82 
A NATUKALIST'S REFLECTION . 
LYRE-TAII.ED OOllTSUCKEK. 
Closely allied to them, and not less 
numerous, are the ant-thrushes ; 
only they have stronger legs, shorter 
tails, and walk more on the ground, 
picking up insects much in the 
lashion of our domestic poultry. As 
their name indicates, they are pecu- 
liarly partial to ants. The largest 
species is the crested ant- thrush, 
conspicuous by his feathery tuft. 
Mr. Wallace, in speaking of these 
birds, is led to comment upon the 
details given in works on Natural 
History of the wonderful adapta- 
tion of animals to their food, their 
habits, and their localities. He 
thinks, however, that some other 
principle must regulate the infinitely 
varied forms of animal life. It must 
occur to every one that the num- 
bers of birds and insects of different 
groups, with scarcely any resem- 
blance to each other, which yet feed 
on the same food and resort to the 
same places, cannot have been so 
differently constructed and adorned 
for this one purpose. The goat- 
suckers, the swallows, the tyrant 
flycatchers, the jacamars, all feed on 
the same kind of fare, all procure it 
in the same manner, — they capture 
insects on the wing, — yet in struc- 
ture and in their whole appearance 
liow entirely different they are ! 
The strong-winged swallows are 
