400 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



as follows: "In all parts of Jamaica that I have visited, the tody is a very common 

 bird. It will allow a person to approach very near, and, if disturbed, alight on another 

 twig a few yards distant. We have often captured specimens with the insect net, 

 and struck them down with a switch, and it is not uncommon for the little boys to 

 creep up behind one, and actually to clap the hand over it as it sits, and thus secure 

 it. It is a general favorite, and has received a favorite name, that of robin redbreast. 

 Commonly it is seen sitting patiently on a twig, with the head drawn in, the beak 



FIG. 191). Todus todus, green tody. 



pointing upwards, the loose plumage puffed out, when it appears much larger than it 

 is. It certainly has an air of stupidity when thus seen. But this abstraction is more 

 apparent than real ; if we watch it, we shall see that the odd-looking gray eyes are 

 glancing hither and thither, and that, ever and anon, the bird sallies out xipon a short 

 feeble flight, snaps at something in the air, and returns to his twig to swallow it." 



The breeding habits of the todies are interesting inasmuch as they, like the bee- 

 eaters and kingfishers, dig holes in earth-banks of ravines and ditches. Dr. Gundlach, 



