PASSERINE BIRDS. 



149 



grey, shaded with yellowish brown ; the bridles and a line over the eyes and throat are white, the 

 latter being divided from the chin by a black streak ; the upper part of the breast is grey, and the 

 lower portion of the body of a paler shade ; the wings and inner web of the wings are a rusty yellow, 

 spotted with grey ; the tail a dark slate colour, the beak brownish grey, and the feet a dusky black. 



These birds are found in considerable numbers in the southern parts of Brazil, where they 

 frequent the trees, avoiding deep forests, and at times do considerable damage in the gardens ; they 

 are usually seen in pairs or small parties, and are by no means afraid of man, in the vicinity of whose 

 dwellings they are constantly to be met with. They fly slowly and with difficulty, rarely coming to 

 the ground, on which their movements are neither animated nor easy j their life is spent principally in 



THE RARITA, OR RARA (Phytotoma Rara). 



the midst of the trees or bushes, from whence they fly forth to procure the seeds, buds, snails, or 

 insects that constitute their principal food, though they occasionally eat the strips of meat that have 

 been laid to dry in the fields. The song of the Capi is extremely insignificant, and except during the 

 breeding season scarcely deserves to be called by that name. The nest is built about the month of 

 November ; it is carelessly formed of moss, roots and twigs of various sizes, a high thick branch 

 affording the favourite locality for its construction. The eggs, two or three in number, are greenish 

 blue, marked at the broad end with a variety of spots and lines. Little is known of the habits of these 

 birds beyond what we are told by Azara, who kept one of them caged for some time in order to 

 observe its conduct ; it would take almost any food that was given to it, but, strangely enough, ate 

 like a quadruped, taking large pieces into its beak and chewing them. 



The PLANT CUTTERS {Phytotoma) are a very remarkable race of birds, closely resembling the 

 Habias in their general appearance and habits, but differing from them in the construction of their 

 beaks, which are furnished at their edge with a saw-like apparatus, that enables them to cut down the 



