PLANTAIN-EATERS. CROW TRIBE. 



435 



their bills ; which are short and stout, and compressed towards 

 the point. When they take their rest, they are said to sleep with 

 the head downwards, suspended by one foot. 



392. The family MUSOPHAGID^E, or Plantain-eaters, is inter- 

 mediate between the Finches and the Hornbills. It consists 

 entirely of Birds which inhabit tropical Africa, and feed upon 

 soft vegetable substances. Their bills are strong and thick, more 

 or less curved on the top, and the outer toe can be turned back 

 so as to resemble that of a Scansorial Bird. In the true Plantain- 

 eaters the base of the bill forms a broad plate rising up on the 

 forehead. The best known species are the Touracos, in which 

 this structure does not occur, but the crown of the head is 

 adorned with an erectile crest. 



393. The family CORVID^:, or the Crow tribe, on the con- 

 trary, is very widely diffused over the globe ; some members 

 of it being found in almost every country except the very coldest; 

 its general characters are consequently well known. The bill 

 is strong, and is compressed at the sides ; and it is covered at the 

 base with stiff feathers, which advance forwards so as to cover 

 the nostrils. In several respects these Birds are to be accounted 

 the most perfectly organised of the whole class ; exhibiting a 

 more complete combination of its distinguishing peculiarities, 

 than we meet with in any other group. Thus, their digestive 



organs enable 

 them to derive 

 nutriment from 

 a great variety of 

 edible substances; 

 the bill being ca- 

 pable of laying 

 hold of almost 

 any kind of food ; 

 and the stomach 

 being intermedi- 

 ate between the 



membranous, or thinly-muscular kind peculiar to the carni- 

 vorous families, and the gizzards, or strongly-muscular organs 



FF2 



FIG. 23(i. HKAU OK CARRION CROW. 



