BIRDS. 363 



Urubus are also an essentially American genus, as are also the 

 partridges, owls, and others. In fact, the quaternary ornithological 

 fauna of Brazil approaches the actual as far as genera goes, and 

 in the greatest of these genera it shows us one species very notably 

 superior in size to existing species.'' Among other recent fossil 

 remains may also be cited the occurrence of humming-birds, 

 parrots, swallows, goat-suckers, climbers, and rails. 



Mr. Henry W. Bates gives some very interesting notes on the 

 habits of humming-birds in the account of his eleven years' 

 sojourn in the districts of the Amazons,* and, referring to the 

 extraordinary similarity of the bird and moth of that name {Macro- 

 glossum), says that all the natives, even educated whites, firmly 

 believe that one is transmutable into the other. They have 

 observed the metamorphoses of caterpillars into butterflies, and 

 think it not at all more wonderful that a moth should change into 

 a humming-bird. 



Mr. Bates, alluding to the urubd vultures, says,t " My cook 

 could not leave the open kitchen at the back of the house for 

 a moment whilst the dinner was cooking, on account of their 

 thievish propensities. Some of them were always loitering about, 

 watching their opportunity, and the instant the kitchen was left 

 unguarded, the bold marauders marched in and lifted the lids 

 of the saucepans with their beaks to rob them of their contents. 

 The boys of the village lie in wait and shoot them with bow and 

 arrow ; and vultures have consequently acquired such a dread 

 of these weapons that they may be often kept off by hanging a 

 bow from the rafters of the kitchen." 



Mr. Bates devotes several pages J to a most careful description 

 of his observations of toucans, and states that "the people of 

 Ega live almost exclusively on stewed and roasted toucans 

 during the months of June and July. § The birds are then very 

 fat, and the meat exceedingly sweet and tender." He says that 



* " The Naturalist on the River Amazons,'' vol. i. pp. 163, 180, etc. 



t Ibid., vol. i. p. 296. 



X Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 336-344. 



§ Stews (refogados) and roasts (asados) are the standing Brazilian dishes to 

 which I have elsewhere referred, and which so nauseated me that now even 

 (twelve months after) I cannot look at a stew or touch a roast chicken. 



