704 



Crradttrp of Natural 



species vary in colouring as in size, but the 

 backs of all are of a lustrous green or blue, 

 and bellies of red, or pink, or yellow. The 

 curucua grande is occasionally seen at Barra; 

 but, frequenting the tallest forests, it is 

 exceedingly difficult to be obtained. We 

 offered a high price for a specimen, and em- 

 ployed half the garrison for this single bird 

 without success. They reported that they 

 every day saw them, and frequently shot at 

 them ; but that they never would come 

 down. Their feathers were so loose, that, in 

 falling when shot, they almost invariably 

 lost many ; and thus, together witli the ten- 

 derness of their skins, made them the most 

 difficult of birds to preserve." 



TROOPIAL. (.Cassicus : Icterus : Xanthor- 

 nus.) A name applied to one or more genera 

 of Passerine birds, in which the beak is 

 large, conical, thick at the base, and very 

 sharp at the point. Their manners some- 

 what approach the Starlings : they fre- 

 quently construct their nests close together, 

 and feed on insects and grain ; and when in 

 numerous flocks they commit great ravages 

 in cultivated districts, especially in maize 

 plantations. In his voyage up the river 

 Amazon, in 1846, Mr. Edwards was much 

 struck with their nests, and from his lately 

 published narrative we make the following 

 extract : " The most singular nests, and 

 most worthy of description, were those of 

 the Troopials (Cassicus icteronotus, Swain.), 

 a large black bird, much marked with yel- 

 low, and frequently seen in cages. Their 

 native name is Japim. They build in colo- 

 nies pensile nests of grass, nearly two feet in 

 length, having an opening for entrance near 

 the top. Upon one tree standing in the 

 middle of the lake, not more than ten feet 

 high, and the thickness of a man's arm, were 

 forty-five nests of these birds, built one upon 

 another, often one depending from another, 

 and completely concealing all the tree-top 

 except a few outermost leaves ; at a distance 

 the whole resembled a huge basket. Part 

 of these nests belonged to the Red-rumped 

 Troopial (C. hcemorrhous) ; and a singular 

 variety of Oriole, the Ruff-necked of Latham, 

 called Araona or Rice-bird, after the fashion 

 of our cow-bird, deposits its eggs in the 

 Troopials' nests, leaving the young to the 

 care of their foster-mothers. Usually Troo- 

 pials build nearer houses, and are always 

 welcome, being friendly sociable birds, ever 

 ready to repay man's protection by a song. 

 Often in such situations large trees are seen 

 witli hundreds of these nests dependent from 

 the limbs and swaying in the wind. A 

 colony which had settled upon a tall palm 

 near the mill was one night entirely robbed 

 of eggs by a lizard. Snakes are sometimes 

 the depredators, and, between all their ene- 

 mies, the poor birds of every species are 

 robbed repeatedly. Probably owing to this 

 cause it is very unusual to find more than 

 two eggs in one nest. The Red-rumped 

 Troopials shot in this place were of different 

 sizes, some being several inches longer than 

 others, although all were in mature plumage. 

 Their nests were perhaps larger than those 

 of the Japims, but differed in no other respect. 



The eggs were white, spotted with brown, 

 and particularly on the larger end. The 

 Japim's eggs were cream-coloured, and simi- 

 larly spotted ; and the eggs of the ruff- 

 necked orioles were large in proportion to 

 the size of the bird, bluish in colour, and 

 much spotted, and lined with dark brown." 



TROPIC-BIRD. (Phaeton.) A genus of 

 Palmipede birds, distinguished by two long 

 slender tail-feathers, and well known to 

 navigators as the harbingers of the tropics. 

 They are characterized by extraordinary 

 length of wing and feeble feet ; they are ac- 

 cordingly well formed for flight, and disport 

 in the air far at sea: when on land, to which 

 they seldom resort for any length of time 

 together, except at the period of nidiflcation, 

 they are seen perching on rocks and trees. 

 Two species only are known : Phaeton Kthe- 

 rcus and Phaeton ph&nicurua. 



The COMMON TROPIC-BIRD (Phat'ton cethe- 

 rews) is about the size of a Partridge, and 

 has very long wings : the bill is red, with an 

 angle under the lower mandible, like those 

 of the Gull kind, of which it is a species : the 

 eyes are surrounded with black, which ends 

 in a point towards the back of the head : 

 three or four of the larger quill-feathers to- 

 wards their ends are black tipped with white: 

 all the rest of the bird is white, except the 

 back, which is variegated with curved lines 

 of black : the legs and feet are of a yermillion 

 red : the toes are webbed : the tail consists 

 of two long straight narrow feathers almost 

 of equal breadth from their quills to their 

 points. These birds are rarely seen but be- 

 tween the tropics, at the remotest distance 

 from land. Their name seems to imply the 

 limit of their abode ; and, indeed they are 

 seldom seen but a few degrees north or south 

 of either tropic. 



Nothing, says Lesson, who had good oppor- 

 tunities of observing both species of the 

 Tropic-bird, can be more graceful than their 

 flight. They glide along, most frequently 

 without any motion of the wing, on the sus- 

 taining air, but at times this smooth pro- 

 gression is interrupted by sudden jerks. 

 When they perceive a ship, they never fail 

 to sail round it, as if to reconnoitre. They 

 ordinarily return every evening to the laud, 

 to roost in the midst of the rocks where they 

 place their nests. Their food appears to 

 consist entirely of fish. The long feathers of 

 the tail are employed by the natives of the 

 greater part of the South Sea Islands as or- 

 naments of dress. 



TROPIDORHYNCHUS. [See FRIAB- 



BIRD.] 



TROUT. (Salmo fario.) The common 

 name of Trout is given to several species of 

 the genus Salmo. The one we are about to 

 describe in this place is the well-known 

 RIVER TKOUT,a valuable fish,which frequents 

 most of the rivers and lakes of Great Britain, 

 affording much diversion to the angler, and, 

 from its vigilance and caution, combined with 

 its boldness and activity, requiring all his 

 patience and no little skill. The colours of 

 the Trout, and its spots, vary greatly in dif- 

 ferent waters, and in different seasons ; it 



