156 Some Colony Birds. 



note? many times; but he rhan,s:es it at intervals. Perhaps 

 he tune- up each morning for the clay. 



He is called the God-bird on account of h-s predilection 

 for churches when choosing' a .site for his nest. I took a ne^t 

 from a country chui-ch that was simply bu^lt upon a beam in 

 a corner. The young one? were toe shy to take food from 

 my hand, being past the age when birds open their mouths 

 to everything. I carried them to the gallery of the house 

 some twenty yards ^iistant and the parents did the work of 

 feeding, making much n.oise and revealing nnich of their in- 

 teresting and lovable character in the process. In the end I 

 gave 'them their liberty, for they would not take the various 

 kinds of food I offered and I could not subject them to suf- 

 fragetic treatment with their delicate mouths. 



As I said in a former article, it is chiefly the God- 

 bird that is seized upon by the Lazy-bird to be wet-nurse lo 

 its babes; and it i s no uncommon sight to see a pair feeding 

 their great foster-child which with pitiful cries follows them 

 about, long after it should have relieved them of the burthen 

 of its support. Yet, after all, it is only carrying out the tra- 

 ditions of its family. Heredity is strong in the animal world. 

 The God-bird is slightly larger than our Jenny Wren. Its 

 beak also is longer in proportion and tl:e bird is not so 

 deeply-red. The throat and breast, indeed, are almost white; 

 light reddish brown at the sides. The feathers on tail and 

 wings are transversely barred with darker colour; a feature 

 common among Wrens; and the feet are large. It has an 

 alternate specific name of furviis, that is, dark or gloomy : a 

 libel on the character of this singularly bright and sprightly 

 creature. 



The Cotton Bird. Plying along the trenches on 

 the outskirts of the city, the; Cotton-bird is a conspicuous 

 object. I presume that it derives its name from its appear- 

 ance, for seated on some bush beside its favourite trench, it 

 might be mistaken for some fully-growa' cotton pod. It is 

 a small bird hardly five inches in extreme length, and being 

 of an unobtrusivef and prosaic nature might easily be unob- 

 served but fof its colour. For the body of the bird is pure 

 white, and the tail, wings, back of the head and the upper 



