A L CEDINTD. E : KINGFISHER S. 



571 



is Neotropical, the fourth Antilloun. The suborder is less compact than most others oi Pica- 

 rice, and includes birds of such extremely dissimilar external appearance as the tiny Todies, no 

 larger than some Hummingbirds, of dainty aspect and brilliant plumage, and the great gaunt 

 ungainly Hornbills, witli their monstrous beaks and sombre or sordid hues. The feet are ani- 

 sodactylous, with three toes in front and one behind (anomalous exception in t\vo3-toed genera 

 of Kingfishers, lacking the 2d digit), and more or less perfectly syndactylous, having the anterior 

 toes united for some distance in a single 

 flat fleshy sole. They are also sympel- 

 mous by blending of the flexor tendons 

 of the toes, whereof the hallu.x is sup- 

 plied by a slip from the flexor digitorum 

 perforans, not from the flexor hallucis. 

 The spinal pteryla is well defined and 

 not branched over the slioulders, and 

 the ventral tract has an open space. The 

 palate is desmognathous in the five 

 families, and in none of them are there 

 basi})terygoids ; the sternum is usually 

 4-notched or 4-fenestrate except Buce- 

 rotidfe. The oil-gland aud c*ca are f.g. 3S7.- Head of bi,k -...:. ...-bin, nat. size. 



variable in the several families. The myological formula is A X Y (except in Alcedinidcp, 

 where it is A X, as in Troyonidcc), the fenK>rocaudal, semitendinosus and its accessory present, 

 but accessory femorocaudal absent, like tlie ambiens. The plumage is aftershafted in Momo- 

 tidce and Meropidce. The rectrices are oftenest 12, often 10. The most peculiar family is the 

 Bucerotidce, which some authors set apart in a group by itself; its relationships appear to be 

 with the Uimpce. 



[Family MOMOTID^: Sawbills. 



Feet syndactylous by cohesion of third and fourth toes (p. I'-i'i); tomia serrate. Plumage 

 aftershafted. No ceeca. Two carotids. Sternum 4-fenestrate. Rectrices \'2 {\i) \\\ Baryph- 

 thenyus), as a rule the middh; pair elongated and more or less spatulate. A small family of 

 tropical American birds, comprising about Id species of 7 genera, none luiving riglitful place 

 here : Imt Momotus cceruleiceps (fig. 387) comes near our border, and is included to illustrate 

 the suborder Halcyones. In this species, the central tail-feathers are long-exserted, and spatu- 

 late by absence of webs along a part of the shaft — a mutilation which is naturally progressive 

 in this family, and may be facilitated or expedited by the birds tliemselves ; bill is about as long 

 as iiead, gently curved ; nostrils rounded, basal, exposed ; wings short and rounded; tarsi scu- 

 tellate anteriorly- Color greenisli, with top nf head blue, encircled with black ; long auriculars 

 black, and a bnuch of Idack, or l)iue aud black, feathers on breast; middle tail-featliers blue 

 toward ends, witli l)la(k tips. Length 14 00-15.00; wing 5.50; tail 8.00 or more; bill 1.50. 

 Mexico, N. to Nuevi> Leou.] 



Family ALCEDINID^ : Kingfishers. 



Feet syndactylous hy cohesion of third and fourth toes (p. 135, fig. 44); tomia simple (or 

 sliiihtly serrulate). Plumage not aftershafted. No cseca. Two carotids. Tufted oil-gland 

 (t'xcei)t some of Tanysiptera). Sternum 4-notch(tl. IVill long, large, straight, acute (rarely 

 hooked); somewhat " fissirostral," the gape being deep aud wide. Tongue rudimentary or 



