&4 ELEMENTS OF ORNITHOLOGY. 
as the representative. There are nineteen species in this 
group, arranged in seven genera. These Birds go about 
alone or in pairs, often sitting motionless on a branch till they 
dart off to snatch some insect. They appear to have a singular 
habit of cutting away with their toothed bill, in a regular sym- 
metrical manner, certain parts of the feathers of the tail. 
Another very small group, numbering about eleven species, 
consists of Birds which ate called Honey-guides or Indi- 
eators, the majority of which come from Africa—about a 
Fig. 86. 

The Honey-guide (Jndicator major). 
couple of species coming from India and the Malay Archipelago. 
The species named Jndicator major (which inhabits South and 
West Africa) may be taken as a type. It is firmly believed 
in Africa that these Birds will guide people to bees’ nests, 
and feed upon what honey may be left when the nests have been 
successfully taken. They should, however, rather be called 
Bee-guides than Honey-guides, since their object is to be able 
