3«6 



TROPICAL AMERICA AND ITS ANIMALS 



Spine-Tails. 



Oven-Birds. 



Another group, the spine-tails (Synallaxis), includes rather smaller 

 birds resembling reed-warblers, all of which, like the foregoing, are 

 exclusively South American, and live in low bushes, or reeds. These birds, which 

 always support themselves on their tail-feathers when perching on branches, are 

 remarkable for the construction of their nests, which are club-shaped and covered 

 with twigs projecting on all sides. The structure is of considerable size, a tube 

 leading from above to the interior, which is lined with leaves and plant-wool. 



These nests are always built 

 in open situations, where they 

 look like heaps of sticks. 



Resembling 

 thrushes in their 

 habits, the oven-birds (Fur- 

 narius) comprise about thirty 

 species, of which more than half 

 are confined to the temperate 

 regions of South America 

 They are often seen on the 

 ground, searching for food, 

 which consists chiefly of insects, 

 but are also very active in their 

 movements in trees. These birds 

 prefer the open plain to the for- 

 est, and often appear in the 

 neighbourhood of human habi- 

 tations. They live mainly on 

 beetles and berries, and derive 

 their name from the nests they 

 build on branches ; these being 

 made of clay, and shaped like 

 a baker's oven, with the open- 

 ing always directed towards 

 the east. In Brazil the natives 

 believe these birds keep Sun- 

 days, and therefore protect 

 them carefully as sacred. 

 Tyrant- The tyrant-flycatchers, comprising about four hundred and fifty 



Flycatchers, species, are almost confined to the tropical regions of America, only 

 a few ranging into temperate latitudes, and none known elsewhere. Except 

 in the pairing-season, they live like tits, frequenting bushes and tree-tops, in 

 small parties, and feeding upon beetles and berries. Culicivora is a well-known 

 genus of these birds. 



The fork-tailed tvrant-birds are distinguished from the true 

 tyrants by their forked and generally very long tails, as is well shown 

 in the common fork -tailed tyrant (M'dvulus tyrannus). The small tyrant birds are 

 about the size of small warblers, and in shape resemble tits. The golden-headed 



FRRACA JAV. 



Tyrant-Birds. 



