TICK-EATERS. 



271 



among the thickest foliage or grass by means of their sharp-edged 

 bills, with which they scatter the herbage on each side in their 

 search after grasshoppers and other insects. They have been seen 

 on the dead carcase of a sheep, but whether attracted by the flesh 

 or by the larvse of insects is uncertain. In the day-time 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 



Fig. 140.— The Greater Tick-eater (Crotopliaga viajor). 



their peculiar note. Their nest is built in the fork of a tree, 

 covered with thick mistletoe, or in a bush ; it is rudely constructed 

 of coarse materials, chiefly small sticks, with the pliable portion 

 placed inside, and 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 congrega- 

 tion 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 generally be found jumping about cows and o:cen in the fields ; 



