216 



AVES. 



The Restricted Barbets (Bucco, Cuv.) — 

 Have the beak simply conical, slightly compressed, with a blunt ridge, a little raised about the middle. 

 They are found in both continents, and are generally adorned with vivid colours. At the season ot 

 propagation they are found in pairs, and in little troops [or families] during the remainder of the year. 

 [This and the preceding subdivision form a totally distinct group from the rest, and are most nearly related to 

 the Woodpeckers : the tongue, however, is of the ordinary structure, and they have but ten tail-feathers, which 

 are not rigid. Their feet also are adapted for descending the trunks of trees, hke a Nuthatch, and not merely for 

 ascending them, as in the Woodpeckers and Tree-creepers ; having the claw of the reversed toe particularly hooked 

 and sharp. The beak is especially fitted for cutting the stems of fruits, as with a pair of scissors ; and they lay 

 always four white eggs in the holes of trees, occasionally resorting to the composite nests of the social Grosbeaks. 

 Some other divisions have been instituted among them, with propriety ; and they altogether constitute a natural 

 family, some species of which are even entirely destitute of the tufts of bristles, which latter may be traced, in 

 various degrees of developement, in many other birds, as the Trogons, &c.] 



The Puff-birds {Tamatia, Cuv.) — 

 Have the beak rather more elongated and compressed, with the extremity of the upper mandible 

 [generally] bent downward. Their disproportionately large head, great beak, and short tail, impart 

 an air of stupidity, [which is less observable in the ordinary aspect of the living bird, the dense plu- 

 mage of which is commonly puffed out into a round ball]. All the known species inhabit America, and 

 subsist on insects. 



[Tliey are generally subdivided into Tamalia proper, the heak of which somewhat approximates that of the 

 Bush-shrikes, and Lypornyx, in which it is smaller, little if at all hooked at the tip, and grading towards that of the 

 Barbacous. Together with the latter genus, and the Courols of Madagascar, they form a distinct group, most 

 nearly related to the Cuckoos, w hich they resemble anatomically ; all the members of which appear to possess the 

 habit of puffing out their feathers, and perch lengthwise, clasping the bough with their first and fourth toes, which 

 are directed sideways and not backwards, the same as in the Touracos : they have all twelve tail-feathers, and 

 invariably lay two eggs, in holes either of trees or banks, which probably produce male and female that associate 

 for life, as they are constantly observed in pairs. Tlie American species appear to differ in being exclusively 

 insectivorous, watching for the larger insects, which they take in the manner of a Flycatcher : their manners are 

 familiar ; and the plumage of the forehead directed forwards and more or less terminating in stiff points, very 

 rigid to the feel, which admirably defend the eyes from the fluttering of their insect-prey. The colours of all are 

 sombre, and not gay, as in the Barbets]. 



The Trogons {Trogon, Lin.) — 

 Together with the bundles of bristles round the bill of the Barbets, have a short beak, broader than 

 high, curved at its base, with a blunt arcuated ridge to the upper mandible. Their small feet, feathered 

 nearly to the toes, (heir long and broad tail, and fine, light and dense plumage, impart a peculiar air. 

 Some poition of their plumage has generally a brilliant metallic lustre ; the rest being vividly coloured. 

 They nestle in the holes of trees [producing two or four delicate rounded white eggs, the shell of which 

 is particularly slight and fragile], subsist on insects, and frequent low branches in the interior of thick 

 woods, flying only during the morning and evening. 



[The Trogons constitute another distinct and insu- 

 lated group, intermediate in some respects to the 

 Cuckoos and Moth-hunters, both which they resemble 

 generally in their anatomy, but are hatched naked, in 

 which they differ from either. The sternum (fig. 102) io 

 doubly eraarginated. Their toes are remarkable for 

 being zygodactyle on a different principle from that of 

 any other genus ; the ordinary inner toe being reversed 

 instead of the outer one : their feathers closely resemble 

 in structure those of the true Poultry, and are similarly 

 elongated over the rump, where in certain species they 

 attain an extraordinary developement in the male sex, 

 analogous to the train of a Peacock. Like the Poidtry, 

 also, they are remarkable for the small proportional size 

 of the head. They capture insects in the manner of a 

 Fly-catcher, with a swift and deeply undulating flight ; 

 some of them feeding likewise upon berries. Are found 

 in the warm regions of both continents.] 



The Ani {Crotophar/n, Lin.) — 

 Are known by their thick, arcuated, and compressed beak, without denticulation, high, and surmounted 



ofTrogo,.. 



