290 



syndactyly:. 



SUB-FAMILY II. 

 HALCYONiNiE." The C7'ah-hu7iters. 



Gen. Charac— Bill broad at the base, and gradually compressed towards the 

 tip, the lateral margins straight or turned upwards towards the end of the 

 upper mandible ; the gonys lengthened and gradually ascending, or curved 

 upwards to the tip of the lower mandible. 



Fift. 119 —Lindsay's crab-huntek. 

 {Malci/OM, Lindsaiji.) 



These birds are very widely distributed; tbey 

 occur in India and its Arcliipelago, in Africa, Aus- 

 tralia, and the islands of the South Sea. They 

 generally reside in open forests and in jungles, by 

 the sides of rivers and brooks ; some species, how- 

 ever, are rarely observed in the vicinity of water, 

 while others frequent cultivated places and plains. 

 They will often sit for a long time on a pole or the 



* oXkvmv^ halcyon, the Kingfislwr, from aXc, hals, the sea., and 

 KVM, kuo, to conceive ; So called because the Kingfisher was said by 

 the ancients to hatch its eggs upon the sea. 



