C.

sinensis_, the Crow-Pheasant, extending from India and Ceylon to China, is

black with purple and green reflexions, the mantle being chestnut; _C.

unirufus_ of the Philippines is entirely rufous. They are strong-billed,

long-legged birds with terrestrial tendencies, noisy yet often shy, which

fly heavily, run, climb, leap, or glide with up-turned tail about the trees

in forests and jungles, and utter a mellow "hoo-too" or a chuckle. The food

consists of insects and their larvae, molluscs, reptiles, small mammals,

and nestling birds. They make a large globular nest of twigs and leaves, or

even of rushes, grass, and rags, {357}with a lateral hole; it is placed in

a tree, a thorny bush, or a tuft of herbage. The three to six oval eggs are

white or bluish with a readily-stained chalky coating; the young are soon

able to skulk among the foliage. _C. toulou_ is held sacred in Madagascar.

Sub-fam. 3. _Phoenicophainae._–_Taccocua sirkee_, the Indian Sirkeer, has

somewhat similar habits, but makes a flat nest. It is olive-brown above,

relieved by black and white, and rufous below. _Coua_ is peculiar to

Madagascar, _C. caerulea_ having loose blue plumage, glossed with violet on

the tail, and dark blue naked orbits; but the other species are more olive

or grey, with black or rufous on the head, throat, or mantle. The large,

shy members of this handsome genus frequent the edges of forests; but

whereas five species fly heavily and climb well, jumping from branch to

branch with elevated rectrices, occasionally assisted by their beaks, the

remaining seven rarely leave the ground, where they run about with the tail

trailing. The note is a harsh "tashu" or a sharp "turruh"; the food

consists of seeds, insects, worms, small mammals, birds, and molluscs–the

last broken on stones; the nest of twigs and fibres is placed in high

trees, and contains two or three white eggs.[217]

_Saurothera_, _Hyetornis_, and _Piaya_ are the "Rain-birds" of the Bahamas

and Antilles, the latter genus extending to Bolivia and Argentina. They are

inactive, wary birds, which hide and creep about with outspread tails when

in the trees, but are more at ease upon the ground; the cry is a loud harsh

scream or cackle; the food consists of insects, berries, lizards, and mice;

the flat nest contains two or three white eggs. _P. cayana_ is

reddish-brown above with a violet tinge, and grey below with pinkish

throat; the tail shewing a subterminal black bar and a white tip, and the

bare orbits being red. _Phoenicophaës pyrrhocephalus_ of Ceylon is dark

green, with bluish wings, blackish head and chest, tail varied with white,

and white breast; the forehead and sides of the head being red and rugose.

It is a fruit-eating forest species, said to be parasitic, though the

allied _Rhopodytes_ of the Indian Region lays two or three white eggs in a

slight nest of sticks and leaves, while the pugnacious _Rhamphococcyx

calorhynchus_, the "foreteller by day" of Celebes, builds a similar

structure.[218]

Sub-fam. 4. _Neomorphinae._–_Geococcyx mexicanus_, the curious

Chapparal-Cock or Road-runner of the South-Western United States and

Mexico, frequents thinly-wooded country, hilly cactus-regions {358}or

barren plains. The plumage is brownish, with white margins to the feathers

and a purple tinge on the rufous-mottled head, neck, and breast; the back

is greener, the tail more lilac, the abdomen white, the bare orbits blue

and red. With its long stout legs this species covers the ground very

quickly, running with outstretched neck, elevated crest, slightly expanded

wings, and jerking tail, or springing into trees and taking brief flights:

it is even difficult to outpace it with dogs or on horseback. It eats

insects, snapping some in the bill as it leaps into the air, and enjoys

grasshoppers, mice, and lizards; in captivity it is thievish. The note is

low, the beak being occasionally clattered. The nest of twigs and grass,

placed in bushes, contains from three to nine white eggs, the male

apparently assisting in incubation. _Carpococcyx radiatus_ of Borneo, and

_C. viridis_ of Sumatra, are the only Old World species in this group.

[Illustration: FIG. 70.–Radiated Ground-Cuckoo. _Carpococcyx radiatus._ ×

⅙. (From _Nature_.)]

Sub-fam. 5. _Diplopterinae._–_Diplopterus naevius_, a pale brown {359}bird

with darker streaks and white under surface, may represent this Central and

South American group, of which the only other members are two species of

_Dromococcyx_.

Sub-fam. 6. _Crotophaginae._–Of these birds, peculiar to the New World,

_Crotophaga ani_, the Ani, Black Parrot, or Savannah-blackbird, extending

from the Southern United States and the Antilles to most of South America,

is glossy purplish- or greenish-black, and has the smooth maxilla

compressed into a thin vertical plate, which, like the bare orbits, is

black. Its grotesque appearance and alleged malpractices have given it the

name of Black Witch in the West Indies. _C. sulcirostris_, ranging from

Texas to Peru, has the bill grooved; _C. major_ of South America is larger

and greener. Far from shifting the burden of incubation upon other species,

the females form huge co-operative nests of interlaced twigs lined with

green leaves in trees, wherein each deposits some five bluish eggs with a

chalky incrustation, amounting in all to twenty or more. Around or upon

these structures they sit in company. Bold but wary, the Anis flit from

bush to bush, or creep and jump about the branches, uttering a mewing sound

or a sharper double cry. They are often mobbed by other birds. Flocks

gather in wooded or marshy spots, and feed on insects, berries, lizards,

and so forth; occasionally digging for their prey, or picking the ticks off

cattle.

_Guira piririgua_, of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, is brown and buff

above with darker streaks, and buff below, the back and tips of the lateral

rectrices being white. From the similarity of habits to _Crotophaga_ it is

termed the White Ani in Brazil. Flocks draw near the houses in winter, and

sit miserably huddled together on the trees; the note is a long disyllabic

whistle, or in the young an hysterical laugh. Usually each pair makes a

rough nest of twigs and leaves, laying six or seven pale blue eggs with

reticulated chalky coating; though fourteen have been recorded.

Fam. II. MUSOPHAGIDAE.–The Plantain-eaters are striking birds, peculiar to

the Ethiopian Region, without Madagascar. They have large eyes and long

necks; while the bill, though small in _Gallirex_, is generally stout and

broad with compressed or rounded culmen and serrated margin, and in

_Musophaga_ expands into a broad frontal plate behind. The feet are

semi-zygodactylous, with reversible outer toe and strong claws; the robust

metatarsi are scutellated anteriorly and coarsely granulated posteriorly.

{360}The wings are rather short and round, with ten primaries and twelve or

thirteen secondaries; the rounded tail of varying length has ten rectrices.

The furcula is U-shaped; the tongue sagittate–with bristly apex in

_Gallirex_; the nostrils–hidden in _Turacus_–are usually oval, but are

linear in _Schizorhis_ and _Gymnoschizorhis_; the aftershaft is large; the

nestlings lack down. The red or grey orbits are naked, save in

_Schizorhis_; in _Gymnoschizorhis_ the cheeks and throat are bare and

blackish.

[Illustration: FIG. 71.–Green-mantled Turaco. _Gallirex chlorochlamys._ ×

¼.]

The six genera comprise two dozen or more species from about thirty to

fifteen inches in length; the general coloration being metallic blue and

green or greyish-brown, usually varied with crimson, and in the large

_Corythaeola_ with yellow; all have erectile crests of different sizes,

except _Musophaga violacea_. The bill is red, yellowish, or black, the feet

are black. The sexes are alike, the young duller. The red feathers yield a

peculiar pigment, containing copper, called Turacin, which is reducible to

a powder; this is so soluble that the colour is washed away during rain or

in a bath, though regained subsequently.[219]

Plantain-eaters are found in pairs, or in small flocks of four to ten, over

wooded country near inland or tidal waters, reaching an altitude of some

ten thousand feet. The tops of high trees are {361}a favourite haunt, but

they are not uncommonly seen amongst the tangled creepers below, flitting

from shrub to shrub with undulating flight when disturbed, and alighting

with crest erect and up-turned tail. Of some species the flight is clumsy

and jerky, of others light and graceful; at times they hover in the air

with outspread wings and tail, at times they sport and hop among the

branches, expanding and depressing the rectrices. Familiar yet extremely

shy and restless, these birds, when wounded, are particularly hard to

secure, as they run with great swiftness, and even take refuge in holes in

trees. During rain or in the mid-day heat they rest quietly on some bough,

but at other times are usually noisy, their harsh reiterated screaming or

ringing notes being varied by a cat-like mewing or dove-like sound. The

food consists of bananas, tamarinds, papaw-apples, and other fruits, with

insects, worms, caterpillars, molluscs, or even small birds. They are

occasionally mobbed by their kin, as Cuckoos are. Though some species have

been asserted to breed in holes, _Schizorhis concolor_ makes a flat nest in

trees, and _Gymnoschizorhis leopoldi_ a loose platform of thorny twigs and

roots, both species laying three round greenish- or bluish-white eggs. The

flesh is considered a delicacy by the natives.

_Turacus_ (_Corythaix_) _fischeri_ of East Africa is green, washed with

blue on the wings and tail, having a crimson crest tipped with black, a

crimson hind neck with white nape, a blackish lower chest and abdomen, and

black cheeks margined above and below with white; the remiges are crimson,

edged with black, the bare orbits red. _T. corythaix_ is called the Lory in

South Africa. _Musophaga violacea_ of West Africa is glossy violet-blue

with darker tail, the crown and hind-neck being covered with short, hairy,

crimson feathers and partially outlined with white; the chest is greenish,

the frontal plate yellow; the wing-quills and orbits are as in _T.

fischeri_. _Schizorhis concolor_ of South Africa is nearly uniform

ash-coloured; _Gymnoschizorhis personata_ of Shoa is greyish-brown with

paler crest, whitish head and neck, blackish naked cheeks and throat, and

dirty green breast.

The remarkable fossil _Necrornis_ occurs in the Middle Miocene of France.

* * * * *

Of all existing Birds the Parrots (Sub-Order PSITTACI) are perhaps the most

interesting to the public, being easily procurable, {362}docile, and

long-lived pets of gorgeous coloration and amusing habits. The red-tailed

Grey Parrot of Africa (_Psittacus erithacus_) is considered the best

talker, yet, apart from individual ability, many species of _Palaeornis_,

_Chrysotis_, and other genera, are equally clever, if we cannot say

intelligent. Professor Skeat identifies the name Parrot with the French

_Pierrot_; but, however that may be, Indian species have been known in

Europe since the time of Alexander the Great, and one or more African forms

were kept in ornamental cages, and even eaten, at Rome under Nero.

In default of a really satisfactory arrangement we may accept that of Dr.

Gadow,[220] who agrees in the main with Count Salvadori,[221] and

recognises the Family _Psittacidae_, with Sub-families _Stringopinae_,

_Psittacinae_, and _Cacatuinae_; and the Family _Trichoglossidae_, with

_Cyclopsittacinae_, _Loriinae_, and _Nestorinae_.

There are in all about eighty genera containing some five hundred species,

but the variety arises chiefly from colour, while the beak alone would

sufficiently determine the Family. This feature is usually short and stout,

with strongly arched maxilla and mandible, the former being moveable and

hinged to the skull, and the latter truncated. In _Nestor_ and _Loriculus_

the curve is more gradual and the depth less; in the Cyclopsittacinae and

some Psittacinae the bill is distinctly notched; in the Stringopinae,

Nestorinae, and other Psittacinae it is grooved; while a file-like surface

with transverse ridges, below the overhanging hooked tip, distinguishes the

Psittacidae from the Trichoglossidae. At the base is generally a large

swollen cere, or a similar but very narrow band in various Psittacinae; in

the Platycercine group this is very small, and it is more or less hidden by

feathers in certain Psittacinae, Cacatuinae, Cyclopsittacinae, and

Nestorinae. The feet are permanently zygodactylous, the metatarsus being

short–except in Ground-Parrots–compressed, and covered with rugose scales.

The abbreviated rounded wings of the terrestrial _Stringops_, where the

keel of the sternum is correspondingly reduced, are comparatively useless;

while these members, though usually moderate, may be long, as in

_Nasiterna_ and _Cacatua_, or more acute, as in the Loriinae; the primaries

are ten in number, the secondaries from eight to fourteen. The tail varies

much, being short and square with projecting spiny shafts in _Nasiterna_,

longer with {363}acuminate feathers in _Stringops_, moderate in the

Loriinae and Cyclopsittacinae, elongated and wedge-shaped in _Conurus_,

_Ara_, _Psittacula_, and many species of _Palaeornis_, long and broad in

_Platycercus_ and _Cacatua_, and so forth. _Oreopsittacus_ possesses

fourteen rectrices, every other genus twelve; in _Prioniturus_ the median

pair have bare shafts and racquet-tips.

The U-shaped furcula is sometimes entirely absent; a completely ossified

orbital ring occurs in the Cacatuinae, Stringopinae, and many Psittacinae;

the tongue is short and fleshy, being fringed in the Nestorinae, or having

a brush of hairs towards the tip in the Loriinae and _Nanodes_; the

uniquely modified syrinx has three pairs of tracheal and tracheo-bronchial

muscles; and a crop is present. The aftershaft is large, the down of the

adults and young is uniform, the latter being naked when hatched.

[Illustration: FIG. 72.–Uvaean Parakeet. _Nymphicus uvaeensis._ × ½. (From

_Nature_.)]

The coloration is commonly gaudy, and particularly so in {364}Macaws; yet

some species are sober in tint, and that of the beak and feet varies

considerably in different forms. _Stringops_ has a disc of stiff feathers

round the eye, _Nymphicus_ and the Cacatuinae possess crests, _Deroptyus_

broad erectile nape-plumes. Bare foreheads, cheeks or orbits, of a red,

pink, blue, yellow, black, grey, or white hue are found in _Microglossus_,

_Cacatua_, _Licmetis_, _Anodorhynchus_, _Cyanopsittacus_, _Ara_,

_Poeocephalus_, _Psittacus_, _Coracopsis_, and _Dasyptilus_; while

powder-down patches or tufts occur on the neck, shoulders, and sides of the

Cacatuinae, _Psittacus_, and _Chrysotis_. The length varies from some

thirty inches in the Great Black Cockatoo (_Microglossus_) to about three

in the diminutive _Nasiterna pygmaea_. The name Macaw is applied to _Ara_

and its nearest allies, Love-bird to _Agapornis_ and _Psittacula_, Parakeet

to _Platycercus_ and _Palaeornis_, Lorikeet to _Loriculus_, _Charmosyna_,

and _Coriphilus_, Lory to _Eclectus_, _Trichoglossus_, _Lorius_,

_Chalcopsittacus_, and _Eos_, King Lory to _Aprosmictus_.

Parrots usually feed and roost in company, though in _Eclectus_ the habits

are said to be more solitary; the males are, however, monogamous, each

courting a single female, which twitters and rolls the head from side to

side when love-making. The haunts include wooded districts, grassy plains,

or even rocky hills and sandy flats; _Stringops_ being almost entirely

terrestrial, _Melopsittacus_ and _Neophema_ (Grass-Parakeets), with

_Geopsittacus_ and _Pezoporus_ (Ground-Parakeets), being mainly so, while

Cockatoos and many other forms habitually frequent high trees, though

_Cacatua galerita_, _Licmetis nasica_, and several species of _Platycercus_

spend much time upon the ground. Most Parrots walk with considerable ease,

and climb well; their flight is commonly low and undulating, but is

comparatively strong in _Nestor_, the Macaws, the Lories, and the like; the

last-named climb less, and often hop along the ground. _Loriculus_, when

sleeping, generally hangs by one foot. Little drink seems necessary, as the

vegetable food is ordinarily succulent; plantains, papaw-apples, figs, and

tamarinds being varied by flowers, buds, leaves, hard palm-nuts, and fruits

of _Platanus_, _Casuarina_, _Banksia_, _Cactus_, or _Capsicum_.

Grass-Parakeets and their nearest allies subsist almost entirely on

grass-seeds and grain, _Licmetis_ and some other Cockatoos dig for tubers

and bulbs, _Calyptorhynchus_ and _Nestor_ search the bark of trees for

insects, while the latter and the Loriinae suck honey from the flowers of

_Phormium_ and _Eucalyptus_. _Nestor notabilis_, {365}the New Zealand Kea,

eats the flesh of living sheep, an acquired taste as remarkable as it is

destructive. Parrots alone among Birds habitually manipulate their food in

their claws, these claws, moreover, greatly aiding them to creep about the

branches or to cling to the mouth of their breeding-holes. The usual cry is

harsh and discordant, Lories and Macaws making an especially deafening

noise; but Cockatoos, besides their scream, utter a softer sound,

_Loriculus_ has a monosyllabic note, _Nymphicus_ and _Melopsittacus_ quite

a pretty warble. The female hisses when caught upon her eggs, and in

captivity many forms talk and whistle. Holes in trees, crevices in cliffs

or caves, cavities under stones or roots, and even shallow depressions in

the soil, seldom with any bedding, serve for a nest; the spherical or

somewhat pointed eggs, which are often deposited in confinement, being dull

white, occasionally with a greenish tinge or brownish incubation-stains.

The larger species usually lay one, two, or three, some of the smaller as

many as twelve, the size varying greatly (pp. 367, 372). _Palaeornis_

habitually cuts a circular hole in rotten trees, and even bores to a depth

of three feet; _Pezoporus_ is said to make a mass of grass and rushes in

tussocks, _Myiopsittacus monachus_ a globular fabric with a side entrance;

_Nasiterna_, _Psephotus_, _Cyanolyseus_, and _Conurus_ will breed in holes

in ants' nests or steep banks. The male occasionally assists in incubation,

and two broods may be reared in a season. Small or large colonies are

sometimes formed, and in both the Old and New Worlds large flocks seriously

damage ripe maize and corn, or oranges and other fruits. The birds are

often killed for eating, and their feathers used for ornament; for caging,

they are limed, captured with decoys, or taken from the nest.

The headquarters of Parrots are in the Australian Region and the Malay

countries, which possess a majority of the genera and peculiar species;

next follows the Neotropical Region; the Indian and Ethiopian are

comparatively poor; the Palaearctic possesses no existing representative;

and the Nearctic but one, _Conurus carolinensis_, which early in this

century extended northwards to the Great Lakes, but now only inhabits

Florida, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. _Cyanolyseus patagonus_ and

_Microsittace ferruginea_ occur at the Straits of Magellan, _Poeocephalus

robustus_ at the extreme south of Africa, _Cyanorhamphus erythrotis_ in

Macquarie Island; while many forms occupy most limited areas, especially in

the West Indies and the Pacific. Of _Coracopsis mascarinus_ {366}of

Réunion, _Nestor productus_ of Phillip Island, and _N. norfolcensis_ of

Norfolk Island, only a few specimens exist, and those in collections;

_Palaeornis exsul_ of Rodriguez and _Conurus pertinax_ of St. Thomas in the

West Indies are verging upon extinction. A Macaw seems to have disappeared

from Jamaica, and six Parrots from Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The sexes of all the species described below are alike, unless otherwise

stated, the young being commonly duller.

[Illustration: FIG. 73.–Kakapo. _Stringops habroptilus._ × ⅕. (From

_Nature_.)]

Fam. III. PSITTACIDAE.–Sub-fam. 1. _Stringopinae._–_Stringops habroptilus_,

the Kakapo or Tarapo of New Zealand, has sap-green upper parts, with yellow

middles to the feathers and transverse brown markings; yellower lower

surface; and browner cheeks, remiges, and rectrices. The soft plumage, the

disc of feathers round the eye, and the nocturnal habits have given this

bird the name Owl-Parrot. During the day it usually hides in holes near the

ground, emerging towards evening to feed greedily on mosses, bracken,

seeds, berries, such as those of _Coriaria sarmentosa_, and even lizards;

while the companies make tracks a foot or more wide across the herbage. The

Kakapo inhabits alpine districts or open {367}forests; it climbs well and

walks swiftly, but has such limited powers of flight that the natives hunt

it on foot by torch-light, or with dogs, which are often seriously wounded

by the powerful bill. The note is a croak, grunt, or shriek. Two or three

eggs, as large as those of a pullet, are deposited in burrows under

tree-roots or rocks, without any nest. It makes a tame and playful

pet.[222]

Sub-fam. 2. _Psittacinae._–Of this group the nocturnal _Geopsittacus

occidentalis_ of South and West Australia, and _Pezoporus formosus_ of the

same countries and Tasmania, somewhat resemble _Stringops_ in general

coloration. The latter, which has an orange frontal band, rarely resorts to

trees, but crouches, skulks, or trusts to its great running powers, flying

at most only some hundred yards, with a rapid twisting motion. It haunts

sandy plains or marshy districts, laying two or three eggs on a bedding of

grass and rushes in long tussocks of herbage.

Our common cage-bird, _Melopsittacus undulatus_, the Australian

Grass-Parakeet or Budgerigar, has a yellow head, with three black

cheek-spots surmounted by a blue patch; the nape, back, and wing-coverts

are yellow with black transverse markings, the remiges brown with green

outer webs and yellow margins, the rump and under parts green, the two long

median rectrices blue, the lateral tail-feathers green banded with yellow.

These graceful and lively little birds are partly terrestrial, often

flocking in thousands to feed upon the seeds of grasses, while they sit

motionless during the heat among the foliage. The flight is quick and

direct; the note shrill, or warbling; the conduct of individuals towards

one another amicably quarrelsome. From three to six eggs are deposited in

hollow branches, with no nest. The name Grass-Parakeet is shared with

_Neophema_ of Southern Australia and Tasmania, distinguished by a blue

frontal band sometimes extending around the eyes. _N. petrophila_, the

Rock-Parakeet, breeds in holes in steep cliffs near water, _N. pulchella_

also shewing a liking for rocks. _Porphyrocephalus spurius_ of West

Australia has a maroon crown and nape, green upper parts, black remiges

with blue bases and primary coverts, and blue lower surface with scarlet

and yellow vent. The flight is swift, the note clucking.

Of the beautiful Australian genus _Platycercus_, _P. elegans_, also found

in Norfolk Island, may serve as an example: it is crimson-red with black on

the dorsal feathers; the cheeks, bend of the wing, {368}primary-coverts,

outer webs of quills and the tail being blue. The dozen species haunt

grassy hills, feed upon seeds, berries, insects and their larvae, run

easily, take short flights, rise with outspread tail, and lay from four to

seven eggs in holes in trees without a nest. _P. eximius_ is the Roselle

Parakeet of dealers.

_Loriculus vernalis_ is green, tinged with yellowish below and with orange

on the back; the rump is red; the throat, the inner webs of the

wing-quills, and the under surface of the tail are bluish. The female has

little blue on the throat. The flight is rapid, but the birds are not shy;

they are found in pairs or small flocks, and are said to suck honey from

the flowers. They breed as does the last-mentioned species.

The Ethiopian genus _Agapornis_ shares with the Neotropical _Psittacula_

the appellation Love-bird, due to their habit of sitting huddled together,

their mutual caresses, and their intense devotion to each other. If one

dies, its mate not uncommonly pines away. _A. roseicollis_ of South Africa

is green above and yellower below, the forehead being red, the cheeks and

throat rose-coloured, the rump and median rectrices blue; the lateral tail

feathers exhibit blue tips, red bases, and a black band. It is found in

flocks near water, flying quickly, uttering shrill, rapid notes, feeding on

berries and the like, and commonly breeding in Weaver-birds' nests. _A.

cana_ of Madagascar, introduced into the neighbouring islands, has the

head, neck, and breast grey; _A. taranta_, of North-East Africa, the

forehead red, the rump and tail green; _A. pullaria_, of West Equatorial

Africa, the face orange-red. The sexes differ only in these three species,

wherein the under wing-coverts are black in the male, but green in the

female, which lacks the grey or red, and in the third case has the face

yellowish.

Two dozen members of _Palaeornis_ range from Senegambia to Abyssinia, the

Mascarene Islands, India, Ceylon, the Burmese Countries, South China, and

the Great Sunda Islands. _P. eupatria_, the Rose-banded Parakeet or

Alexandrine, and _P. torquata_, the Rose-ringed Parakeet, are similar

species from the Indian Region; they are green, with rose-coloured nuchal

collar, black neck-stripes, bluish median and yellow and green lateral

rectrices, all tipped with yellow, and in the former a red wing-patch. The

female shews no pink or black. These birds frequent both hills and plains,

being often found in societies; they have a loud musical note, feed on

fruits and grain, and lay some four eggs on the chips in a hole cut out by

themselves.

{369}The genus _Eclectus_, extending from the Moluccas with the Tenimber

Islands to the Solomon Archipelago, has green males and red females. _E.

pectoralis_ of Papuasia is green, with red sides, blue remiges and lateral

rectrices edged with green, and yellow-tipped tail. The female differs in

having the head, chest, and upper parts bright red, the end of the tail

lighter, the breast, abdomen, edge of the wing and a dorsal band blue.

_Dasyptilus pesqueti_ of New Guinea is black, with the tail-coverts,

abdomen, sides, much of the wings, and a lateral band on the occiput red;

the crown- and nape-feathers are narrow and pointed, the face and throat

nearly naked and black. It lives at considerable altitudes in couples or

small companies, eating fruit, and uttering a loud, harsh cry. _Coracopsis

vasa_, the Vasa or "loud-voiced" Parrot of Madagascar, sacred to royalty in

one of the tribes, and its lesser compatriot, _C. nigra_, are

blackish-brown, with grey wings, rump, and tail, and yellowish naked

orbits. The small flocks are partly terrestrial, but fly high; the cry is

shrill; the food consists of seeds and other fruits and roots. _C. vasa_

has been introduced into Réunion, _C. comorensis_ and _C. sibilans_ inhabit

the Comoros, _C. barklyi_ the Seychelles.

That clever talker, _Psittacus erithacus_, the Grey Parrot, which ranges

across Equatorial Africa, is ashy-grey, with black primaries, red tail, and

whitish naked face. It walks well, and climbs admirably by the aid of its

beak, flying with chattering screams at considerable elevations, consorting

in large companies, and probably nesting in holes in trees. _P. timneh_ is

not known to talk.

_Poeocephalus robustus_ of Southern Africa is green, with brownish head,

neck, remiges and rectrices; it has vermilion thighs, bend of the wing,

and, occasionally, forehead; and naked orbits. The habits call for no

special mention. _Caica melanocephala_ of Guiana and Amazonia is green,

with yellow cheeks, throat, sides and tip of the tail, a rufous nuchal

collar, whitish lower parts, black primaries margined with blue, and green

and black naked orbits. _Gypopsittacus vulturinus_ of the Lower Amazons is

chiefly green, yellow feathers tipped with black covering the throat, and

forming a band at the back of the naked but hairy black head; the thighs

are yellow stained with red; the upper wing-coverts blue margined with

green, except the lesser, which are orange and red; the primaries are blue

and black; the secondaries greener; the rectrices green and yellow, tipped

with blue.

{370}The two score members of _Chrysotis_, commonly termed Amazons, range

from Central America to Argentina. _C. aestiva_, not found north of Brazil,

has the plumage mainly green with black edgings, the forehead and lores

blue, the crown, cheeks, and throat yellow, the primaries black, blue, and

green. The secondaries exhibit red outer webs, the lateral tail-feathers

red bases and yellowish tips. Entirely yellow varieties rarely occur in the

wild state, but are often produced artificially. These birds breed in holes

in high trees, and fly in small flocks, which utter screaming cries, and

feed on plantains, berries, oranges, and so forth.

[Illustration: FIG. 74.–Grey Parrot. _Psittacus erithacus._ × ⅓.]

_Psittacula_ contains the green Love-Birds of Central and Tropical South

America; they are sometimes tinged with yellow, and have blue on the rump

and wings in the male.

_Myiopsittacus monachus_, the Monk or Loro, of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay,

and Argentina, is green, with grey throat, breast, and head, except the

occiput; a blue tinge shewing on the wings, and yellow on the lateral

rectrices. It is very common and tame near Buenos Aires, being devoted to

favourite spots, and playing havoc with garden fruit, which it pecks and

leaves hanging, while at times companies feed on thistle-seeds or devastate

grain-fields. {371}Its flight is swift but unsteady, with rapid strokes of

the wing and folded tail; yet it mobs Birds of prey, while its noisy

chatter disturbs the other woodland species. A nest of thorny twigs, used

for shelter throughout the year, is usually woven round the end of some

branch, and has a vestibule and an inner chamber, which are repaired before

the thin-shelled eggs, from six to eight in number, are laid. Though the

entrance, with its overhanging eaves, is in the side or beneath, Opossums

and Ducks occasionally take possession. A tree may contain several of these

dwellings, which often jointly form a mass sufficient to fill a cart,

though not communicating with one another.[223] _Cyanolyseus patagonus_, of

Argentina and Patagonia, is brownish-olive, with red on the belly, yellow

on the rump and flanks, blue on the primaries, green on the secondaries,

and a whitish gorget. The flight is strong though wavering; the cry loud,

short, but pleasing; the food consists of shoots, buds, and seeds; the

breeding places are holes in banks. _Conurus carolinensis_, of Florida,

Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, is green, with paler lower parts,

yellow head and upper neck, orange forehead and cheeks. It frequents wooded

creeks or swamps, feeding on cypress-seeds, beech-mast, and so forth, and

breeding in company in holes in trees without any nest. Nearly thirty

species of the genus range from Mexico and the West Indies to Bolivia and

Argentina, _C. guarouba_ of North-East Brazil being yellow with green

remiges, _C. solstitialis_ of Guiana and Brazil mainly reddish-yellow with

blue and green wings and tail.

Of the fifteen or more large members of _Ara_, _A. chloroptera_, the

Red-and-blue Macaw, _A. macao_, which differs in its yellow and green

wing-coverts, and _A. militaris_, the Red-and-green Macaw, occur from

Mexico and Central America to Bolivia; _A. ararauna_, the Blue-and-yellow

Macaw, and _A. severa_, the Green-and-blue Macaw only extend from Panama

southwards. The naked flesh-coloured face is crossed by lines of feathers,

except in _A. macao_. The four closely allied Brazilian species of

_Anodorhynchus_ and _Cyanopsittacus_, or Hyacinthine Macaws, are almost

uniform blue. The flight of these gorgeous birds is powerful, their note

harsh and screaming, while they crush and eat hard nuts of various kinds.

_Nasiterna pygmaea_, one of some nine Pigmy Parrots, is green, with dusky

markings on the upper surface, yellowish crown, reddish forehead and middle

of the lower parts; the two median {372}rectrices are blue, the rest

chiefly black, with yellow spots on the outer. The female lacks the red and

yellow tints. Small flocks of these birds frequent high trees, creeping

about them with the aid of their wings and tails, like Tree-creepers, and

at midday dozing in fancied security on the lower branches. They feed upon

seeds, and are stated by von Rosenberg to lay two eggs, no larger than

those of the Long-tailed Tit, in holes in trees.[224]

[Illustration: FIG. 75.–Leadbeater's Cockatoo. _Cacatua leadbeateri._ × ¼.]

Sub-fam. 3. _Cacatuinae._–Of the Cockatoos, which are restricted to the

Australian Region, the Philippine and the Sulu Islands, _Cacatua galerita_

of Australia and Tasmania, one of the forms with narrow recurved

crest-feathers, is white, with the erectile tuft and ear-coverts yellow,

the plumage being lax and powdery. _C. leadbeateri_ has a red crest banded

with yellow and tipped with white, and a rosy tinge on the head and lower

surface. Other species exhibit broad straight white, yellow, or red crests,

_C. roseicapilla_ being decidedly pink below and grey above. In this group

the bare orbits may be blue, red, grey, or white. These tame and active

birds love open wooded country, and often form immense flocks; they fly

strongly, hop well, utter loud shrill screams, doze in the heat, feed on

roots grubbed up from the ground, seeds and grain, and play havoc with

crops of maize and the like. Two or three somewhat pointed eggs are

deposited in holes in trees or crevices of rocks. {373}The half-dozen

crested members of _Calyptorhynchus_, which are brown or black with a

greenish gloss, and a whitish, red, or yellow band across the lateral

rectrices, have a more laboured flight and a comparatively low whining cry;

they feed on seeds of _Banksia_ and _Casuarina_ and on caterpillars.

_Callocephalon galeatum_ is grey, with a scarlet head and crest. In these

two Australian genera the supposed females exhibit yellow markings.

_Microglossus aterrimus_, the Great Black Cockatoo of North Australia and

Papuasia, is greyish-black with a long narrow crest, and naked red and

yellow cheeks. It is a retiring bird, found in pairs among high trees in

thick forests; the flight is comparatively weak, the note a plaintive

whistle; the food consists of seeds of _Pandanus_, _Canarium_, palm-shoots,

and the like; the egg is laid on a bed of twigs in a hollow tree.

_Calopsittacus novae hollandiae_, the crested Australian Cockatoo-Parakeet,

is dark grey, with yellow forehead and cheeks, orange ear-coverts, and

white wing-patch. The female has yellow marks on the tail and under parts.

By no means shy, the flocks feed chiefly on the ground, while individuals

fly well and love perching on dead branches.

Fam. IV. TRICHOGLOSSIDAE.–Sub-fam. 1. _Cyclopsittacinae._–This includes

_Neopsittacus_ and _Cyclopsittacus_ of Timor, North-East Australia and

Papuasia, which are coloured red, green, blue, and yellow; the

peculiarities of structure have already been mentioned.

Sub-Fam. 2. _Loriinae._–_Trichoglossus novae hollandiae_, Swainson's Lory,

is blue, with green head and central abdomen; the remaining under parts

being red, the sides, nuchal collar and inner webs of the lateral rectrices

yellow. Flocks haunt the _Eucalyptus_-forests of Eastern Australia and

Tasmania, uttering incessant screams, flying swiftly and directly from tree

to tree, settling again with a dash, creeping and clinging around the

branches, and extracting honey from the flowers with their brush-tipped

tongues, besides eating seeds. From two to four eggs are deposited in holes

in trees. The various species of _Trichoglossus_ range from Celebes and

Timor to Australia and the New Hebrides. _Ptilosclera versicolor_, of North

and West Australia, is green, with yellowish streaks on the body, bluish

cheeks and nape, red crown, lores and breast. _Coriphilus taitianus_ of the

Society Islands is dark blue, with the lower surface chiefly white; _C.

ultramarinus_ of the Marquesas shews a combination of light and dark blue.

_Lorius_ extends from the Moluccas to the Solomon {374}Archipelago; _L.

lory_ of Papuasia being red, with black crown, blue nape, upper back,

central breast and abdomen, and tip of the tail; while the wings and middle

portion of the rectrices are green. In habits these three genera seem to

resemble _Trichoglossus_. The members of _Eos_ (Red Lory) are red, relieved

by blue, except _E. fuscata_, which is dusky, with red and yellow markings;

they extend from the Sanghir and Tenimber Islands and the Moluccas to the

Caroline and Solomon groups. _Chalcopsittacus_ of Papuasia has

purplish-black, olive, or green species, usually varied with red.

Sub-fam. 3. _Nestorinae._–This contains only the genus _Nestor_, with five

species, of which _N. norfolcensis_ of Norfolk Island, and _N. productus_

of Phillip Island are extinct, while _N. esslingi_ is hardly valid. _N.

meridionalis_, the New Zealand Kaka Parrot, is olive-brown, with reddish

cheeks and collar, crimson rump, abdomen and under wing-coverts, brown tail

and breast, and grey crown. Several races have been described, varying in

the amount of red. The Kaka is fearless, social, sprightly, and noisy,

though semi-nocturnal and apt to retire to the deep forest during daylight.

It utters harsh rasping and chuckling notes, or musical whistles; while it

climbs trees with the aid of its beak and feet, and searches the dead wood

for insects. It flies in lofty circles, or at times hops about the ground;

the food consists largely of juicy fruits, blossoms, and nectar from the

Rata (_Metrosideros robusta_) or the New Zealand flax (_Phormium tenax_).

In semi-captivity this bird is a good mimic and talker, but terribly

destructive to furniture, clothing, and orchard produce; the Maories keep

it as a lure, encircling the metatarsus with a bone ring fastened by a cord

to the perch. Four oval eggs are laid in hollow trees, in crevices of

rocks, or under stumps and roots, occasionally on fragments of bark.

_Nestor notabilis_, the Kea of the south island of New Zealand, has

olive-green plumage with blackish margins; the wings and tail are varied

with blue and yellow, the latter having a brown subterminal band; the rump

and under wing-coverts are scarlet. The female is duller. It frequents

rugged slopes of high snowy mountains, descending to the lowlands in

winter; the small companies soar aloft, fly from peak to peak, or search

for insect-food among the stunted vegetation. Tame, inquisitive, and

destructive, the natural habits and food resemble those of the Kaka,

allowing for the difference of haunts; but this bird will scream or mew,

and lays larger and {375}rougher eggs in crevices of rocks. As is well

known, the Kea has of recent years become carnivorous, chasing sheep and

devouring their flesh. Perching near the tail and clinging to the wool, it

digs a deep hole with its powerful beak, and apparently aims at the

kidney-fat, the mandible cutting while the hooked maxilla ensures a firm

grip. The propensity is said to have originated from the bird pecking at

sheep-skins hanging outside country stations. As it sometimes necessitates

the abandonment of sheep-runs, or even attacks horses, a price has been set

upon its head.

[Illustration: FIG. 76.–The Kea or Mountain Nestor. _Nestor notabilis._ ×

¼. (From _Nature_.)]

Of fossil Parrots, _Psittacus_ occurs in the Lower Miocene of France, the

large _Necropsittacus rodericanus_ in Rodriguez, and the still bigger

_Lophopsittacus mauritianus_, known from an old picture to be crested, in

the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius.

{376}ORDER XIII. CORACIIFORMES.

The Order Coraciiformes contains the Sub-Orders CORACIAE, STRIGES,

CAPRIMULGI, CYPSELI, COLII, TROGONES, and PICI, and includes a large number

of arboreal forms with comparatively short legs, which often nest in holes,

and have blind and helpless young. The group coincides with the _Picariae_

of Nitzsch and Mr. Sclater, except in so far that the former author

included the _Psittaci_, the latter the _Cuculi_, while both kept the

_Striges_ separate.

The Sub-Order CORACIAE consists of the Families _Coraciidae_ or Rollers,

_Momotidae_ or Motmots and Todies, _Alcedinidae_ or Kingfishers,

_Meropidae_ or Bee-eaters, _Bucerotidae_ or Hornbills, and _Upupidae_ or

Hoopoes.

Fam. I. CORACIIDAE.–Two Sub-families may be recognised of these Old World

birds, (1) _Coraciinae_, and (2) _Leptosomatinae_; the latter containing

only the remarkable "Kirombo" of Madagascar.

Sub-fam. 1. _Coraciinae._–Most of the twenty or more species of Rollers are

brilliant blue and green, varied with reddish, and bear a resemblance to

certain of the Crow-tribe, especially to the genus _Cissa_. The short

metatarsus, however, scutellated in front and reticulated behind, is a

clear distinction, as in _Cissa_ and so forth it is longer and smooth

behind, with elongated scutes anteriorly. It is comparatively long in

Ground-Rollers, but they are quite unmistakeable. The bill is strong,

decurved, and slightly hooked, being broad and depressed in _Eurystomus_;

the toes are moderately stout with curved claws, while the second and third

are united basally; the wings are long, broad and rounded, or shorter in

Ground-Rollers, with ten primaries and about thirteen secondaries; the

twelve tail-feathers vary in length, five species of _Coracias_ having them

very long, and one spatulate. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx is

tracheo-bronchial, the nostrils are hidden by bristly feathers, the tongue

is thin and horny, the aftershaft is small, while there is no down on

adults or nestlings. The sexes are similar, the young duller.

The genus _Coracias_ ranges over temperate Europe, all Africa, and Central

and Southern Asia eastwards to Celebes, where _C. temmincki_ alone occurs.

_C. garrulus_, which strays to Britain, and breeds from Sweden and Omsk to

North Africa and North India, has the head, most of the wing-coverts, and

the lower surface light greenish-blue, a red-brown back, dusky and blue

remiges, ultramarine bend of the wing and rump, and greenish {377}tail with

light blue on the lateral feathers, the outer pair alone having black tips.

In the similar _C. abyssinicus_ the two outer rectrices are elongated and

tapering; in the more purple _C. spatulatus_ they are cobalt-blue with

black shafts produced into small racquets. _C. naevius_ has an olivaceous

back, reddish-lilac head and under parts, a white nuchal patch, white

streaks on the breast, blue rump, bend of the wing, lateral rectrices and

outer portion of the remiges. The genus _Eurystomus_ occupies Tropical

Africa, and extends from India to Manchuria, Australia and the Solomon

Islands, occasionally reaching New Zealand. _E. glaucurus_, of Madagascar

and Anjuan Island, is bay above and lilac below, with nearly ultramarine

wings and cobalt tail tipped with blackish; _E. orientalis_ is

bluish-green, with blackish head, remiges and rectrices, some blue on the

wing-coverts, an azure patch on the primaries, and a purple throat. _E.

australis_ is similar, and is termed the Dollar-Bird from exhibiting its

circular light wing-patch when flying.

The members of these two genera are active, noisy, and pugnacious, though

shy; they are usually diurnal, but are occasionally observed hawking for

insects at dusk; when disturbed they attempt to hide in some neighbouring

tree, while they also roost or take refuge from the heat among the foliage.

The flight is swift, though not sustained, the wings being closed from time

to time; at the courting season the male darts through the air with many a

turn and twist, expanding and contracting his tail; and both sexes have the

habit of rolling or turning somersaults in their course, and of puffing out

their cheeks and throat. The note is a harsh "rack-rack-kack" or

"racker-racker," uttered while perched or flying; the food, largely

procured when hopping on the ground, and frequently jerked into the air

before being swallowed, consists of small reptiles, frogs, beetles, worms,

slugs and grasshoppers, if not of grain. Rollers frequent wooded country up

to an altitude of about two thousand feet, in pairs or moderate-sized

flocks; they occasionally sit huddled together on some branch, but love to

perch on tall bare trees or wires, whence they energetically challenge

Hawks and Crows. The four or five oval glossy white eggs are sometimes laid

on a mass of roots, grass, hair, and feathers, in cavities in walls or

under eaves of buildings; but more usually with little or no bedding in

holes in trees or banks. In the breeding season the cock summons the hen

from her nest, if danger threatens, while both parents {378}dash at an

intruder, or settle near him, jerking the head and tail. Many adults are

slaughtered for decorative purposes.

The Ground-Rollers, _Atelornis_, _Uratelornis_, _Geobiastes_ and

_Brachypteracias_, are curious forms, peculiar to Madagascar. _A.

pittoïdes_ has green upper parts with a ruddy tinge, white bars across the

short primaries, a fine blue head and tail, except for the two brown median

rectrices, and a reddish-fawn lower surface divided by a blue band from the

white throat. _A. crossleyi_ has a rufous head and black gular stripes.

_Uratelornis chimaera_ is a nearly allied form. _Geobiastes squamigera_ has

the upper back reddish-brown, the lower green; the head and under parts are

buff, with black scale-like markings, and a black line down the crown. The

primaries are brownish, the tail shews a curious combination of green,

blue, black, and brown. _Brachypteracias leptosomus_ is yellowish-green

above, with bluish margins to the feathers, and a purplish-brown head and

neck, while the brownish tail has a subterminal black and a terminal white

bar; it is white below, banded or striped with chestnut and black. These

forest-species are almost entirely terrestrial and crepuscular, running

about in solitary fashion in the dusk, and carefully examining the ground

for insect-food, or scratching for worms and the like; occasionally they

fly to a low branch, jerking the tail as they alight. The eggs are said to

be white.

Sub-fam. 2. _Leptosomatinae._–This contains only _Leptosoma discolor_, the

Kirombo or Vorondreo of Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, which has a big

crested head; a long, slightly hooked bill, overhung at the base by

recurved loral feathers; linear nostrils, placed far forward and covered by

a horny plate; metatarsi scutellated on both aspects; and a partly

reversible outer toe. The wings are moderate, having ten primaries and

twelve secondaries; the long, square tail has twelve feathers; the tongue

is tapering, horny and channelled; a large aftershaft is present, and there

is a considerable powder-down patch on each side of the rump. The head is

grey, glossed with copper and green, the neck duller; the upper parts are

shining green and coppery-red, the under parts grey with white abdomen. The

slightly larger female is reddish-brown above, with buff markings and only

a dull gloss; the head is chiefly black, and the lower surface

fawn-coloured spotted with black. This curious bird is very noisy

throughout the day, uttering its note, which resembles the {379}syllables

"tu-hou" thrice repeated, either while hovering in the air or while

ascending or descending in vertical fashion. Meanwhile the wings are struck

against the body, and the throat puffed out like a bag. It is found in the

forests in flocks of about a dozen, perching and squatting lazily on the

branches, and scarcely moving when its neighbours are shot; the food

consists mainly of grasshoppers, chamaeleons, and lizards; the nest is said

to be made of rushes and placed in holes, the eggs to be white. One female

is often accompanied by several males. The Malagasy consider that the "Reò"

brings ill-luck, and make it the theme of various tales and chants.[225]

[Illustration: FIG. 77.–Kirombo. _Leptosoma discolor._ × 2/7.]

Fam. II. MOMOTIDAE.–The Motmots and Todies fall naturally between the

Rollers and Kingfishers, but are also closely connected with the

Bee-Eaters, which do not occur in the New World. They compose the

Sub-families (1) _Momotinae_ and (2) _Todinae_, the former ranging from

South Mexico and the Antilles to Paraguay, while the latter are restricted

to the Greater Antilles.

{380}Sub-fam. 1. _Momotinae._–Motmots have loose-webbed green, blue,

cinnamon, and black plumage; the sexes being barely distinguishable, and

the young similar to the adults, but with less developed tail. The length

varies from six and a half inches to twenty. The head is generally rather

narrow; the bill is Crow-like, with a few rictal bristles, and has the

margins of the mandibles more or less serrated; in _Prionirhynchus_ it is

unusually broad and strongly keeled. The scutellated metatarsus is of no

great length, the third digit being united to the fourth for about a third

of its extent; the wings are rather short and rounded, with ten primaries

and eleven secondaries. The tail-feathers are generally twelve, though

_Baryphthengus_ has only ten; they are very distinctly graduated, as is

well seen from beneath, the median pair being much elongated with

racquet-tips, except in _Hylomanes_, _Aspatha_ and _Baryphthengus_. The

furcula is U-shaped; the tongue is long, thin and frayed out towards the

apex into laminae which point forwards; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial;

the aftershaft is small; while neither adults nor nestlings possess down.

Motmots are not shy birds, though they inhabit dense forests and seldom

visit the outskirts; they prefer the vicinity of streams, where they may be

seen, solitary or in pairs, flitting before the traveller from tree to

tree, or sitting motionless on the lower branches, whence they make sudden

dashes to secure their prey. This consists of insects caught in the air,

small reptiles, or fruit; but in captivity they will eat bread, raw meat,

small birds and mammals, often rapping live creatures on the ground or on

their perch before swallowing them, as is done by Todies, Kingfishers, and

Hornbills. The flight is brief, while the short legs are ill-adapted to the

ground. The long, soft, "flute-like" note recalls that of the Hoopoe, and

may be syllabled Hu-tu, this being a native name in some parts; it is most

commonly heard at dawn, while the bird's habit of jerking its tail up and

down as it utters each syllable is comparable to that of Barbets and

Toucans. Three or four round, creamy-white eggs are deposited, without any

nest, in holes in trees or banks, probably bored by the birds themselves;

both sexes being said to incubate in turn. Motmots with racquet-tipped

rectrices have been shewn to produce that shape by nibbling off the

vanes.[226]

_Urospatha martii_, ranging from Costa Rica to Amazonia, is {381}oil-green

above, with a blue tinge on the blackish primaries and the end of the tail,

the two median rectrices being much elongated and having terminal blue

racquets; the under parts and head are cinnamon, the cheeks black, while a

tuft of long black feathers adorns the neck below. _Eumomota superciliaris_

of Central America is green above, with cinnamon mantle and blue remiges

and rectrices tipped with black, the two median tail-feathers having

elongated bare shafts with broad racquet-tips, half blue and half black. On

the sides of the head are black bands and light blue eyebrows, while the

throat is black with long blue lateral feathers, and the abdomen chestnut.

_Momotus brasiliensis_, extending from Guiana to Northern Brazil, is

somewhat similar in colour, but has little red on the back; the head is

cobalt-blue with black on the crown and sides; the under parts are green

with a rufous tinge. The long throat-feathers are black with light blue

edges. _Aspatha gularis_ of Guatemala is bright green above, and has a

yellowish breast; the abdomen and throat are pale blue, with a black tuft

at the base of the latter; the sides of the head are reddish-fawn with

black ear-coverts. The tail is normal.

[Illustration: FIG. 78.–Motmot. _Momotus brasiliensis._ × ⅓.]

Sub-fam. 2. _Todinae._–This includes four diminutive species of the genus

_Todus_, structurally resembling the Motmots; the tail, however, being

short and square, the wings abbreviated with only ten secondaries, the beak

flattened and but faintly serrated, and the rictal bristles well-developed.

The long metatarsus is {382}covered with one scale; the marginal laminae of

the tongue point backwards.

Todies frequent hilly districts and woods, and especially the vicinity of

ravines, being very active on their feet, and taking short rapid flights

from branch to branch when disturbed. They used to be considered close

allies of the Flycatchers, probably owing to their habit of darting out

upon their prey from some branch, to which they return immediately. They

sit with upturned bill and head drawn in, their wings vibrating and their

plumage puffed out, and when thus perched they are so unsuspicious that

they may sometimes be caught with a butterfly-net, or even with the hand.

The pugnacious males chase each other, clattering their bills, and, while

courting, ruffle themselves up and droop their wings. The three or four

globular white eggs are laid in a hole low down in the face of some bank,

which is excavated to a considerable depth and commonly turns at right

angles; the terminal chamber usually containing a slight nest of fibres,

grass, moss, or cotton. In captivity Todies make engaging pets.

The coloration is green, with a bright red throat, yellowish-white or

pinkish under parts, and yellow, green, or pink feathers on the flanks. The

bill is dull red. _Todus viridis_ inhabits Jamaica; _T. subulatus_

Hispaniola; _T. multicolor_, which has a blue spot on each cheek, Cuba; _T.

hypochondriacus_ Porto Rico. The length varies from three and a half to

four and a half inches.

[Illustration: FIG. 79.–Tody. _Todus viridis._ × ⅝.]

Fam. III. ALCEDINIDAE.–The Kingfishers, with the Sub-families (1)

_Halcyoninae_, or Wood-Kingfishers, and (2) _Alcedininae_, or

Water-Kingfishers, are remarkable not only for the aberrant species found

among them, but also for their peculiar forms and particularly brilliant

colours, at once strikingly contrasted and tasteful. The head looks

disproportionately large, an appearance often heightened by the crest and

the long, stout bill. This feature in the Alcedininae is compressed and

sharp-pointed, with keeled culmen and upcurved genys; in the Halcyoninae it

is broader and rounder, and sometimes grooved. In _Syma_ the maxilla is

{383}serrated, as in the Momotidae; in _Carcineutes_ and _Dacelo_ it

exceeds the mandible, and in _Melidora_ it is hooked. The feeble metatarsi

are scutellated or rarely reticulated; the third and fourth toes are joined

for most of their length, the second and third for one joint, all being

broad below; the claws are sharp and curved. _Ceyx_ and _Alcyone_ have the

second digit aborted. The wings are short and rounded, yet powerful, the

primaries being eleven in number, with the outer much reduced, the

secondaries from eleven to fourteen; the tail is commonly abbreviated, but

in _Tanysiptera_ has a median pair of greatly elongated racquet-tipped

feathers; that genus, moreover, possesses but ten rectrices instead of

twelve. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, there is

no aftershaft, the adults are uniformly downy, the nestlings are naked. The

tongue is rudimentary, though said to shew an approach to that of the

Motmots in _Pelargopsis_. The sexes may be similar or dissimilar, even in

the same genus; the young are like their parents, or somewhat duller. The

colours of the Family are most variable, a combination of blue, green, and

chestnut being frequent, while almost uniform red, or black and white, are

not uncommon; the beak may be black, red, yellow, or parti-coloured. About

twenty genera, with some hundred and fifty species, occupy nearly the whole

globe, though by far the greater number are found from Celebes to Papuasia,

while _Ceryle_ alone is American.

The habits in the Family are as diverse as the styles of plumage. The

Water-Kingfishers love shady haunts by quiet lowland streams, where the

fishes which form their chief diet abound; in such situations they may be

seen sitting patient and motionless on some favourite overhanging bough or

projecting stone, from which they dart out like an arrow upon their prey.

If successful, they return immediately to their perch, on which they beat

the fish before jerking it down the throat. At other times they hover over

the water with vibrating pinions, or dive perpendicularly with closed

wings. They are not, however, entirely piscivorous, but eat insects and

small crustaceans, especially when they seek the sea-shore, as do several

species of _Halcyon_, _Alcedo_, and _Ceryle_, including our native

Kingfisher, chiefly towards winter. In tropical countries reeds and

sugar-canes serve for perches. The flight is straight and quick, but not

long sustained; the note is either high-pitched, and of two or three

syllables, which may be {384}likened to "tit-it-it," or is loud and harsh;

it is most frequently heard as the birds skim over the streams in the

anxious time of breeding, while the young have similar cries, and are very

noisy just before leaving the nest, which they render extremely foul. The

eggs are laid in holes in perpendicular river-banks, disused gravel-pits

and the like, or even in cavities in walls or rotten stumps, the circular

tunnel usually penetrating to a depth of two or three feet, and forming an

enlarged terminal chamber. The number of eggs varies from four to ten in

different species; they are round, white, glossy, and thin-shelled, and

look very pink when they are fresh; they usually lie on a bed of

fish-bones, consisting chiefly of vertebrae, not uncommonly deposited

before laying begins. _Ceryle rudis_ is stated to make a nest of grass, _C.

amazona_ one of sticks and straw, the former at times breeding in colonies.

The male has been known to assist in incubation, which lasts a fortnight or

more; while two broods are occasionally reared in the season, especially in

warmer climates. The Wood-Kingfishers prefer shady forest-regions, not

necessarily near water, but also frequent the vicinity of houses; their

food consists of insects caught in the air, caterpillars, reptiles, frogs,

crustaceans, worms and molluscs, though they occasionally eat fish. The

nests, placed in holes in trees or banks, are said in some cases to be of a

few straws, dry leaves, or moss. The genus _Dacelo_ and its allies,

including the largest forms of the Family, are natives of Australia and New

Guinea, where they often inhabit very dry situations. They will even eat

small mammals or birds, bruising them before deglutition, and lay two or

three white eggs in holes in trees without any nest. The note is an

extraordinary loud gurgling or barking sound, from which they are called

"Laughing Jackasses."

Kingfishers are difficult to keep in captivity, while hard frosts cause

much mortality, though the use of the feathers for artificial flies or for

ornament adds to the scarcity. The males are at times very pugnacious. Many

fables are connected with the Family; for instance, _Ceyx_ and _Alcyone_

were said to have been changed by Zeus into Kingfishers, while Aeolus,

father of Alcyone, kept the weather calm in midwinter (the fourteen halcyon

days), when the birds formed a floating nest upon the deep. A dried

specimen, if hung up, was supposed to act as a weathercock with its bill,

as Shakespeare intimates.

{385}[Illustration: FIG. 80.–Racquet-tailed Kingfisher. _Tanysiptera dea._

× ½. (From _Malay Archipelago_.)]

Sub-fam. 1. _Halcyoninae._–_Tanysiptera sabrina_ of the Moluccas, one of

the members of a large and very beautiful genus, is white, except for the

crown and wing-coverts, which are bright blue, and the cheeks, nape,

remiges, upper back and scapulars, which are bluish-black. The two median

rectrices have bluish shafts with white racquet-tips; the bill is red. _T.

nympha_ of New Guinea differs in its blue tail, vermilion rump and under

parts. _Cittura cyanotis_ of Celebes has a rufous head and chestnut tail, a

brown back with partially buff scapulars, bluish-black wings with blue

coverts, a blue eye-streak (black in the female), a lilac under surface,

and a dark red bill. _Halcyon coromandus_ of Eastern Asia is brown with a

lovely lilac tinge above and a sky-blue rump, the lower parts being

orange-rufous, and the bill red. _H. cyaniventris_ of Java is rich blue

above; the head and wing-coverts are mainly black, the lower parts

ultramarine, the throat and cheeks rufous, extending as a collar to the

nape; the bill is dark red. _H. semicaeruleus_ of Arabia, West and East

Africa, has a whitish head and under parts, with a chestnut {386}abdomen;

the upper parts are black, with azure lower back, tail and wing-quills, the

bill is red. _H. saurophagus_ of Papuasia and the Moluccas is blue, with

white head and under surface, and black bill. _H. nigrocyaneus_ of the

former region is black and blue, with white throat, pectoral band and

dorsal markings, the bill being black. The female is whiter below. _H.

lindsayi_ has dingy green upper parts with buff spots, and a black

eye-stripe surmounted by an azure band, both of which extend round the back

of the head; the neck and throat are cinnamon divided by a blue stripe, the

under parts white mottled with green; the bill is black. The blue parts are

green in the female.

_Dacelo gigas_, the "Laughing Jackass" or "Settlers' Clock" of Australia,

is mainly brown above with a white stripe on each side of the head; the

tail is rufous and black, the rump of the same colour in the female,

greenish-blue in the male; the lower surface is dirty white, the bill

blackish. _Clytoceyx rex_ of New Guinea has an immensely thick, blunt, and

rather short bill; it is brown above, with a rufous collar, blackish back

and neck-stripes, light azure rump, greenish tail and wing-quills; below it

is light chestnut with white throat. _Carcineutes pulchellus_ of the Malay

countries, Sumatra, and Java has the forehead, cheeks, and collar chestnut,

the crown azure, the upper parts black with blue and white bands, the under

parts rufous with white throat, the bill red. The female is rufous with

black bars above, and white with black spotting below. _Syma torotoro_ of

Papuasia is greenish, with blue tail and rump, orange-rufous head and under

parts, and a black collar. The crown is black in the female. The serrated

bill is yellow. The genera _Ispidina_ and _Ceyx_ furnish the pygmies of the

Family, varying from about four to six inches in length; the coloration in

the former is usually blue and black above and chestnut below, with a red

bill; but _I. madagascariensis_ of Madagascar is entirely rufous, except

for some white on the neck and lower surface. _C. euerythra_, of the Malay

countries and the Philippines, which is red with a lilac tinge above, has

several similar congeners; here again, however, blue, black, and orange are

not uncommon hues.

Sub-fam. 2. _Alcedininae._–_Alcyone azurea_ of Australia has dark

azure-blue upper parts, reddish-orange lower surface with lighter throat,

and a whitish patch on the sides of the neck. _Corythornis cristata_ is

ultramarine with light chestnut under {387}parts, the crest being green

with black transverse stripes, and the bill black. _Alcedo ispida_ of

Britain, the whole of Europe, and the greater part of Asia, has

greenish-blue upper parts, brighter blue head and tail, chestnut under

parts and broad eye-streak, white throat and patches at the side of the

neck, and black bill, often orange at the base. _A. beryllina_ of Java and

Lombok differs in being entirely greenish-blue above, and white with a blue

chest-band below. _Ceryle_ is the sole genus found in the New World, though

it occurs also in South-East Europe, most of Asia and Africa; _C. alcyon_,

the Belted Kingfisher, alone reaches the Northern United States and Canada.

The half dozen large crested species are generally black and white,

relieved by chestnut or grey, but _C. amazona_ and its nearest allies are

dull green above.

_Pelargopsis gurial_ of India and Assam, one of the "Stork-billed

Kingfishers," has a brown head, yellowish-fawn collar and under parts, dull

green mantle and tail, greenish-blue lower back, and red beak.