102 BIRD GALLERir. 



cephala) (1474), ''Tinker-bird" {Barhatula pusilla) (1464), and "Iron- 

 smith" [Cyanops) (1471-1473). Fruits, buds, and insects form their 

 principal food, but in captivity they will eat meat or small birds. 

 From three to five oval white eggs are laid in a hole in a soft-wooded 

 or dead tree excavated by the birds, who cut a neat circular entrance 

 similar to that made by the Woodpeckers. More than a hundred 

 species are recognised and are grouped into some twenty genera, nearly 

 all of which are represented in the Case. 



Among the more striking we may draw attention to the tooth-billed 

 forms such as Pogonorhynchus dubius (1456), with the base of the bill 

 hidden by dense tufts of bristles, and its allies belonging to the genera 

 Lybius (1457, 1458), and Tricholcema (1459, 1460). In all the other 

 genera the edge of the upper mandible is entire. An exception to 

 the gaudy plumage and striking contrasts in colour is found in the 

 West African forms Gymnobucco calvus (1461), with its curious bare 

 head, and Heliobucco bonapartei (1462) ; also in Color hamphus hay i (1466) 

 from the Malay Peninsula; all three are birds of singularly plain 

 appearance. One of the largest is the Great Himalayan Barbet {Mega- 

 lama marshallorum) (1467), and the most brilliantly coloured members 

 are found in the Oriental genus Cyanops (1471-1473) and the South 

 American Capito (1480-1484), which are remarkable in having the 

 plumage of the sexes different. 



Family III. iNDicATORiDiE. Honey-Guides. 



[Case 66.] This small family of dull-coloured birds includes about a dozen 

 species mainly confined to Africa ; but two species occur in the 

 Oriental region, one inhabiting the Himalaya, and the second the 

 Malay Peninsula and Borneo. The popular name is derived from the 

 curious habit of certain African species, which lead men to bees' nests 

 for the sake of sharing the spoil. On observing a man the bird comes 

 fluttering from branch to branch, uttering a shrill cry to attract 

 attention, and, if followed, gradually leads him to a nest of bees, its 

 object being to obtain the portions of the comb containing the grubs. 

 The two Oriental species are not known to share this peculiar habit ; 

 but, so far as is known, the food of all the Honey-Guides consists of 

 Hymenoptera. The white eggs are deposited in a hole in the stem or 

 branch of a tree, and the birds are said to utilise the old nest-hole of a 

 Barbet or Woodpecker for the purpose. The species of Indicator, of 

 which the Common Honey-Guide (1486) is a well-known example, have 

 a stout, rather finch-like bill, while in Prodotiscus regulus (1488) and its 

 allies it is more slender and pointed. 



