The Woodhewer Family. 247 



their existence a hard one. It has been with these 

 birds as with human beings, bred in " misfortune's 

 school," and subjected to keen competition. One 

 of their most striking characteristics is a methodical, 

 plodding, almost painful diligence of manner while 

 seeking their food, so that when viewed side by- 

 side with other species, rejoicing in a gayer plumage 

 and stronger flight, they seem like sober labourers 

 that never rest among holiday people bent only on 

 enjoyment. That they are able not only to main- 

 tain their existence, but to rise to the position of a 

 dominant family, is due to an intelligence and 

 adaptiveness exceeding that of other kinds, and 

 which has been strengthened, and perhaps directly 

 results from the hard conditions of their life. 



How great their adaptiveness and variability 

 must be when we find that every portion of the 

 South American continent is occupied by them; 

 for there is really no climate, and no kind of soil or 

 vegetation, which does not possess its appropriate 

 species, modified in colour, form, and habits to suit 

 the surrounding conditions. In the tropical region, 

 so rich in bird life of all kinds, in forest, marsh, 

 and savanna, they are everywhere abundant — food 

 is plentiful there ; but when we go to higher 

 elevations and cold sterile deserts, where their 

 companion families of the tropics dwindle away and 

 disappear, the creepers are still present, for they 

 are evidently able to exist where other kinds would 

 starve. On the stony plateaus of the Andes, and 

 on the most barren spots in Patagonia, where no 

 other bird is seen, there are small species of Synal- 

 laxis, which, in their obscure colour and motions 



