Darters.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



71 



which, till Temminck extricated them from a laby- 

 rinth of error, were confounded together under the 

 title of Plotus nielanogaster. According tu Bavtram 

 these birds "delight to sit in little peaceable com- 

 munities on the dry limbs of trees, hanging over 

 the still waters, with their wings and tails expanded, 

 to cool and air themselves, when at the same time 

 they behold their images in the watery mirror. At 

 such times, when approached, they drop off the 

 limbs into the water as if dead, and for a minute or 

 two are not to be seen, when on a sudden, at a great 

 distance, their long slender head and neck appear, 

 like a snake rising erect out of the water. In the 

 heat of the day they are seen in great numbers 

 sailing very high in the air over lakes and rivers." 

 These birds build in the trees of swamps and islands 

 in the midst of lakes or sheets of water, and occupy 

 the same station lor a series of years ; the nest is 

 large, and made of sticks, and the eggs are blue. 



The plumage undergoes several changes before 

 the perfect livery is attained. In full plumage the 

 general colour is glossy greenish black : the scapular 

 feathers are long and slender, ornamented with a 

 streak of white down the centre of each, forming 

 a sort of plume over the back and wings ; side of 

 the neck from the eye backwards marked throughout 

 half its length with a stripe of brownish white, con- 

 sisting of long hair-like feathers ; a few tuffs on the 

 crown ; wings black, beautifully variegated with 

 silvery white ; bill black above, yellow below ; naked 

 skin of face and throat yellow : legs yellow ; middle 

 claw pectinated ; plumage stiff and elastic. In the 

 female and young the front of the neck is of a rusty 

 grey colour, which extends over the breast. Length 

 about two feet eight or ten inches, but the body 

 does not much exceed in size that of a large duck. 

 Fig. 2076 represents the Male, Fig. 2077 the Female. 



2078. — The Frigate, or Man-of-War Bird 



{Tachypetes Aquihis). The genus Tachypetes is 

 characterized by a strong elongated beak, depressed 

 in the centre, and abruptly hooked at the end ; the 

 nostrils are mere slits in a suture running along each 

 side of the upper mandible ; the tarsi are extremely 

 short ; the webs of the toes deeply notched ; the 

 wings extremely long and narrow ; the tail is 

 forked ; an extensive naked gular pouch : one spe- 

 cies only is ascertained. 



Noted for its raptorial habits, the frigate bird 

 soars on rapid pinions over the broad expanse of 

 ocean principally in intertropical latitudes, and 

 tyrannizes over the gulls and boobies, from whom it 

 forces the prey they have captured. At immeasur- 

 able distances from shore it pursues its habits of 

 rapine, but is never known to repose on the water ; 

 rapid as an arrow it plunges from its altitude upon 

 the shoals of ilying-fish, which rise glittering above 

 the surface, or upon some unfortunate sea-bird which 

 has made a capture, and which it harasses till it 

 obtains the booty. No bird is more at home in air, 

 or sweeps along on more rapid pinions. Supported, 

 says Mr. Vigors, " in its unlimited flights by the 

 strength and expansion of its wings, and aided by 

 the singular mechanism of its tail, and the buoyant 

 nature of the inflated sac which distends its throat, 

 it seems to be an inhabitant of the air rather than of 

 the land, to which it resorts alone for the duties of 

 its nest, or of the water, over which it only hovers 

 for its prey." It may here be added that the long 

 wing-bones are hollow, thin, and light, and that the 

 air-cells of the whole body are extremely developed, 

 while, in proportion to the expanse of winsrs, the 

 total weight of the bird is very trifling ; hence can 

 it repose in the upper regions of air, suspended 

 without effort. 



Sloane, who saw these and tropic birds when he 

 came into latitute 13" Vy, says, "The man-of-war 

 bird seems very large, bigger than a kite, and black ; 

 they fly like kites, very high, and often appear im- 

 moveable over the water, to wait for and catch small 

 fish appearing on the surface : they are sharp winged, 

 and their tail is forked. When flying-fishes are 

 persecuted under water by dolphins, bonitos, &c., 

 they rise and fly for some space in the air, and are 

 often devoured by these birds in that time. We 

 saw them first when we came near Barbadoes. The 



sailors guess themselves not many days, or about 

 two hundred leagues, off the islands when they spy 

 them first ; and it is wondered how they can direct 

 their course to the land at nights, being so far 

 distant ; but it seems no very strange matter, because 

 they are very high in the air, and can see land much 

 farther than those on the deck or topmast of a ship. 

 The reason of their flying so high may be to have a 

 greater field before them for prey, because they may 

 go where they see the dolphins follow or hunt tlie 

 flying-fishes. They are commonly thought in the 

 West Indies to foretel the coming in of ships, for 

 when they see a man-of-war bird come into their 

 ports, they reckon ships will soon follow ; and it is 

 very often true, for they love to fish in not very 

 rough weather, so that when it blows hard at sea, 

 they come into the ports and bays to fish, where 

 the wind is broken off by the land, and the same 

 wind blowing them in brings in the shipping 

 after them. There are more of these in the firm 

 land of America than in the isles. One of these 

 birds at Panama coming to lake sardinas that were 

 a-curing in the sun, a negro broke his wing with a 

 stick he had in his hand : the body, after it was clear 

 of its feathers, was little bigger than a pigeon. Tlie 

 wings being extended, no man, though several tried, 

 could reach, with his arms stretched out, within four 

 inches of the tip of them." The fat was considered 

 by the Indians and others a sovereign remedy in 

 some diseases, such as sciatica, &c. 



These birds are said to build their nest on preci- 

 pitous rocks near the sea. The eggs are stated to 

 be of a carnation tinge dotted with crimson, and 

 one or two in number. The length of the male, in- 

 cluding the tail, is three i'eet ; expanse of wing 

 eight feet ; gular air-pouch red ; general plumage 

 blackish umber-brown. In the female the pouch is 

 less and the plumage of a duller hue. 



2079.— Quadrupeds, Birds, &c., in Outlise, from 



Egyptian Antiquities. 

 At the conclusion of our sketch of the Birds contained 

 in our Pictorial Museum, we take the opportunity of 

 referring to these sculptured forms, which are inter- 

 esting to the naturalist as enabling him to compare 

 the present animal productions of Egypt with those 

 of ages past, and which prove that the revolutions 

 of time, the changes of empires, and the alterations 

 of the land, have but slightly aft'ected the produc- 

 tions of the land of the Pharaohs. 



Among the quadrupeds we recognise a large 

 baboon, the Egyptian hare, the lion, the sheep, the 

 dog (greyhound), the lioness, the bull, and ap- 

 parently a niouflon. Of birds we have a species of 

 lapwing, goose, vulture, ibis, hawk, owl, swallow, 

 the demoiselle or Numidian crane, the stork flying, 

 the duck, and the Percnopterus, or Pharaoh chicken. 

 Page 72 contains a few additions to the birds of our 

 Museum, some of which will require our particular 

 notice. 



2080.— The Whip-poor-Will 



{Caprimiilgu.1 vocifervs, Linn.). Antrostomus vo- 

 ciferus, Gould. 



This species of night-jar, so well known in North 

 America for the peculiarity of its cry, is described 

 in vol. i. p. 287. 



2081.— Chuck-Will's Widow 



{Capriinulgus CaroUnensis) . Antrostomus Caroli- 

 nensis, Gould. 



This night-jar is also described in vol. i. p. 287. 



2082. — The Song-Thrush and Fieldfare 

 (Tardus musicus and 2'. pilaris). For the descrip- 

 tion of these well-known birds refer to vol. i. pp. 322, 

 323. In our illustration, a represents the Song- 

 Thrush ; b, the Fieldfare. 



2083. — The Glossy-headed Shortfoot 



Micropus clialcocephalus, Swainson). Ixos chal- 

 cocephalus, Temm. 



This species forms one of the family of the Meru- 

 lidaB (vol. i. p. 322), and is a native of .Java, inha- 

 biting the woody district of Bantam, but of its habits 

 we have no details. In the male the whole of the 

 head is metallic black with violet reflexions ; the 



upper parts of the body are of a leaden grey ; quill* 

 black : tail grey ; with a band of black and a white 

 termination ; breast deep (rrey, becoming brighter 

 on the under parts. The female is more obscurely 

 coloured. Length six inches and a half. 



2084.— Bunting 

 (Emberiza), Head of. In this head the peculiar 

 character of the beak of the genus is well displayed, 

 and the tubercle on the palate of the upper man- 

 ; dible is very conspicuous. (See Common Bunting, 

 vol. i. p. 331.) 



2085.— The Ykllow-Hammeb, or Yellow 



I Bunting 



(Emberiza cilrinella). Male. This elegantly- 



I coloured but well-known British bird, so con- 

 spicuous in our hedgerows and copses, is described 



■ in vol. i. p. 331. 



2086. — The Wahty-faced Honet-bateb 



(Zanthomyza Phrygia. Gould). This beautiful 

 bird, termed the Mock Regent Bird by the colo- 

 nists of New South Wales, is one of the most lively- 

 coloured of the Honey-Eaters. (See Meliphagidae, 

 vol. i. p. 379.) Its plumage is rich yellow and 

 deep black, most agreeably varied. According to 

 Mr. Gould, " it is a stationary species, and enjoys a 

 range extending from South Australia to New South 

 Wales." " Although it is very generally distributed. 

 its presence appears to be dependent on the state of 

 the eucalypti, upon whose blossoms it mainly de- 

 pends for subsistence ; it is consequently only to be 

 found in any particular locality during the season 

 that those trees are in full bloom. It generally 

 resorts to the loftiest and most fully-flowered tree, 

 where it reigns supreme, buffeting and driving every 

 other bird away from its immediate neighbourhood ; 

 it is, in fact, the most pugnacious bird I ever saw, 

 evincing particular hostiUfy to the smaller Meli- 

 phagidae, and even to others of its own species that 

 may venture to approach the trees upon which two 

 or three have taken their station." " I met with it 

 in great abundance among the bushes ot New 

 South Wales, and also found it breeding in the low 

 apple-tree flats of the Upper Hunter. I have occa- 

 sionally seen flocks of from fifty to one hundred in 

 number, passing from tree to tree, as if engaged in 

 a partial migration from one part of the country 

 to another, probably in search of a mOre abundant 

 supply of food. Its note is a peculiar loud whistle, 

 not entirely devoid of melody. The nest, which is 

 usually constructed on the overhanging branch of a 

 eucalyptus, is round, cup-shaped, about five inches 

 in diameter, composed of fine grasses, lined with a 

 little wool and hair. The eggs are two in number, 

 of a deep yellowish buff, marked all over with indis- 

 tinct spots and irregular blotches of chestnut red, 

 and dull purplish grey, particularly at the larger 

 end, where they frequently form a zone." (Gould, 

 ' Birds of Australia.') 

 In size this species equals the common thrush. 



2087 (u).— The Kori Bustard 



(Otis Kori). This noble species of bustard, from 

 the interior of South Africa, is described in the 

 present volume, at page 15. 



2087 (i).— The Houbara 

 (Olis Honbara). This elegant bustard is a native 

 of Barbary, Arabia, Persia, and occasionally occurs 

 in south-eastern Europe. It is taken in Persia by 

 means of trained hawks, as noticed in vol. i. p. 27. 



The wide desert plains are the abode of this 

 species, which in habits and manners resembles the 

 rest of its family. 



The sides of the neck and chest in the adult male 

 are graced by a range of long plumes, the foremost 

 and upper portion of which is white ; the remainder 

 black. The front of the neck is white minutely 

 mottled with grey. The head is surmounted by a 

 beautiful crest of white plumes. The upper surface 

 is tawny yellow, with zigzag bars of black ; under 

 parts white. The young male wants both the crest 

 and ruffles down each side of the neck ; and it is 

 probable that after the breeding season the adult 

 male loses these ornamental appendages. 



END OF THE CLASS AVES, OR BIRDS. 



