Ant'thrushes, Plant'cutters, and Wood-hewers 543 



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

 an-, 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 lie 

 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 JMalay 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-thrush, 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 sjjots 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, tliough 



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 American. 

 They are for the most part small and dull-coloured birds, but ne\ertheless of considerable 

 interest on account of their nest-building habits. The nrost 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. 

 Eoughly 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 



riioto by A. S. Ri'Olaiid d: Sons. 



BELL-BIRD. 

 (So called from its wonderfully clear, bell-like Dote, 



