THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 127 



the bill varying much in shape. They are often much 

 bigger birds than Creepers or Nuthatches, and are brown 

 in colour, often reddish, especially on the tail. 



This group contains many species, varying much in 

 type ; some are not climbers at all, but hop, and even 

 run on the ground, like the Oven-bird. These forms 

 have not the typical foot, but can be distinguished 

 from thrushes, warblers, or other birds they seem to 

 resemble, by having the shanks scaled at the back. 

 The nesting-habits vary much, and are often most 

 remarkable : as witness the Oven-bird's curious domed 

 clay structure and the great stick-nest of the Lenatero 

 (A numbius acuticaudatus) . 



Both these species are familiar birds in South America. 

 The Oven-bird (Furnarius rufus) is reddish-brown, 

 with a short tail, and about the size of a thrush. It 

 walks with a peculiar strut, closing each foot as it lifts 

 it, in a way unusual among Passerine birds, and has a 

 shrill repeated scream like a kestrel. The Lenatero 

 in size and colour resembles a lark, but is a perching 

 bird, and has a rounded tail, showing white borders. 



Wood-swallows or Swallow-Shrikes (Artamina) of 

 the warm parts of the world chiefly India and the 

 Australian region have much of the swallow's build, 

 but are easily distinguishable by their much larger bills, 

 which are fairly long and stout. They do not spend 

 so much time on the wing as the true Swallows, and 

 their nests are of quite a different type, being built in 

 the ordinary way. They are sometimes classed with 

 the Shrikes, and seem to be related to those birds. 



They are about the size of starlings, with peculiarly 

 sleek plumage, grey or black, with some white markings. 

 The most widely-spread kind is the White-bellied Wood- 

 swallow (Artamus leucogaster), with a white rump and 

 abdomen ; this ranges from the Andamans to Australia. 

 In spite of their aerial mode of life, these birds bear 

 captivity well, and the White-eyebrowed Wood- 



