THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 5 



corner of mouth under middle of the eye ; feet 

 with short shanks, and toes in pairs, the outer front 

 one being turned back ; wings short, rounded ; 

 tail short or medium, rounded or square. General 

 build heavy ; their carriage is stooping, sitting well 

 over the perch. 



PLUMAGE, ETC. Predominant colour green, diversified 

 with red, yellow, blue, and black ; but some forms 

 have no green. No seasonal change and usually no 

 sex-difference ; young much like adults, but less 

 brilliant. 



YOUNG. Naked and helpless. When fledging they 

 turn their tails over their backs under the wings. 

 They shuffle about on the hocks, where there is a 

 warty pad. 



NEST. A hole in a tree, pecked out by the birds. 



EGGS. Several ; white. 



FOOD. Chiefly vegetable, berries especially. Some, 

 especially the American and African kinds, how- 

 ever, eat insects also. 



GAIT. They usually hop about the boughs, seldom 

 coming to the earth naturally. On the ground 

 they hop. Some climb like woodpeckers. 



FLIGHT. Undulating and not long protracted ; they 

 are not migratory. The feet are drawn up in 

 front. 



NOTE. Constantly reiterated, and often metallic in 

 character. They are much more heard than seen. 



DISPOSITION, HABITS, ETC. They are usually solitary 

 and rather quarrelsome, biting hard at any rate 

 Indian species ; but some African species seem 

 more sociable. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. Indifferent, their chief food 

 being wild fruit. They are very ornamental birds, 

 however. 



CAPTIVITY. They do well, feeding on " soft food," fruit, 

 etc. Only one species, however, the Blue-throated 



