230 



ZOO LOOT. 



The second group, the Cuculi, comprise the horn-bills 

 of Malaysia, the kingfishers, the toucans of South America, 

 known by their enormous vaulted bill, and the cuckoos, 

 with their near relations, the African guide-birds. The 

 female horn-bill makes a nest in a hollow tree, and the male 

 has the extraordinary habit, while the female is sitting on 

 her egg, of plastering up the opening with mud, so that 

 she can only stick the end of her great bill out of the small 

 hole. The male feeds her during the whole time of incu- 



Fig. 270.— Nighthawk. 



Fig. 271.— Kingbird. 



bation and until the young bird is fledged. These are suc- 

 ceeded by the Cypseli, embracing the humming-birds, goat- 

 suckers, swifts, nighthawk {Chordeiles Virginianus, Fig. 

 263), and whippoorwill, which have long pointed wings, 

 great powers of flight, small weak feet, and, in the hum- 

 ming-birds, long slender bills. The latter are peculiar to 

 America, being chiefly confined to South and Central Amer- 

 ica, only one species (Trochilus colubris) extending into the 

 Eastern United States, though a dozen or more species occur 

 in the Western United States, and very many in Mexico. 



