Curiosities of Ornithology: With Beautifully-coloured IllustrationsGroombridge and Sons, 1871 - 64 páginas |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
Términos y frases comunes
acid adult male African animals appearance Aru Islands aviaries Barbets beak beautiful Bell-bird bill bones branch Brazil breeding Buceros Campanero caruncle Ceriornis characteristic Chasmorhynchus coloured plate colouring matter common pheasant copper Corythaix Cotinga crimson Dinornis display erect Falkland Islands feeds feet female flesh flight forests fruit fruit-eating genera genus grass grouse habits hatched head holes hollow Hornbills horned pheasants inches Indian Indian Hornbills inhabiting Island Kakapo KING PENGUIN legs living specimen loud male bird metallic mode Musophaga violacea natives naturalist neck nest noise observed orange colour ORNITHOLOGY Owl-Parrot P. L. Sclater Paradisea parrot peculiar perch pigment placed plumage plumes pure red feathers remarkable resembling Rhinoceros Hornbill says seen singular skin sound tail Theodor von Heuglin throat tint Touraco Tragopan trees Trogon tropics turacine Turacus albocristatus usually VIOLET PLANTAIN-EATER Wallace wattle wawk white eggs wild wings Wood young birds Zealand Zoological Society
Pasajes populares
Página 35 - ... while the young one stands close to it, but a little lower. The old bird, having continued its clatter for about a minute, puts its head down and opens its mouth widely, into which the young one thrusts its head, and then appears to suck from the throat of its mother for a minute or two, after which the clatter is repeated, and the young one is again fed ; this continues for about ten minutes.
Página 61 - ... a dog, and sometimes inflicts severe wounds with its powerful claws and beak. At a very recent period it was common all over the west coast of the Middle Island, but there is now a race of wild dogs said to have overrun all the northern part of this shore, and to have almost extirpated the Kakapos wherever they have reached.
Página 36 - Another day, having placed myself between a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and the water, I was much amused by watching its habits. It was a brave bird ; and till reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows would have stopped him : every inch he gained he firmly kept, standing close before me erect and determined.
Página 36 - ... gained he firmly kept, standing close before me erect and determined. When thus opposed he continually rolled his head from side to side, in a very odd manner, as if the power of distinct vision lay only in the anterior and basal part of each eye. This bird is commonly called the jackass penguin...
Página 35 - The females hatch the eggs by keeping them close between their thighs ; and, if approached during the time of incubation, move away, carrying the eggs with them. At this time the male bird goes to sea and collects food for the female, which becomes very fat. After the young is hatched, both parents go to sea, and bring home food for it ; it soon becomes so fat as scarcely to be able to walk, the old birds getting very thin.
Página 14 - Nature seems to have taken every precaution that these, her choicest treasures, may not lose value by being too easily obtained. First, we find an open, harbourless, inhospitable coast, exposed to the full swell of the Pacific Ocean ; next, a rugged and mountainous country, covered with dense forests, offering in its swamps and precipices and serrated ridges an almost impassable barrier to the central regions ; and lastly, a race of the most savage and ruthless character, in the very lowest stage...
Página 29 - so flabby and semi-transparent as to resemble a bladder of jelly, furnished with head, legs, and rudimentary wings, but with not a sign of a feather, except a few lines of points indicating where they would come.
Página 35 - The old bird gets on a little eminence and makes a great noise, between quacking and braying, holding its head up in the air, as if it were haranguing the penguinnery, while the young one stands close to it, but a little lower. The old bird, having continued its...
Página 36 - When at sea and fishing, it comes to the surface, for the purpose of breathing, with such a spring, and dives again so instantaneously, that I defy any one at first sight to be sure that it is not a fish leaping for sport.
Página 63 - Regiment at Wellington, was allowed to run about his garden, where it was fond of the society of the children, following them like a dog wherever they went. Nearly all the adult Kakapos which I skinned were exceedingly fat, having a thick layer of oily fat or blubber on the breast which it was very difficult to separate from the skin. Their stomachs contained a pale green, sometimes almost white, homogeneous mass, without any trace of fibre in it. There can be little doubt but that their food consists...