FAM. TODIDA: 3 
1. Todus viridis viridis (Linnzus) (1) (Type of the family) (Plate, Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4). 
Todus viridis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Vol. 1, p. 178 (176). 
Todus viridis Linnaeus, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Nus. Vol. 
Jamaica. 
17, Pp: 334 (1802). 
Total length 3.7 inches, culmen 0.75, wing 1.85, tail 1.5, tarsus 0.55. 
2. Todus viridis subulatus (Gray) (Plate, Fig. 5). S. Domingo. 
Todus subulatns Gray, Gen. Birds, Vol. 1, p. 63, pl. 22 (1847) Haiti. 
Todus subulatus Gray, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol.17, p. 339 (1892). 
Total length 4.4 inches, culmen 0.8, wing 1.95, tail 1.65, tarsus 0.55. 
Cs, Todus viridis multicolor (Gould) (Plate, Fig. 6). 
Todus multicolor Gould, Icon. Avium, pl. 2 (1837). 
Todus multicolor Gould, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, p. 335 (1892). 
Cuba. 
Total length 3.6 inches, culmen 0.75, wing 1.7, tail 1.3, tarsus 0.55. 
4. Todus viridis hypochondriacus (Bryant) (Plate, Fig. 7). 
Todus hypochondriacus Bryant, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. Vol. 11, p. 39 (1866). 
Todus hypochondriacus Bryant, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, p. 336 (1892). 
Porto Rico. 
Total length 3.7 inches, culmen 0.9, wing 1.85, tail 1.3, tarsus 0.55. 
Habits. In all parts of Jamaica the Tody is a very common bird. On the summit of 
Bluefields Mountain, about 3,000 feet from the level of the sea, and particularly where the 
deserted provision-grounds are overgrown with a thicket, almost impenetrable, of jointer or 
joint-wood, this bird is especially abundant. Always conspicuous from its bright grass-green 
coat, and crimson-velvet gorget, it 1s still a very tame bird; yet this seems rather the tameness of 
indifference than of confidence; it will allow a person to approach very near, and, if disturbed, 
alight on another twig a few yards distant. We have often captured specimens with the butterfly 
net, and struck them down with a switch, and it is not uncommon for the little boys to creep up 
behind one, and actually to clap the hand over it as it sits, and thus secure it. It is a general 
favourite, and has received the favourite name of Robin Redbreast. I have never seen the Tody 
on the ground; but it hops about the twigs of low trees, searching for minute insects, occasio- 
nally uttering a querulous, sibilant note. But more commonly it is seen sitting patiently on a 
twig, with the head drawn in, the beak pointing upwards, the loose plumage puffed out, when 
it appears much larger than it is. It certainly has an air of stupidity when thus seen. But this 
abstraction is more apparent than real; if we watch it, we shall see that the odd looking grey 
eyes are glancing hither and thither, and that, ever and anon, the bird sallies out upon a short 
and feeble flight, snaps at something in the air, and returns to his twig to swallow it. 
I have never seen the Tody eating vegetable tood; but I have occasionally found in its 
stomach, among minute coleopterous and hymenopterous insects, a few small seeds. One, which 
I kept in a cage, would snatch worms from me with impudent audacity; and then beat them 
violently against the perch or sides of the cage to divide, before he swallowed, them. 
One, captured with a net in April, on being turned into a room, began immediately to 
catch flies, and other minute insects that flitted about. At this employment he continued 
incessantly, and most successfully, all that evening, and all the next day from earliest dawn to 
dusk. He would sit on the edge of the tables, on the lines, on shelves, or on the floor; ever 
(1) The employement of trinomials, so much dreaded by some ornithologists, is nevertheless most avisable. Nothing 
is more clear, more easy to remember, and more practical. . 
Doubtless Dodus viridis subulatus is shorter and simpler than Todus viridis var. s ubulatus or Todus viridis subsp. subulatus. 
The trinomial nomenclature will doubtless be generally employed in Ornithology when its usefulness and practicality will 
be evident. 
