BIRDS 01^ THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



645 



I 



CHAPTER XII. 



BIRD-LIFE IN THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



Difficulties of the Subject— Wide Range of Birds— The Toucan— Humming-Birds-Cotingas 

 —The Campaiiero, or Bell-Bird— The Realejo, or Organ-Bird— The Manakins— The Cock 

 of the Rock— The Troopials— The Baltimore Oriole— The Cassiques— The Mocking-Bird 

 —The Toropishu— The Tunqui — Goat-Suckers— The Cilgero— Flamingos— The Ibis— 

 Spoon-Bills— Birds of the New and the Old World— Sun-Birds— Honey-Eaters— The Ocel- 

 lated Turkey— The Lyre -Bird— Birds of Paradise— Fables respecting them— Their Char- 

 acter and Habits— Their Dancing- Parties — Mode of Shooting and Snaring them — The 

 Australian Bower-Bird— The Brush-Turkey — The Adjutant— Ti>e Copper-Smith— The 

 Indian Baya— The Tailor-Bird — The Grosbeak — The Korwe'— Parrots— Tlie Brazilian 

 Love-Parrot — Their Powers of I\Iimicry — Cockatoos — Macaws — The Ara — Paroquets — 

 The Ostricli — His Swiftness of Foot — Modes of Capturing it — Stratagems to Save its Young 

 — Its Enemies — Its Young — Resemblance to the Camel — Its Powers of Digestion — Uses of 

 its Eggs — The Rheas — The Cassowary — The Emu. 



T'T^SEFUL in many respects to man, no class of animals are more agreeable to 

 ^y liiin than that of birds, whether they are considered for the beauty of their 

 plumage, the grace of their movements, tl«e melody of their voice, or the ingenuity 

 with which they construct their nests. Their study forms one of the most attractive 

 departments in the range of natural history. But it is also one of the most difficult, 

 especially in regions which are covered with dense and matted forests. Thus it is by 

 no means surprising that so many secrets yet veil the life of tropical birds, and com- 

 paratively little is known of their liabits and modes of existence. We can hope only 

 to present a few of the salient features of bird-life in the tropics, reserving for another 

 chapter the birds of prey. 



Many families of birds have a wide range over the whole earth. Falcons hover 

 over the Siberian fir-woods as over the palm-forests of the Amazon. In every 

 zone are found woodpeckers, owls, and martins; wliile thrushes enliven with their 

 song both the shades of the beccli-woods and the twilight of tlie cocoa-nut groves. In 

 the north and in the south, fly-cateliers carry destruction among the numerous insect 

 tribes ; in every latitude, crows cleanse the fields of vermin ; and swallows, pigeons, 

 ducks, gulls, petrels, divers, and plovers frequent the fields and lakes, the banks and 

 shores, in all parts of the world. 



Thus the class of birds shows us a groat similarity in the distribution of its various 

 forms all over the earth ; and we find the same resemblance extending also to their 

 mode of life, their manners, and their voice. The woodpeckers make everywhere the 

 forest resound with the satne clear note, and the birds of prey possess in every clime 

 the same rough screech so consonant to their habits, while a soft cooing everywhere 

 characterizes the pigeon-tribes. But, notwithstanding this general uniformity and this 



