ORNITHOLOGY. 



577 



Insessores. species, which differs from the others in being a bird of 



> — — y-~' passage, is moreover distinguished by an arched and 



lengthened hind claw, and forms the genus Budytes, Cuv., 



founded, perhaps, upon a character of no great importance. 



All the wag-tails are peculiar to the ancient continent. 



The genus Anthus, Bechstein, so long united to the 

 true larks, has the bill straight, slender, rather subulate to- 

 wards the point, the base of the upper mandible carinated, 

 the tip slightly bent, and emarginated. The hind claw is 

 more or less produced. We have three British species, the 

 rock or shore pipit (A. aquaticus), the tit-lark or meadow 

 pipit (A. pratensis), and the tree pipit (A. arboreus). Rich- 

 ard's pipit {A. Richardi, Vieil.) may be included in our list 

 of accidental visitants. 



The great tribe of Dentirostres is terminated by Cuvier 

 with certain groups which differ from all the preceding by 

 the closer union of the outer and middle toes, which are 

 joined together for a considerable space, after the manner 

 of the syndactylous tribes. 



Of these groups the first is composed chiefly of the 

 manakins (Genus Pipra, Linn.), in which the bill is short, 

 compressed, higher than broad, notched, the nasal fossae 

 large, the nostrils concealed by feathers. The tail and 

 legs are short. They may be subdivided as follows. 



In the genus Rupicola of Brisson the species are of 

 considerable size, and their heads are ornamented by a 

 double crest of vertical feathers. The only species known 

 are South American, and are distinguished by the name of 

 rock manakins. P. aurantia, Vieil. {Pipra rupicola, Gm.), 

 is of a brilliant orange colour, with peculiar frizzled fea- 

 thers on the wings and tail. It is one of the most beauti- 

 ful of birds, lives on fruits, scrapes in the ground like the 

 Gallinae, and constructs its nest among the deep caverns of 

 the rocks. It is shy and mistrustful, and flies with great 

 rapidity. The female, which is of a brown colour, lays two 

 eggs of the size of those of a pigeon. The immature birds 

 are also brown. This species inhabits the rocks by the 

 rivers of Guiana. Not far from the banks of the river 

 Oyapoc, to the windward of Cayenne, is a mountain which 

 contains an immense cavern. There also, according to 

 Waterton, the cock of the rock is plentiful. He is of a 

 gloomy disposition, retiring during the day among the 

 darkest rocks, and only coming out to feed a little before 

 sunrise and at sunset. The South American Spaniards 

 call him Gallo del Rio Negro, supposing that he is only 

 met with in the vicinity of that far inland stream ; but he 

 is common in the interior of Demerara, amongst the huge 

 rocks in the forests of Macoushia, and has been shot south 

 of the line, in the captainship of Para. R. Peruviana is a 

 nearly allied species, of somewhat larger size, but wanting 

 the frizzled character of the wing and tail feathers. It 

 inhabits Peru. The female is still unknown. Our author 

 here places the beautiful green species from Java and Su- 

 matra (Calyptomena viridis of Horsfield), which he thinks 

 differs from the other Rupicolae chiefly in the crest not 

 being fan-shaped. : (See Plate CCCXCI. fig. 7.) The 

 true manakins (genus Pipka, Cuv.) are of much smaller 

 size. They likewise inhabit America, where they dwell in 

 the deep and humid forests, feeding, it is said, both on 

 fruits and insects. They are in general distinguished by 

 the rich and varied colouring of their plumage. We have 

 figured as an example a beautiful Brazilian species, the 

 Pipra pareola. (See Plate CCCXCI. fig. 5.) 



The terminal group of the Dentirostres is formed by the 

 genus Eurylaimcjs, Horsfield, in which the bill is much 

 stronger and broader than in any of the preceding, being 

 in some of the species so greatly depressed and expanded 

 at the base, as to exceed the breadth of the head. The 

 upper overlaps the under mandible. These birds are pe- 

 culiar to India and the great eastern islands, and now 

 amount to five or six in number, which, however, offer such 



disparity in the structure of the bill, as to render subdivi- Insessores. 

 sion unavoidable. This has been in part effected; the^— "~v~~- ' 

 genus Cymbirhynchus, Vigors, containing Eu. nasutus, 

 while the specific name of another {Eu. corydon), remark- 

 able for the extraordinary expansion of the upper mandible, 

 is used generically by M. Lesson, the species itself being 

 termed Temminchii. (See Plate CCCXCI. fig. 8.) We 

 know little of the manners of any of these birds. When 

 actually ascertained, they may probably be found to offer a 

 considerable disresemblance. They have hitherto been 

 generally found in wild and desert places, by the banks of 

 rivers, and are supposed to feed both on fruits and insects, 

 — a frequent, if not a safe conclusion on the part of na- 

 turalists, regarding almost every unknown species which 

 happens to be neither a goose nor an eagle. 



Tribe 2d. — Fissirostres. 



This restricted tribe consists of the swallows, swifts, and 

 goat-suckers, and is characterized by the bill being short, 

 broad, depressed, slightly curved, without any tooth, and 

 so deeply cleft as to give peculiar wideness to the gape, — 

 a structure of great use to birds which prey so exclusively 

 on insects taken on the wing. Their insectivorous regi- 

 men induces migratorial habits, and all the species leave 

 ourselves and other northern nations so soon as the sear 

 and yellow leaves of autumn betoken the approach of frost, 

 and the consequent decrease or extirpation of insect life. 

 Like the raptorial order, or birds of prey properly so called, 

 the fissirostral tribe is capable of a binary division into 

 diurnal and nocturnal species. 



Swallows, in general (Hirundo, Linn.), are remarkable 

 for their close-set, usually glossy plumage, the great length 

 x of their wings, their swift, powerful, easy, and long-con- 

 tinued flight. They occur in almost every region of the 

 globe. In the restricted genus Hirundo, Cuv., the toes 

 are disposed as in the majority of birds, that is, three an- 

 terior and one posterior. In some of the species the legs 

 and feet are clothed with feathers, the hind claw is slightly 

 disposed to turn forwards, the tail is forked, and of medium 

 size. Such is our martin or window-swallow (H. urbica) 

 which forms so cheerful a feature in many of our villages 

 and country dwellings, building beneath the eaves of 

 houses, or the upper angles of windows. It is glossy bluish- 

 black above, the rump and all the lower regions white. In 

 others the legs and feet are naked, the tail forked, and of 

 great length. Such is our chimney-swallow {H. rustica), 

 which usually builds in out-houses, and leaves the top of 

 its nest uncovered. Its upper parts, and the higher por- 

 tion of the breast, are black ; the forehead and throat deep 

 orange-brown, the lower portions of the body white. This 

 species usually appears a few days earlier in April than the 

 preceding. Although the migratory movements of both 

 these birds may be still regarded as mysterious, there is 

 now no doubt of the fact that they do migrate. It appears 

 from the observations of M. Natterer, that they moult in 

 February, that is, during their absence from this, the land 

 of their nativity, — a fact which would of itself suffice to 

 overthrow the idea of their long-protracted winter sleep. 

 It is also in respect to other purposes as usual well ordain- 

 ed, for if the heavy moult which befalls so many species 

 during spring or autumn, were equally to affect these long- 

 winged birds, their flight from foreign lands, or journey 

 thither, might be procrastinated, or prevented altogether. 

 Swallows are probably the most purely and exclusively in- 

 sectivorous of all birds, and even if they could themselves 

 withstand our winter's cold, they would soon perish mi- 

 serably from want of food. 



This extreme sensibility of course renders it difficult 

 to keep swallows caged, or otherwise confined, through- 

 out the winter season. Yet several instances are known 



