262 THE ROBIN REDBREAST. 



or oil, is semi-liquid, transparent, and without smell, and so 

 pure that it may be kept a twelvemonth without becoming 

 rancid. At a neighbouring convent, visited by these travel- 

 lers, no oil but that of the cavern was used in the monks' 

 kitchen, and it was never found to give to any dish a dis- 

 agreeable taste or smell. 



TABLE XIII. (See p. 15.) 

 OBDEB 2. PASSEBINE. TBIBE 7. TENUIBOSTBES. 



THE birds of this tribe, comprehending the rest of this division, 

 are classed together, not so much with reference to the actual 

 strength or weakness of the bill, as on account of its form, 

 and comparative narrowness and length, which is seldom less 

 than twice that of the head, sometimes straight, at other 

 times more or less bent. In other respects, they differ very 

 materially ; in fact, they have no connexion whatever with 

 each other. Amongst them we find, of foreigners, the 

 Humming-birds, and the genus Todus, much resembling 

 Kingfishers, but feeding on insects, instead of fish. Some 

 species of the rest are British, such as the Hoopoe and Bee- 

 eaters, both of which are, however, very scarce. 



Of the habits of one of the above genus, the Todus viridis, 

 which, though of a beautiful green on the back, has a crim- 

 son throat, whence it is called the Robin Redbreast of Jamaica, 

 an interesting account is given by a close observer of nature 

 in that island. One which was caught in a net, and turned 

 into a room, began immediately to catch flies and other minute 

 insects that flitted about. At this employment it continued 

 incessantly, and most successfully, all that evening and all 

 the next day, from earliest dawn till dusk. It would sit on 

 the edge of the tables, on shelves, or on the floor, ever glancing 

 about, now and then flitting up into the air, when the snap 

 of its beak announced a capture, and it returned to some 

 station to eat it. It would peep into the lowest and darkest 

 corners and under the tables, for the round long-legged 

 spiders, which it would drag from their webs, and swallow. 



