VOICES OF TROPICAL BIRDS FUERTES. 309 



IV.— ANT-THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES, AND WOODHEWERS. 



To northern perceptions and training the ghostly, long-legged 

 forest ground-runners, generally known as ant-thrushes, make an 

 immediate and lasting appeal. The many sx)ecies of Grallarla, For- 

 Tniearius, and Chanuvna^ finding Iheir most congenial surroundings 

 among the tree ferns and moss-filled undergrowth of the wooded 

 slopes, at once impress the student with their presence, but leave 

 him, after however long an acquaintance, with little more knowledge 

 of their lives and doings than he had on first hearing their invitation 

 to the game of hide and seek they so skillfully and persistently play. 



They are all strictly terrestrial and, on the rare occasions when 

 they fly, they keep so close to the ground that their dangling feet 

 almost touch. Indeed, I suspect that they fly only upon some special 

 stimulus, ordinarily going about on foot. 



The commonest and most generally distributed species in Colombia 

 is Grallaria rufieapilla. It is about as big as a robin, but is almost 

 round, stubby tailed, big eyed, and comically long legged. But while 

 it was really a common bird, and its whistled com'pra pan was almost 

 constantly in our ears in all three ranges of the Andes, not over six 

 or seven were taken. Certainly nine out of every ten efforts to see 

 the author ended blindly, even though they responded immediately 

 to a wdiistled imitation of their notes. But so silent is their approach, 

 and so densely are their ground haunts veiled by ferns, large fallen 

 leaves, earth plants, and other visual obstructions, that they may 

 call almost from between your feet with impunity, while with pound- 

 ing heart and eager eyes you fail to i^enetrate the veil of intervening 

 leafage. I have usually found that, while all these ground-running 

 birds answer eagerly to a call, they are very easily satisfied on seeing 

 its author, and usually the response, now almost under foot, suddenly 

 fails, and the little feathered mouse that gave it swiftly and silently 

 trots away after one quick look at the huge imposter. I think we all 

 had certainly scores of these little ground ghosts within 15 to 20 feet, 

 and not one-tenth of them gave us so much as a fleeting glance at 

 them. 



Grallaria's note can always be closely imitated by a Avhistle. The 

 call of the common compra pan^ whose name is the Spanish literation 

 of his call, has a very "quaily" quality when heard near at hand. 

 Three drawled notes — A, F, G, the first and second three tones apart, 

 and the last between. We came to recognize this as an exact marker 

 of the lower line of the second life zone, beginning at about 4,500 

 feet. This species goes up almost to the upper limit of trees, and 

 adheres closely to the cloud forest. I never heard any variation in 

 the song except, when the bird is near the limit of its curiosity, the 



