514 



PASSEEINES. 



The BALTIMORE ORIOLES (Xanthornis baltimorii, Sw.) have the 

 bill broad at the base, nearly conical and pointed ; the upper 

 mandible has the dorsal line slightly arched, the ridge narrow, 

 the sides flat and sloping at the base. They are chiefly American 

 birds, and have considerable resemblance in form and habit to the 

 European Starlings. Like them, they are sprightly, light, and 

 very rapid on the wing, live together in large flocks throughout 

 the year, feeding on seeds, berries, and especially insects, and fre- 

 quently committing ravages on cultivated fields and orchards. 

 Some of this genera exhibit remarkable industry and skill in 



Fig. 223. The Beef-eater (Suphaga africana, Levaill.). 



the construction of their nests : the most ingenious represents 

 a kind of purse, about a yard in length and a foot in diameter, 

 the mouth or entrance being placed sometimes at the upper 

 extremity, sometimes on the side. Naturalists have subdivided 

 them into many smaller groups or genera, the most important 

 being the one here described, and which may well be taken as 

 an example. They are confined entirely to North America. 



The BEEF-EATERS (Buphagus, Briss.), Fig. 223, owe their name 

 to a singular habit they have of lighting on the backs of rumi- 

 nating mammalia, and picking off the insects or extracting the 

 larvae of CEstri which infest them an operation which cattle 

 submit to with great pleasure. Their food is not confined to the 



