Till'', SrOTll'ni-IUOI.Mlil) LAAIATIA. ' 



Of the Barbets, there is a suh-gciius, Tamafia, Cuvier. The groat head, short tail, and 

 large bill of these putt-birds, as they Ewe called, give them, as Cuvier obser\-es, an air of 

 stupidity, which their melancholy and solitary habits do not lessen. They are said to 

 feed entirely on insects. All the recorded species are American. Swainson obtained one 

 of them from Southern Brazil. 



This naturalist, who had good opportunities of obser\ing these birds, gives the following- 

 interesting accoimt of their habits. " There is something very grotesque in the appear- 

 ance of all the Putt' birds ; and their habits in a state of nature are no less singidar. 

 They frequent open cultivated spots near habitations, always perching on the withered 

 branches of a low tree ; where they will sit nearly motionless for hours, unless, indeed, 

 they descry some luckless insect passing near them, at which they immediately dart, 

 returning again to the identical twig they had just left, and which they will sometimes 

 frequent for months. At such times the disproportionate size of the head is rendered 

 more conspicuous by the bird raising the feathers, so as to appear not unlike a pufi'-ball ; 

 hence the general name they have received from the English residents in Brazil, of 

 which vast country all the .species, I believe, are natives. When frightened, this form 

 is suddenly changed by all the feathers lying quite flat. They are very confiding, and 

 ■nill often take their station within a few yards of the window. The two sexes are 

 generally near each other, and often on the same tree." 



The length of this species is about eight inches. Plumage black and white, except the 

 belly and Aeut, which are tinged ^^•lth buff. 



These birds lead oil' gradually to the true woodpeckers, a group of birds full of interest, 

 in whate\'cr point of view they are examined, and particularly exliibiting those marks of 

 design which illustrate the wonders of the Great Creator. 



* Tamatia Maculata. — CuVi 



