TUB COLLARED PUFF-BIRD. BIRDS. THE BKE-EATER. 



301 



light in which it is viewed; the head is dull violet- 

 green, and the throat is white. This species is less 

 retired and solitary in its habits than the others, being 

 found in the more open parts of the forest, and usually 

 in pairs. 



THE THREE-TOED JACAMAR (Jacamaralcyon tri- 

 dactyla). This species differs from the other Jaca- 

 mars in possessing only three toes ; two in front, 

 united to each other, and one behind. It is of a dull 

 green colour above, with the forehead and crown of 

 the head reddish- white ; the throat and cheeks are 

 black, and from the throat a black streak descends 

 along the sides of the body to the lower tail-coverts, 

 which, with the vent, are also black ; the rest of the 

 lower surface of the body is reddish-white. This 

 curiously marked bird is a native of Brazil. Its 

 -habits agree with those of the other species. 



THE GREAT JACAMAR (Jacamerops grandis) 

 Plate 8, fig. 23 has the feet similar to those of the 

 ordinary species, but the bill, which is rather stout, is 

 slightly curved throughout its whole length. It is 

 about eleven inches in length. The plumage of the 

 whole upper surface is of a rich and brilliant golden- 

 green, exhibiting a more or less reddish lustre in cer- 

 tain lights ; the quill-feathers of the wings are blackish 

 externally, and the lower surface is red. The bill is 

 black. This bird is also a native of the tropical parts 

 of America. 



THE COLLARED PUFF-BIRD (Bucco cottons). The 

 curious group of birds called Puff-birds, from their 

 habit of puffing out their plumage so as to appear 

 much larger than they really are, is placed amongst the 

 Alcedinidee by Mr. G. K. Gray, although it certainly 

 appears to have considerable affinity with the small 

 group of birds called Barbets, belonging to the scan- 

 sorial family of the Woodpeckers. They have a very 

 stout, conical bill, somewhat inflated at the base, which 

 bears several tufts of strong bristles ; and the toes are 

 arranged in two pairs, the two outer toes being the 

 longest. There are numerous species of this group, 

 all inhabitants of tropical America, where they lead a 

 solitary, and somewhat sedentary life in the recesses of 

 the forests. They live exclusively upon insects, and 

 breed in the holes of trees. 



The Collared Puff-bird, which is an inhabitant of 

 Guiana, measures rather more than seven inches in 

 length; it is of a red colour, with transverse black 

 streaks above, whitish beneath, with a black band 

 across the breast, and above this a tawny one; the 

 feathers of the tail are also banded with black. 



THE VAX-BILLED BARBACOU (Monasa atra). Of 

 the numerous species of Puff-birds inhabiting South 

 America, we need only refer to this species, the type 

 of a genus (Monasa), the species of which are rather 

 more active, and less solitary in their habits, than the 

 rest of their allies. They possess longer wings, and 

 fly better than the Buccos, and although they reside in 

 the forest, they often seek the insects which constitute 

 their food over the inundated savannahs. They are 

 said to breed sometimes in the holes of trees, and 

 sometimes in the earth. The Wax-billed Barbacou 

 measures nearly a foot in length, and is black above, 

 ash-coloured beneath ; the bill is of a fine carmine 



colour. It is a native of Guiana. With these birds 

 we quit the family of the Alcedinidae. 



FAMILY VI. MEROPID^E. 



The birds of this family present certain points of 

 resemblance both to the Kingfishers and Swallows 

 amongst the Fissirostres on the one hand, and to the 

 slender-billed birds of the following group (Tenui- 

 roatres) on the other. They have an elongated, and 

 more or less curved bill, of which the gape extends 

 backwards beneath the eyes ; their nostrils are partly 

 concealed by short bristles ; their wings are long and 

 pointed, indicating considerable powers of flight ; and 

 they have a long and broad, usually more or less 

 wedge-shaped tail, of which the two middle feathers 

 are generally a good deal longer than the rest. Their 

 tarsi are very short, and the long toes are placed as in 

 birds generally, namely, three in front and one behind; 

 the anterior lateral toes are united to the middle one, 

 the outer one throughout its whole length. The bril- 

 liant birds belonging to this family are all inhabitants 

 of the eastern hemisphere, especially ot its tropical 

 portions. Their food consists of insects, which they 

 capture in the air, like the Swallows, to which they 

 bear so much resemblance. Bees and wasps constitute 

 a favourite portion of their nourishment, from which 

 circumstance they have received the English name ot 

 Bee-eaters. The French, on the same account, call 

 them Gwpiers, or wasp-catchers. Of the African 

 species, one 



THE COMMON BEE-EATER (Merops apiaster) Plate 

 8, fig. 24 visits the south of Europe regularly as a 

 summer bird of passage; and as occasional specimens 

 find their way northwards to this country, it is recorded 

 as a British bird. This beautiful bird measures nearly 

 eleven niches in length, from the tip of the bill to that 

 of the elongated middle feathers of the tail. Its bill is 

 black, and a black streak runs from its base under the 

 eye, to join a bluish-black band which crosses below 

 the throat ; the forehead is bluish ; the upper surface is 

 of a fine reddish-brown colour, becoming yellow on the 

 rump ; the quill-feathers of the wings are greenish-blue, 

 with the tips black ; the tail-coverts are bluish-green, 

 and the tail-feathers green. The lower surface is 

 bright green, with the chin and throat of a rich saffron 

 yellow colour. 



In Africa, this species has been observed nearly as 

 far south as the Cape of Good Hope. It also occurs 

 in Madeira, and in the spring passes in troops of twenty 

 or thirty from the northern shores of Africa, in all 

 parts of which it is well known, to the islands of the 

 Mediterranean, and thence in considerable numbers to 

 the south of Europe, where it remains through the 

 summer to breed. It is abundant in Turkey, Greece, 

 and Southern Kussia, and is also common in Spain and 

 Italy. Those individuals which visit more northern 

 countries, must be looked upon as stragglers, and the 

 Bee-eater is thus known as an occasional visitor not 

 only to this country, but also even to Norway and 

 Sweden. 



In its habits the Bee-eater somewhat resembles the 

 Swallows, hunting about like them in pursuit of insects. 



