UPUPID.K 



87 



SUB-FAMILY 



Epimachine. 



II. 



The Plained Birds. 



Gen. Chakac. — Bill more or less lengthened, slender, and arched to the tips, 

 which are acute ; the nostrils lateral, and placed in a broad basal groove, 

 which is mostly concealed by the projecting plumes of the forehead, leaving 

 the opening small and exposed ; wings moderate and rounded ; tail of various 

 lengths, sometimes even or graduated at its end ; tarsi more or less long, 

 robust, and usually covered with broad scales in front ; toes long and strong, 

 with the outer toe united at its base, the hind toe very long, strong, and 

 armed with a powerful claw. 



\ " 





Fig. 33.— the twelve-threaded EPiiiACHVS. 

 (Epinuichns ulbitg.) 



Tlie entire island of New Guinea, situated almost 

 beneath tlie equator, is covered with one vast forest, 

 composed of trees which from their stately dimen- 

 sions are well calculated to strike the spectator with 



* kTTifxaxoQ, epimachos ; open to attack, i. e. defenceless. 

 F 2 



