172 BIRD BEHAVIOUK 



lyseus patagonus), one of the few Parrots living in 

 temperate and cold climates, as a usual thing, and 

 the well-known Lemon-crested and Rose-breasted 

 Cockatoos occasionally. 



The strangest of burrowers is, however, the 

 remarkable pied Crab-Plover {Dromas ardeola) of 

 the shores of Eastern seas, for one would never expect 

 a long-legged wader like this to burrow ; yet it 

 does so, and lays at the end of its bow-shaped tunnel 

 one large white egg, having in fact the nesting- 

 habits of a Petrel. This bird is a primitive type, 

 being curiously intermediate in appearance between 

 a Plover and a Gull,,with half-webbed feet provided 

 with a well-developed hind toe, unlike the families 

 to which it is most nearly related. As to what 

 long-legged birds can do in the way of digging, I 

 never realized this till I saw the cock Rhea making 

 his " scrape," which he does in a crouching position, 

 and nevertheless thus uses his powerful limbs to 

 great effect. 



Among the Woodpeckers, the Ground Wood- 

 pecker of the Cape {Geocolaftes olivaceus) burrows 

 in banks, but, as every naturalist knows, these birds 

 generally cut out their nesting-holes in trees ; this 

 is all part of the day's work for the Woodpecker, 

 which is a carpenter by trade, but the Barbets do it 

 too, although not pecking wood otherwise, and 

 curiously enough have a fancy for beginning the hole 

 from the underside of the bough, so that they have 

 to commence operations upside down. 



Where burrowing or tree-hole-cutting is a family 



