Chapter XXIV: Introduction (23)

_Cicinnurus regius_, the King Bird of Paradise, hardly seven inches long, is glossy crimson, with a metallic green band dividing the throat from the white lower parts. An expansible fan of ashy plumes tipped with emerald arises from each side, while the long median tail-wires have the terminal green inner webs coiled into discs. The feathering reaches far down the orange bill; the feet are cobalt, contrasting with the black, yellowish, or fleshy tints usual in the Family. _Diphyllodes gulielmi tertii_ is orange-red with mainly dusky wings and tail; the long nuchal ruff being orange, the lateral neck-tufts purplish-brown, the pectoral shield green edged with emerald, the long side-plumes brown with green ends, the belly purple. _D. magnifica_ has a brown head and under surface, green throat and breast-shield, orange-brown back surmounted by a double cape of straw-yellow upon red-brown, and long, curved steel-blue tail-wires. _Schlegelia respublica_ is remarkable for its naked blue head, with two lines of brown feathers crossing each other at right angles, and for its blue feet. The upper parts are successively green, yellow, crimson, black, and brown; the silky gular shield is green, with metallic blue spots above and coppery marks below; the lateral breast-plumes shew coppery and green hues. _Parotia sexpennis_, the Six-wired Bird of Paradise, is bronzy- and purplish-black, having scale-like golden throat- and breast-feathers with green and blue reflexions. A satiny white {548}patch crosses the forehead; the occiput is green, blue, and purple, having two lateral tufts, from each of which spring three wires terminating in small black discs; while large, soft, erectile masses of black adorn each side of the body. _Semioptera wallacii_, the Standard-wing, is mouse-coloured, with somewhat bronzy back and violet head; the pectoral feathers have green edges; the green shield on the fore-neck extends in lateral tufts to the flanks; and two long, narrow white plumes, erected at will, adorn the bend of each wing. _Lophorhina superba_ is black, with blue, green, and bronzy gloss on the head and neck; the bluish-green breast-shield is prolonged at the sides, and a metallic black erectile ruff graces the nape. _Lamprothorax_ has coppery, green, purple, rosy, and brownish hues, and two long blue-green median rectrices. _Phonygammus jamesi_ is purplish-violet, with blue-green head, under surface, lanceolate neck-feathers, and acuminate occipital tufts. The extraordinary _Pteridophora alberti_ possesses a wonderful streamer behind each eye, twice as long as the body. This has, on the outer side only, about thirty-seven thin quadrangular enamel-like lobes, which are light blue with dusky backs. The plumage is black, with olive rump-region and ochraceous lower parts, the head and neck shewing elongated plumes.

_Manucodia atra_ is steel-green and black, with purple reflexions; _M._ (_Eucorax_) _comrii_ has the head and neck-feathers curly, _M. chalybeata_ those of the fore-neck. The Crow-like _Lycocorax pyrrhopterus_ is greenish-black with brown wings; _Xanthomelus aureus_ is orange-yellow, and has a deeper-coloured crested head and neck, black throat, tail, and part of wings and back, and a cape of hackled plumes falling over the last.

Of the Bower-birds, _Prionodura newtoniana_ is bright orange, olive, and brown; _Cnemophilus macgregori_ is golden-yellow above and black below, with brownish wings and tail; the thin recurved {549}crest merging into a compressed frontal ridge, whence chestnut feathering extends over the culmen. _Loria loriae_ is chiefly purplish-black with an iridescent violet nasal shield of scale-like feathers. _Loboparadisea sericea_ is rufous-brown and yellow, with a wattle, apparently bluish, extending upwards from the gape on each side. _Amblyornis inornata_ and _A. subalaris_ are respectively olive and reddish-brown, with a huge orange-red crest. _A. flavifrons_ has the crest yellower. _Sericulus melinus_, the Regent-bird, is black, with orange head, neck, and most of the remiges; _Ptilorhynchus violaceus_, the Satin-bird, is purplish-black, with much feathered culmen; _Scenopoeetes dentirostris_ is olive-brown above, and fulvous with dusky streaks below. _Aeluredus viridis_, the Cat-bird, not to be confounded with that of America (p. 519), is bright green, with a blue wash on the back, and with white streaks, bars, or spots on the nape, wings, tail, and yellowish under parts. Other species of the genus have mainly black or brown heads, while some have white throats with black markings. _Chlamydodera nuchalis_ has grey-brown plumage above with whitish tips, a lilac nuchal band backed by stiff feathers, and a yellow-grey lower surface.

Female Paradise-birds generally have brown upper parts with lighter markings, though they are occasionally blacker, as in _Astrapia_ {550}and _Paradigalla_; below the colour is rufous, buff, grey, yellowish or white, with bars, stripes, or chevrons of blackish or brown. In the female of _Schlegelia_ the bare head is duller than in the male, while a little red and gold shews above; the hen of _Ptilorhynchus_ exhibits grey-green and brown tints; the sexes are almost alike in _Phonygammus_, _Manucodia_, _Lycocorax_, and _Aeluredus_; in _Paradisornis_ the female has blue wings and tail. Young birds usually resemble their mother; but with regard to their progress to maturity, the elongation and abrasion of the webs of the median rectrices, and the growth of the decorative tufts, the works of Mr. Wallace,[294] Dr. Guillemard,[295] and Mr. Rothschild[296] should be consulted.

Except in the Bower-birds the habits vary but little. Paradise-birds are lively and active, shy though curious, taking refuge in the thick foliage when disturbed; small flocks are not unfrequently observed, usually of one species, while for considerable periods the males appear to live apart. Closely wooded hills and ravines are the chief resorts, _Falcinellus_, _Astrapia_, _Lophorhina_, _Diphyllodes_, and the like preferring the inland heights of New Guinea up to an altitude of about nine thousand feet; _Parotia_ of that country and _Scenopoeetes_ of Queensland range to about four thousand feet; but such forms as _Cicinnurus_, _Xanthomelus_, _Phonygammus_, _Ptilorhis_, and the Australian Cat-birds and Bower-birds, occupy lower elevations on the coast or elsewhere. _Falcinellus_, _Astrapia_, _Paradisea_, _Parotia_, _Ptilorhis_, _Sericulus_, and doubtless others, love high tree-tops; _Semioptera_, _Cicinnurus_, and so forth, live nearer to the ground. The brief flight is rapid, though undulating and often heavy; in _Cicinnurus_ it is noisy, in _Ptilorhis_ the sound produced resembles the rustling of silk. Most species hop constantly about the boughs; _Paradigalla_ often rests on dead trees; _Drepanornis_, _Seleucides_, _Semioptera_, and _Ptilorhis_, search under the bark for insects, and move about like Creepers. The pugnacious males of _Paradisea_ collect to "dance" on favourite trees at the breeding season, when they fly about with elevated and vibrating plumes; while in the Family generally the cock courts the hen in Pigeon-like fashion, _Diphyllodes_ making meanwhile a complete circle of its expanded mantle- and throat-plumes. _Parotia_ scratches and rolls in the dust like a Fowl.

The voice may be a shrill reiterated "wake-wake," as in _Paradisea_; a harsh or sonorous cry, as in _Falcinellus_, _Chlamydodera_, {551}_Phonygammus_, _Ptilorhynchus_, _Sericulus_, _Seleucides_, and _Semioptera_; a long, grating or triple sound, as in _Ptilorhis_; a mewing or flute-like note, as in _Cicinnurus_; or a sharp whistle, as in _Aeluredus_; the last-named and _Amblyornis_ being especially excellent mimics. The diet consists largely of berries, seeds, fruits of _Pandanus_, and _Freycinetia_, the fig, nutmeg, and so forth; frogs, lizards, worms, snails, and caterpillars, however, are also eaten; insects are in great request; and _Seleucides_ sucks honey from the flowers. The nest and eggs of several species have now been discovered; the former being a loose, open fabric of sticks and leaves in _Ptilorhis_, _Ptilorhynchus_, _Sericulus_, and _Phonygammus_; or of twigs, roots, moss, and grass in _Eucorax_, _Chlamydodera_, _Prionodura_, _Aeluredus_, and _Drepanornis_; it is placed in bushes, if not in low or even high trees. The eggs are glossy reddish-buff, with dark rufous or chestnut blotches and streaks, and a few black spots, in _Paradisea apoda_, _P. augustae victoriae_, _P. raggiana_, and _Ptilorhis victoriae_; similar or whiter, often with purplish or purplish-grey markings in _Eucorax, Manucodia_, and _Drepanornis cervinicauda_; yellower with additional wavy scrolling in _Ptilorhynchus violaceus_; yellowish-grey with pale brown freckles and blotches in _Prionodura newtoniana_; bluish or greenish-white, with or without red-brown dots and lines, in _Aeluredus maculosus_ and _Ae. viridis_; greenish-white with a network of narrow brown and black lines in _Chlamydodera maculata_ and _C. cerviniventris_; pale lavender with sienna and lilac spots and scrawls in _Sericulus melinus_. The number of eggs found varies from one to three.

_Parotia lawesi_, _Aeluredus viridis_ and _Scenopoeetes dentirostris_, though not said to form bowers, make clear spaces where from six to eight males meet to sport, the last two species decorating them with green or coloured leaves, berries, and flowers. _Prionodura_ fashions a bower or play-place of from four to six feet high by eight broad, piling sticks round two trees and roofing over the intervening space with creepers; white moss, ferns, and green fruit serving as ornaments. Small structures of over-arching grass capped with twigs are often observable close by. _Amblyornis inornata_ heaps a cone of moss round a sapling, leaving a circular gallery between this and an outer conical cover of sticks two feet high, covered with orchid sprays. Before the entrance lies a bed of green moss decked with bright flowers and berries, which are renewed daily, the withered decorations being piled at {552}the back. _A. subalaris_ fashions a domed bower of sticks and moss, with one or two openings, round a shrub which is itself entwined with twigs; the centre of the floor shewing a cheese-like mass of moss ornamented with flowers and seeds. _Sericulus melinus_ builds a run about a foot long on a platform of sticks, composing it of arched twigs and decorating it with shells, berries, and leaves. _Ptilorhynchus violaceus_ makes a like structure of twigs and grass, which scarcely meet above, and adorns it with bright feathers; scattering other feathers, bones, shells, rags, berries, and the like over the space which Bower-birds habitually clear in front. In _Chlamydodera nuchalis_ the similar bower, about three feet long, is lined with grasses, a large heap of ornaments lying before each entrance.

Paradise-birds are shot with blunt arrows, snared, caught in nets, in cloths, or with bird-lime; they have been kept in captivity by the Zoological Society of London, and in Italy.

Fam. XXIII. CORVIDAE.–The Crows and their kin compose a fairly uniform tribe, often divided into the Sub-families _Corvinae_ (Crows), _Garrulinae_ (Magpies and Jays), and _Fregilinae_ (Choughs).

The bill is generally stout and fairly straight, with no distinct notch, being very strong in _Corvultur_ and _Corvus corax_, but more or less curved in _Gazzola_, _Microcorax_, _Macrocorax_, _Urocissa_, _Garrulus_, _Callaeas_ (_Glaucopis_), _Struthidea_, and _Pyrrhocorax_; while in the last-named and _Heterocorax_ it is exceptionally long and slender, and in _Nucifraga_ subulate and of diverse proportions. The metatarsus is usually strong; the wings are long and pointed in Crows and Choughs, shorter in Jays and Magpies, and decidedly rounded in _Corcorax_, _Callaeas_, and _Struthidea_. The variable tail is very long and much graduated in _Pica_, _Cyanopica_, _Urocissa_, _Cryptorhina_, _Dendrocitta_, _Crypsirhina_, _Cissa_, and _Calocitta_, the two median rectrices often exceeding the others; but it is usually moderate, though at the same time graduated in some Jays.

Crests occur in _Cyanocitta_, _Platysmurus_, _Cyanocorax_, _Uroleuca_, and _Calocitta_, those of the last two being recurved, and _Calocitta_ having the plumes widened; sometimes the crown-feathers are dense and erectile, as in _Garrulus_. The head of _Picathartes_ is bare and yellow, with a broad black patch behind each eye; _Gymnocorax_ shews a large yellowish or whitish naked space on the face; the adult Rook (_Corvus frugilegus_) has whitish skin over the forehead, lores, and throat; in _C. pastinator_ the throat is feathered. _Pica mauritanica_ has a blue, and the yellow-billed {553}_P. nuttalli_ a yellow, ear-patch; _Cissa_ a fleshy vermilion orbital outgrowth; _Callaeas_ an orange rictal wattle with blue base in one species, a blue wattle in the other.

This Family occupies nearly all the globe, except the Australian Region east of the Sandwich Islands, New Caledonia, and New Zealand; while the members are less plentiful in America, and from Panama to Uruguay only a few genera akin to the Jay occur. The sexes are similar, the young usually duller.

True Crows are generally black with a purplish or greenish gloss, and frequently with white at the base of the feathers; some, however, are browner, while the silvery-grey hind-neck of the Jackdaw and the grey back and lower parts of the "Hooded" Crow are well known. The Chinese _Corvus torquatus_ and the Ethiopian _C. scapulatus_ have white collars behind, and white on the breast; in _Gazzola_ of Celebes that colour extends further; but the African _Corvultur_ has the white collar only. The throat sometimes exhibits hackles, and in the Antillean _Microcorax leucognaphalus_ the feathers have hair-like extremities. Our visitor the Nutcracker (_Nucifraga caryocatactes_) is brown, with whitish dorsal and pectoral spots, and blackish quills; three or four other species of the genus, with most variable bills, inhabit conifer woods in the Palaearctic Region; and a near ally (_Picicorvus columbianus_) those of the western Rocky Mountains. Choughs (_Pyrrhocorax_), which occur in the Palaearctic and the extreme north of the Ethiopian Region, are glossy black, with brilliant red feet, and red or yellow bill.

_Pica rustica_, the well-known Magpie, needs no description, nor do its black and white congeners, _P. mauritanica_, distinguished by a naked blue spot behind the eye, and _P. nuttalli_ with this spot and the beak yellow. _P. rustica_ extends through the Palaearctic Region, and reaches Formosa and North America; the other species are found respectively in Algeria and Morocco and in California. _Platysmurus aterrimus_ of Borneo, and _Temnurus truncatus_ of Cochin China are instances of uniform glossy black forms in this section; _Psilorhinus_, from the centre of America, is a dull brown Jay. _Cyanopica cooki_, of Southern Spain, represented in Eastern Asia and Japan by _C. cyana_, is a blue Magpie, having cobalt wings and tail, an ashy body, and a black head; while the Indo-Chinese and Sumatran genus, _Dendrocitta_, shews brown, orange, buff, and grey tints, mingled with black and usually white. _Cissa_ contains three species from India, Burma, {554}Sumatra, and Java, of lovely green and blue, or cobalt and ultramarine hues, with some red-brown on the wing, a white tip to the tail, coral-red bill and feet, and–in two cases–a black nape. Our soft-plumaged Jay (_Garrulus glandarius_), with its black and white crest and wings, black tail, reddish-fawn upper and buff under parts, and patch of blue, white and black bars on the wing-coverts, may represent a genus ranging over the Palaearctic Region, and through the Himalayas, to the Burmese districts and Formosa. In Japan alone four species are found. _Aphelocoma_ and _Calocitta_ of the central parts of the New World; the Blue Jays (_Cyanocitta_) of North America; _Urocissa_, a Magpie with red or yellow bill and feet, from India, Burma, and China; and the Central and South American _Cyanocorax_, all shew more blue than _Garrulus_, not uncommonly on the under surface. _Perisoreus infaustus_, the Siberian Jay, is brown, grey, and olive, with much chestnut on the wings, tail, and abdomen, its congeners being plain brown, grey, and white. Lastly, _Xanthura luxuosa_, the Green Jay of South Texas and Mexico, is green, with yellow on the abdomen and lateral rectrices, and a black and blue head; some species of the genus, which reaches southwards to Venezuela and Bolivia, having the lower surface entirely yellow or black, and others being almost blue with black on the head.

The habits of the cunning voracious Crows, the gregarious Rooks, the astute but bold Magpies and Jackdaws, and the more shy or retiring Jays and Choughs are well known; yet the habit of posting sentinels in the Rook, the tumbling in mid-air of that bird, the Raven, and the Jackdaw, the scolding pursuit of intruders by Magpies and Jays, and the breaking of clams, bones, and the like by dropping them from aloft, by the Raven, Carrion-Crow, and _Corvus caurinus_ require passing mention.

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Crows generally inhabit wooded country, but also bare moorlands or sea-coasts; the Nutcracker requires pine-forests–commonly at considerable elevations; and Magpies haunt woods, yet not so invariably as Jays. The whole Family hop, and most forms, except perhaps Jays, walk or run also. All are active birds and fly well, the Chough, Jay, and Nutcracker in more undulating fashion: while soaring is a common practice. Ravens have very deep voices, and croak, "bark," or "grunt"; Jackdaws utter a clear jake-jake; Choughs a ringing, metallic note or a hoarse "chough-chough"; Nutcrackers a "churr-churr"; Magpies a continuous rattle or "chatter." Jays vary their harsh, grating utterances by mimicking other species, the American Blue Jays being notorious adepts, and exhibiting meanwhile fantastic contortions of the head, wings, and tail. Many species, such as Ravens, Magpies, and Jackdaws, learn to imitate sounds when tamed. The Corvidae {556}are almost omnivorous, Ravens and other strong species even attacking weakly ewes or lambs, and preying on small mammals, birds, and reptiles; Hooded and Carrion Crows, Rooks, Magpies. Jackdaws, and Jays suck eggs; while Rooks, though undoubtedly beneficial, also grub up seed-corn and potatoes. An immense amount of insect-life is, however, destroyed, and the larger forms dispose of carrion; the American _Corvus ossifragus_ and _C. corone_, moreover, will catch living fish. Magpies and Jays feed largely upon the ground, and eat slugs, snails, worms, insects, nuts, acorns, grain, seeds of conifers, and other fruits; Nutcrackers devour quantities of the last; _Corvus tropicus_, _Macrocorax_, and _Gymnocorax_ relish fruit. Jays store provisions, and Jackdaws pick insects off cattle. The nests of Crows and Nutcrackers are bulky structures of sticks, lined with soft materials; the rough domed fabric of the Magpie is neatly lined with roots upon a layer of clay; the slighter nests of Choughs and Jays are inlaid with roots and fibres–more rarely with moss, hair, or wool–and every variety is found between these limits. The larger species build in forks and holes in trees, in crevices of rocks and masonry, or rarely in or on the ground; the Chough never chooses trees; Jays nest comparatively low, and often in bushes. Crows' eggs are normally greenish, mottled with darker green, olive, or brownish, but _Heterocorax capensis_ has them pinkish with red spots, while other Crows, Ravens, and _Dendrocitta_ sometimes shew a similar tint. Jackdaws' eggs are bluish-green or white, with dark olive or black markings interspersed with grey; those of Magpies and Nutcrackers have a like ground-colour with greenish-olive and faint brownish spots respectively; those of Jays are greenish, or even bluish, with close olive-green frecklings or zones, and occasional black scrawls at the larger end; those of Choughs are yellowish-white, with light brown and grey markings. The number laid varies from two or three, to as many as nine in Magpies, but is usually four or five. The hens sit rather closely. Ravens sometimes will even attack man at the nest.

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Of genera doubtfully included in the Family, _Picathartes_ of the Gold Coast is slaty-grey, with brown quills, white under parts, and bare yellow head, shewing black behind each eye; it builds among rocks near forest-streams, and feeds upon reptiles and molluscs. The egg is whitish, clouded and dotted with brown. _Callaeas_ (_Glaucopis_) _cinerea_, which is blue-grey, with black on the head, and an orange and blue rictal wattle, and its congener _C. wilsoni_, with entirely blue wattle, inhabit the lower hill-forests of the South and North Islands of New Zealand respectively. They have deep, rich, long-drawn notes, diversified by "cackles," mews, or "bell-like" sounds, the male performing antics when courting. The food consists of fruit, flowers, and insects; the flight is feeble. The large nests of twigs, moss, and grass are placed in trees; the two or three eggs being purplish-grey with brown blotches or frecklings. _Corcorax_ and _Struthidea_ are peculiar to Australia, the former being glossy black with white on the wing, the latter brownish-grey with black tail.[297] _Corcorax_ haunts open forests, brook-sides, and lagoons in little flocks, running about actively, or leaping upon the boughs with motile, outspread tail. The food consists of insects; the note is grating or mournful; while {558}the male courts the female like a Pigeon. The nest, a sort of basin of mud with a straw lining, is fixed on a horizontal branch, and contains from four to seven yellowish-white eggs with olive and purplish-brown markings. _Struthidea_ frequents pine tracts, and has similar habits and nest, the eggs being white with red-brown and grey blotches. In _Heteralocha[298] acutirostris_, the New Zealand Huia, the female has a remarkably long, curved bill, that of the male being short, stout, and nearly straight. The plumage is greenish-black, with a white-tipped tail; the bill is whitish, the feet are blue-grey, the large rictal wattles orange. This bird frequents wooded gullies in the North Island, seldom flying above the foliage, but bounding or hopping along the ground or upon the branches. Natives attract and noose it by imitating the whistling note. The cock chisels away the decayed bark, and the hen probes the crevices for insects; "huhu" caterpillars and berries varying the main diet. The nest, of dry grass, leaves, and stalks, is placed in hollow trees, the eggs being apparently whitish, with or without brown and grey spots. _Creadion carunculatus_, the Saddle-back of the same country, is black, with chestnut back, rump, wing- and tail-coverts, and small yellow or red gape-wattles. It haunts wooded hills, hopping actively or moving spirally up the trunks and branches, while the flight is short, rapid, and laboured. The notes may be soft and sweet, or noisy and shrill; the food resembles that of _Heteralocha_. The nest of dry leaves, ferns, fibres, moss, and bark is built in hollow trees or large ferns, the three or four greyish-white eggs shewing purplish-brown markings.

_Podoces_ includes four desert species, with elongated, strong, curved, and pointed bills; long, stout legs; short, rounded wings; and moderate square tails. The colour is fawn, grey, and brown, generally with black and white wings and black tail; _P. hendersoni_ and _P. biddulphi_ have a black cap, the former shewing white spots on it, _P. panderi_ has a black throat-patch, _P. humilis_ is brown with whitish nape and lower parts. They haunt sand-hills covered with saxaul (_Anabasis ammodendron_) or tamarisk, from Transcaspia to Tibet, running swiftly, occasionally flying like a Jay, feeding on the ground upon insects, their larvae, and seeds, uttering harsh reiterated Woodpecker-like cries, and making a nest of twigs lined with bark, grass, and hair in low trees, bushes, or rarely holes in the ground. The four eggs are greenish-grey {559}with olive spots. _P. humilis_ frequents more grassy ground up to eleven thousand feet.

Fam. XXIV. STURNIDAE.–The Starlings, apparently connecting the _Corvidae_ and the _Icteridae_, are divided by Mr. Oates[299] and Dr. Sharpe[300] into _Eulabetidae_ (Tree-Starlings) with rictal bristles, more arboreal habits, and usually spotted eggs, and _Sturnidae_ (Starlings proper) where the contrary holds good.[301] To these _Buphaga_ may be added for the present, in default of a better position.

The bill is generally long and pointed–especially in _Sturnopastor_,–but is exceptionally slender in _Cinnamopterus_, shorter and stouter in _Basilornis_, _Buphaga_, _Pastor_, _Pholidauges_, and _Aplonis_; being curved in the last three, and also in _Fregilupus_ and _Necropsar_; where it is longer. The anteriorly scutellated metatarsus is ordinarily strong, and is shortest in the Tree-Starlings. The wing is usually moderate, with small first primary, though it is more elongated and pointed in _Sturnus_ and _Dilophus_, rounded in _Sturnopastor_, _Temenuchus_, and so forth, short in _Coccycolius_ and _Buphaga_; the secondaries have long filamentous basal appendages in _Psaroglossa_, and loose hair-like exterior webs in _Onychognathus_. The tail varies from short to long, from square to much graduated; it is forked in _Sturnia_, and may have acuminate feathers; while _Macruropsar_ and _Lamprotornis_ possess exceptionally developed rectrices, _L. caudatus_ having the broad median pair longer than the body. Lanceolate feathers commonly adorn the neck and breast; bushy crests occur in _Pastor_ and _Temenuchus_, smaller tufts in _Sturnia_, _Basilornis_, _Enodes_, _Fregilupus_, _Graculipica_, _Sturnornis_ and _Acridotheres cristatellus_; recurved plumes may cover the nostrils, as in _Acridotheres_, _Ampeliceps_, and _Basilornis_; while bare chins, orbits, or ear-patches of brown, yellow, and the like are frequent. _Charitornis_ has the throat and cheeks naked; _Dilophus_ the head and throat bare, with two erect wattles above and one below; _Sarcops_ dull-red naked orbits, and merely a narrow feathered line down the crown; _Eulabes_ a yellow post-ocular lappet forking to the back of the eye and the eyebrow, and a yellow patch below; _Enodes_ a broad, superciliary wax-like red line; and _Scissirostrum_ similar crimson feathers on the rump.

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Most of the brighter species exhibit purple, coppery, blue and green reflexions, our familiar Starling (_Sturnus vulgaris_) being iridescent black, with buff marks above, and, after the autumn moult, white spots below. The female is duller, but in this Family the sexes usually differ little. _S. unicolor_ is unspotted. _Spodiopsar burmanicus_ has grey upper and pinkish under parts, with brownish wings and tail, white head, and white-tipped rectrices; _Sturnopastor contra_ is blackish-brown and white above, and greyish beneath, with green-black head and throat and white cheeks; _Pastor roseus_, which wanders to Britain, is glossy black, with pink back and abdomen; _Graculipica melanoptera_ is almost pure white, with black or bronzy remiges and rectrices. _Eulabes religiosa_, the Myna,–a name also popularly applied to _Acridotheres_ (sacred to the god Ram Deo) and several other Indian forms,–is black, with purple and green reflexions, and a white patch on the wing-quills; _Cinnamopterus tenuirostris_ is more highly coloured, with mainly chestnut primaries; _Melanopyrrhus orientalis_ adds to its metallic black hue an orange head, neck, rump, and breast; _Lamprotornis_ and the shorter-tailed _Lamprocolius_ exhibit lovely greens, purples, and peacock-blues, relieved by golden-bronze; _Coccycolius_ is golden-green with purple cheeks and abdomen. _Pholidauges leucogaster_ is rich purplish-violet with white belly, {561}the female being brown and buff above, and whitish below with dusky striations; _Calornis_ and _Aplonis_ are usually dullish green; while the extinct _Fregilupus varius_ was ashy-brown, grey, and white. _Falculia_ is white with blue-black back, wings, and tail. It frequents trees or streams, and utters plaintive, melodious notes. _Buphaga_ is dull-brown, with fulvous rump and lower surface. The bill is commonly black throughout the group, but is sometimes red, pinkish, bluish, greenish, orange, or yellow; the feet also vary in colour. Albinos are rather frequent.

This Family occupies almost all the Old World, but not America proper, though _Sturnus vulgaris_ has strayed to Greenland; the headquarters lie in the Indian and Ethiopian Regions, wherein several forms have a very restricted distribution. Instances of this are _Charitornis_ of the Sula Islands, _Scissirostrum_, _Enodes_, and _Streptocitta_ of Celebes, _Hagiopsar_ of the Dead Sea and Sinaitic districts, _Hartlaubius_ and _Falculia_ of Madagascar, _Sarcops_ of the Philippines, _Mino_ of Papuasia, _Melanopyrrhus_ and _Macruropsar_ of New Guinea and its islands, _Aplonis_ of the Pacific and the Tenimber group. _Fregilupus_, of which only a few examples exist in collections, was confined to Réunion, _Necropsar_ is an extinct form from Rodriguez. _Calornis_ alone inhabits Australia.

_Lamprotornis_, _Spodiopsar_, and the Eulabetidae in general, rarely leave the trees they haunt; on the other hand, some forms, as our Starling, spend much time upon the ground, or roost in huge flocks on shrubs, reeds, and the like. The habits are wary, and seldom as sociable as those of our British species, hills being often preferred to more wooded districts or the neighbourhood of houses. _Aethiopsar_ reaches an altitude of seven thousand feet. The flight is strong, straight, and rapid, though heavier in _Buphaga_; while flocks of Starlings turn, sweep along, and gyrate in remarkable fashion, and soaring is not uncommon. The more terrestrial forms walk and run excellently, often stopping suddenly to probe the soil for worms or larvae, which, with insects generally, and molluscs, provide the chief sustenance. A large amount of fruit is also consumed, including berries and seeds; frogs and, as some say, callow nestlings are also devoured; _Pastor_, _Dilophus_, and _Acridotheres_ destroy locusts; _Eulabes_ and its allies prefer vegetable food; _Buphaga_ is termed Ox-pecker or Rhinoceros-bird, from clearing ticks off those animals. Certain species disgorge nutriment for their young. The voice is commonly varied and pleasing, becoming {562}a rich song in _Eulabes_; but most forms whistle, chatter, or utter harsh sounds; and many are extraordinary mimics, or even talk, like the Starling and the Myna, under tuition. By the more typical forms a rough nest of straw, twigs, rags, wool, or feathers is placed in holes in trees, walls, or banks; under eaves; in burrows or stone-heaps: from four to seven uniform light blue or whitish eggs being deposited. _Sturnopastor_, alone or in societies, affixes a huge structure to the outer branches of trees or bushes; _Dilophus_ makes a neater cup in similar situations; _Calornis_, which usually forms colonies, suspends from the boughs a bulky bottle-shaped structure with a side-entrance, and so forth. Even our Starling at times builds an open nest. The Eulabetidae generally lay spotted eggs, _Dilophus_ occasionally; _Calornis_ has them greenish with reddish-brown marks.

Fam. XXV. DREPANIDIDAE.–According to the latest views, namely those of Dr. Gadow,[302] this group contains only the curious forms below, which are all peculiar to the Sandwich Islands. In most of them the semi-tubular tongue is dorsally frayed out into a single brush, but in several thick-billed species it is but slightly tubular, and is split or frayed. The non-serrated beak varies greatly, being elongated and arched in _Vestiaria_; very long and curved with projecting maxilla in _Drepanis_ and _Hemignathus_; and similar, but with the upcurved or straight mandible only about half as long as the maxilla in _Heterorhynchus_. In _Himatione_, _Oreomyza_, _Loxops_, _Palmeria_, _Ciridops_, and _Chrysomitridops_ it is much shorter and little decurved; in _Psittacirostra_, _Loxioïdes_, _Chloridops_, and _Rhodacanthis_ it is stout, Finch-like, and hooked, being enormously developed in the last two; in the extraordinary _Pseudonestor_ it is Parrot-like. In _Loxops_ the mandible is twisted indifferently to either side, possibly by constant use. Over the nostrils an operculum is often present; but bristles of all kinds are absent. The scutes of the moderate metatarsus shew a tendency to fusion; the wings are of medium length, with a hardly visible outer primary. The tail is rather short and nearly square, having pointed rectrices in _Vestiaria_ and _Drepanis_; and exhibits a tendency to forking. Fluffy feathering constantly characterizes the back, flanks, or axillary region. There is a more or less {563}decided crop, as in many Finches. In some species the females appear to have shorter bills.

_Drepanis pacifica_ is black, with golden rump, upper and under tail-coverts, tibiae, and bend of wing, a little white shewing on the wings and tail; _D. funerea_ is almost entirely black. _Vestiaria coccinea_ is vermilion, with black remiges and rectrices, and some white on the wing-coverts; the bill and feet being red. _Hemignathus_ and _Heterorhynchus_ are greenish-olive above, with black lores, brownish remiges, and usually yellowish or creamy lower surface; but the head is occasionally yellow. _Palmeria dolii_ has blackish plumage with scarlet or orange tips, a brilliant scarlet-orange nape, an orange space round the eye, similarly coloured tibiae, a grey throat, and a dirty white crest curving over the culmen. _Himatione_ is generally yellow-green, with browner wings, yellow under parts, and sometimes black lores; the very closely allied _Oreomyza_ may be duller or greyer, with buff and white below. _H. sanguinea_ is crimson, with black and red wings, and black tail. _Loxops_, which in one species is dimorphic, is scarlet or orange, with brown on the remiges and rectrices; _Chrysomitridops_ is yellowish-olive, with yellow crown and lower surface, black on the wings and tail, and bluish bill. _Psittacirostra_ is greenish with yellow head; _Rhodacanthis_ is reddish-orange with browner back, or in one case yellow head, while the female is green. _Ciridops_ is red, with black throat, tail, and most of the wings, grey nape and cheeks; it approaches _Cyanospiza ciris_ (p. 585) in colour.

{564}Hens are ordinarily duller (often brownish or green), except in _Vestiaria_ and _Himatione sanguinea_; the young are greenish-yellow relieved by black in _Vestiaria_, brown and buff in _Palmeria_ and _Himatione sanguinea_, and assume the red or orange gradually.

These forms now chiefly haunt high damp hill-forests, though _Vestiaria_ still occurs near the coast; they fly comparatively little, but spend much of their time creeping quietly and rapidly over the trunks and branches of acacia, "ohia," "mamane," and other trees, where they hunt for insects below the bark or on the leaves. None habitually seek the ground. The long-billed species delight in probing the decayed wood, and insert their mandibles into the crevices in search of food, which consists partly of lepidopterous larvae and spiders. Fruit is largely eaten, pods being split to obtain seeds, and honey is sucked either for its own sake or for the insects it attracts. The stomach at times contains grit. Most forms have a sweet song, the call-note being a reiterated "tweet" or metallic chirp; _Rhodacanthis_, moreover, whistles. _Himatione virens_ makes a nest of roots and decayed leaves in trees, _Loxops aurea_ apparently does the same; the former lays whitish eggs freckled and streaked with purplish-brown, but little is known of the reproduction. The splendid feather-cloaks of the Hawaiian kings, the "leis" (wreaths), waist-bands, and mask-decorations, were of old chiefly composed of the plumage of the "Mamo" (_Drepanis pacifica_), and the Iiwi (_Vestiaria coccinea_); but when the former became scarce, the lighter yellow tufts (p. 565) of the O-o (_Acrulocercus_) were utilized to pay the feather tax, though the cloaks were still called "Mamo." _Himatione sanguinea_ was also laid under contribution, as was in later times the domestic cock.

Fam. XXVI. MELIPHAGIDAE.–The Honey-eaters, seldom bigger than a Thrush, are remarkable for their extensile quadruple or multiple tongue, which is frayed out latero-dorsally. They occupy the Australian Region, from which _Ptilotis limbata_ alone crosses Wallace's line (p. 16) to Bali, and often have very restricted ranges. Two Sub-families may be recognised, _Myzomelinae_ and _Meliphaginae_. The thin curved bill is commonly long, with prominent culmen and wide base; _Melithreptes_ and _Plectrorhynchus_, however, have it short, and the latter straight. The maxilla is nearly always notched and serrated, several species of _Philemon_ exhibiting a basal protuberance. The metatarsi may be long, as in _Acrulocercus_, or abbreviated as in _Manorhina_, the short anterior toes being partially {565}connected; the wings are variable in length, _Melithreptes_ possessing comparatively small secondaries, _Anthornis_ an abruptly narrowed second primary. The tail also varies in size; it is much rounded in _Melidectes_ and _Meliphaga_, square in _Acanthorhynchus_, emarginated in _Anthornis_, and particularly long and graduated with pointed rectrices in _Acrulocercus_ and _Chaetoptila_–_A. nobilis_ having the median pair produced and spirally twisted, _A. apicalis_ the ends upturned. _Pogonornis_ has strong rictal bristles.

The _Myzomelinae_ are usually habited in scarlet and black, as in the Soldier-bird of Australia (_Myzomela sanguinolenta_), with or without white or yellowish below; some, however, are chiefly or entirely olive or greyish-brown, while the females generally differ from the males, and the former occasionally shew red when the latter do not. A second genus, _Acanthorhynchus_, or Cobbler's Awl, is brown, chestnut, buff, black, and white. In the _Meliphaginae_ the sexes are commonly alike, and exhibit a mixture of brown, olive, yellow, black, white, grey, rufous, and buff; the under parts frequently, and the upper rarely, being streaked or spotted. Metallic hues are rare, but _Anthornis_ has a purplish gloss on the head. _Leptornis_, _Entomyza_, _Philemon_, _Melitograis_, and _Pycnopygius_ are instances of dusky or olive coloration with lighter lower surface; _Prosthemadera_ and _Certhionyx leucomelas_ are black and white; _Plectrorhynchus_ is brown and white; _Meliphaga_ is yellow and black, spotted and barred below. The Hawaiian _Acrulocercus_ is black or brownish, with a little white on the wings or tail, and possesses yellow axillary tufts and under tail-coverts, save in _A. braccatus_, where the tufts are grey-buff, the tibiae are yellow, the throat is barred with white, and the lower parts are streaky. _A. bishopi_ has yellow ear-tufts. Their close ally, _Chaetoptila_, of the same islands, is light brown and yellowish above, with white spots, and a black cheek-stripe; the under surface being white with brown streaks, and the rump and flanks ochreous. The neck- and breast-plumage is lanceolate and decomposed. Many species of _Ptilotis_ have white or yellow ear-tufts; the male of _Pogonornis_ possesses white erectile post-ocular feathers; that of _Prosthemadera_ two gular patches of curled white filamentary plumes, which give it the name of Parson-bird, as well as pointed white feathers curving forward from the sides of the neck. In two members of _Meliornis_ white fan-like shields spring from the cheeks; _Glycyphila albifrons_ has a white circum-ocular ring; while many forms have peculiar {566}cheek-feathers, fluffy chests, rumps or sides, and lanceolate or bristly plumage on the neck, cheeks, or throat. Naked blue, green, scarlet, yellow, lilac, pink, or whitish areas on the head, and pendant rictal or facial wattles, are frequent, especially in _Meliphaga_, _Ptilotis_, _Entomyza_, _Philemon_, _Melidectes_, _Acanthochaera_ (Wattle-bird) and _Melirrhophetes_. The bill and feet vary from black to red, yellow, blue, or green.

The habits are fairly uniform, though certain species are comparatively shy. Small flocks often gather together, the haunts being dense forests, or open wooded country whether inland or littoral; some forms prefer the tree-tops, others low bushes and shrubs. These active, pugnacious birds dart about in zigzag fashion, or take powerful undulating flights, the tail meanwhile being frequently thrown back or expanded; at times they hover, or fall from aloft with closed wings.

{567}

Constantly seen hopping among the boughs, or climbing and hanging to the twigs, in search of the insects which constitute so much of their diet, they occasionally feed upon the ground–especially in the case of _Ptilotis_; while _Meliornis_ and _Entomophila_ will dart after their prey like Flycatchers. Figs and bananas, with other fruits and buds, are also eaten; honey is sucked from the flowers of _Eucalyptus_, _Acacia_, _Epacris_, and the like, in considerable quantities, the insects it attracts being perhaps the chief object; and _Philemon_ batters large insects upon the branches before swallowing them. The voice is commonly loud, rich, and shrill, but varies from a whistle or a pipe to a chirp; some species, however, are more quiet, others give vent to slow, plaintive cries, quickly reiterated notes, or comparatively harsh sounds. The Tui, or Parson-bird, utters a wild song, laughs, coughs, sneezes, and mimics generally; _Acrulocercus_ gets the name of O-o from its harsh double call; _Pogonornis_ that of Stitch-bird from its clicking cry, though it also whistles; while _Philemon corniculatus_ is sometimes called "Four-o'clock," "Poor Soldier," or Pimlico, from its note. _Anthornis_, the New Zealand "Bell-bird," usually heard in chorus, has a voice like the tinkling of a silver bell.[303] The nest, normally a slight structure of twigs, roots, bark, grass, and spiders' webs, lined with woolly materials, fur, or feathers, is placed in bushes, trees, or even tall grass, and generally has the rim woven over a supporting fork. A few species, however, including the New Zealand forms, _Pogonornis_, _Anthornis_, and _Prosthemadera_, build a solid fabric of twigs and rough materials {568}among the branches. The eggs, two, three, or rarely four in number, are buffish-white, salmon-coloured or, exceptionally, olive, with spots, freckles, zones, and occasionally lines, of red-brown, rufous, bright red, blackish and grey. Two or three broods are reared annually. _Entomyza cyanotis_, the Blue-eye, re-lines deserted birds' nests, or utilizes the top of that of _Pomatostomus_; _Glycyphila modesta_ and _G. fasciata_ make hanging domed fabrics. The mimicry between _Philemon_–called Friar-bird, Monk, or Leather-head, from the bare head and ruff of some species–and _Mimeta_ has been already noticed (p. 543). Cloaks are fashioned from the Stitch-bird's feathers, as well as from those of the O-os (p. 564).[304]

Fam. XXVII. ZOSTEROPIDAE.–The "White-eyes," so denominated from the white ring usually surrounding the eye, form a single genus, _Zosterops_, of doubtful position. They range through parts of the Ethiopian Region, with Madagascar and the Comoros, and occupy most of the Indian and Australian Regions, whence they reach to Amur-land and Japan. The straight or slightly curved bill has the maxilla serrated and nearly always notched; the metatarsus is of medium length; the outer and middle toes are partially united; the wings are rather short with little or no exterior primary; the tail is moderate, broad and square, or even emarginated. Dr. Gadow[305] pronounces the protractile tongue to be forked and smooth in _Z. lateralis_; Mr. Beddard[306] finds the margins folded, and the tip frayed out in _Z. simplex_ and _Z. japonica_. The sexes are alike, the coloration being principally olive and yellow, relieved by brown, grey, fawn, or white. The habits are similar to those of the Meliphagidae; the eggs, however, are pale blue. _Z. caerulescens_, the New Zealand "Blight-bird," destroys the "American Blight" (_Schizoneura lanigera_), a scale-insect.

Fam. XXVIII. NECTARINIIDAE.–The Old World Sun-birds, recalling the non-Passerine Humming-birds by their brilliant metallic coloration, are actually given the latter name in India, whence they extend through Southern Asia to Papuasia and North Australia. They also occupy the whole Ethiopian Region, while _Cinnyris osea_ inhabits Palestine, _C. brevirostris_ Baluchistan and South Persia, and an undetermined species the Muskat district in Arabia. _Promerops_ is a doubtful member of the Family.[307]

{569}

The long slender bill, without bristles of any kind, is much produced and curved in _Neodrepanis_; both mandibles being terminally serrated, except in _Promerops_ and _Chalcoparia_, of which the former has the maxilla notched. The extensible tongue is bifid, with each half frayed out medio-ventrally, save in _Promerops_, where it is a semi-canal with dorso-laterally frayed edges. The metatarsi are moderate, the claws curved and acute. _Arachnothera_ has both the bill and the feet stouter. The more or less rounded wings are of medium length; the tail varies from square or nearly so to graduated, and has two narrow elongated median rectrices in the males of _Hedydipna_, _Nectarinia_, _Anthobaphes_, _Aethopyga_, _Urodrepanis_ and _Drepanorhynchus_. That of _Promerops_ is extraordinarily long and graduated in both sexes. _Arachnothera chrysogenys_ has the loral region naked, and the male of _Neodrepanis_ bluish circum-ocular wattles.

It is impossible to describe shortly the diverse coloration of the various species; some shew much green, black, brown, or olive; nearly all exhibit brilliant, if not metallic, red, blue, lilac, copper, yellow, or orange tints; a few are chiefly purple; many are longitudinally streaked below; in others the breast is white, or exhibits red or orange bands, while the fore-neck may be vermilion striped with lilac. The sides of the back frequently possess long downy feathers, and pectoral tufts are common. In _Arachnothera_ both sexes are greyish or greenish, relieved by a little yellow or orange. Females, however, are usually sombre, the young being similar. The bill is black or brown, the feet vary in hue.

These small graceful forms, restless, though not shy, are rarely seen in companies, but usually in pairs; they frequent groves and forests up to an altitude of about a thousand feet, resorting to more open country and gardens when the shrubs are flowering. The food consists mainly of insects–sometimes taken on the {570}wing–with their larvae and spiders; while the birds hop actively about, and cling to the branches and trunks of trees, like Tits or Creepers, or even to bushes and grass. They rarely hover before flowers as Humming-birds do, though frequently sucking honey. When feeding or singing the wings are often opened and shut alternately. The quick, direct flight is accompanied by rapid pulsations of the pinions, and the males chase their rivals angrily. The shrill, but pleasing and varied notes recall those of the Willow-Warbler. The pear-shaped or oval nests, woven or attached by cobwebs to the ends of boughs, to the under surfaces of leaves, or more rarely to reed-stems, are composed of grass, moss, roots, and the like, lined with hair, feathers, and down, and usually have a projecting porch. Beneath are attached as decorations leaves, twigs, lichens, shreds of bark, paper, and cloth, wood-borings, or caterpillars' excreta. _Arachnothera magna_, at least occasionally, builds an open nest. The two or three eggs are commonly greenish- or brownish-grey, with purplish, reddish-brown, yellowish, or dusky dots and spots; some, however, are whiter, with blackish markings, dark zones, or hair-streaks; while those of _Arachnothera magna_ are brownish, very thickly speckled with purplish-black. _Promerops cafer_ makes a cup of grass, fibres, and softer materials in forks of bushes, and lays creamy eggs like those of Buntings, with wavy lines or irregular blotches of dark brown or purplish.

Fam. XXIX. DICAEIDAE.–The "Flower-peckers" inhabit the Indian and Australian Regions as far eastwards as the Low Archipelago, a few possibly kindred species occupying West Africa. The bill is usually short, broad, and depressed, but is especially slender in _Pholidornis_, stout and Finch-like in _Prionochilus_; while both mandibles shew minute terminal serrations. Feathers cover the nostrils in _Pardalotus_, and in life _Lobornis_ has three small white rictal outgrowths. The tongue is separated into four semi-tubular fringeless projections. The metatarsus is never long; the wings are fairly so; the tail is generally short and even, but is rounded in _Prionochilus vincens_, longer in most Papuasian forms, and sometimes graduated, as in _Pristorhamphus_. Many species exhibit vivid combinations of blue or purple with black, relieved by a scarlet or an orange head, rump, or chest-patch, the lower surface being yellow, greyish, or greenish-white; some, however, replace the blue shades by green, brown, or olive; others are quite plain; and _Melanocharis unicolor_ is perfectly black. The {571}Diamond-bird (_Pardalotus_) has scattered white dots above, and scarlet or yellow tips to the primary coverts; _Dicaeum_ often shews a longitudinal black band below; while bars and streaks occur not infrequently. The bill is blackish, or in _Dicaeum erythrorhynchum_ reddish. The female is almost invariably duller.

These small birds frequent woods and gardens, the little flocks often haunting lofty trees near rivers; they hop briskly among the boughs, dart from bush to bush, creep about and cling like Tits, and utter a long, low warble, or in _Pardalotus_ a harsh monotonous piping note. The food consists of insects, varied by spiders, fruit, buds, seeds, and perhaps honey. _Dicaeum_ and _Prionochilus_ suspend from some twig a domed, pear-shaped nest of white cottony material, frequently covered with grass or moss, and decorated with caterpillars' excreta; _Pardalotus_ chooses old Swallows' nurseries, or holes in trees and walls, or even tunnels a short way into banks, making within a spherical fabric of roots, grass, bark, and feathers. The two to five eggs are commonly white, but in _Prionochilus_ (_Piprisoma_) _squalidus_ they are redder, with dense brown-pink or claret-coloured blotches or specks.

Fam. XXX. CERTHIIDAE.–The Creepers, a small, though widespread group, occupy most of the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions; Africa from Benguela to Mashona-Land; Australia and New Guinea. The bill is long and generally decurved, but shorter and straighter in _Climacteris_; while nasal and rictal bristles are absent. The metatarsi are of medium length and slender, though stouter in _Salpornis_; _Tichodroma_ and _Climacteris_ have the scutes fused; and the toes–especially the hallux–have long, curved claws. The wings vary from moderate and rounded to elongated and pointed; the tail is usually short and square, or very nearly so, but has stiff, graduated, acuminate feathers in _Certhia_. The coloration of both sexes is brown, black, rufous, buff, grey, and white, except in _Tichodroma_, which exhibits crimson wing-patches on its grey, black, and white plumage. Bars and spots are frequent, particularly beneath.

The majority are tame birds, inhabiting thinly wooded districts, often close to dwellings; but the European and Asiatic _Tichodroma muraria_, which has strayed to Britain, haunts mountain cliffs, and, when on migration, walls also. They utter shrill cries, or, more commonly, low reiterated notes, which in our Creeper (_Certhia familiaris_) are varied by a sweet and fairly loud song; {572}the food consists of insects and their larvae, ants, and spiders. Beginning at the bottom of a trunk the birds work actively but jerkily upwards in zigzags or spirals, flitting from the higher branches to the base of another tree; sometimes, however, they take protracted, undulating flights, or accompany flocks of Tits in winter. _Certhia_ uses the rigid rectrices as Woodpeckers do (p. 457), though the soft-tailed forms also climb well, while _Climacteris_ is exceptional in spending much time hopping or shuffling along the ground. Seeds of conifers occasionally vary the diet. The nest, composed of twigs, with the addition of grass or moss, and lined with bast, hair, wool, or feathers, is placed behind loose bark, under tiles, in crevices of trees or walls, in piles of bricks, hollow branches, or even the base of large birds' habitations. The three to nine eggs are ordinarily white with red and lilac spots; but in _Climacteris_ the ground-colour is sometimes reddish, in _Salpornis_ the spots are blackish. The last-named fixes a cup-shaped fabric of leaves, bark, and cobwebs to some horizontal bough.

Fam. XXXI. COEREBIDAE.–The Quit-quits have the extensible tongue bifid, and frayed out terminally. The bill may be conical, but is usually slender, with a notch and sometimes with rictal bristles, while the long maxilla is hooked in _Diglossa_ and _Diglossopis_; the metatarsi, wings, and tail are moderate, the last being sometimes forked. These small, active, and restless birds frequent bushy places and the outskirts of forests, from South Florida to the Bolivian Andes and South-East Brazil, several species being peculiar to the Antilles, and _Certhidea_ to the Galápagos. Though companies are seldom formed, the flight and habits are Tit-like, and individuals are often seen hopping about or clinging to the branches in search of the insects which, with fruit, form the usual food. They probe the flowers in company with Humming-birds, and probably suck the honey, while some forms dart after flies like Flycatchers. Several have a fine voice, but the common note is a feeble "quit-quit." The domed {573}nest, made of grass, moss, roots, and fibres, occasionally has a projecting porch, and is frequently lined with down or feathers; the two to four eggs being white or greenish-blue, with dull-red or yellowish-brown blotches or specks. In the Antilles _Certhiola_ weaves a domed structure of similar materials, hair, and spiders' webs, between the outermost twigs of bushes. Many nests are built without being used.

The coloration varies from black, grey, or purplish, relieved by rufous and white, to brilliant blue, purple, or green, with the quills only black, or with further yellow, chestnut, and exceptionally scarlet, decorations. Uniform black, or olive and brown hues are unusual, save in females, which, however, are often bright green, with the addition of a little blue or yellow.

Fam. XXXII. MNIOTILTIDAE.–The "American Warblers," almost replacing the _Sylviinae_ in the New World, are a somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of rather small birds, of which _Granatellus_ is perhaps Tanagrine. They frequent localities of all descriptions in North and South America, being commonest in the middle portions. _Teretistris_ is peculiar to Cuba, _Leucopeza_ to St. Lucia and St. Vincent; _Ergaticus_ occupies the Central American highlands, while two or three species wander to Greenland.

The bill is usually slender and straight, but varies in length and curvature, that of _Setophaga_ and _Myiodioctes_ being broad and depressed with bristly gape, that of _Icteria_ (doubtfully referred here) very stout and compressed, and so forth. Other species also exhibit bristles, or have notched beaks. The tongue is frequently bifid and fringed in _Dendroeca_, and in _D._ (_Perissoglossa_) _tigrina_ is semitubular. The metatarsi are naturally longest and strongest in the more terrestrial forms, such as _Geothlypis_ and _Siurus_; _Icteria_ has partly feathered legs, _Mniotilta_ particularly long toes. The wings may be concave and roundish, as in _Leucopeza_ and _Geothlypis_, or elongated and pointed, as in _Protonotaria_ and _Peucedramus_; the moderate tail is square, rounded, or emarginate, or, as in _Setophaga_, broad and graduated. The general coloration is {574}olive-green, grey, or slaty-blue, with yellow or rarely orange under parts; chestnut marks, white wing-bands, and the like, occasionally relieving the plumage. The head is often particularly dark or streaky. _Mniotilta_ exhibits black and white stripes; _Ergaticus_ shews chiefly crimson and white; _Granatellus_ is grey, black, and white above, but red and white with black collar below. _Setophaga_, the "American Redstart," is mainly red and black, or red and plumbeous; _Cardellina_ is grey, black, and white with crimson cheeks and throat; _Siurus_ has olive-brown upper, and whitish under parts, with dusky striations. The bill is black or brown, commonly with pinkish, yellowish, or bluish mandible.

These active, restless, and often shy birds either seek their food, consisting chiefly of insects and their larvae, worms, spiders, and even molluscs, upon the ground or upon the bark of trees. Many forms resemble Tits in their actions; _Mniotilta_ and others ascend the trunks spirally like Creepers; _Setophaga_ and its allies–and exceptionally _Dendroeca_–sally after insects like Flycatchers; _D. palmarum_ and _Siurus_ run along with the tail in motion, the former recalling a Titlark, the latter gaining, from its appearance and habit of wading, the name of Water-Thrush. The flight is usually swift, easy, and graceful, yet brief and frequently undulating; _Myiodioctes_ and _Setophaga_ flit about alternately opening and closing the rectrices. Fruits, including conifer- and grass-seeds, vary the diet. Small parties collect in winter. A few species, such as _Basileuterus_, _Setophaga_, _Myiodioctes_, and _Siurus_ have fine clear songs, but the usual utterances are feeble warbles, sweet whistles, reiterated "chirrups," or mournful trills. The majority build their cup-shaped nests in trees, bushes, and thickets generally, _Dendroeca_ in some districts choosing a fir; they are {575}made of grass, bark, leaves, roots, moss, hair, fur, lichens, and spiders' webs, or even twigs, sedges, and feathers, and contain from two to six creamy or, exceptionally, greenish or purplish eggs, more or less spotted or blotched with red-brown, grey, and lilac, or sometimes, as in _Myiodioctes_, scrawled with black.