80 



CPJAPTER IV. 



CUNEIROSTRAL, CONTINUED. WOODPECKER TAME ONE. WRY- 

 NECK TONGUE OF. LEVIROSTRAL LIGHT-BILLED. PAR- 

 ROTS. TOUCAN. GALLINACEOUS POULTRY TRIBE. PIGEONS, 

 AMERICAN PRODIGIOUS NUMBERS OF RAPID FLIGHT EM- 

 PLOYED AS MESSENGERS MODE OF CATCHING ATTACH- 

 MENTS OF. COCKS. PHEASANTS COURAGE OF. ON BREED- 

 ING PHEASANTS BOX FOR FEEDING PRIZED BY ANCIENTS. 



TURKIES, WILD SOCIAL HABITS OF. PARTRIDGES, TAMED 



NESTS OF VARIOUS SORTS OF. QUAILS IMMENSE FLIGHTS 



OF. BUSTARDS. OSTRICH NESTS OF AFFECTION HUNT- 

 ING STRENGTH OF. CASSOWARY AND EMU. 



THE Woodpecker is, by sound at least, almost as 

 well known as the Cuckoo. Its noisy, merry, 

 laughing cry may often be heard in the neighbour- 

 hood of woods, or issuing from some large tree, to 

 the stem of which, if carefully looked for, the bird 

 may be seen clinging, the head thrown a little 

 back, the weight of the body resting almost entirely 

 upon the tail, the feathers of which are hard and 

 wiry, more like bristles indeed than feathers; and, 

 if examined, these will generally be found much 

 worn at the edges, by being constantly rubbed 

 against the rough bark of trees. It is a shy and 

 solitary bird, but nevertheless some species, at least, 

 can be tamed. 



A clergyman, travelling in Turkey, was perform- 

 ing quarantine in a Turkish village, having passed 

 through a district in which the plague was raging. 

 He was confined in a wretched apartment, and had 

 nothing to interest or amuse him during a tedious 



