THE BARBETS 1747 



the greater part of Africa, from the Eastern Cape Colony to the Transvaal, and 

 thence throughout Eastern Africa to Abyssinia, and again occurring in Senegambia, 

 so that it is an inhabitant of the open portions of the continent, but does not occur 

 in the forest regions of the West Coast. It is a favorite with the natives, who do 

 not like to see one killed. Mr. Buckley, during his journey to Matabeleland, says 

 "that the birds were extremely pertinacious in following us, in order to conduct us 

 to a bee's nest, chattering incessantly until they gained their point." 



THE BARBETS 



! 



Family CAPITONID^Z 



This family occupies an intermediate position between the woodpeckers and the 

 toucans. In many of their ways these birds are like the former, while some of 

 their number bear a remarkable resemblance to the toucans. In structure they also 

 have many points in common with these two families, the peculiar zygodactyle foot 

 being exactly like that of the woodpeckers and the other allied families. The bar- 

 bets have a tufted oil gland, no blind appendages to the intestine, and possess ten 

 tail feathers. They have little in common with the puff birds, which are also called 

 barbets in many works on natural history. The barbets are found in the tropical 

 portions of both the Old and New Worlds, the latter being peculiar to Central 

 and South America. From Brazil and Bolivia up to Costa Rica the American bar- 

 bets range, but no species has yet been found in Guatemala or in Mexico. In most 

 of the Old World barbets the bill is toothed or ridged, but in the American genus 

 (Capita) the bill is smooth, not toothed, and has the ridge rounded. In South 

 America also occurs the singular genus Tetragonops, wherein the bill is four-sided 

 and the lower mandible widened at its tip, so as to form a sort of cradle in which 

 the end of the upper mandible rests. Two species of the genus are known, one from 

 Costa Rica ( 71 frantzii) and the other from Ecuador, the latter being a brightly 

 colored bird, named 7! rhamphastinus, from the similarity of its colors to that of a 

 toucan. Barbets are found in the tropical portions of Africa and Asia, but do not 

 extend beyond the Malaysian islands. Of the seventeen genera recorded from the 

 Old World, Africa claims ten and the Indian region the other seven. 



These birds (Pogonorhynchus) are distinguished by the presence of 

 Tooth-Billed ,. \ , .. . 



one or more distinct notches or teeth in the edge of the bill, and in 



some of the species there are deep grooves or ridges, similar to those 

 which occur in some of the hornbills; while there is a sort of beard of coarse bristles 

 on the chin in the red barbet of West Africa (P. dubius). 



The genus Melanobucco, also one of the group of tooth-billed barbets has thir- 

 teen species distributed over various districts of Africa. They are described as 

 frequenting the neighborhood of woods and bush country, feeding on fruits and 

 berries, seeds and insects, and nesting in holes of trees, but not making the holes 

 themselves. The black-collared barbet (M. torquatus) is said by Mr. Ayres to have 



