THE SEARCHERS. I ig 



tail and high tarsi. The high, much-raised beak is sharp at its margin, and very decidedly hooked at 

 its tip. The outer toe of the high, powerful foot is twice as long as the innermost, whilst the toe that 

 turns backwards is of equal size with the real hinder toe. 



THE COROYA. 

 The CoROYA (Crotophaga major) is about the size of a Jay, but more slender, and possessed of 

 a far stronger beak ; the latter is longer than the head, and slightly hooked at its extremity ; the sides 

 of the bill are not so compressed as in other species ; the feathers on the head and nape are very long 

 and pointed, while those on the breast are very broad. The plumage is of a deep steel-blue, 

 shading into violet on the tail and On the breast. The eye is bright light green, its iris surrounded 

 by a narrow circle of yellow ; the beak and bare skin about the eye are black, and the feet blackish 

 brown. This species is eighteen inches and two-thirds long, and twenty-two inches and a quarter 

 broad; the wing measures seven inches and two-thirds, and the tail nine inches and five-sixths. 

 The female is not quite so large. 



THE ANI, OR SAVANNA BLACKBIRD. 



The Ani, or Savanna Blackbird {Crotophaga ani), is scarcely larger than the Common 

 Cuckoo. The beak of this bird equals the head in length, and the raised portion of the bill extends 

 over the whole of the upper mandible, which terminates in a decided hook. The entire plumage is 

 blueish black, the feathers on the fore part of the body being enlivened by a violet gloss. The eye 

 is grey, the beak and feet black. The length is thirteen inches and a half, and breadth fifteen inches 

 and a half; the wing measures five inches, and the tail six inches and two-thirds. 



" In all open places, particularly savannas which aire occupied by cattle or horses," says Gosse, 

 " these birds are seen all day long and all the year round. Familiar and impudent, though very wary, 

 they permit a considerable acquaintance with their manoeuvres, while an approach mthin a limited 

 distance in a moment sets the whole flock upon the wing, with a singular cry, which the negroes 

 please to express by the words ' going awa-a-y,' but which may as well be described, according to 

 the fancy of the hearer, as ' how d'ye,' or ' ani.' The appearance of the bird in its gliding flight is 

 unusual, as in flying it assumes a perfectly straight form, with the long tail in the same line, without 

 flapping the wing, so that it takes the aspect, on a side view, rather of a fish than of a bird. The food 

 of this species, though consisting entirely of insects, is not confined td them ; the stomach is usually 

 distended with caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers, and beetles to such a degree that it is wonderful how 

 the mass can have been forced in. I have found these contents mixed up with and stained by the 

 ben-ies of the snake-withe, and in July I have found the stomach crammed with the berries of the 

 fiddle-wood (Cytharaxylon), which had stained the whole inner surface bright crimson. Flocks of 

 these birds were at that time feeding on the glowing clusters, profusely ripe, upon the trees. Stationary 

 insects are their staple food ; to obtain these they hop about grassy places, and are often seen to jump 

 or run eagerly after their prey, on which occasions the long tail, continuing the given motion after the 

 body has stopped, is thrown forward in an odd manner, sometimes nearly turning the bird head over 

 heels. It is probably to protect the eyes from the stalks of weeds and blades of grass, in these 

 headlong leaps, that the projecting brows are furnished with a row of very short but stiff bristles; but 

 what purpose was served by the thin and high knife-blade of a beak I was ignorant till informed by 

 Mr. Hill that it enables the bird to open out the soft earth and seek for its insect food ; it also 

 facilitates its access to the vermin imbedded in the long hair of animals." "I am assured," he adds, 

 " that if a patch of cow's dung be examined after Crotophaga have been searching for the larvag of 

 insects, it will be found furrowed, as if a miniature plough Iiad passed through it. The name of 



