288 



SYNDACTYLY. 



SUB-FAMILY I. 



BuCCONINiE. 



The Pvff-hirds. 



Gen. Chakac— Bill of various lengths, elevated and broad at the base, with 

 the tip curved, and sometimes hooked over that of the lower mandible; 

 nostrils lateral, basal, and hidden by the frontal plumes and bristles ; wings 

 more or less long, with the third to the fifth quills usually the longest; tail 

 mostly of moderate length ; tarsi short and robust, with the toes two before 

 and two behind, and of various lengths, the outer anterior toe the longest. 



Fig. 118.— the variegated puff-bied. 

 {Bucco versicolor.) 



These birds are found in tlie tropical parts of 

 America ; they appear to live solitary _, pensive, and 

 silent in the most retired parts of the forests, where 

 they choose some branch upon which they perch 

 for a long time, with their large head resting upon 

 their shoulders ; they are, however, soon called into 

 activity by the appearance of some coleopterous 

 insect, after which they dart, and having secured it. 



