BIRDS OK FARAMSK. 



izuectn when thrown to him the bird contrive* to catch in iti< 

 beak with great celerity. It will cat inaecU in a living state, but will 

 not touch them when dead 



" I observed the bird previous to eating a grasshopper, given him 

 in an entire or mutilated state, place the inaect upon the perch, keep 

 it firmly fixed with the claws, and divesting it of the logs, wings, Ac., 

 devour it, with the head always placed first. The servant who 

 attends upon him to clean the cage, give him food, *c., (trips off the 

 legs, wings, 4c- of the insects when alive, giving them to the bin! as 

 fast as he can devour them. It rarely alight* upon the ground, and 

 s proud is the creature of its elegant drees that it never ]>ermita a 

 soil to remain upon it, and it may frequently be seen spreading out 

 its wings and feathers, and regarding its splendid self in every 

 direction, to observe whether the whole of its plumage is in an 

 unsullied condition. It does not suffer from the cold weather during 

 the winter season at Macao, though exposing the elegant bird to the 

 bleak northerly wind is always very particularly avoided. Mr. Beale 

 is very desirous of procuring a living female, to endeavour if 

 possible to breed them in his aviary. 



"The sounds uttered by this bird ore very peculiar; that which 

 appears to be a note of congratulation resembles somewhat the 

 cawing of a raven, but changes to a varied scale of musical gradations, 

 as ' he, ni, ho, haw,' repeated rapidly and frequently, as lively and 

 playfully he hops round and along his perch, descending to the 

 second perch to be admired, and to congratulate the stranger who has 

 made a visit to inspect him ; he frequently raises his voice, sending 

 forth notes of such power as to be heard at a long distance, and as it 

 could scarcely be supposed BO delicate a bird could utter; these notes 

 are ' whock, whock, whock, whock,' tittered in a barking tone, the 

 last being given in a low tone as a conclusion. 



" A drawing of the bird of the natural size was made by a Chinese 

 artist. The bird advanced steadfastly towards the picture, uttering at 

 the same time its cawing congratulatory notes ; it did not appear 

 excited by rage, but pecked gently at the representation, jumping 

 about the perch, knocking its mandibles together with a clattering 

 noise, and cleaning them against the perch, as if welcoming the 

 arrival of a companion. After the trial of the picture a looking-glass 

 was brought, to see what effect it would produce upon the bird, and 

 the result was nearly the same ; he regarded the reflection of himself 

 most steadfastly in the mirror, never quitting it during the time it 

 remained before him. When the glass was removed to the lower 

 from the upper perch he instantly followed, but would not descend 

 upon the floor of the cage when it was placed so low. 



"One of the best opportunities of seeing this splendid bird in all 

 its beauty of action, as well as display of plumage, is early in (lie 

 morning, when he makes his toilet ; the beautiful sub-alar plumage is 

 then thrown out, and cleaned from any spot that may sully it* purity 

 by being passed gently through the bill; the short chocolate-coloured 

 wings are extended to the utmost, and he keeps them in a steady 

 flapping motion, as if in imitation of their use in flight, at the same 

 time raising up the delicate long feathers over the back, which are 

 spread in a chaste and elegant manner, floating like films in the ambient 

 air. 



" I never yet beheld a noil on its feathers. After expanding the 

 wings it would bring them together so as to conceal the head, then 

 bending it gracefully it would inspect the state of its plumage under- 

 neath. This action it repeats in quick succession, uttering at the time 

 its croaking notes; it then pecks and cleans its plumage in every part 

 within reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft of feathers 

 underneath the wings, seemingly with much care, and with not a little 

 pride, they are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwing them 

 abroad, elevating them, and passing them in succession through the 

 bill. Then turning its back to the spectator, the actions above men- 

 tioned are repeated, but not in so careful a manner ; elevating its tail 

 and long shaft-feathers, it raises the delicate plumage of a similar 

 character to the sub-alar, forming a beautiful dorsal crest, and, throwing 

 its feathers up with much grace, appears a* proud as a lady dressed in 

 her full ball-dress. Having completed the toilet, he utters the usual 

 cawing notes, at the same time looking archly at the spectators, as if 

 ready to receive all the admiration that it considers its elegant form 

 and display of plumage demands; it then takes exercise by hopping, 

 in a rapid but graceful manner, from one end of the upper perch to 

 the other, and descends suddenly upon the second perch, close to the 

 bars of the cage, looking out for the grasshoppers which it is accus- 

 tomed to receive at this time. 



Kin prehensile power in the feet is very strong, and, still tvt 

 his hold, the liird will turn him*elf round upon the perch. He delights 

 to be sheltered from the glare of the sun, as that luminary is a great 

 source of annoyance to him, if permitted to dart its fervent myn 

 directly upon the cage. The iris frequently expanding and contract- 

 ing adds to the arch look of this animated bird, as he throw* tlic 

 head on one side to glance at visitors, uttering the cawing notes or 



barking aloud Having concluded, he jumps down to the 



lower perch in search of donations of living grasshoppers. 



" The bird is not at all ravenous in iU habit* of feeding, but it eats 

 rice leisurely, almost grain by grain. Should any of the insects thrown 

 into his cage fall upon the floor, he will not descend to them, appearing 

 to be fearful that in so doing he should soil his delicate plumage ; he 



therefore seldom or ever descends, except to perform his ablutions in 

 the pan of water placed at the bottom of the cage expreasly for his 



OH " 



BIRQUS, a genus of Long-Tailed Criutacea, approaching the Hermit- 

 Crabs (Payurm) established by Leach. The following are the leading 

 characters : Middle antenna: having their second articulation created 

 or tufted ; feet of the first pair of legs unequal, terminated by 

 pincers or knob-claws ; feet of the second and third pair terminated 

 simply, in other words, by a single noil; fourth pair smaller and 

 didactylous, or terminated by two fingers, one moveable ; fifth pair 

 rudimentary, very small, but didactylous ; carapace somewhat in t In- 

 form of a reversed heart, with the a|M-\ polling forwards; post- 

 abdomen or tail orbicular, crustaoeoua above, the plates being sub- 

 annular, or rudiment* of rings. 



There are two specie* recorded, and of these liirgiu Latro, Leach, 

 Pagurta Latro, Fabr. and Lam., Canctr iMtn-, I. inn.. ( 'mi.-, r crumauttvt, 

 Bora-Krabbe (Purse-Crab) of Kumphiu*, in the largest. Its rostrum 

 is terminated by a single point. The pincers ore red, the left IM in- 

 much larger than the right, and both deeply toothed. The feet of the 

 next three pairs are toothed on the edges, and marked with undulated 

 streaks. It in a native of Amboyna and other neighbouring islands, 

 where it is said to inhabit the fissures of rocks by day, and to come 

 forth at night to seek its food on the beach. Mr. Cuming found it 

 sufficiently abundant in Lord Hood's Island in the Pacific, but there 

 the Purse-Crabs dwelt at the roots of trees, and not in holes in the 

 rocks. When he met them in his road, they set themselves up in a 

 threatening attitude and then retreated backwards, making both at 

 first and afterwards a great snapping with their pincers. There 

 appears to be a tradition among the natives that it climbs Cocoa-Nut 

 Tree* (Cucot nuct/cra) in the night to get the cocoa-nuts. Linnams, 

 Herbst, and Cuvier repeat this story, which, as Owen observes, is 

 confirmed in a degree by Quoy and Caiman), who relate that 

 individuals of this species were fed by them for many months on 

 cocoa-nuts alone; and still more amply by the observations com- 

 municated to him by Mr. Cuming, who states that these Puree-Crabs 

 climb the Pandanut odoratitttmut, a kind of palm, for the purpose of 

 feeding on the small nut that grows thereon, and that he saw them in 

 the tree. 



Limucus gives the Antilles as the locality of this Purse-Crab, as well 

 as Amboyna, upon the authority of Rochofort, but this has arisen 

 from a misunderstanding of the text of Rochefort. 



In the following passage Rochefort refers to some of the Land- 

 Crabs of the Antilles, and not to the genus Birgui : 



" What is the more worthy of note relating to these crabs is, that 

 once a year, namely, after they are returned from their journey to the 

 sea, they hide themselves entirely in the earth for some six weeks, so 

 that not one appears. During this time they change their skin, or 

 crust, and renew themselves altogether. They place the earth at this 

 season so dexterously at the entrance of their holes, that one cannot 

 perceive the opening. This they do that they may not be exposed to 

 the air. For when they thus throw aside their old garb, the whole of 

 their body is as it were naked, being only covered by a thin and 

 delicate skin, which thickens and hardens by degrees into a crust as 

 solid as that which they have left. Monsieur <lu Moniel reports that 

 he caused people to dig on purpose in those places where there was 

 any appearance of their lying hid, and having met with some of them, 

 that he found that they were enveloped us it were in the leaves of 

 trees, which without doubt served them for nourishment mid 

 nest during this retreat ; but they wan so languid and -< me-ipablc 

 of supporting the fresh nil-, that they seemed half dead, though in 

 other respects they were fa* ami very delicate food. The inhai 

 of the Isles cull them at this period 1'i.j ' md esteem them 



much. He saw c|itite close to them their 



their shell, which appeared as entire ax if the animal had been -'ill 

 within. What is wonderful is, that though he employed very good 

 eyes, he could scarcely oliscrve the owning or slit whence tin- ! 

 the animal had come forth and had disengaged itself from this ; 

 Nc\crthelew N after having taken great care he remarked in the empty 

 shells a small separation near the tail, by which the crabs had extricated 

 themselves." 



Then follows the most approved way of dressing these Land-Crabs 

 for the table, a mode which in still in practice with little variation in 

 the West Indies at the present clay. 



Ill a manuscript entitled Memoircs en Fprmo dc Dietionnaire 



Naturclle notammciit de Cacao, l'lndik">. |e Suciv. 



et le Tabac, Par M. - , Inspecteur pour la Cnnipagnie do Clian- 



dernagor,' there is a very full account of the Lund ( 'nibs (Tourlouroux) 



of the Antilles, and the writer of the manuscript, speaking of their 



condition after they have thrown off their old crusts, says, " If they 



take the crabs then, they find them covered only with a slight red 



skin, tender and delicate as moistened parchment ; the crabs are then 



much more delicious than they are at any other se:ixon ; they call them 



nibs " (torn. ii. p. 628). The manuscript i 



without date, but was written after the publication i,f l,;,l..tV w..rl>--, 

 which the writer <| notes. 



tjairo, which grows to a large size, is said to be excellent 



food when properly prepared. It wax a favourite diet with the natives 

 of Lord Hood's Island, but Mr. Cuming did not taste it. 



