20S 



AYES. 



[TIiG wliole anatomy of a Humming^-bird, intprnal as well as external, intimates a very close afTmity with the 

 Swifts: the beak and tongue even of which, thoui^h so cUtterent at rirst sight, will be found on examination to 

 differ only in not boin^ drawn out. The Humming;-birds, however, have a compHcated inferior larynx, and toes 

 witii ttic Tjsiuil ninnbcr (if joints : their tail-feathers, as in the Swifts, are ten in number, save in one remarkable 

 sii(.'cit_'s itliriicc ii;uin.'d T. cc /tie tints), wherein tliey are reduced to six; the body-feathers have an accessory 

 plume, &:c. The beak varies exceedintj^ly, in being more or less prolono;ed, straight, arched downward, or evea 

 recurved, like that of an Avocet,two species exhibitinji; whicli structure are now known : those which have strai2;ht 

 beaks feed chiefly on minute insects, and have often tlie tip of the ton^e furnished with retrotlected lateral spines, 

 precisely as in the Woodpeckers ; while in the majority with curved bills, the up|ier mandible shuts ov(?r and 

 incloses the lower, forming a tube and admirable sucking instrument, adapted for drawing up the nectar of flowers 

 between the tongue and palate : the tail assumes every form in difl'erent species, and some have the shafts of the 

 alar quills extraordinarily thickened ; many have ornamental tufts of feathers, niost variously disposed ; and in 

 siKU-t, the greatest variety of modifications are obtcn'able of the one general type, (\\bich is not j'tis-acrh/r,) though 

 it is difllicult or even impossible to institute satisfactory subdivisions. 



Not less than a hundred and seventy species are now known, and others are constantly being discovered. All 

 ore from America, and, with few exceptions, from the southern division of that continent. The smallest of them, 

 wIr-u plucked, are less than a large Bumole Bee ; and one only, that is much larger than any others as yet known, 

 (T. gipas, Auct.), nearly equals the common Swift in size : this bird is also one of the dullest-coloured, and its 

 general resemblance to the Swifts is verj' manifest. Many, like the Swifts, employ a secreted mucus* in the con- 

 struction of their nest, which is mostly placed on a horizontal, lirliened bough; and tliey hiy two similar \\hite 

 eggs, of an elongated form, that produce generally male and female.] 



Among 



We firi^t arrange 



The Choughs ^Frogilus, Cuv.), — 

 Wherein the nostrils are covered by feathers directed forwards, a character "which has induced some 

 authors to jilace them with the Crows [most unquestionahly their true station], to which their habits 

 a|i|)rii\iniatn. The brak is rather longer than the head, [slender, a httle arcuated, singularly brittle, 

 and niiicli rr>nublrs red eoral]. 



Tlip ]:ui"(i|ic.'ni or Ibjd-legged Chough (Corviis i7rnn/his, TJn.).— Nearly the size of a Rook, and glo?;py black, with 

 rei.1 bill and kt;-.s. Inhabits the loftiest Aljis and Pyrenees, and nestles in the crevices of rocks, like the Chocard, 

 than which it is less common, and also less gregarious. Fnut and insects are equally its food, and when it descends 

 into the valleys, its presence is a sure forerunner of snow and bad weather. [This bird is not rare on many parts 

 of the M'a-rnast of Britain, breeding in the highest cHtTs, but upon none of our mountains, though occasionally on 

 loft\ buildings near the sea : parties of them are not unfrequently observed on Salisbury Plain, which is consider- 

 ably inland ; and their appearance is there considered an indication of stormy weather. They have all the man- 

 ners, intelligence, thieving propensities, &:c. of the Crows and Magpies, but invariably avoid walking upon turf; 

 tlicir (laws are hooked and very sharp, enabling them to cling to the face of perpendicular clifts, while they insert 

 their leugth(.'iu-d slender bill into crevices, picking out minute insects, which constitute their chief food. 

 The bill ;iiid b-i't of the ynung are coloured while in the nest, but less brightly than those of the adults. Three or 

 four additional sjincies are known, one from Ntw Uolland.] 



The IIooroKs {I'jmpa, Lin.), 



Have a d 



Fi^■. %.-tfi 



n: Hoopoes, properly so called, {Uj)jfpo), — 



cctihle feathers on tlie head, forming a splendid crest. 



[They possess nunc of Ibf; exclusive characters (jf the Pns.srr/iur, and, upon 

 the whole, resemble most nearly the Hornbills, from which they differ, how- 

 ever, in several obvious particulars. They have a wide gape, and tongue vei-y 

 short and heai't-shaped ; the mandibles much prolonged, obtusely terminated, 

 flat, and not even grooved within; nostrils exposed, and a little removed from 

 the base : the feet resemble those of a Lark, but are adapted for ascending steep 

 surfaces, resting nn the tarsal joint ; ten tail-feathers only : a membranaceous 

 stomach; short intestines, probahly devoid of cceca ; and a peculiar sternal 

 apparatus (tig. 96). Flight undulatory, like that of the ^Von(lp(Tkers, which 

 they also resemble in their mode of tapping with the bill. It is altogether one 

 of the most isolated genera of Birds.] 



The European Hoopoe {U. epops, Lin.).— Of a rufous-chestnnt colour, varied 

 with black and white : it searches for insects in humid ground, nestles in the 

 holes of trees or walls, and migrates southward in winter ; [is singularly re- 

 markable for its intelligence and susceptibiUty of attachment. There are one 

 or two otbci's, all peculiar to the eastern hemisphere]. 



N to the macernted fiicus 

 , in whicli Ihe Swifts t<:u. 



tin: \Voo(Ipcc!.Li 



