nONEY-aUIDKS. 421 



ops, since they seem to exliiliit characters, lioth in slructtii-e and coloration, which 

 make tliem nearly intermediate between the barhets jiro]ier and the toucans. One 

 feature of their bill is (juite unique, however, the lower mandible being distinctly bi- 

 furcated at its extremity, and the jioint of the u])])er fitting into the groove thus made. 

 On eacli side the point of the lower mandible overlaps that of the upper one, and, seen 

 in profile, the bill, from cither side, reminds one of that of the cross-bill. In coloration 

 the two species are very different. T. ramj)hastinus, from Ecuador, is golden brown 

 above, orange red underneath, with ashy throat, and a scarlet breast-band, head with 

 a small medial crest, and neck above black, with a white postocular streak ; while T. 

 Jrantzii, from Costa Kica, is more uniform olivaceous and ochraccous, but in both 

 cases is a certain similarity to the style of the toucan genus Ancli(/ciia not to be 

 mistaken. The first mentioned species is the largest, or one of the largest, of the 

 family. 



That we jilaee the Indicatoridje, or honey-guides, near the barbets and the wood- 

 peckers no longer needs spcci.al defence ; but as many authors still persist in keeping 

 them among the Cuculid:c, a few words on their diagnostic structures 

 may be in order. As shown in the accompanying cut (fig. 210), 

 the palate is schizognathous, and the vomer is bifurcated in front; 

 the dorsal tract is simple between the shoulders; the ambiens muscle 

 is absent ; the oil-gland is tufted and the caeca are ab.sent; the dee]) 

 plantar tendons are antiopelmous; only one carotid is present; "the 

 tensor jiatagii brevis muscle of tjie wing is inserted into the extensor 

 met.acarpi radialis longus, exactly as in the Megalaimidie, Ramphas- 

 tid;e, and Picida^ and as in no other birds." In all these resjiects 

 and many more the honey-guides differ from the cuckoos, but agree, 

 on the other liand, with one or more of the families just mentioned. 

 The above suffices to prove their near rel.ationship, and Garrod even 

 went so far as to include the toucans, barbets, and honey-guides as fig. 210. — i'.ii.ue of 



•' ^ ^ Ju(lv'ator:mxp,iaax- 



sub-families in the same family. The latter iiresent several peculi- iiio-p.iiiitines ; pi, 



' ^ palatines ; v, vomer. 



arities, however, among which m.ay be mentioned that the number of 



primaries is only nine. The tail has twelve rectrices, the outer pair being small, as in 



tlie woodpeckers. 



The Indicatoridic form a small family of about a dozen species, three-fourths of 

 which inhabit the African continent, while the remainder are found in the Oriental 

 region ; viz., one, Indinitor xanthouotnK, in India, i/iahn/itnus in Malacca, and archipe- 

 lagicus in Borneo. They are small Ijirds, of rather dull colors — the African species 

 illustrated in onr cut (/. indicator) being brownish gray, lighter underneatli,with white 

 ear-tufts, and a small yellow jiatch on the inner minute wing-coverts; tail, brown and 

 white. 



The names honey-guide and indicator bestowed ujion these birds refer to a pecu- 

 liarity in their habits, so astonishing th.it it w.as generally believed to be a fable, until 

 the unanimous statements of tiaist worthy observers seem to have put it beyond doubt. 

 One of the latest accounts is found in Mr. E. F. Sandeman's ' Eight Months in an 

 Ox-W.agon,' in which he gra]>hically relates his experience with this curious bird, in 

 187S, in Transvaal, as follows: — 



"A small gray bird witli a reddish beak, the size of a sparrow, had flown along- 

 side and round the w.agon for the last mile of our trek, making a shrill, hissing cry, 

 and sometimes almost flying in the faces of the drivers ; and I noticed that the boys 



ft 



