HANG-NEST 131 



seen only when the bird is on the wing ; the bill is 

 black and curved, the body slender, and the tail long. 

 It is a loquacious bird, most of its tones being low 

 and pleasing ; exceedingly restless in disposition, 

 incessantly passing from tree to tree, jerking its long 

 tail and clinging to the branches in various attitudes, 

 while searching for insects in the decayed bark. 

 While thus engaged it utters a great variety of chir- 

 ping and guttural sounds, interspersed with short 

 agreeable notes. It also has a song of considerable 

 merit, low and varied in tone, with a peculiar ventri- 

 loquism in many of the notes which produce a con- 

 fusing idea on the listener that the bird approaches 

 and recedes alternately whilst uttering them. While 

 singing the bird continues moving, but always con- 

 cealed in the thick foliage, and it is probably this 

 constant turning about of the singer, and the notes 

 coming through leafy screens of varying density, 

 which makes the ventriloquism and gives so much 

 light and shade to its mysterious melody. 



The first bird of this species I shot was wounded 

 very slightly in one wing and fell into a stream ; to 

 my very great surprise it began singing its usual 

 song while floating about on the surface, making no 

 attempt to swim. After I had fished it out it con- 

 tinued to sing at intervals in my hand ; how strange 

 it was to hear this bleeding captive bird warbling 

 out soft sweet notes which seemed to express only 

 agreeable emotions ! Yet it was evident that the bird 

 was fully alive to its danger, for it struggled violently to 

 escape and bit my finger savagely with its sharp beak. 



