CORACIIFORMES. 471 



complete. Stringops habroptilus Gray, owl-like, with incomplete disc of 

 feathers round the eye ; a ground parrot which hides in holes in the day- 

 time, with small power of flight ; crista sterni hardly developed, clavicle 

 dwindled to a mere spine united neither to its fellow nor to the sternum. 



Tribe 13. CORACIIFORMES. 



Arboreal forms with short legs"; they often nest in holes and have blind 

 and helpless young. The tribe is difficult to characterize. It is divided 

 into seven groups, the cross affinities of which with each other and with 

 other tribes (Cuculiformes, Passeriformes, etc.) bring out clearly the im- 

 practicability of the so-called natural system of classification in linear or 

 tree-like series. 



Group 1. Coraciae. 



Fam. Coraciidae. Rollers. Beautifully coloured birds, with wide 

 gape ; beak with recurved extremity and sharp edges. With long wings 

 and pedes fissi. Leptosoma discolor Herm., the kirombo, Madagascar 

 and the Comoro Islands. Coracias garrula L., Eur., Afr., India. Eury- 

 stomus widely distributed ; Brachypteracias, peculiar to Madagascar. 



Fam. Momotidae. Motmots and todies. Neotropical, inhabiting 

 forests. Momotus, Todus. 



Fam. Alcedinidae. Kingfishers. With large head, long keeled angular 

 beak, relatively short wings and tail ; metatarsus short. Alcedo ispida 

 L., kingfisher of Britain and Europe. Alcyone Sw., Austro-Malaya. 

 Dacelo gigas Glog., the laughing jackass of Australia. Ceyx, Halcyon, 

 Tanysiptera. Ceryle rudis L., black and white kingfisher, Africa. 



Fam. Meropidae. Bee-eaters. The beak is compressed and gently 

 curved downwards. The plumage is variegated, the legs are weak. The 

 wings are pointed, with long coverts. The flight is rapid and swallowlike. 

 Temperate and tropical parts of the Old World, about 30 species. Merops 

 apiaster L., S. Europe. Nyctiornis, Melittophagus. 



Fam. Upupidae. Hoopoes. Beautifully coloured birds with long 

 laterally-compressed beak, short triangular tongue, and long rounded 

 wings. About 65 species ; Old World except Australia. Upupa epops 

 L., Europe, Africa, Asia. Irrisor, Ehinopomastus. 



Fam. Bucerotidae. Hornbills. Birds of considerable size, with colos- 

 sal, always slightly dentated, and downwardly-curved beak and usually 

 with hornlike head-dress at the base of the upper beak. Bones very 

 pneumatic. Ethiopian and Indo-Malayan. Bttcorvus abyssinicus Gni. 

 Bucerus rhinoceros L., Sumatra. Rhinoplax, Aceros, Lophoceros, Ano- 

 rhinus, etc. 



Group 2. Striges. 



With single Fam. Strigidae. Owls. Nocturnal birds of prey which 

 hunt insects and small mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. W T ith large ante- 

 riorly directed eyes which are surrounded by a circle of stiff feathers, some- 

 times in a veil-like manner ; with strong hooked beak, bent downwards 

 from the base. The ear usually has a membranous operculum and exter- 

 nal cutaneous fold, on which the feathers may be grouped so as to give the 

 appearance of a pinna. Cosmopolitan, about 150 species. Fossil from 

 the Eocene. Strix flammea L., screech, or bam, owl (Fig. 255), cosmo- 



