6o THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



Young. — Naked and helpless, with a hooked tip to 

 both jaws. 



Nest. — None, the birds being parasitic and laying in 

 the nests of other species. 



Eggs. — White. 



Food. — Insects, chiefly bees, wasps, and their grubs, 

 honeycomb, and sometimes apparently other small 

 birds. 



Gait. — They are chiefly to be seen on trees ; presumably 

 they hop. 



Flight. — Undulating. 



Note. — A repeated chatter. 



Disposition and Habits. — Several of the African 

 species are well known from their strange habit of 

 leading men to bees' nests, in order to obtain a share 

 of the comb. They attract attention, and then 

 fly on ahead till the nest is reached ; such an action 

 seems to denote unusual intelligence. They are 

 usually solitary. 



Economic Qualities. — They are, of course, regarded 

 as very useful birds on account of the above 

 peculiarity. 



Distribution and Important Species. — There are 

 only eleven species known, mostly African, but one 

 — a rare bird {Indicator xanthonotus) — is Indian, 

 and one, /. archipelagicus, Malayan. The best- 

 known species is Sparrman's Honey-guide {Indi- 

 cator indicator), which is widely spread over Africa, 

 and has been long familiar to travellers. This 

 is rather larger than a sparrow, brown, with a 

 yellow patch on each shoulder and a white bill, 

 the male with a black throat, the female with this 

 part white. The commonest species in South 

 Africa is, however, the Lesser Honey-guide (/. 

 minor), smaller, and olive in colour, with a black 

 bill ; in this the sexes are alike. 



