One of the most beautiful birdB in the entire island is the little Tody, 
which, excepting the Humming birds, is the smallest of the feathered Inhabitants 
of the idland. Its entire length from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail 
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being about S 3/4 inches* The entire dorsal parts of the bird are a brilliant, 
grass green. There is a large throat patch of bright scarlet , bordered by a zone 
of white at the angle of the bill, which is replaced toward the posterior end of 
the patch by a bright blue. The under parts are whit© and smoky and the flanks are 
washed with & pale scarlet* This little gem may be found anywhere along the west- 
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era end of Cuba, usually in the low shrubbery* bordering some path and he invites 
your attention by hie song, which recalls faintly his relationship to the King- 
fisher, for if you were to analyse the Kingfisher *s rattling note by repeating it 
slowly on a graphephone it would give you a somewhat similar result, the song of 
the Tody is chu-chu-cho* quickly repeated four to ton times. He has another note 
that resembles Ms name* which is simply a coll note emitted at irregular intervals 
The song on the other hand is eft repeated end once having learned this note it is 
not at all difficult to see todies frequently. The little chap is fearless end 
permits you to coos within a few feet of him, singing away for dear life and pay- 
ing no attention to you whatsoever* 
In feeding habits they are fly -catchers, snapping up insects on the wing, 
then returning to the perch sard sitting quietly, with head drawn* in, the beak 
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pointing upwards, patiently awaiting the near approach of another victim* In 
their nesting habits, however, they resemble the Kingfisher, depositing their 
pure white -eggs in holes which they dig in bonks of ravines or ditches. 
They are peculiar to the Greater Antilles* on© species being found in Cuba, 
two in Haiti, os© in Jamaica, one in Porto Pico, and another of unknown habitat . 
They ar© general favorites with the natives on account of their excessive tameness 
and pretty plumage » the Jamaican species being known to the inhabitants as "Robin 
Redbreast". 
