446 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



bees attack its eyes, and sometimes succeed in blinding it : the 

 unfortunate bird, incapable of guiding itself, then perishes in sight of 

 the place that witnessed its triumph. The Hottentots esteem Honey- 

 guides very highly, on account of the services' which they render 

 them in revealing the abodes of bees, and they therefore scruple to 

 kill them. 



The group of Cuckoos is supplemented by several more species 

 nearly allied to the genus Cuckoo, upon which it is useless for us to 

 enlarge. 



European Cuckoo. 



Anis have bulky, short, very compressed beaks, surmounted by a 

 slight and sharp crest. They inhabit the countries of Equatorial 

 America, and live in troops of from thirty to forty in the midst of 

 savannahs and marshes. They feed upon reptiles and insects ; they 

 are often seen to alight upon cattle to devour the insect parasites 

 which torment them; hence comes their scientific name of Croto- 

 flhaga, or eaters of insects. They are of very gentle,- confiding 

 natures, and the sight of man does not frighten them ; besides, there 

 is no advantage in killing them, for their flesh exhales a repulsive- 

 odour. Taken young, they become very familiar, and are as quick as 

 Parrots in learning the art of speaking. They possess the instinc of 

 sociability in the highest degree ; so much so, that they do not even 



