142 THE PTILORIS, OR RIFLE-BIRD. 



coloring of its plumage, and the vivid contrasts presented by a few spots of bright color upon 

 a dark ground. 



The general color of this species is a deep, velvety black, through which a green line 

 shines in certain lights. Upon the forehead and over the eyes are scattered a few tiny but 

 most brilliant verditer-green feathers, gleaming with a metallic lustre, and a patch of long 

 plumy feathers of the same brilliant hue occurs on the end of the back. The throat is deco- 

 rated with a patch of light chestnut-red, and the remainder of the breast and abdomen are of 

 the same deep velvety black, over which a number of isolated verditer feathers are very thinly 

 scattered. 



SLENDER-BILLED BIRDS. 

 HOOPOES, OR UPUPID^E. 



THE large group of birds which are termed TENUIROSTBAL, or SLENDER-BILLED, always 

 possess a long and slender beak, sometimes curved, as in the creepers, hoopoes, and many 

 humming-birds, and sometimes straight, as in the nuthatch and other hnmming-birds. The 

 feet are furnished with lengthened toes, and the outer toe is generally connected at the base 

 with the middle toe. 



The first family of the Tenuirostres is called after the hoopoe, and termed Upupidse. In 

 all these birds the bill is curved throughout its entire length, long, slender, and sharply 

 pointed. The wings are rounded, showing that the birds are not intended for aerial feats, and 

 the tail is rather long. The legs are short, and the claws strong and decidedly curved. As 

 several of the families embrace a great number of species, it has been thought advisable to 

 separate them into sub-families, for greater convenience of reference and more precision of 

 arrangement. 



The first sub-family is that of the Plume Birds, or Epimachinse, containing some very 

 beautiful species, all of exotic birth, and inhabiting Australia, New Holland, New Guinea, 

 and the neighboring islands. In these birds the long and slender bill is cloven as far as the 

 eyes, the nostrils are placed at its base, and covered with soft, silken plumes, and the thumb- 

 toe, or "hallux," is of considerable length and very strong, evidently for the purpose of aid- 

 ing the birds in the pursuit of their prey. The fourth quill-feather of the wing is generally 

 the longest. 



THE PTILOKIS, or RIFLE-BIRD, is, according to Gould, the most gorgeous of all the Aus- 

 tralian birds, although the full beauty of the creature is not at first sight so striking a.s that of 

 the parrots or other gaudy -plumaged birds, and needs to be seen by a favorable light before 

 the full glory of the coloring can be made out. 



In size the Rifle-Bird is equal to a large pigeon, and in spite of its beauty it is not very 

 often seen, as it is retiring in its habits, and seems to be confined to a very limited range of 

 country. As far as is at present known, it is found only in the thick " bush " of the south- 

 eastern portions of Australia, and even there appears to be a very local bird. It is no wan- 

 derer, never flying to any great distance from its home, and procuring its food in the near 

 vicinity of its nest. For lengthened flight, indeed, it is singularly incapacitated by the short- 

 ness and rounded form of the wings, which is a never-failing characteristic of weakness 

 in the flight and want of sustaining power. "While in its native woods it seems never to 

 make more use of its wings than is needful for the purpose of conveying it from one tree to 

 another. 



The habits of this bird are very like those of the common creeper, for it is generally seen 

 upon the trunks and large branches of trees, running nimbly round them in a spiral course, 

 and extracting the insects on which it feeds from the crevices and recesses of the bark. 



