154 Mr. E. Gibson on the Ornithology of 
looking for food, or watching any work that was going on. 
Rats were swallowed whole ; and the way it would gulp down 
a pound or two of raw meat would have horrified an English 
housekeeper. Snakes it seized by the nape of the neck, and 
passed them transversely through its bill by a succession of 
rapid and powerful nips, repeating the operation two or three 
times before being satisfied that life was totally extinct. It 
used often to do the same thing with dry sticks (in order not 
to forget the way, I suppose), while on one occasion, it swal- 
lowed apiece of hard cowhide, a foot long, and consequently 
could not bend its neck for twenty-four hours after—till the 
hide softened, in fact. The story also went that “ Byles, the 
lawyer ”’ (as he was called), mistook the tail of one of the 
pet lambs for a snake, and actually had it down his throat, 
but was “ brought up” by the body of the lamb! Byles in- 
spired a wholesome respect in all the dogs and cats, but was 
very peaceable as a rule. One of our men had played some 
trick on him, however; and the result was that Byles incon- 
tinently “ went for him” on every possible occasion, his long 
legs covering the ground like those of an Ostrich, while he 
produced a demoniacal row with his bill. It was amusing to 
see his victim dodging him all over the place, or sometimes, 
in desperation, turning on him with astick ; but Byles evaded 
every blow by jumping eight feet into the air, coming down 
on the other side of his enemy, and there repeating his war 
dance ; while he always threatened (though these threats were 
never fulfilled) to make personal and pointed remarks with his 
formidable bill. Shortly after his capture feathers began to 
appear ; and the following is a description of the bird at the 
age of about two months :—‘‘Tail-feathers white, remainder of 
plumage glossy green-black ; bill black ; legs and feet grey.” 
After this spots and patches of white appeared on the centre 
of upper mandible, head, back, and wings; these gradually 
extended, till, by the end of May, the adult plumage was all 
acquired. Then my interest in Byles ceased, and latterly he 
strayed away to his native swamps. 
Breeding-Notes.—C. maguari is another of our early-breed- 
ing birds, nesting generally about the middle of August, 
