‘Case 63.) 
Case 65.) 
100 BIRD GALLERY. 
White Anis (Guira) (1422) and the Black Anis (Crotophaga) (1421). The 
latter are remarkable on account of their nesting-habits, the females 
forming huge co-operative nests, in which they deposit their eggs 
and sit in company. The eggs are blue, with a peculiar overlying 
chalky incrustation. 
Family II. Musopnacip®. Towracos. 
These birds, often called Plantain-eaters, and locally known as 
“ Lowries,” include about twenty-five species grouped in six genera. 
All are peculiar to the forests of Africa, generally frequenting the 
highest trees, and feeding on various fruits and insects. Like the 
Pigeons they build a flat nest of twigs, and lay rounded greenish- or 
bluish-white eggs. | Many of the species are beautifully coloured, while 
others are mostly grey. To the former category belong the numerous 
species of Turacus (1425), and a few included in Gallirer (1428) and 
Musophaga (1429). All these birds have the flight-feathers mostly crimson 
and vield a peculiar pigment called Turacin, which contains copper 
and may he reduced to a powder. [See preparation in Case.| This 
is so soluble that the colour is washed out of the quills during heavy 
rains, though subsequently renewed. The green colour in these birds 
is also of peculiar interest, being due to the actual presence of green 
pigment in the feathers. This colour is not found in any other bird 
(see p. 207). The Violet Touraco (Musophaga violacea) (1429) represents 
the only species lacking a well-developed crest, but possesses an orna- 
mental frontal shield somewhat similar to that foundin the Common Coot. 
The Great Crested Touraco (Corytheola cristata) (1480), the largest 
member of the family, is also a very handsomely-coloured bird, but the 
speciesof Schizorhis (1481) and Gymnoschizorhis (1482), the tworemaining 
genera, are dull-coloured and mostly of a grey or greyish-brown tint. 
A remarkable fossil form (Necrornis) occurs in the Middle Miocene 
of France, indicating that the family is one of great antiquity. 
Order XXVIII. PICIFORMES. Woonprrckers anp ALLies. 
The Toucans, Barbets, Honey-Guides, and Woodpeckers representing 
this Order possess many structural characters in common, such as their 
zygodactylous foot, with the first and fourth toes directed backwards 
and the second and third forwards. 
Family I. Ruamruastip®. Toucans. 
The Toucans are a large and brightly-coloured group, plentifully 
represented in the forests of Central and South America, especially in 
