344 SCANSORES. 



herbage on eacli side in tlieir searcli after grass- 

 hoppers and other insects. They have been seen on 

 the dead carcase of a sheep, but whether attracted 

 by the flesh or by the larvae of insects is uncertain. 

 In the daytime they have been noticed in flocks of 

 twenty or thirty individuals, about small rivulets, 

 seeking for tadpoles, which they greedily devour. 

 At other times they may be seen flying from shrub 

 to shrub, uttering their peculiar note. Their nest 

 is built in the fork of a tree, or in a bush covered 

 with thick mistletoe ; it is rudely • constructed of 

 coarse materials, chiefly small sticks with the pliable 

 portion placed inside, and totally destitute of any 

 soft lining. The eggs are from five to seven or more 

 in number. The young evince much activity in. 

 hopping from branch to branch : long before they 

 are able to fly, they leave their nests, and may 

 frequently be seen perched on the top of a shrub 

 or thicket of vines, in company with a congregation 

 of adult birds ; and when the parents escape from 

 an intruder by taking flight, the young, by long 

 and rapid leaps, reach the ground and run off with 

 great quickness. 



These birds live chiefly upon ticks and other 

 small vermin, and may frequently be seen jumping 

 about cows and oxen in the fields ; nay, they are 

 often observed to fly upon their backs, and the 

 cattle will even lie down for them if much troubled 

 with ticks ; but if the beast be heedless, they hop 

 once or twice round it, looking it very earnestly in 

 the face every time they pass, as if they seemed to 

 know that it was only requisite to be seen to be 

 indulged. They are very noisy birds, and one of the 

 commonest sorts in all the pastures of Jamaica. Their 

 flight is low and short. — (Brown, Hist. Jamaica.) 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Greater Tick-eater (Crotopliaga jnajo?-). 



