ALCEDINID.E. 



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return to tlie same percli, wliicli tliey are said to 

 frequent for montlis. They make tlieir nests in the 

 holes of trees. 



The best-known species is — 



The Greater Pied Barbet (Bucco macrorhynchvs). In 

 shape these birds bear a close resemblance to the King- 

 fishers. Their food consists chiefly of insects, which they 

 procure much after the manner of the Woodpeckers, 

 prying into the hollows of trees, and striking away the 

 bark in tbeii- endeavours to secure the concealed prey. 

 They can cling to the perpendicular trunk of a tree, aud 

 support themselves by the pressure of their short stiff 

 tails against the bark. They also possess some of the 

 habits that belong to the Flycatchers, and, taking tlieir 

 perch upon a twig, will wait patiently until an unfor- 

 tunate insect passes within a short distance, when they 

 launch themselves on the devoted creature, and return to 

 the twig from which they started. 



The type of this sub-fiimily is — 



The Variegated Puff-bird {Bucco versicolor). 



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