20 



PICARIAN BIRDS. 



may frequently be seen together. The eggs are three or four in number, of a 

 very pale buff colour, and laid on the bare wood in some hollow of a decayed tree. 



THE COLIES. 

 Family COLIIDJE. 



The colies bring us to another group of the Picarian order, technically known 

 as the Coraciiformes, often conveniently spoken of (for want of a better name) as 

 the fissirostral group. With the single exception of the humming-birds, all the 

 members of the group have a similar arrangement of the tendons on the lower 



LONG-TAILED COLY OR MOUSE-BIRD. 



surface of the foot ; the first toe being supplied by a branch of one tendon, while 

 the fourth is served by a different one. As a rule, the palate is of the 

 desmognathous type ; although in some cases it is of the modification charac- 

 terising the perching birds. The colies themselves are exclusively African, and are 

 remarkable for the structure of their feet, in which all four toes are directed 

 forwards, although it is probable that the first can be turned backwards at will. 

 The breast-bone is characterised by the presence of four notches ; the oil-gland is 

 naked ; the intestine is devoid of blind appendages ; and there are ten tail-feathers. 

 The whole of the colies are included in the single genus Colius, which is represented 

 by half a score of species. To the colonist of South Africa, colies are commonly 

 known by the name of mouse-birds, and they are reported to be good eating. 

 They have a rapid flight, like that of a parrot, with very quick beats of the wings ; 

 and are generally found in flocks of six or eight individuals, which when disturbed 



