ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
THE GOATSUCKERS AND THEIR ALLIES
THE OIL-BIRD
The Oil Bird Behaviour
The moment we entered,”he says,”there arose a perfect storm of rasping cries coming from the throats of about two hundred Guacharo birds, that circled about the top of the cave. The walls of the cave were smooth, bare rock, but on one side a huge mass of fallen rock formed a series of ledges from the floor up to a height of thirty feet. Climbing upon this we found numerous nests of the Gua-charos. Wherever a smooth spot offered a soft resting place, the nests were placed like so many cheeses, while others were built half Swallow-like on the slope.”These cheese-like nests run about eight or nine inches in diameter and from three to six inches high, being slightly hollowed on top.
They were quite solid and composed apparently of the undigested skins and seeds of fruits mixed with tenacious mud or the droppings of the birds themselves. The eggs are from two to four in number, pure white, but smooth and lusterless, as in certain Owls. The young birds soon become a perfect mass of fat, and are then secured in great numbers by the native Indians, who melt out the oil and run it into earthen pots and retain it for further consumption as a substitute for butter. This oil is said to be colorless and odorless, and may be kept for a year or more without becoming rancid. The delicate young birds are also esteemed for food by some, but their rather strong cockroach-like odor is objectionable to most palates.
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