Chapter X (2)

In some countries Humming-birds are tolerably common, but some species are of extreme rarity, such, for instance, as the _Loddigesia mirabilis_, which was discovered forty years ago, and still remains represented by a single specimen in the collection of the late Mr. George Loddiges, and of which a reward of fifty pounds, offered by Mr. Gould, has not succeeded in obtaining a second example. As a rule, Humming-birds are a Neotropical family, that is to say, the vast majority of the species occur in South America, and do not wander above the line of Northern Mexico; but a few species are found in the Southern United States, while one occurs in summer even in North America, ranging as far as, and even breeding in, Canada. Professor Newton writes:--“Wilson, Audubon, Mr. Gosse, and several others gifted with the ‘pen of a ready writer,’ have so fully described, as far as words will admit, the habits of different members of the family _Trochilidæ_, that it is unnecessary to say much on this score. Their appearance is so entirely unlike that of any other birds that it is hopeless to attempt in any way to bring a just conception of it to the ideas of those who have not crossed the Atlantic; and even the comparison so often made between them and the _Sphingidæ_, though doubtless in the main true, is much to the advantage of the latter. One is admiring the clustering stars of a scarlet _Cordia_, the snowy cornucopias of a _Portlandia_, or some other brilliant and beautiful flower, when between the blossoms and one’s eye suddenly appears a small dark object, suspended as it were between four short black threads meeting each other in a cross. For an instant it shows in front of the flower; an instant more it steadies itself, and one perceives the space between each pair of threads occupied by a grey film; again another instant, and, emitting a momentary flash of emerald and sapphire light, it is vanishing, lessening in the distance as it shoots away, to a speck that the eye cannot take note of--and all this so rapidly that the word on one’s lips is still unspoken, scarcely the thought in one’s mind changed. It was a bold man or an ignorant one who first ventured to depict Humming birds flying; but it cannot be denied that representations of them are often of special use to the ornithologist. The peculiar action of one, and probably of many or all other species of the family, is such, that at times in flying it makes the wings almost meet, both in front and behind, at each vibration. Thus, when a bird chances to enter a room it will generally go buzzing along the cornice. Standing beneath where it is, one will find that the axis of the body is vertical, and each wing is describing a nearly perfect semicircle. As might be expected, the pectoral muscles are very large; indeed, the sternum of this bird is a good deal bigger than that of the common Chimney Swallow (_Hirundo rustica_). But the extraordinary rapidity with which the vibrations are effected seems to be chiefly caused by these powerful muscles acting on the very short wingbones, which are not half the length of the same parts in the Swallow; and accordingly, great as this alar action is, and in spite of the contrary opinion entertained by Mr. Gosse, it is yet sometimes wanting in power, owing, doubtless, to the disadvantageous leverage thus obtained; and the old authors must be credited who speak of cobwebs catching Humming birds. On the 3rd of May, 1857, a bird of this species flew into the room where I was sitting, and after fluttering for some minutes against the ceiling, came in contact with a deserted spider’s web, in which it got entangled, and remained suspended and perfectly helpless for more than a minute, when by a violent effort it freed itself. I soon after caught it, still having fragments of the web on its head, neck, and wings; and I feel pretty sure, that had this web been inhabited and in good repair, instead of being deserted and dilapidated, the bird would never have escaped.”

Mr. A. R. Wallace has written the following account of the habits of Humming birds on the River Amazon:--“The greater number of species that frequent flowers do so, I am convinced, for the small insects found there, and not for the nectar. In dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of common flower-frequenting species which I have examined, the crop, stomach, and intestines have been filled with minute beetles, ants, and spiders, which abound in most flowers in South America. Very rarely indeed have I found a trace of honey or of any liquid in the crop or stomach. The flowers they most frequent are the various species of _Inga_ and the papilionaceous flowers of many large forest trees. I have never seen them at the bignonias, or any flowers but those which grow in large masses, covering a whole tree or shrub, as they visit perhaps a hundred flowers in a minute and never stop at a single one. The little Emerald Hummer I have seen in gardens and at the common orange (_Asclepias_), which often covers large spaces of waste ground in the tropics. But there are many, such as _Phaëthornis eremita_ and some larger allied species, which I have never seen at flowers. These inhabit the gloomy forest-shades, where they dart about among the foliage; and I have distinctly observed them visit in rapid succession every leaf on a branch, balancing themselves vertically in the air, passing their beak closely over the under surface of each leaf, and thus capturing, no doubt, any small insects that may be upon them. While doing this, the two long feathers of the tail have a vibrating motion, apparently serving as a rudder to assist them in performing the delicate operation. I have seen others searching up and down stems and dead sticks in the same manner, every now and then picking off something, exactly as a Bush Shrike or Tree Creeper does, with this exception, that the Humming-bird is continually on the wing. They also capture insects in the true Fissirostral fashion. How often may they be seen perched on the dead twig of a lofty tree--the station that is chosen by the tyrant Flycatchers and the Jacamars--from which, like those birds, they dart off a short distance, and after a few whirls and balancings return to the identical twig they had left. In the evening, too, just after sunset, when the Goatsuckers are beginning their search after insects over the rivers, I have seen Humming birds come out of the forest and remain a long time on the wing--now stationary, now darting about with the greatest rapidity, imitating in a limited space the evolutions of their companions the Goatsuckers, and evidently for the same end and purpose.”

Wilson, the poet-naturalist, observes of the North American species as follows:--“Nature in every department of her works seems to delight in variety, and the present subject is almost as singular for its minuteness, beauty, want of song, and manner of feeding, as the Mocking Bird is for unrivalled excellence of note and plainness of plumage. This is one of the few birds that are universally beloved, and amidst the sweet dewy serenity of a summer’s morning his appearance amongst the arbours of honeysuckles and beds of flowers is truly interesting.

“‘When morning dawns, and the blest sun again
Lifts his red glories from the Eastern main,
Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,
The flower-fed Humming bird his round pursues;
Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms,
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams;
While richest roses, though in crimson drest,
Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast,
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly!
Each rapid movement gives a different dye:
Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show,
Now sink to shade, now to a furnace glow.’”

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] The genus _Ovis_.

[2] _Ovis Poli._

[3] The genus _Capra_.

[4] “Falling from a height, it protects its whole body, between its horns, from shock, and receives upon its horns the concussion of the huge stones.”

[5] The genus _Gazella_.

[6] _Saïga tartarica._

[7] _Panthalops Hodgsoni._

[8] _Æpyceros melampus._

[9] _Antilope bezoartica._

[10] The genus _Cephalophus_.

[11] The genus _Tetraceros_.

[12] The genus _Eleotragus_ and its allies.

[13] _Oreas canna._

[14] _Strepsiceros kudu._

[15] _Euryceros Angasii._

[16] The genus _Tragelaphus._

[17] The _Damalidæ_.

[18] The genus _Catoblepas_.

[19] _Rupicapra tragus._

[20] The genus _Oryx_.

[21] _Portax picta._

[22] _Ovibos moschatus._

[23] _Bos taurus._

[24] The genus _Bison_.

[25] The genus _Bubalus_.

[26] _Antilocapra americana._

[27] _Moschus moschiferus._

[28] _Camelopardalis giraffa._

[29] _Alces machlis._

[30] The restricted genus _Cervus_.

[31] _Cervus elaphus._

[32] The genera _Pseudaxis_ and _Dama_.

[33] _Dama mesopotamica._

[34] The genus _Rusa_ and its allies.

[35] _Rusa Alfredi._

[36] _Rucervus Duvaucelli._

[37] _Rucervus Eldi._

[38] The genus _Cervulus_.

[39] _Capreolus caprea._

[40] _Hydropotes inermis._

[41] _Elaphurus Davidianus._

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

[43] _Rangifer tarandus._

[44] _Tragulidæ._

[45] _Camelus dromedarius._

[46] _Camelus bactrianus._

[47] _Auchenia._

[48] In the young there are four of these small additional teeth, but the outer pair disappear after a short time.

[49] The upper teeth always constitute a larger segment of a smaller circle than the lower ones.

[50] The genus _Heliophobius_ among the Mole Rats is described as having six molars on each side in both jaws; but the number in this genus appears to be variable, the sixth molar being often undeveloped.

[51] See Note on p. 83.

[52] Having the hind feet hand-like.

[53] See _Arvicola rutilus_, p. 117.

[54] Dr. Coues has proposed this generic name for the American Jumping Mouse, as the names _Jaculus_ and _Meriones_, given to the genus by various authors, had been previously used for other groups.

[55] Described almost at the same time by M. Bravard under the name of _Typotherium_. We here employ M. Serres’ name.

[56] Waterton’s “Wanderings,” pp. 161, 284.

[57] _Arctopithecus castaniceps._

[58] _Bradypus torquatus_, or _Bradypus crinitus_.

[59] _Arctopithecus flaccidus._--_Arctopithecus Ai._

[60] _Cholœpus didactylus._

[61] _Cholœpus Hoffmanni._

[62] _Orycteropus capensis_ (Geoffroy).

[63] The uterus is double, and the placenta is disc-shaped, and is cast off (deciduate). There are chest and inguinal. teats. The vertebræ are--seven cervical, thirteen dorsal, eight lumbar, six sacral, twenty-five caudal.

[64] The muscle called pronator quadratus is a fleshy band, four-sided in shape more or less. One side is attached to one of the bones of the fore-arm, the ulna in front above the wrist; and the other and opposite side adheres to the radius. The ulna being motionless, the muscle contracts and pulls the radius over, so as to turn the back of the wrist forwards, or upwards. The prone position is thus produced, and hence the name of the muscle. The other muscle which produces this movement is fixed to the fore-arm in front, near the inner elbow, and it is long, having a tendon which is implanted on the radius. As this muscle contracts, it pulls the radius over the ulna, and makes the wrist take up a prone position. It is called the pronator teres.

[65] Genus _Manis_.

[66] _Manis tetradactyla_ (Linn.).

[67] _Manis gigantea_ (Illiger).

[68] _Manis brachyura._--_Manis pentadactyla_ (Linn.).

[69] _Myrmecophaga jubata._

[70] It is certainly remarkable that the brain of this animal should present numerous convolutions, whilst the brain of the Sloth has barely any. The commissures of the brain are large, especially that of the centre, or corpus callosum, and also the anterior. The uterus is simple, the os is double, and the placenta is said to be discoidal.

[71] _Tamandua tetradactyla._

[72] _Cyclothurus didactylus._

[73] _Dasypus gigas_ (Cuvier).

[74] _Dasypus Tatouay_ (Desmarest).

[75] _Dasypus sexcintus_ (Linn.).

[76] _Dasypus villosus_ (Desmarest).

[77] _Dasypus minutus_ (Desmarest).

[78] _Dasypus Peba_ (Desmarest).

[79] _Dasypus (Tolypeutes) apar_ (Geoffroy).

[80] _Chlamydophorus truncatus_ (Harlan).

[81] The _Macropodidæ_.

[82] _Macropus giganteus_ (Shaw).

[83] The presence of the pouch, or marsupium, containing the teats, involves many structural and physiological peculiarities which separate the Marsupialia, in a classificatory sense, from the rest of the Mammalia. The Great Kangaroo, which may be considered a fair example of the Marsupials, has in the female a set of skin muscles, around the pouch, beneath the skin, which close it. The milk, or mammary gland, has four long, slender teats in the pouch, and beneath the skin of it is a muscle called the cremaster, which is largely developed. It spreads over the surface of the gland, and its action is to squeeze it and to force out the milk through the teat. There is thus protection for the young, and milk is given forth, without the effort of the young in sucking. The reason for this is obvious. The Great Kangaroo, which is often as tall as a man, is pregnant for about thirty-nine days only, and then a little one, not bigger than a thumb, is born; it is not completely formed, and is blind and cannot move itself. The mother places it in her pouch, and it fixes on to a teat, where it hangs for about eight months, and then it begins to look out of the pouch. The duration of the life of the young in the womb is thus very small, and it has no placenta there, which in the other and non-marsupial Mammalia forms the life-union between the mother and the offspring before its birth. Thus, the Marsupials form one great group of Mammalia which are “implacentalia,” without placentas or “after-births,” and all the other Mammalia are “placentalia,” and have this link between mother and young. In all the Mammalia hitherto described the young come into the world by a single passage. In those now under consideration (the Marsupialia) there is a double passage, and the womb is separated into two portions, being double; so they are termed Didelphia. The marsupium has two remarkable bones more or less in relation to it, and all animals thus furnished are termed Marsupialia, and they form two sections or sub-orders--(1) The Marsupiata proper, with marsupial bones, mostly with pouches, and with inflected lower jaws. (2) The Monotremata, which have marsupial bones, depressions in the skin, when suckling, like ill-developed pouches, and beak-like jaws in front, which are not inflected.

[84] See Footnote 83 on previous page.

[85] Waterhouse’s “Natural History of the Mammalia,” order Marsupiata, from which much of this description of the order has been taken.

[86] R. Owen, “Marsupialia;” “Todd’s Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology.”

[87] See also Vol. I., page 58, Note.

[88] Mr. Gould’s works on Australian animals, occasionally quoted by me.

[89] _Macropus leporoides_ (Gould).

[90] _Macropus rufus_ (Desm.).

[91] _Macropus agilis_ (Gould, sp.).

[92] _Dendrolagus ursinus_ (Müll.).

[93] Sub-genus _Hypsiprymnus_.

[94] _Hypsiprymnus rufescens._

[95] _Hypsiprymnus penicillatus._

[96] _Hypsiprymnus murinus._

[97] Description by E. P. Ramsay, F.L.S., and communication from Sir R. Owen to Linnean Society, London.

[98] _Phascolomys wombat_ (Peron and Lesson). φάσκωλος, a pouch, and μῦς, a mouse.

[99] _Phascolarctus_ (pouched-bear) _cinereus_.

[100] _Phalangista ursina._

[101] _Phalangista (Cuscus) maculatus._

[102] _Phalangista vulpina._

[103] _Phalangista fuliginosa._

[104] _Phalangista Nana._

[105] _Petaurus sciureus_ (Shaw).

[106] _Petaurus ariel._

[107] _Petaurus breviceps._

[108] _Petaurus pygmæus._

[109] _Tarsipes rostratus._

[110] _Perameles lagotis._

[111] _Perameles Gunnii._

[112] _Perameles fasciata._

[113] _Perameles doreyanus._

[114] _Perameles moresbyensis_ (Rams.).

[115] _Chœropus castanotis_--χοῖρος, a hog; and πούς, a foot.

[116] _Myrmecobius fasciatus_--μύρμηξ, ant; βίος, life.

[117] _Dasyurus ursinus._

[118] _Dasyurus macrurus_, or _maculatus_.

[119] _Dasyurus Maugei_ (Geoffroy).

[120] θύλακος, a pouch.

[121] _Thylacinus cynocephalus._

[122] _Phascogale penicillata._

[123] _Didelphys virginianum._

[124] _Didelphys D’Azaræ._

[125] _Didelphys cancrivora._

[126] _Didelphys crassicaudatus._

[127] _Chironectes variegatus._

[128] The sub-genera Halmaturus and Heteropus, Osphranter, Lagorchestes, and Petrogale, are included in Macropus, and many other sub-genera relating to the other families merely complicate the classification. Bettongia, Potoroiis, are sub-genera or artificial groups of the genus Hypsiprymnus; Cuscus, Trichosurus, Pseudochirus, and Dromicia, are groups of Phalangistidæ; Petaurista, Belideus, and Acrobata are divisions of the genus Petaurus; Macrotis is a sub-genus of Perameles; Antechinus is a division of the genus Phascogale; Sarcophilus is a sub-genus of Dasyurus. These are unnecessary sub-divisions.

[129] μόνος, one; τρῆμα, opening.

[130] _Echidna hystrix_ (Cuvier). Much confusion has been produced by Illiger, who changed the generic title to Tachyglossus, ταχύς, quick, and γλῶσσα, tongue; but the name given by Cuvier must stand, except in the minds of those zoologists who delight in novelties, and believe that the use of long words carries wisdom. Lately more confusion has been produced by the introduction of the generic term _Acanthoglossus_, which we do not admit or use.

[131] _Ornithorhynchus anatinus._

[132] Dr. Brehm: “Bird-life,” pp. 503, 504.

[133] Huxley, “Anatomy of Vertebrates,” p. 274.

[134] παλαιός, old; ἄρκτος, north: _i.e._, the northern division of the _Old_ World.

[135] νέος, new; ἄρκτος, north: _i.e._, the northern division of the _New_ World.

[136] νέος, new; τροπικός, tropical: _i.e._, the tropical division of the _New_ World.

[137] Dr. Sclater, F.R.S., originated, in 1858, this scheme of the six zoogeographical divisions of the globe.

[138] In the preparation of this chapter, the author begs to acknowledge the assistance he has received from his friend Professor F. Jeffrey Bell, B.A.

[139] These lines are thus translated by Mr. Hayward:--“I hurry on to drink his everlasting light--the day before me and the night behind--the heavens above, and under me the waves. A glorious dream! as it is passing, he is gone. Alas! no bodily wing will so easily keep pace with the wings of the mind! Yet it is the inborn tendency of our being for feeling to strive upwards and onwards; when, over us, lost in the blue expanse the lark sings its thrilling lay; when, over rugged pine-covered heights, the out-spread eagle soars; and, over marsh and sea, the crane struggles onward to her home.”

[140] These plates may become united with one another in the middle line, and the birds that possess this arrangement have been called _Desmognathæ_ (δεσμός, “a bond;” γνάθος, “jaw”); or they may be separated by a more or less narrow cleft, in which case the birds in which this is found are called _Schizognathæ_ (σχίζω, “I cleave”). As a matter of fact, the term Schizognathous is confined to those birds in which the above-mentioned vomer is pointed in front, while where it is truncated the birds are called _Ægithognathæ_ (αἴγιθος, “a sparrow,” as the character is seen in these birds). In these groups, however, the Ostriches, or running birds, which are distinguished by having no keel to their sternum, are not included; nor in them is the vomer narrow behind. This broad character of the hinder end of the vomer is seen also in one group of birds with a keeled sternum--the Tinamous--which are consequently distinguished from other “Carinate” birds by the term _Dromæognathæ_ (_Dromæus_, the Emu).

[141] The presence or absence of it, or of the other muscles, is used as a means for arranging the smaller divisions of the larger groups into which the two first-named sub-classes are, by the aid of other anatomical facts, divided. One striking advantage of this system, as suggested by the late Prof. A. H. Garrod, is that the characters of the _ambiens_ have been observed to go hand in hand with certain other characters. Thus, the cæca found at the end of the small intestine are always present in the Homalogonatæ, or birds having the normal arrangement of knee-muscles; but in this connection there is another structure to be mentioned, namely, the so-called oil-gland, or gland by the secretion of which the bird “preens” its feathers, and which is always set in the skin in the region of the tail. Now this “uropygial,” or oil-gland, may or may not be provided with a tuft of feathers, and as there may or may not be cæca to the intestine, it follows that--(1) the gland may be tufted and there may be cæca, or (2) the gland may have no feathers and cæca may be present, or (3) there may be no cæca and a tufted gland, or (4) there may be no cæca and no tufts (the possible arrangement of neither being present is found in a few Pigeons). But this is not the place to follow out the details of this classification.

With regard to the proposition made by a French observer, M. Alix, that birds should be divided into the Homœomyarii, Entomyarii, and Ectomyarii, according to the character of certain of the flexor muscles at the back of the leg, it seems only necessary to remark that so far anatomical investigations have not supported his views, while his system would separate birds which seem to be closely allied.

[142] Compare Vol. I., p. 213

[143] _Accipitres diurni_ of authors.

[144] _Accipitres nocturni_ of authors.

[145] _Machærhamphus Anderssoni._

[146] _Accipitrinæ._

[147] _Falco_, a Falcon.

[148] Πανδίων, a Greek mythological name.

[149] στρίγξ, an Owl.

[150] “Song of Hiawatha,” Book XIX.

[151] “Essays on Natural History,” 1866, p. 17.

[152] “Notes on the Birds of Damara Land and the adjacent countries of South-west Africa,” 1872, p. 3.

[153] 1864, p. 307.

[154] 1859, p. 277.

[155] _Vultur monachus._

[156] _Gyps fulvus._

[157] J. H. Gurney: “Descriptive Catalogue of the Raptorial Birds in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum.”

[158] οὖς, ὠτός, an ear; γύψ, a vulture.

[159] _Auricularis_, having ears.

[160] A mythological name.

[161] περκνός, dark-coloured; πτερόν, a wing; so called from the colour of its wings.

[162] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 31.

[163] σάρξ, flesh; ῤάμφος, a bill; so called on account of the fleshy wattles on the base of the bill.

[164] _Gryphus_, a mythological name, a Griffon.

[165] καθαρτής, a scavenger.

[166] _Papa_, a pope.

[167] D’Orbigny, “Voyage dans l’Amérique Meridionale,” p. 30.

[168] ῤίν (ῤίς), ῤινός, a nose; _gryphus_, as before, a Griffon, or Vulture; so called on account of its peculiar perforated nose.

[169] _Helotarsus ecaudatus._

[170] _Serpentarius_, a devourer of Serpents.

[171] _Secretarius_, a secretary.

[172] _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_, 1856, p. 348.

[173] Gymnogene: from two Greek words (γυμνός, bare, naked; γένυς, a cheek).

[174] _Polyboroides_: like a _Polyborus_ or Caracara.

[175] Col. Irby, “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 34.

[176] μικρός, small; _astur_, a Goshawk. See “Lawrence’s Birds of Western and North-Western Mexico.” “Memoirs of the Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist.,” Vol. ii., p. 299.

[177] μέλι honey; ἱέραξ, a Hawk.

[178] _Rete_, Lat., a net, so called on account of the network pattern.

[179] _Buteo_, Lat., a Buzzard.

[180] “Birds of the West of Scotland,” p. 46.

[181] θράσος, daring; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[182] ἄρπη, a bird of prey.

[183] “Sketches of Nature in the Alps.”

[184] οὐρά, a tail; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[185] _Audax_, bold.

[186] Newton Ed., Yarrell’s “British Birds,” i., p. 19.

[187] “Rough Notes on Indian Ornithology,” p. 145.

[188] χρυσός, gold; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[189] νέος, new; πούς, a foot: meaning that there was something novel and extraordinary about its foot.

[190] “Birds of Ceylon,” p. 49.

[191] κίρκος, a Harrier; ἀετός, an Eagle.

[192] Ibis, 1865, p. 253.

[193] ἕλω (αἱρέω), to lift; ταρσός, a tarsus.

[194] Ecaudatus, Latin, meaning “without tail,” on account of its shortness.

[195] ἁλιάετος, a Sea Eagle.

[196] “Ootheca Woolleyana,” p. 47.

[197] ἰκτῖνος, a Kite.

[198] “Bird-life,” p. 543.

[199] μάχαιρα, a sharp knife; ῥάμφος, a bill.

[200] Andersson’s “Birds of Damara Land.” Edited by J. H. Gurney, 1872, p. 22.

[201] Lit., like a Cuckoo.

[202] μικρός, small, tiny; ἱέραξ, a Hawk.

[203] A wanderer.

[204] μέλας, black; γένυς, a cheek.

[205] _Nigriceps_, black-headed.

[206] “Ootheca Woolleyana,” p. 93.

[207] ἱερός, sacred; _falco_, a Falcon; _candicans_, white.

[208] κερχνηίς, or κέρχνη, Gr., a Kestrel; _tinnunculus_, Lat., a Hawk.

[209] pp. 82, 95.

[210] Ornithology of Shakspere.

[211] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” &c., p. 56.

[212] “Essays on Natural History,” p. 8.

[213] _Ketupa_, a “barbarous” name, with no meaning.

[214] σκότος, darkness; πέλεια, a Dove, with a covert allusion to the name of the discoverer (Sclater).

[215] Ibis, 1859, p. 447.

[216] _Bubo_, a Horned Owl (Vergil); _ignavus_, dastardly--an inappropriate title for so fine a bird.

[217] νύκτιος, nightly, _i.e._, a bird of night--a most inappropriate title for the Snowy Owl, which is a day-flier.

[218] _Scandiaca_, Scandinavian.

[219] A proper name.

[220] A “barbarous” name, of no meaning.

[221] From γλαυκός, blue or grey.

[222] Passerine, or Sparrow-like: _i.e._, of the size of a Sparrow.

[223] A proper name.

[224] Σύρνιον, a proper name.

[225] νυκταλός, nocturnal.

[226] Like a Hawk.

[227] ὦτος, long-eared Owl.

[228] στρίγξ, an Owl.

[229] Fiery; flame-coloured.

[230] Newton’s edition of Yarrell’s “British Birds,” Vol. I., p. 147.

[231] From _Picus_, a Woodpecker.

[232] _Fissus_, cleft; _rostrum_, a beak.

[233] ζυγόν, a yoke; δάκτυλος, a toe.

[234] ὀρθός, straight; γνάθος, a jaw.

[235] κάμπτω, to bend; λόφος, a crest.

[236] μικρός, small; γλῶσσα, a tongue.

[237] Very black.

[238] ἀνήρ, a man; γλῶσσα, a tongue.

[239] χρυσός, gold; οὖς, an ear.

[240] “Birds of Jamaica,” p. 266.

[241] G. D. Rowley, “Ornithological Miscellany,” Vol. I, p. 175.

[242] “Natural History of Cage-birds,” Part I.

[243] Jerdon, “Birds of India,” I., p. 258.

[244] στρίγξ, an Owl; ὤψ, a face, _i.e._, having the appearance of an Owl.

[245] ἁβρός, soft; πτίλον, feather.

[246] ὀρθός, straight; γνάθος, jaw.

[247] _Trichoglossi._

[248] Professor Garrod in _Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1872_, p. 787.

[249] “Stray Feathers,” 1877, p. 385.

[250] “Bird-life,” p. 595.

[251] Sharpe’s edition of Layard’s “Birds of South Africa,” p. 141.

[252] γῆ, earth, and κινέω, I shake; _viridis_, green.

[253] The classical Greek name, from its double note sounding like the exclamation ἰΰ, hence the verb ἰΰζω, I cry out.

[254] Compare Fig. 1, _ch._; this bone usually exists in a paired condition, but in Woodpeckers and some other birds it appears single by the confluence of its members. In many birds the “basi-hyal” is succeeded by the “uro-hyal” (Fig. 1, _b. br._), a bone altogether absent whenever the tongue is capable of extraordinary protrusion.

[255] σφῦρα, a hammer; _picus_, a woodpecker.

[256] Yarrell, “British Birds,” vol. ii., p. 137.

[257] μέλας, black; ἕρπω, I creep; _formicivorus_, ant-eating.

[258] Linnæus. A proper name.

[259] From ῥάμφος, a bill.

[260] “Monograph of the _Rhamphastidæ_, or Family of Toucans,” by John Gould, F.R.S. Introduction.

[261] From _Capito_, the principal genus: a proper name.

[262] “A Monograph of the Capitonidæ, or Scansorial Barbets,” by C. H. T. Marshall and G. F. L. Marshall (1871).

[263] _Galbula_, a proper name.

[264] Sclater, “Synopsis of the Fissirostral Family Bucconidæ,” 8vo, 1854.

[265] _Alcedo_, a Kingfisher.

[266] Sharpe’s “Monograph of the Alcedinidæ, or Kingfishers.”

[267]

“Perque dies placidos hiberno tempore septem
Incubat alcyone pendentibus æquore nidis.”--Ovid, _Met._ xi. 745.

[268] κηρύλος, a sea-bird of the halcyon kind.

[269] “Ornithologie Nord Ost Afrikas,” p. 185.

[270] πελαργός, a stork; ὤψ, a face.

[271] Diminutive of _Ispida_, a Kingfisher.

[272] τανύω, to stretch; πτερόν, a wing.

[273] βούκερως, having the horn (κέρας) of a cow (βοῦς).

[274] Elliot: “Monograph of the Bucerotidæ, or family of the Hornbills,” Part IV.

[275] “Missionary Travels in South Africa.”

[276] “Malay Archipelago,” Vol. I., p. 212.

[277] See Sharpe’s Edition of Layard’s “Birds of South Africa,” p. 122.

[278] Sharpe and Dresser, “Birds of Europe,” Part VII., 1871.

[279] “Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar,” p. 66.

[280] φᾶρος, a mantle; μακρός, large.

[281] Ibis, 1861, p. 138.

[282] στέαρ, στέατος, fat; ὄρνις, a bird.

[283] βάτραχος, a frog; στόμα, a mouth.

[284] Owl-like.

[285] μακρός, long; χείρ, a hand, in the sense of a wing of a bird.

[286] Cypselus, a swift; α, not; πούς, a foot.

[287] Nest-building.