532 THE GOLDEN-BREASTED TRUMPETER. 



four eggs each. Their time of breeding is about the middle of June. The eggs measure one 

 inch seven lines in length, by one inch two lines in breadth, of an olive-green color spotted 

 and streaked with ash-blue and two shades of reddish brown." These nests were found on 

 the coast of Norway. 



A peculiar characteristic is seen in this bird; the plumage is scarcely alike in any two 

 specimens ; the coloration varies extremely, but, for example, the coloring of one specimen 

 may be described :— 



The top of the head is white streaked with black, and a black band crosses the forehead 

 and passes over the eyes. The chin, face, and sides of the neck are white, and the breast is 

 jetty black, throwing out black branches shaped like the gnarled boughs of the oak, which 

 run to the base of the bill, the lower eyelid, the back of the neck, and the shoulders. The 

 upper part of the back is also black, with a band of bright rust-red, and the lower part white, 

 with a broad band of black just above the tail-coverts. The under parts are pure white, and 

 the legs and toes are scarlet orange. The length of the bird is rather more than nine inches. 



The Turnstone is rather solitary in habit, seldom mingling with other birds in nocks — 

 either coursing the sands alone or in company with a few of their own species. The bill is 

 turned upwards a trifle, seemingly so designed to aid it in turning np stones. It is abundant 

 in Hudson Bay and Greenland, and in the Arctic flats of Siberia, where it breeds, wandering 

 southerly in autumn. It Hies with a loud twittering note, and runs with its wings lowered, 

 but not with the rapidity of others of the tribe. If has a habit of examining the same spot 

 for a long time, tossing up pebbles with its bill, and searching with great persistence for 

 worms and small mollusks. The length of body is eight inches, extent of wing seventeen 

 inches. The sexes are much alike. 



Sea Dotterel is an old name for this bird. It extends its habitat to Cape Good Hope and 

 Senegal. It is naturally wild in disposition and solitary, coursing in pairs, or small families 

 which have been bred in families. 



The Black Turnstone (Streps/ 'las melanocepJiala) is another species, rather common 

 on the Atlantic coast. 



The bird represented on the following engraving is a native of Tropical America. 



The Golden-breasted Trumpeter is a handsome bird, remarkable for the short velvety 

 feathers of the head and neck, and their beautiful golden-green lustre on the breast. The 

 body of this bird is hardly larger than that of a fowl, but its legs and neck are so long as to 

 give it the aspect id' being much larger than it really is. Like most birds of similar structure, 

 it trusts more to its legs than its wings, and is able to run with great speed and activity. It 

 is generally found in the forests. 



As it is very easily tamed, it is a favorite inmate of the house, where it soon constitutes 

 itself the self-chosen guardian, watching the premises as jealously as any dog, and permitting 

 no other bird or beast to share its owner's favors at the same time. Dogs and cats it dislikes, 

 and turns them out of the room when meal-times approach. The dog sometimes fights for its 

 privileges, but mostly in vain, for the Trumpeter has a way of rising into the air, coming- 

 down on the dog's back and striking him with bill and feet, that effectually, puzzles the four- 

 footed foe and forces him to vacate the held of battle. It is said to learn to drive sheep, and 

 to perform this arduous duty as well as any dog. 



The name of Trumpeter is derived from the strange hollow cry which it utters without 

 seeming to open the beak. This cry is evidently produced by means of the curiously formed 

 windpipe, which is furnished with two membranous expansions, and, during the utterance of 

 the cry. puffs out the neck veiy forcibly, just as the rhea does when grunting. The nest of 

 the Trumpeter is said to be a hole scratched in the ground at the foot of a tree, and to contain 

 about ten or twelve light green eggs. The head and neck are velvety black, and on the breast 

 the leathers become large, rounded, and more scale-like, and their edges are beautifully 

 bedecked with rich shining green with a purplish gloss in some lights and a lustrous golden 

 hue in others. The back is gray, the feathers being long and silken and hanging over the 



