ANT-THRUSHES. PLANT-CUTTERS. WOOD-HEWERS 



543 



and, taking up a position about a foot and a half apart, alternately jump about two feet in the 

 air, and alight again on exactly the same spot from which they sprang. With the regularity 

 of clockwork one bird jumps up the instant the other alights, each bird performing a musical 

 accompaniment to the tune of " to-le-do — to-le-do — to-le-do," uttering the sj'Uable "to" as he 

 crouches to spring, " le " while in the air, and " do " as he alights ; and this performance appears 

 to be kept up till the birds are exhausted. 



Some of the manakins are very beautifully coloured. One species, for example, is black, 

 with a blue mantle and a crimson crest; another, black, with orange-coloured cheeks and breast 

 and similarly coloured band round the neck, green rump, and yellow abdomen. The females are 

 generally duller in coloration. 



The Ant-thrushes, or Pittas, are long-legged, short-tailed birds, of brilliant coloration, 

 having their headquarters in the Malay Archipelago; but the family is represented in India, 

 Australia, and West Africa. 



These birds are very shy and ex- 

 ceedingly difficult to approach. One 

 species, the large Ground-THRUSII, is de- 

 scribed by Wallace as one of the most 

 beautiful birds of the East. Velvety 

 black above, relieved by pure white, the 

 shoulders are azure-blue and the belly 

 a vivid crimson. The nest recalls, in 

 the plan of its architecture, that of the 

 Oven-birds, being more or less globular 

 in form, and having a lateral entrance ; 

 it is composed of twigs, roots, bark, 

 moss, leaves, and grass, and is frequently 

 cemented with earth. The eggs are 

 usually spotted, and have a creamy-white 

 ground-colour; the spots maybe brown, 

 reddish grey, or purplish black. 



The curious Plant-CUTTERS of the 

 temperate regions of South America are 

 nearly related to the Chatterers, though 

 at one time it was believed they were 

 allied to the True Finches. Constituting 

 but a small family, the plant-cutters are 

 remarkable for their strangely serrated 

 beaks, the cutting-edges of which are 

 armed with a series of fine saw-like teeth. 

 This beak is used in cutting down plants; and as these birds appear to cut down a great number 

 in sheer wantonness, they are much disliked in the neighbourhood of gardens and plantations. 



Plant-cutters are not conspicuous for the beauty of their plumage, and have a harsh and 



grating voice. 



The WoOD-HEWERS constitute a group of over 200 species, all of which are South A-^nerican. 

 They are for the most part small and dull-coloured birds, but nevertheless of consicrable 

 interest on account of their nest-building habits. The most remarkable members of the family 

 in this respect are three species of Oven-birds. These construct a massive nest of mud, 

 bearin'^ a more or less fanciful resemblance to a baker's o\'en ; hence the name Oven-bird. 

 Roughly globular in shape, its walls are of great thickness, and to prevent cracking hair and 

 grass-fibres are intermixed with the mud ; the interior is gained through a small hole on 

 one side of the nest, which leads into a passage terminating in a chamber containing the 

 egn's, which are laid upon a bed of grass. Strangely enough, the bird seeks the most exposed 



Fhala ty ji. S. Rudland Ssf Sons 



BELL-BIRD 



So called from ili luonderf ally clear ^ bcll-like note 



