36 BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



bhulos and twi^s. The entrance to this is alway.s carefully con- 

 cealed, and the eggs, which are white, are about the size of those 

 of the domesticated pigeon." 



Mr. Beebe (Our Search for a Wilderness, pp. 340, 341) 

 observes : — " This I found wholly by accident as I was watching 

 a dragon-fly which had been injured by a small flycatcher. 

 Good sized [)ieces were bitten out of the two hind wings and one 

 of the others was doubled and broken. Yet the brave little insect 

 was far from giving up and managed to fly slowly, albeit with a 

 heavy slant to one side, the loose wing making a whizzing sound 

 as it vibrated. I followed to see its ultimate fate. As it passed 

 the end of a log a green lizard leaped from a leaf and seized the 

 unfortunate insect in mid-air, thus typifying the anlaga of bird 

 flight. The lizard fell full length upon a rounded pile of dead 

 leaves, and like a bomb there shot forth a whirrino; form of the 

 Quail, which scaled off between the trees. 



" We found the Donraquara yiad rocketted from a tunnel about 

 a foot in length, made of twigs and dead leaves, which led to a 

 round hidden nest-cavity containing four white eggs, one of which 

 was broken. On the following day the Quail had removed all 

 trace of the broken egg and shell. So completely was the nest a 

 ])art of the jungle floor that never except liy accident would we 

 have discovered it." 



Order COLUMBIFORMES. 

 Family COLUMBID^. 



Tlie family of Pigeons are birds of medium size, varying from 

 that of the Common Fowl to the Common Song-Thrush. Their 

 ])lnmage is usually smooth. The chief distinction, however, is the 

 peculiar bill with its fleshy basal ]jortion and the swollen dertrum. 



The Pigeons are found nearly all over the world ; about seventy 

 species occur in South America, fifteen of which are represented 

 in British Guiana. 



Genus COLUMBA Linn. 

 Columla Linne, Syst. Nat. 10th ed. i. p. 162, 17o8. Type C. oenas Linn, 

 This genus is distinguished by having the upper portion of 

 the tardus feathered and the first primary-quill longer than the 

 vjxth. 



