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VEETEBEATA. 
THE HORNEEO OVEN-BIRD. 
THE EURNARIN^ OR 0VE?f-I3IRDS. 
This group of small birds is very genei'ally disti-ibuted over the continent of South America, 
and some species occur in the West Indian Islands. Their food consists principally of insects, 
which they take both upon trees and bushes, and on the ground, where they run and walk with 
great ease. They also occasionally feed on seeds. The species of the genus Cinclodes, inhabiting 
the west coast of South America, frequent the sea-shore, where they feeel partly on small crabs 
and mollusca. Mr. Darwin says they are sometimes seen on the floating leaves of the Fiicus gi- 
ganteiis, at some distance from the shore. A species of this genus, found in the Malouine Islands, 
described by Lesson under the name of Ftmiarius fuliginosus, is said to he so tame that it may 
be almost touched by the hand ; and Pernetty, a French voyager, states that it will almost come 
and perch upon the finger. He adds, that in less than, half an hour he killed ten of them with 
a little stick, and almost without changing his position. This species is five and a half inches 
long, and of a brown color, with yellow and brown stripes on the neck. 
The HoRNERO OvEN-BiRD of Bueuos Ayres, F. rufus of Vieillot, Mero^js rufus of Gmelin, 
which is typical of the true Oven-Birds, is six to seven inches long, of a bright russet color, and 
builds a very remarkable nest. This is constructed of clay, straw, and dried herbage of different 
kinds, in the form of an oven, about ten or twelve inches in diameter, and with walls about an 
inch thick. The entrance is placed on one side, and the interior is divided into two chambers 
by a partition, the eggs being laid in the inner one. This curious nest is usually placed in a 
very exposed situation, as, for instance, on the branch of a tree or the top of a paling. In the 
construction of it, both the male and female labor in concert, each bringing a pellet of earth of 
the size of a walnut, and depositing it in its place. Such is the energy of these little architects, 
that the nest is often built in two days. This bird is said to be an object of veneration with the 
inhabitants of La Plata. 
The Bbown Oven-Bird resembles the preceding. 
