THE COLIES 



1783 



It affects thick forests, and, although solitary in its habits, is so common in some of 

 the hill forests that a dozen or more may frequently be seen together. The eggs 

 are three or four in number, of a very pale buff color, and laid on the bare wood in 

 some hollow of a decayed tree. 



THE COLIES 

 Family COLIID^ 



The colies bring us to another group of the Picarian order, technically known 

 as the Coraciiformes, often conveniently spoken of (for want of a better name) as 

 the fissirostral group. With the single exception of the humming birds, all the 

 members of the group have a similar arrangement of the tendons on the lower sur- 

 face of the foot; the first toe being supplied by a branch of one tendon, while the 

 fourth is served by a different one. As a rule, the palate is of the desmognathous 



IX>NG-TAII,ED COLY OR MOUSE BIRD. 



type, although in some cases it is of the modification characterizing the perching 

 birds. The colies themselves are exclusively African, and are remarkable for the 

 structure of their feet, in which all four toes are directed forward, although it is 

 probable that the first can be turned backward at will. The breastbone is charac- 

 terized by the presence of four notches; the oil gland is naked; the intestine is devoid 

 of blind appendages; and there are ten tail feathers. The whole of the colies are 

 included in the single genus Co/ms, which is represented by half a score of species. 



