400 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



:i8 follows: "In all ]iaits of Jamaica that I have visitufl, tlie toily is a very common 

 bird. It will allow a |iei-8on to apj)roach very near, and, if disturbed, alight on another 

 twit; a fi'W yards distant. Wc have often ca])tiircd s|>ccinions with the insect net, 

 and struck them down with a switch, Jind it is not uncommon for the little boys to 

 cree]> u]) behind one, and actually to clap the hand over it as it sits, and thus secure 

 it. It is a ;_,'eneral favorite, and li.-is received a favorite name, that of robin redbre.ist. 

 Commonly it is seen sitting patiently on a twig, with the head drawn in, the beak 



Pio. 199. — To(l\u lodua, green tody. 



pointing upwards, the loose jilimiago ])uffi'rl out, when it appears much larger than it 

 is. It ceitaiuly has an air of stupidity when thus seen. I5ut this abstraction is more 

 apjiarent than real ; if we watch it, we shall see that the odd-looking gray eyes are 

 glancing hither and thither, and that, ever and anon, the binl sallies out iipon a phort 

 feeble flight, snai)s at something in the air, and returns to his twig to swallow it." 



The breeding habits of the todies are interesting inasmuch as they, like the bee- 

 eaters and kingfishers, dig holes in earth-banks of ravines and ditches. Dr. Gundlach, 



