TODY. 



807 



parts are reddish white, and the bill and feet lead 

 colour. The length of this bird is about four inches 

 and a half. It rarely quits its habitation among the 

 close evergreens, even in the severest weather ; for 

 such places afford shelter at all times, and very gene- 

 rally food. The nests are in holes of trees, or other 

 Concealments, and not unfrequently in the deserted 

 nests of other birds which build earlier in the season ; 

 but those they line arid trim up, so as to give them 

 that compactness and warmth which are characteris- 

 tic of the nests of this family. Their eggs are ten or 

 twelve in number, of a white colour, with small spots 

 of dull red. 



There are very many other species in all the three 

 great divisions of the eastern continent, in Australia, 

 in New Zealand, and in America ; but they are not 

 found in the very warmest and richer parts, as in cen- 

 tral America and the Oriental Isles. 



The " bearded reed-bird," already referred to, will 

 serve as a specimen of Cuvier's Moustache, and indeed 

 it is the only one that can be given, being the unique 

 species of the division as far as is hitherto known. 

 It reflects much credit upon the acumen of the great 

 naturalist of France, that he should have separated 

 this bird from the tits upon the ground of its organi- 

 sation alone, and that this should be completely 

 borne out by the habits of the bird, now that these 

 have been ascertained with tolerable accuracy. His 

 division Ramiz contains two species of which the 

 nests are peculiar ; one of them, a native of the south 

 of Europe, and the other of the south of Africa ; and 

 it might not perhaps be amiss to give them the old 

 specific name of the first of these, Pendulinus, as a 

 generic one. 



Pendulinus Narbonensis. This bird, to which some 

 have given the very inappropriate name of the 

 " mountain titmouse," is a marsh bird, frequenting 

 the marshy batiks of streams and pools, generally in 

 lonely and desolate places where its haunts are not 

 liable to be visited. It skulks about in a very wary 

 manner, and is not often seen, and very seldom 

 caught. It is met with in the south of France, in 

 Italy, in the valley of the Danube, in the marshy 

 parts of the south of Russia, and in Siberia. The 

 upper parts are reddish grey ; the nape and top of 

 the head ash ; the forehead and head as far as the eyes, 

 and also the ear-coverts, black ; the rump ash colour ; 

 the quills and tail-feathers blackish, margined with 

 whitish red, and tipped with white ; the throat white ; 

 and the rest of the under part white, with a rosy 

 tinge. The bill is black, straight, rather long, and 

 very finely pointed ; for which we shall see that the 

 bird has use, besides the capture of its food. 



We mentioned that these birds inhabit marshy 

 places, and they always have their nest at the end of 

 a flexible twig pendulous over the water, by which 

 means it is perfectly secure from reptiles. The chief 

 material which they use is vegetable down, obtained 

 from the willow, the poplar, from dandelion, thistles, 

 and a variety of other plants which grow near the 

 streams ; this they weave into a frame or basket work 

 of long, tough, and slender fibres, till it has the ap- 

 pearance and consistency of a piece of felt. It is 

 closed above and firmly fastened to the twig by strong 

 but flexible fibres, and they line the inside with a 

 coating of the finest and softest down, so that the 

 nest is as warm and comfortable as if it were lined 

 with fur. The shape varies in different nests, and of 

 course sometimes one kind of down predominates, 



and sometimes another ; but the fabric is always the 

 same. The lateral opening by which the birds enter 

 is toward the water ; and it often has a ledge or rim 

 upon which they can alight, and feed the young after 

 they break the shell, without actually entering the 

 nest. The eggs are usually about six in number, of 

 a white colour, with obscure spots of red. The birds 

 are as attentive to the feeding of their young as they 

 are to the construction of their pendent cradles ; and 

 there are indeed very few birds which have more 

 labour in preparing for and rearing their progeny, and 

 none that perform the work in a more elegant man- 

 ner. We admire the nest of the heath-tit, and it is 

 really a very pretty structure ; but it is a fixed nest, 

 and that of these birds is wholly at the mercy of the 

 winds, and the flexible twig to which it is suspended 

 contributes not a little to the safety of the fabric, and 

 the comfort of the young birds while they are in it. 

 The birds themselves are, as we have said, but seldom 

 seen ; but the nests are met with in considerable 

 numbers, and command the admiration of the rustics. 

 It is probable that the nests last for several years, 

 with very little repair ; and instances have been found 

 of other birds hatching in them at a very late period 

 of the year. The people of some of the wild parts, 

 who are not a little prone to superstition, have a very 

 strong impression of the protective virtues of these 

 nests, for they hang them up over the doors of the 

 cottages, quite sure in their own minds that, while 

 the nest is there, the dwelling and its inmates are 

 quite safe from the stroke of the lightning. Some 

 have given it as their opinion that the first nest which 

 a pair of these birds build is but a flimsy fabric, though 

 even then it stands the weather ; but that in succeed- 

 ing years they give it an additional layer of materials 

 on the outside, firmly incorporated with the former. 

 This, however, wants confirmation. 



P. Capcnsis. This, as the name indicates, is a 

 native of Southern Africa. It is about five inches in 

 length. The upper part greyish ash ; the quills black 

 with whitish margins ; and the tail black on the upper 

 surface, and white on the under. The under parts 

 are bright ash colour, and the bill and feet black. 

 Although the country which this bird inhabits differs 

 a good deal from that inhabited by the preceding 

 species, the mode of constructing the nest is very 

 nearly the same ; and indeed it is, in some respects, a 

 more curious nest than the other. The principal 

 material used for the fabric is the down of plants, as 

 well as in the other ; and the down of some of the Sta- 

 pelidfE, which are so abundant in Southern Africa, is 

 that which presents itself most readily. The principal 

 nest is for the female and the eggs, but there is a 

 separate and smaller apartment, which is entered by 

 a tubular porch ; and this serves as a lodging for the 

 male, while the female is occupied in the duty of 

 nidincation. Both birds assist in constructing the 

 nest, and both share in the protection it affords. 



TODY (Todus). A genus, or rather small group, 

 of syndactylic birds, which have sometimes been con- 

 founded with the fly-catchers and fly-hunters, from 

 both of which, however, they are quite distinct. The 

 birds which they most nearly resemble are the king- 

 fishers ; and, though the habits are not the same, 

 they may be said to hold among American birds 

 (to the tropical parts of which continent they are 

 confined), the same place that the kingfishers hold in 

 the ornithology of the eastern continent. 



They have the bill large, depressed, obtuse at the 



