1848.] 
HABITS OF BIRDS. 
85 
a strong serrated bill, which have similar habits ; and 
the little humming-birds, though they generally procure 
insects from the flowers, often take them on the wing, 
like any other fissirostral bird. 
What birds can have their bills more peculiarly formed 
than the ibis, the spoonbill, and the heron? yet they 
may be seen side by side, picking up the same food from 
the shallow water on the beach; and on opening their 
stomachs, we find the same little Crustacea and shell-fish 
in them all. Then among the fruit-eating birds, there 
are pigeons, parrots, toucans, and chatterers, — families as 
distinct and widely separated as possible, — which yet may 
be often seen feeding all together on the same tree; for 
in the forests of South America, certain fruits are fa- 
vourites with almost every kind of fruit-eating bird. It 
has been assumed by some writers on Natural History, 
that every wild fruit is the food of some bird or animal, 
and that the varied forms and structure of their mouths 
may be necessitated by the peculiar character of the 
fruits they are to feed on ; but there is more of imagi- 
nation than fact in this statement: the number of wild 
fruits furnishing food for birds is very limited, and birds 
of the most varied structure and of every size will be 
found visiting the same tree. 
Insects were now more abundant than ever, and new 
kinds were met with almost every day. Lovely little 
butterflies, spangled with gold, or glittering with the 
most splendid metallic tints, hid themselves under leaves 
or expanded their wings in the morning sun; while the 
larger and more majestic kinds flew lazily along the 
shaded forest paths. The more sombre Ilesperidm were 
