THE BARBETS. 127 



in India, but though they might well be placed in the 

 same " order," they may fairly claim a family difference. 

 The figure (Fig. 1) in Plate I of the Coppersmith will give 

 a good idea of their general form, although most have a 

 rather longer bill and tail than that bird. The beak has a 

 straggly moustache of bristles at the root, and is much 

 stouter than a Woodpecker's ; it is not used for pecking 

 into wood, except when the birds are boring a nest-hole. 

 The tongue is of ordinary shape, and the tail is not stiff, 

 but of ordinary feathers. The feet have two toes before 

 and two behind, but the birds do not climb like Wood- 

 peckers, but simply hop from branch to branch, picking 

 the fruit on which they feed, for their diet is almost 

 altogether vegetarian. They hop like Woodpeckers when 

 on the ground, though I never saw a Barbet there in the 

 wild state ; their flight also much resembles that of a 

 Woodpecker, and they lay white eggs in a hewn-out 

 nest-hole also. Moreover, the young show the same 

 warty pad on the hocks as young Woodpeckers, and 

 move in the same way. They are often less like the 

 old ones when fledged than young Woodpeckers are, 

 but are quite recognizable. Barbets run to very brilliant 

 and barbaric colouring as a rule and the hens are generally 

 coloured like the cocks. As a lively green is commonly 

 the predominating colour in their costume, they are 

 not easy to see in the trees, but they take good care to be 

 heard pretty constantly. Their notes are not harsh and 

 explosive like those of the Woodpeckers ; rather mellow 

 indeed, but of a deadly monotony, being kept up with 

 relentless reg-ularity for a long time. 



