ANT-THRUSHES, PLANT-CUTTERS, WOOD-HEWERS 145 
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 syllable “to” as he 
yy 
crouches to spring, “le” while in the air, and “do” as he alights; and this performance appears 
to be kept up till tne 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 may be 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 
3 Photo by A, S. Rudland & Sons 
remarkable for their strangely serrated BELL_BIRD 
beaks, the cutting-edges of which are So called from its wonderfully clear, bell-like note 
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 American. 
They are for the most part small and dull-coloured birds, but nevertheless of consiaerable 
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, 
bearing a more or less fanciful resemblance to a baker’s oven; 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 
eggs, which are laid upon a bed of grass. Strangely enough, the bird seeks the most exposed 
