BIRDS OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 645 



CHAPTER XII. 



BIRD-LIFE IN THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



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

 The Campanero, 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 The Copper-Smith The 

 Indian Baya The Tailor-Bird The Grosbeak The Korwe Parrots The Brazilian 

 Love-Parrot Their Powers of Mimicry Cockatoos Macaws The Ara Paroquets 

 The Ostrich 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. 



1~SEFUL in many respects to man, no class of animals are more agreeable to 

 *^J him than that of birds, whether they are considered for the beauty of their 

 plumage, the grace of their movements, the 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 habits 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; while thrushes enliven with their 

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

 the north and in the south, fly-catchers 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 great 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 same 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 



