CORACID.¥.. 273 



eye scai'cely recognized half a dozen insects altogether, 

 and that in the free aii' insects must be much more nume- 

 rous." — Mr. Gosse. 



The Green Tody is exclusively an insect-feeder, and 

 burrows in the earth to breed. The banks of ravines, 

 and the scarps of dry ditches, are excavated by its feet, 

 in which two out of the three front toes are united toge- 

 ther, having only the terminal joint free. The hole runs 

 into the bank some eight inches or a foot, forming a 

 winding gallery, rounded at the bottom and terminating 

 in a sufficiently wide lodging lined with j^liant fibres, dry 

 moss, and cotton. In this retreat four or five grey-brown 

 spotted eggs are laid, and the young are fed till they are 

 fully fledged. Mr. Gosse observes that the inhabitants of 

 Jamaica are not in the habit of domesticating many of 

 the native birds, else there is one of the species that would 

 become a favourite pet. In a state of liberty it attracts 

 the admiration of the most unobservant, and an European 

 is charmed with it. As it sits on a twig in the verdure 

 of spring, its grass-green plumage is sometimes undistin- 

 guishable from the leaves in which it is embowered ; 

 itself looking like a leaf, a little change of position bring- 

 ing its throat into the sun's rays, the light suddenly 

 gleams as from a glowing coal. Occasionally, too, this 

 crimson plumage is pufied out into a globose form, when 

 it might easily be mistaken for a beautiful fruit. 



