159 



CHAPTER VIII. 

 BIKD-PAKASITES. 



THERE are but two groups or families of true parasitic 

 birds in South Africa, viz., the Cuckoos and the Honey- 

 guides. Several of our birds utilise the nests of other 

 members of the Avian class, but as they do not leave 

 their eggs to be incubated by the original or rightful 

 owner, performing this duty themselves, they cannot 

 with justice be included under the heading of " Bird- 

 Parasites." 



HONEY-GUIDES. 



The Honey-guides (family Indicator idee} are a small 

 family of interesting birds, chiefly remarkable for their 

 habit of guiding man and animals to the nests of bees. 

 Their structure, resembling that of the cuckoos in some 

 respects, but more closely according with that of the 

 Barbets, has occasioned some considerable diversity of 

 opinion as to their classificatory position. Originally 

 placed with the cuckoos, they were subsequently elevated 

 to the rank of a separate family. They were also 

 placed in the Barbet family by some authors, a position 

 favoured amongst others by F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., 

 the Prosector of the London Zoological Society, who 

 includes them in the Capitonidae in his excellent work : 

 11 The Structure and Classification of Birds." 



They resemble the Cuckoos in the arrangement of the 



