RAMPHASTID^. 355 



The African or Madagascar birds of the genus Coua appear to 

 belong to the Centropodince. 



The remaining families of the Scansores are as follow : — 



Ramphastid^, or Toucans. 



These are birds of large size, with huge curved and inflated 

 bills, zjgodactyle toes and bright plumage, green, yellow and red, 

 mixed with black ; peculiar to the intra-tropical and juxta-tropical 

 regions of America. In their anatomy they closely resemble the 

 Barbets, and their clavicles, which in the latter group are not pro- 

 longed to form a furcula, are short and dagger-shaped. They are 

 also, like the Barbets, almost exclusively frugivorous ; and, like tlie 

 Hornbills and other large billed birds, they toss their food into the 

 air, and catch it in the throat. They hop actively and with most 

 airy lightness about the to|)S of lofty trees, and nestle in holes. 

 Their tail is often reflected close over the back ; and at roost the 

 enormous bill is completely buried in the plumage. The tongue is 

 long and slender, and barbed laterally, a trace of which only is seen 

 in the Barbets. Their wings are short, and the tail long, consisting, 

 as in the Barbets, of ten feathers. 



Some of the Cuckoos, Phanicophajis, make an approach to this 

 family, of which Gould has published a very splendid JMonograph. 



MusoPHAGiDvE, Touracos, or Plaintain-eaters. 



These are peculiar to Africa. They are birds of moderate 

 size and mostly of rich plumage, with a short and somewhat Wood- 

 pecker-like crest. The bill is moderately large and inflated, with 

 serrated edges, but is short. They have the feet in pairs, or rather 

 the outer hiiid-toe is directed at a right angle with the fore toes, and 

 the short hind toe can also be turned sideways. The wing is short 

 and rounded, and the tail moderate, consisting of ten feathers. The 

 clavicles are not quite united, and the sternum is small; the stomach 

 slightly muscular, and the intestines longer than in Toucans and 

 Barbets, being without caica, and they have a distinct gall-bladder. 

 Tliey feed on fruit, chiefly berries, which they swallow whole ; and 



