CLIMBING BIRDS. 



433 



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"V-^A 



Fig. 361.— kingfisher. 



Tlie Hornbills (Buceros)* are large birds of India and Africa, re- 

 markable for their enormous toothed beaks, surmounted by a crest or 

 prominence almost as large as the beak itself. They live upon 

 mice, reptiles, small birds, and dead animals. 



Order of ScANsoREsf or Climbers. 



In all birds belonging' to tliis Order the outer toe 

 cnn be directed backwards like the thumb, an arrange- 

 ment that enables them more firmly to grasp the 

 boughs of trees, and which some genera employ for 

 clinging to and climbing their trunks. The climbers 

 generally make their nests in the hollows of old trees. 

 Their powers of fliglit are moderate. Some feed on 

 insects, some on fruits, according to the structure of 

 their beak. In this order are found the Woodpeckers, 



* j8oj;s, bous, an ox : Kepas, keras, a horn : because their beak 

 somewhat resembles the horn of an ox. 

 t Scando, scansum, to climb. 



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