THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 5 



corner of mouth under middle of the eye ; feet 

 with short shanks, and toes in pairs, the outer front 

 one being turned back ; wings short, rounded ; 

 tail short or medium, rounded or square. General 

 build heavy ; their carriage is stooping, sitting well 

 over the perch. 



Plumage, etc. — Predominant colour green, diversified 

 with red, yellow, blue, and black ; but some forms 

 have no green. No seasonal change and usually no 

 sex-difference ; young much like adults, but less 

 brilliant. 



Young. — Naked and helpless. When fledging they 

 turn their tails over their backs under the wings. 

 They shuffle about on the hocks, where there is a 

 warty pad. 



Nest. — A hole in a tree, pecked out by the birds. 



Eggs. — Several ; white. 



Food. — Chiefly vegetable, berries especially. Some, 

 especially the American and African kinds, how- 

 ever, eat insects also. 



Gait. — ^They usually hop about the boughs, seldom 

 coming to the earth naturally. On the ground 

 they hop. Some climb like woodpeckers. 



Flight. — Undulating and not long protracted ; they 

 are not migratory. The feet are drawn up in 

 front. 



Note. — Constantly reiterated, and often metallic in 

 character. They are much more heard than seen. 



Disposition, Habits, etc. — They are usually solitary 

 and rather quarrelsome, biting hard — at any rate 

 Indian species ; but some African species seem 

 more sociable. 



Economic Qualities. — Indifferent, their chief food 

 being wild fruit. They are very ornamental birds, 

 however. 



Captivity. — They do well, feeding on " soft food," fruit, 

 etc. Only one species, however, the Blue-throated 



