652 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



which belongs as yet to the secrets of nature. While the toucans are distinguished by 

 a gaudy plumage, the calaos are almost entirely decked with a robe black as that of 

 the raven, and enhancing the beautiful red and orange colors of their colossal beak. 

 Generally congregating in small troops like the toucans, they inhabit the dense' forests, 

 where they live chiefly on fruits, seeds, and insects, which they also swallow whole, 

 throwing them up into the air and catching them as they fall. The clapping together of 

 their mandibles causes a loud and peculiar noise, which towards evening interrupts the 

 silence of the forest. The flight of a bird burdened with such a load must naturally be 

 short : they hop upon their thick clumsy feet, and generally roost upon the highest trees. 



The brilliant Sun-birds or Suimangas (Cinnyris,) belonging to the order of the Cer- 

 thias or creepers, are the colibris of the old world, equally ethereal, gay, and sprightly 

 in their motions, flitting briskly from flower to flower, and assuming a thousand lively 

 and agreeable attitudes. As the sunbeams glitter on their bodies, they sparkle like so 

 many gems. As they hover about the honey-laden blossoms, they vibrate rapidly their 

 tiny pinions, producing in the air a slight whirring sound, but not so loud as the hum- 

 ming noise produced by the wings of the colibris. Thrusting their slender beaks into 

 the deep-cupped flowers, they probe them with their brush- like tongues for insects and 

 nectar. Some are emerald green, some vivid violet, others yellow with a crimson wing, 

 and rivalling the colibris by the metallic lustre of their plumage, they surpass them by 

 their musical powers, for while the latter can only hum, the sun-birds accompany their 

 movements with an agreeable chirp. 



The nearly-related Melithreptes, or Honey-eaters of the South Sea Islands, distin- 

 guished by a very long curved beak, and a tongue split into two slender filaments, fur- 

 nish the chief ornaments of the Polynesian kings and chieftains. Thus the famous 

 royal mantle of Tamehameha the Great is completely covered with the golden plumage 

 of the Melithreptes pacijicus, and as this not very common brown-colored bird has only 

 three or four yellow feathers in each wing, it may easily be conceived that the most 

 costly brocades of Lyons are far from equalling in value this splendid robe of state, 

 which is no less than ten feet long and seven feet broad. Even the small diadems 

 made of the feathers of this bird, which are worn by the ladies of rank in the^andwich 

 Islands, are worth several hundred dollars. Idols or mantles of the Polynesians, deco- 

 rated with the scarlet feathers of the Melithreptes vestiarius are frequently met with 

 in ethnographical museums. 



While the superb Ocellated Turkey of Honduras (Meleagris ocellata) displays with 

 all the pride of a peacock, the eye-like marks of his tail and upper- coverts, the no less 

 beautifully spotted Argus, a bird nearly related to the gold and silver pheasants which 

 have been introduced from China into the European aviaries, conceals his splendor in 

 the dense forests of Java and Sumatra. The wings of this magnificent creature, 

 whose plumage is equally remarkable for variety and elegance, consist of very large 

 feathers, nearly three feet long, the outer webs being adorned with a row of large eyes, 

 arranged parallel to the shaft ; the tail is composed of twelve feathers, the two middle 

 ones being about four feet in length, the next scarcely two, and gradually shortening 

 to the outer ones. Its voice is plaintive and not harsh, as in the Indian peacock, which 

 Alexander the Great is said to have first introduced into Europe, though its feathers 

 had many centuries before been imported by the Phoenicians. The Peacock is still 

 found wild in many parts of Asia and Africa, but more particularly in the fertile plains 



