CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 



99 



its color olive-brown above and -white beneath ; it is called the Laughing Jackass by the colo- 

 nists of the Cape, on account of its loud, uncouth song. 



The whole number of known species of kingfishers is about ninety; the preceding descriptions 

 of some of the most remarkable will give a general idea of the whole. While some of these birds 

 are as large as a crow, there are others of the genera Ispidina and Ceyx which are not larger 

 than a chippiiig-bird, yet dive and catch fish, proportioned to their size, like their larger relations. 



THE MEROPID^ OR BEE-EATERS. 



These birds are confined to the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, in the tropical parts of which they are most 

 abundant. They have a long, curved bill, and are 

 generally adorned with brilliant colors, among 

 which green is most common. They live on in- 

 sects, which they capture in the air, and are espe- 

 cially fond of wasps and bees, whence their Eng- 

 lish name of Bee-Eaters, and their French name of 

 Guepier. 



Genus MEROPS : Mero2)s. — This includes the 

 Common Bee-Eater of Europe, which is ten inches 

 long, of a very slender form, and long, slender bill: 

 , it is brownish-red above, the lower parts different 

 j-^fe shades of green. It migrates in large numbers from 

 Africa to the south of Europe, usually in flocks of 

 twenty to thirty. They are of gregarious habits, 

 often being seen soaring about in company like 

 swallows. Their nests consist of holes about six 

 inches deep, which they excavate in the clayey 

 banks of rivers and lakes; the eggs are from five to 

 seven. They frequently utter a warbling note. In 

 their manner of flying and seizing their prey they 

 resemble the fly-catchers. 

 This is the only species known to Europe; others are found in Africa and Asia: the Nama- 



QUA Bee-Eater, Rhinopomastes Ci/a7iomclas, is of an azure-blue above and black beneath ; found 



m Western Africa. There are still other genera and other speciea 



THE NAMAQUA BEE-EATER. 



TENUIROSTRES. 



In the birds of this group the bill is always slender, although very Tariable in its length and 

 form, being sometimes perfectly straight and sometimes much curved. The tip of the upper man- 

 dible is usually entire and acute. The toes are elongated, especially the hinder one, and the 

 outer toe is usually more or less united to the middle one at the base. Their food consists princi- 

 pally of insects, which they generally capture on plants and trees, rarely on the wing or on the 

 ground. The majority are destitute of the peculiar arrangement of the lower larynx, by which 

 the beautiful songs of the Dentirostral birds are produced. This group includes several remark- 

 able and interesting families, as follows: the Rijle-Birds, the Plumed Birds or Ejyimachince, the 

 Hoopoes, Guitguits, Sun-Birds, Humming-Birds, Honey-Eaters, Ovtn-Birds, Creepers, Nut- 

 hatches, and Wrens. 



THE RIFLE-BIRDS. 



These are exceedingly beautiful and brilliant birds, found only in Australia. 



Genus PTILORIS : Ptiloris. — (Jf this two species are known ; the common species, the Para- 

 dise Rifle-Bird, P. paradiseus, is the most gorgeous in its plumage of the Australian birds. It 

 is of a rich velvet-black, with the head and neck of a most brilliant bluish-green. The feathers 

 of the lower surface are bordered with rich olive-green, and the two central tail-feathers are me- 



