GROOVE-BILLED AI^I 31 



now nearly fully grown, "was the constant companion of his parents 

 during the period in which they were busy with their second brood." 

 He frequently perched on the rim of the nest while one of his parents 

 was incubating, and twice he was seen to offer food to the parent on 

 the nest. After the young had hatched, "the youngster fed the 

 nestlings regularly, but not so often as his parents." During four 

 hours and a quarter, he saw the male, always the more attentive 

 parent, bring food to the nestlings 29 tunes, the female 14, and the 

 young assistant 8 times. "The young bird not only fed the nestlings 

 but M'as ardent in protecting them, flying up close to me and utter- 

 ing an angry grrr-rr-i^' whenever I came near them. In the absence 

 of the parents he attempted to defend them alone." 



Plumages. — The young nestling and the development of its first 

 plumage are described above. In this Juvenal plumage the contour 

 feathers are short and soft, "bone brown" below and darker above; 

 the wings and tail are much like those of the adult; the bill is less 

 specialized and not grooved. 



Van Eossem (1938) says: 



The postjuvenal plumage, attained by a complete body and tail and a partial 

 wing molt, is not different from that of the adults except that the rectrices 

 are noticeably narrower. An irregular molt of the primaries takes place at this 

 time, although some of the juvenal quills (though their number and location 

 varies) are held over till the following spring. In March and April of the 

 next year there is a partial body, tail, and wing molt in which an irregular 

 number of rectrices are renewed and such juvenile remiges as have been held 

 over from the previous fall are replaced by new ones. The adult plumage 

 with wide rectrices follows in the second fall, that is, at the first annual molt. 

 The time of the annual molt extends from the middle of July to the first of 

 October, the younger (one-year-old) birds molting earlier than the older ones. 

 The spring molt of the adults includes some of the rectrices and secondaries. 



Food. — Mr. Skutch writes (MS.) : "The food of the anis consists 

 largely of insects, which they secure both from the ground and 

 among the foliage of bushes, and to a smaller extent of fruit and 

 berries. Often they hunt grasshoppers and other creatures among 

 the long grass or tall weeds, where they are completely hidden from 

 view except when occasionally they leap a foot or so above the 

 herbage to snatch up an insect which has tried to escape by flight. 

 Perhaps their favorite method of foraging is beside a grazing cow 

 or mule. Several together remain close to the head of the beast, 

 moving along by awkward hops as it moves and just managing to 

 escape its jaws and forefeet, ever on the alert to snatch up the insects 

 frightened from their retreat in the grass by the passage of the 

 herbivore. It is frequently stated in books, and affirmed by the 

 residents of the countries where the anis live, that they alight upon 

 cattle and pluck ticks and other vermin from their skin — hence the 

 name garrafatero (tick-eater) given them in Costa Eica. 



