588 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Insessores. the bird contrives to catch in liis beak with great celerity ; 



% ~~ ,— v-~~^ jt will eat insects in a living state, but will not touch them 

 when dead. 



" I observed the bird, previously to eating a grasshopper 

 given him in an entire or unmutilated state, place the in- 

 sect upon the perch, keep it firmly fixed with the claws, 

 and divesting it of the legs, wings, &c. devour it, with the 



head always placed first It rarely alights upon the 



ground, and so proud is this creature of its elegant dress, 

 that it never permits a soil to remain on it ; and it may be 

 frequently seen spreading out its wings and feathers, and 

 regarding its splendid self in every direction, to observe 

 whether it is in an unsullied condition." 1 



Dr Shaw alludes to an instance of the bird of paradise 

 having been brought alive to England. It had, however, 

 entirely lost the beautiful floating feathers which render its 

 body apparently so light and buoyant, and did not long sur- 

 vive its arrival in our murky clime. 



Although there are not above seven distinct species of 

 these birds, they have been formed into no less than four 

 separate genera by M. Vieillot. The most anciently known 

 is the kind called in English books the great or common 

 bird of paradise, I'emeraude of the French, P. apoda, Linn, 

 to which most of the preceding memoranda may apply. 

 (See Plate CCCXCII. fig. 6.) It is of a cinnamon colour, 

 the upper part of the head and neck yellow, the front and 

 throat emerald green, or black. It is the male of this 

 species which bears the long, floating, yellow plumes so 

 prized as articles of commerce, with a view to ornament 

 in dress. Although the body is no larger than that of a 

 thrush, the total length is two feet. In the red paradise 

 bird (P. rubra) the head and throat are emerald-green, 

 the back and front of the neck orange yellow and velvety, 

 the throat chesnut or cinnamon colour, and the long fea- 

 thers of the flanks brilliant carmine red. The two pecu- 

 liar barbless shafts which proceed from the base of the tail, 

 are broad, flattened, twisted, and of a brownish-red colour. 

 These belong to the restricted genus Paradisea. 



The six-shafted paradise bird (P. sexselacea, Shaw, — 

 P. aurea, Gmel.) is black, with the throat of golden green, 

 and three prolonged setaceous feathers proceeding from 

 behind each eye, and terminating in a little expanded disk 

 of golden green. It forms the genus Parotia of Vieillot. 

 We shall merely add, that P. superba constitutes the genus 

 Lophokina, — P. regia that called Cicinnurus, — and P. 

 nigra, Gmel., another named Astrapia. The whole are 

 figured by Buffon, Vaillant, or Vieillot, and their singular 

 forms, gorgeous colouring, and exquisite structure of plu- 

 mage, render them deserving of the most attentive con- 

 sideration on the part of all admirers of nature. 



Tribe 4th. — TenuirostreSi 



Baron Cuvier here places a variety of generic groups 

 which agree chiefly in possessing a slender lengthened bill, 

 sometimes straight, sometimes considerably curved. Ac- 

 cording to the structure of the tongue, which in several 

 genera is not yet distinctly known, they feed either on in- 

 sects or the nectarous juices of fruits and flowers, — a few, 

 such as the humming-birds, combining both these habits. 



In the genus Sitta the bill is straight, pointed, com- 

 pressed at the extremity, and the tongue short and corne- 

 ous. The species called nut-hatches climb along the bark 

 of trees with extraordinary facility, not only upwards, like 

 the woodpeckers, but downwards, and in all directions. 

 The European species (S. Europea), though a constant re- 

 sident in Britain, is rather rare in most localities. It breeds 

 in hollow trees, not seldom using the deserted habitation 

 of a woodpecker, the opening into which it contracts by 



means of a wall of clay. The female sits very close during Inseesorcs, 

 incubation, and instead of flying off when approached, she ■"— ~v— ^ 

 will utter a hissing sound, and make a show of striking 

 at the intruder with her bill and wings. Sir W. Jardine 

 some time ago enjoyed an opportunity of observing a brood 

 which had been taken young. They became remarkably 

 tame, and when released from their cage, would run over 

 their owner in all directions, poking into seams and pockets, 

 as if in search of food upon some goodly tree, and uttering 

 from time to time a low and plaintive cry. In climbing, 

 they rest much upon the tarsus, but never use the tail. 

 Several true nut-hatches occur in North America, but Pen- 

 nant erred in supposing that the European species was 

 likewise indigenous to the new world. 



In the genus Xenops of Illiger, the bill is rather more 

 compressed, and the under ridge more convex, while in 

 Anabateb of Temm. it is the upper ridge which increases 

 in convexity, so as to approach to that of the thrushes ; but 

 the tail in some of the species is long and wedge-shaped, 

 and exhibits a worn appearance, as if it were occasionally 

 used in climbing. 



In the genus Synallaxis, Vieil., the bill is straight, not 

 much lengthened, considerably compressed, slender and 

 pointed, and the tail is generally long and acuminate. (See 

 Plate CCCXCII. fig. 7.) We know little of the habits of 

 these birds, except that they are insectivorous, and dwell 

 in forests. Most of the species are from .South America, 

 and to these it is probable that the generic term should 

 be restricted. 



The old genus Certhia of Linnajus was characterized 

 by an arched bill, but the species possessed but little else 

 in common, and have been therefore formed into several 

 minor groups. The true or restricted creepers (Certhia, 

 Cuv.), so called from their habit of running round the trunks 

 of trees, have the bill of medium length, curved, compress- 

 ed, slender, sharp pointed. The tail is wedge-shaped, and 

 composed of stiff, deflected feathers. Our well-known Bri- 

 tish species (C.familiaris) is the only example of the ge- 

 nus found in Europe, and it is in fact doubtful whether 

 there is any other elsewhere. The North American creeper 

 seems identical, but the numerous other birds described 

 as creepers do not belong to the genus Certhia. The so- 

 litary type alluded to is a retired inhabitant of the woods, 

 in no way conspicuous in colour, though pleasingly mottled 

 above with black, brown, and grayish white ; and being of 

 small size, and seldom showing itself in open places, is 

 deemed rarer than it really is. Though of a somewhat 

 lengthened form, it is probably, with the exception of the 

 golden-crested wren, the smallest bodied British bird. It 

 is said to feed entirely upon insects, although as a winter 

 resident in many frost-bound regions, we shall not aver 

 that it never swallows seeds. It builds in the hollows of 

 trees, and may be often seen during the delightful autumn, 

 when the rustling woods are fragrant with fallen leaves, 

 flitting from the top of one trunk to the bottom of another, 

 which it ascends by a kind of spiral progression, and then 

 darting downwards to a neighbouring tree, it thus busily 

 pursues from time to time its interrupted flight. This bird 

 chiefly shows itself in our shrubberies and wooded plea- 

 sure-grounds in winter. 



In the genus Dendrocolaptes, Hermann, the tail re- 

 sembles that of the preceding, but the bill is much stronger, 

 and enlarged at the base. In certain species it is greatly 

 curved. (Plate CCCXCII. fig. 9.) These birds are Ame- 

 rican, and are usually characterized by a reddish plumage. 

 In Tichodroma, Illiger, the tail does not present a worn 

 appearance at the point, although the best known, if not 

 the only species, runs up rocks with great agility. The 

 bill is long, slender, triangular, and depressed at the base. 



1 Wanderings in New South Wales, &c. vol. ii. 



