Cassell's book of birds; vol. 1

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

Few people in this country have any adequate conception of a tropical forest, and, consequently, are scarcely prepared to see whole races of animals constructed specially for a residence in the umbrageous wilderness within its pathless precincts. The great forest of the Amazon, in all its primeval grandeur, stretches for a thousand miles from north to south, and probably three or four hundred from east to west, and over all this vast extent of territory, so closely are the branches interwoven that, as we are told, a monkey might make his way passing from tree to tree without ever coming to the ground except at those points where the rivers hold their course through the tangled yet sublime scenery. "In these untrodden vastnesses the trees, rising frequently to a height of sixty or eighty feet, with stems perfectly straight and without a branch, give support to the huge creepers that climb around their trunks like immense serpents waiting for their prey, or sometimes stretching obliquely from their summits like the stays of a lofty mast, here twisting round each other till they form living cables, as if to bind securely the patriarchs of the forest; there wreathed in tangled festoons, and themselves covered with smaller creepers and parasitic plants." Such is Mr. Wallace's description of the interior of the Amazonian forest.

Fig. 11.—VISCERA OF SMALL BIRD (Euphone violaceus).

a, Crop; b, termination of the Windpipe, or inferior larynx; c, one of the Vocal Muscles; d, lower portion of the Gullet; e, the Gizzard; g, Lung of the right side; h, Liver; i, Alimentary Canal.

"The forests of Rio Janeiro," says Mr. Darwin, "are ornamented with the cabbage palm trees 110 feet high, with a stem so narrow that it might be clasped with two hands. The woody creepers themselves are of great thickness, some of them measuring two feet in circumference. If the eye was turned from the world of foliage above to the ground beneath, it was attracted by the extreme elegance of the leaves of the ferns and mimosæ (sensitive plants). The latter in some parts covered the ground; in walking across these thick beds, a broad track was marked by the change of colour produced by the drooping of their sensitive leaves. It is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand scenes, but it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind."

These are the localities amongst which species of the Arboreal Orders find their Paradise, and hold undisturbed possession. Myriads of climbing birds—parrots, macaws, and cockatoos—fill the whole atmosphere with joyful screams, deafening the very monkeys with their din; gorgeous toucans, with enormous bills and feathers dipped in flame, and woodpeckers scarcely less gaily clad, make the woods echo, as with axe-like beaks they chop their way in search of insect food.

The peculiar structure of the feet in the arboreal races is evidently adapted to a life amongst the branches of trees: the outer toe can be directed backwards like a thumb, enabling them to grasp the boughs as with a hand.

If, leaving the trackless gloom of the forest, we approach the sylvan scenery of the surrounding country, the "bosky woods" and isolated trees, or the sparse undergrowth of bushy shrubs, we find innumerable forms that have their feet contrived for perching only. These Insessorial races, called also Passeres, from their general resemblance to sparrows, live upon insects, fruit, and grain; but those with strong beaks live more exclusively upon grain, and those with slender beaks upon insects. The proportional length of their wings is as variable as their habits. They have four toes, generally so disposed that there are three in front and one behind; sometimes all four in front. Their legs are slender, and they hop rather than walk.

The forests and the trees, the bushes and the brakes, the thickets and the hedgerows, being thus provided with appropriate denizens, we turn our attention to the level ground; and here we find species as obviously designed for a terrestrial existence as were the preceding groups for a residence among the branches. The terrestrial or Gallinaceous birds live principally upon the ground. Their body is large and heavy, and their wings short and rounded, so as to be but ill adapted to prolonged flight. They have three toes in front, which are united at their base by a short fold of the skin, and their hinder toe is affixed above the level of the rest. In many species the male is provided with formidable weapons in the shape of spurs. To this order belong the turkeys, pheasants, and barn-door fowls. Their legs are thick, strong, and muscular, their toes short and powerful. They always prefer running to flying, and, indeed, will rarely take to their wings, except when compelled to do so by the urgency of the occasion.

If any doubt could be entertained as to the terrestrial character of the gallinaceous birds, there can be none whatever as to those distinguished by the name of Cursores or runners. The principal characteristic of the cursorial race consists in the undeveloped condition of their wings, which are quite disproportioned to the size of their body. In some cases these rudimentary wings are but imperfectly furnished with feathers, and seem only to be used after the manner of sails, to catch the wind, and thus assist in running. The living species form two families, of one of which the Ostrich, and of the other the Apteryx, is the type.