382 



CORACIIFORMES 



CHAP. 



covered with one scale ; the marginal laminae of the tongue 

 point backwards. 



Todies frequent hilly districts and woods, and especially the 

 vicinity of ravines, being very active on their feet, and taking 

 short rapid flights from branch to branch when disturbed. They 

 used to be considered close allies of the Flycatchers, probably owing 

 to their habit of darting out upon their prey from some branch, 

 to which they return immediately. They sit with upturned bill 

 and head drawn in, their wings vibrating and their plumage 

 puffed out, and when thus perched they are so unsuspicious that 

 they may sometimes be caught with a butterfly-net, or even with 

 the liand. The pugnacious males chase each other, clattering 

 their bills, and, while courting, ruffle themselves up and droop 

 their wings. The three or four globular white eggs are laid in 

 a hole low down in the face of some bank, which is excavated to 



a considerable depth and commonly 

 turns at right angles ; the terminal 

 chamber usually containing a slight 

 nest of fibres, grass,moss, or cotton. In 

 captivity Todies make engaging pets. 

 The coloration is green, with a 

 bright red throat, yellowish-white 

 or pinkish under parts, and yellow, 

 green, or pink feathers on the 

 ilanks. The bill is dull red. Todus 



Fig. 79. Todv. Todus viridis. x I. 



viridis inhabits Jamaica ; T. siihu- 



latus Hispaniola ; T. vudticolor, 



which has a blue spot on each cheek, 



Cuba ; T. hypocliondriacus Porto Eico. The length varies from 



three and a half to four and a half inches. 



Fam. III. Alcedinidae. The Kingfishers, with the Sub- 

 families (1) Hcdcyoninae, or Wood-Kingfishers, and (2) Alcedini- 

 nae, or Water-Kingfishers, are remarkable not only for the aberrant 

 species found among them, l;)ut also for their peculiar forms and 

 particularly brilliant colours, at once strikingly contrasted and 

 tasteful. The head looks disproportionately large, an appearance 

 often heightened by the crest and the long, stout bill. This feature 

 in the Alcedininae is compressed and sharp-pointed, with keeled 

 culmen and upcurved genys ; in the Halcyoninae it is broader 

 and rounder, and sometimes grooved. In Syma the maxilla is 



