60 AVES. 



42. UPUPA Bill long and slender, arcuate, com- 

 pressed, convex above, sharp-pointed : nostrils oval, open : 

 crown furnished with a crest : wings rather long ; the first 

 quill very short ; fourth and fifth longest : claws short, and 

 not much hooked : tail square at the extremity. 



43. SITTA Bill moderate, rather strong, straight, 



compressed ; both mandibles equally inclining to the tip 

 which is somewhat cuneated : nostrils oval, open, covered 

 by setaceous feathers directed forwards : wings rather short ; 

 third and fourth quills longest : hind toe strong, and length- 

 ened : tail short, nearly even. 



*** Bill more or less curved: feet zygodactyle. 

 (CUCULID.E.) 



44. CUCULUS Bill as long as the head, rather 



compressed, moderately curved, and a little hooked at the 

 tip : gape wide : nostrils round, surrounded by a naked and 

 prominent membrane : wings long, acuminated : first quill 

 short; third longest; tarsi short, feathered a little below 

 the knee : outer hind toe partly reversible : tail long, more 

 or less cuneated. 



45. COCCYZUS. Bill strong, arched, the culmen 

 convex, triangular at the base, compressed at the sides and 

 tip : nostrils basal, longitudinally cleft in a membrane : 

 orbits naked : wings short, and concave : tarsi very long : 

 tail long, and cuneated. 



IV. FISSIROSTRES. Bill broad at the base; 

 gape wide: wings long: feet short, and weak. 



* Bill strong, more or less elongated. 

 (MEROPID.E.) 



46. CORACIAS Bill moderate, robust, higher than 



broad, compressed, straight ; upper mandible bending at 

 the tip : nostrils basal, linear, pierced diagonally, half 

 closed by a plumose membrane : toes three before and one 



