304 



PASSKRES. 



JIRDS.- 



-PROMEROPID.B. 



ably common, taking up its abode in woods, groves of 

 trees, hedges, and even in single trees, and sometimes 

 about old buildings. Like the European Hoopoe, it 

 feeds on the ground, walking and running with great 

 facility, and picking up insects and worms as it pro- 

 gresses. It is said by Lieutenant Burgess to be partial 

 to the sandy ground in the Deccan, feeding upon the 

 Ant-lions, whose conical pitfalls abound in such situa- 

 tions. In Ceylon, it has been observed investigating the 

 dung of cattle in search of the beetles with which that 

 substance usually swarms. Its note resembles that of 

 the common Hoopoe. This species breeds in holes in 

 old buildings and mud walls, into which it brings a few 

 fibres of some soft substance for the reception of its 

 eggs, which are of a very pale blue colour. 



THE BED-BILLED LBBISOB (Irrisar erythrorhyn- 

 chus) belongs to a genus, of which numerous species 

 are found in Africa, in which the tail is very long 

 and the head destitute of a crest. This species is 

 about fifteen inches in length, and of a blackish-green 

 colour, with the abdomen black, the wings and tail 

 spotted with white, and the rostrum and feet red. 

 These birds inhabit the tall trees, where they creep 

 along the branches in search of the insects and larvae 

 which constitute their principal nourishment. They 

 are also said to feed upon figs. 



THE STTPEBB PLUMED BIRD (Epimachus magnus). 

 The Plumed birds, as they are called, resemble the 

 Birds of Paradise in the great development of some 

 parts of their plumage, and also in the great brilliancy 

 of colour exhibited by most of the species. They have 

 accordingly been placed by many writers with the 

 Birds of Paradise, or in their immediate neighbour- 

 hood, and they certainly differ but little from those 

 birds, except in the form of the bill. The species are 

 inhabitants of New Guinea and its dependencies. 



The Superb Plumed Bird is about the size of a 

 pigeon, but from the enormous development of the tail 

 feathers, of which the middle ones are twenty-eight 

 inches long, the whole measures about four feet in 

 length. The general colour of this beautiful bird is 

 violet black ; the back of the head and neck, and the 

 fore part of the belly, are of a brilliant glossy green 

 colour ; the scapulars are very remarkable for their 

 peculiar form, the shafts being curved upwards and 

 furnished with very short webs on the upper surface, 

 whilst the barbs of the lower surface are very long, 

 and of a purplish-black colour at the base ; but the 

 tips of these barbs for a considerable length, are of 

 a most brilliant golden-green colour. From beneath 

 each wing springs a tuft of light feathers, resembling 

 in texture those of the common Bird of Paradise, of a 

 dusky colour, and about eight inches and a half in 

 length, and on each side of the tail there are about 

 half a dozen long and pointed feathers of a bronzed 

 and gilded green colour, with unequal webs ; the tail 

 feathers are blue-black and brilliant, the two middle 

 ones being chestnut. 



THE MAGNIFICENT PLUMED BIBD (Epimachus 

 magni/icus). This species, which is rather smaller 

 than the preceding, is of a general black colour, with 

 violet and green reflections in certain lights ; the throat 

 and breast exhibit the most vivid metallic blue, green, 



and violet tints, in a perfectly circumscribed patch of 

 considerable size and nearly triangular form, bounded 

 below by a bright, orange-yellow, transverse line ; the 

 tail, unlike that of the preceding species, is short, and 

 nearly square, and on each side of the base of the tail 

 beneath the wings, there spring a few light decomposed 

 plumes, resembling those forming the tufts of the true 

 Birds of Paradise. This bird inhabits New Guinea. 



THE RIFLE BIBD (Ptiloris paradiseus). This 

 magnificent species has only been discovered in the 

 south-eastern corner of Australia, between the Hunter 

 River and Moreton Bay. It measures nearly eleven 

 inches in length. The two sexes are very different in 

 their colours; as Mr. Gould remarks, " While the male 

 is adorned with hues only equalled by some species oi 

 the TrocTiilidce, or Humming-birds, the dress of the 

 female is as sombre as can well be imagined." The 

 general colour of the plumage of the male is a rich 

 velvet black, with a brownish-violet lustre on the 

 upper surface ; the feathers of the abdomen and flanks 

 are broadly margined with rich olive-green ; the crown 

 of the head and the throat are covered with beautiful 

 scale-like, metallic, bluish-green feathers, and the two 

 middle feathers of the tail are also of a metallic-green 

 colour. The female is very dissimilar. The whole 

 upper surface in this sex is greyish-brown, the feathers 

 of the head having each a white line down the centre; 

 the whole lower surface is buff, paler on the throat, and 

 each feather of the breast and abdomen has a black, 

 arrow-shaped mark upon it. The bill and feet are 

 black in both sexes. Scarcely anything is known of 

 the habits of this bird, which is said to climb about 

 upon the trunks of the trees in the Australian forests. 

 Mr. Gould has described a second species of this 

 genus, under the name of Ft. Victories, in compliment 

 to the Queen. 



FAMILY H.-PROMEROPID^l. 



THE birds of this family, to which the name of Sun- 

 birds is frequently applied, are generally splendid in 

 their plumage, and like most birds in which this is the 

 case, they are confined to the tropical parts of the 

 earth's surface. They are, however, common to both 

 hemispheres, although the species found in the Old 

 World all differ in certain respects from those inhabit- 

 ing America. The majority of the species belong to 

 the Eastern Hemisphere. 



The family is distinguished by having the bill long 

 and slender, and usually more or less curved, with the 

 nostrils situated at the base of the upper mandible, and 

 covered by a scale ; the wings are of moderate length, 

 and the tarsi short and clothed with broad scales. In 

 their general habits these birds resemble the Humming 

 birds, which they rival in splendour of colouring, fre- 

 quenting the flowers in search of the small insects 

 usually found amongst the petals, which they extract 

 by means of their long slender bills. According to 

 some writers they also feed upon the sweet juices of 

 the flowers; and from this opinion they have been 

 denominated Sucriers, or Sugar-birds, by the French 

 authors. 



