424 



BIRD. 



Still, however, there is so much resemblance between 

 them as to lead to a presumed correspondence in the 

 habits of the birds, though their feet indicate a dif- 

 ferent haunt. Both genera eat carrion, eggs, insects, 

 and occasionally vegetable substances ; and both are 

 rather indolent and lurking birds in their general 

 habit. The toes of the aracari are yoked, so that 

 it is a branch bird, inhabiting living trees, among 

 which it jerks about something in the manner of the 

 jay. The hornbills have the toes free, like the rest 

 of the omnivorous birds ; and though most of them 

 can perch readily and firmly, they prefer perching on 

 dead branches to those which are covered with 

 foliage. When on the ground they do not walk, but 

 hop as magpies do. 



A bill of this form cannot be efficient against any 

 very powerful animal, because its great size and length, 

 and Jight structure, render it impossible to close the 

 mandibles with much force, though the bill may snap 

 at small objects with much less labour on the part 

 of the bird than if it had been of stronger texture. 

 These birds connect the omnivorous races pretty 

 closely with the insect feeders ; for though they all 

 eat carrion when it can be procured, the various 

 insects which breed in and consume rotten wood in 

 the tropical forests appear to form the chief subsist- 

 ence of those hornbills which are more exclusively 

 forest birrJs ; while those which feed more on the 

 ground pick up ground beetles, which are also nu- 

 merous in those localities. The serrated margins 

 and snapping motion of those large but lightly formed 

 bills are sufficient so to crush an insect as that it can 

 be advantageously taken into the stomach ; and when 

 they have recourse to carrion they seem to be equally 

 attracted by the putrefying animal matter, and the 

 larvae with which it is inhabited. 



The other extreme, birds of Paradise and analo- 

 gous genera, as may be seen by the figure, have bills 

 smaller and firmer, and approximating more to those 



Paradise Fie. 



, f nd thou & h ^ey are understood to 

 exclusively on the ground than any species 



of that order, yet their food bears no inconsiderable 

 resemblance ; and it is not unworthy of remark, that 

 the native localities of the more remarkable of the 

 perching gallinidte and the birds of Paradise border 

 with each other in their native localities, as the 

 peacock in India, the Argus pheasant in Sumatra 

 and Java, and the birds of Paradise in the isles 

 immediately to the south and east. 



To explain, or even to enumerate, all the varieties 

 in the bills of those omnivorous tribes, and the dif- 

 ferences of food and haunt which those indicate, 

 would be incompatible with the nature of a general 

 sketch; but the subject once entered on, is one of 

 very easy study ; and there is scarcely any tribe, at 

 least of land birds, traces of resemblance to which 

 may not be found in one species or other of the om- 

 nivorous race. Still, however, there is a definite 

 character in the bills of the whole, and that of the 

 raven is not completely lost even in the hornbill or 

 the bird of Paradise. 



The whole race are also what is usually termed 

 " foul feeders." Their voices are harsh, but, generally 

 speaking, they are capable of being taught to arti- 

 culate. They are also familiar birds, and not difficult 

 to be tamed, partly, perhaps, from their indolent 

 habits, and partly from their voracity. Generally 

 speaking, they are prying and hopping creatures ; 

 and when they seize living prey, they jump at and 

 stab, or snap it with the bill. Altogether, they are 

 a serviceable race, and their labours tend much to 

 preserve vegetation both in field and in forest in 

 places where they are numerous. 



Bills of the Conirostres. These form the first natu- 

 ral division which we can trace from the omnivorous 

 bill of the raven, upon that part of its compound 

 character which relates to the action of the mandi- 

 bles against each other by pressure in the simple 

 division of hard substances. Bills of this description 

 are without any notch or tooth ; and they are always 

 of firm texture, on which account the small birds that 

 have them are often styled hard-billed birds, in con- 

 tradistinction from the insect feeders, which have the 

 bill with a tooth or notch, but of comparatively slen- 

 der structure. 



Birds having bills of this description vary much in 

 their structure and habits ; but generally speaking, 

 they may be considered as more peculiarly birds of 

 temperate and even cold climates. This is what might 

 be expected. In tropical countries, the vegetation of 

 trees may be said to be constant, and the ground 

 vegetation is in a great measure propagated by bulbs, 

 or, at all events, the seeds of herbaceous plants do 

 not strew the ground there either so numerously, or 

 for such a length of time, as they do in regions where 

 the winter is more decided. There is thus not much 

 food for, at least the ground species of the Conirostres, 

 in tropical climates, and where they are found, they 

 are not so migratory in their habits as the soft-billed 

 birds. In such climates as that of England, their 

 grand feeding time is in winter, because the fields 

 are covered with seeds, which are softened and 

 sweetened by the action of the weather, but have not 

 begun to sprout ; and perhaps there is no race of 

 wild animals so serviceable to cultivation in such 

 climates as these birds. They come in vast crowds, 

 and clear the stubble field of the seeds of weeds, 

 which, if they were to spring up, as of course they 

 would do, if not gathered by the birds, would com- 

 pletely choke the crops in the following season. 



