2SS 



cassell's book of birds. 



Xile. The cry of the Alarm Bird so closely resembles the voice of the monkey, that even experienced 

 sportsmen are deluded into the belief that they are in the vicinity of a party of baboons, and find 

 to their astonishment, that the loud and peculiar noise is produced by some of these strange birds as 

 they sit perched together in pairs or parties on the branches of a neighbouring tree. When about 

 to utter this cry the birds sit bolt upright upon the topmost boughs, and after agitating their tails 

 give forth a sound that penetrates far and wide amidst the surrounding woods. Their habits are 

 shy and cautious ; they testify considerable anxiety at the approach of man, except when accus- 

 tomed to his immediate vicinity, and rarely leave their refuge amongst the trees, except in the 

 morning and evening, in search of the berries that constitute their principal food. 



THE ALARM BIRD (Schizorhis zoniims). 



The COLIES, or MOUSE BIRDS (Colii) bear a close resemblance to the Plantain Eaters, but 

 are distinguished from them by the following striking peculiarities. All the species belonging to this 

 group are much alike in appearance ; their bodies are rather muscular, and nearly cylindrical in 

 shape, the tail almost twice as long as the body, the wings short and almost rounded, the tarsi short, 

 and toes long ; the beak is short, thick, curved from its base downwards, and compressed at its tip - r 

 the upper mandible is furnished with a slight hook. The distinguishing characteristics of these birds 

 consist in the construction of the foot, which has four toes all placed in front, but those at the 

 exterior are capable of being turned either to the side or back of the foot ; and, secondly, in the 

 peculiarity of the plumage, which is so fine as to resemble the hair upon the back of a small 

 quadruped ; the long feathers which compose the tail are, on the contrary, particularly stiff, each of 

 them having a very powerful shaft and webs of remarkable strength ; the centre tail-feathers are at 



