84 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. \Octoher, 
regulating the infinitely varied forms of animal life. It 
f 
must strike every one, that the numbers of birds and I 
insects of different groups, having scarcely any resem- | 1 
blance to each other, which yet feed on the same food 
and inhabit the same localities, cannot have been so I'j 
differently constructed and adorned for that purpose f|j 
alone. Thus the goatsuckers, the swallows, the tyrant i 
flycatchers, and the jacamars, all use the same kind of ■ 
food, and procure it in the same manner : they all cap- j 
ture insects on the wing, yet how entirely different is 
the structure and the whole appearance of these birds ! ; 
The swallows, with their powerful wings, are almost : 
entirely inhabitants of the air ; the goatsuckers, nearly ; ! 
allied to them, but of a much weaker structure, and 
with largely developed eyes, are semi-nocturnal birds, 
sometimes flying in the evening in company with the ' 
swallows, but most frequently settling on the ground, 
seizing their prey by short flights from it, and then re- 
turning to the same spot. The fly-catchers are strong- f j 
legged, but short-winged birds, which can perch, but | 
cannot fly with the ease of the swallows : they gene- 
rally seat themselves on a bare tree, and from it watch | 
for any insects which may come within reach of a short y ^ 
swoop, and which their broad bills and wide gape 8 
enable them to seize. But with the jacamars this is M 
not the case : their bills are long and pointed — in fact, |i 
a weak kingfisher’s bill — yet they have similar habits M 
to the preceding : they sit on branches in open parts of p 
the forest, from thence flying after insects, which they p 
catch on the wing, and then return to their former sta- 9 
tion to devour them. Then there are the trogons, with 
