case under notice will see.  Here are the rose-coloured thrushes of Europe; the grakles of Malabar, India, South Africa, and South America; and the stares of America and Europe.  The next case contains the varieties of the American Icteric Orioles, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, like the cuckoo.  Among the varieties, the visitor should notice the red-winged, crested, and banana orioles.  The African and Indian Weavers, so called from the peculiar construction of their nests, occupy the case (68) next to that filled by the orioles.  Here are also the African, European, and American grosbeaks, so christened from that strength of bill which enables them to demolish hard fruits.  Among these are the African widow birds; the Galapagos ground sparrows.  The beauty of the Tanagers of North and South America is well known.  In order of succession they here follow the grosbeaks (68, 69), and present a brilliant group, including the golden tanager, the red-breasted, the summer, and the bishop.  And then the Finches, in all their varieties of colour and size, occupy two cases (69, 70).  Here, among the more sober and unassuming of the numerous family, the visitor will notice the common sparrow that chirps cheerfully through the smoke of London alleys; the brown linnet with its lively notes; the gayer goldfinches, greenfinches, chaffinches, the North American songfinch, and the many varieties of the buntings, including the epicure’s ortolans that are found in various parts of the world.  Next in order to the finches, the Larks are grouped in a single case (71) with other varieties of the great finch family.  These birds sing as they soar into the air; and on cloudless days, how often do the happy notes of the skylark come down to the wanderer upon earth, with a cheerful influence:—­

     “...  The lark that sings in heaven
     Builds its nest upon the ground.”

Here, with the larks, are several curious birds, including the crossbeaks of Europe, the grosbeak of the South Sea Islands, the plant cutters of South America, and the colies of India and the Cape, that sleep in companies each suspended by one foot.  The two last cases of the cone-beaked perching birds, are devoted to those birds known collectively as Hornbills, from the size and formation of their bills.  These remarkable birds are said to be another off-shoot of “the great corvine nest;” and the author of “The Vestiges of Creation” regards the hollow protuberance upon the upper mandible (which is the distinguishing feature of the family), as “a sounding-board to increase the vociferation which these birds delight to utter.”  The remarkable varieties in the cases, are the helmet hornbill of India, and the African rhinoceros hornbill.  These birds prey upon small birds and reptiles, which they toss into the air and then swallow whole.

The Scansores, or Climbers, form the last section of the perching birds.  This is an interesting group, since it includes all the varieties of the parrot, cockatoo, and macaw species; the woodpeckers, the toucans, and the cuckoos.