SLENDER-BILLED BIRDS. 



UPUPID^, OE HOOPOES. 



The large group of birds whicli are termed Tenuieosteal, or Slender-billed, always 

 possess a long and slender beak, sometimes curved, as in the creepers, hoopoes, and many- 

 humming birds, and sometimes straight, as in the nuthatch and other hu-mming birds. 

 The feet are furnished with lengthened toes, and the outer toe is generally connected at 

 the base with the middle toe. 



The first family of the Tenuirostres is called after the hoopoe, and termed Upupidse. 

 In all these birds the bill is curved throughout its entire length, long, slender, and 

 sharply pointed. The wings are rounded, showing that the birds are not intended for 

 aerial feats, and the tail is rather long. The legs are short, and the claws strong and 

 decidedly curved. As several of the famihes embrace a great number of species, it has 

 been thought advisable to separate them into sub-families, for greater convenience of 

 reference and more precision of arrangement. 



The first sub-family is that of the Plume Birds, or Epimachinse, containing some very 

 beautiful species, all of exotic birth, and inhabiting Australia, New Holland, New Guinea, 

 and the neighbouring islands. In these bkds the long and slender bill is cloven as far as 

 the eyes, the nostrils are placed at its base, and covered wdth soft silken plumes, and the 

 thumb-toe or "hallux" is of considerable length and very strong, evidently for the 

 purpose of aiding the birds in the pursuit of their prey. The fourth quill-feather of the 

 wing is generally the longest. 



The Ptiloeis, or Eifle-Bied, is, according to Gould*, the most gorgeous of all the 

 Australian birds, although the full beauty of the creature is not at first sight so striking 

 as that of the parrots or other gaudy-plumaged birds, and needs to be seen by a favourable 

 light before the full glory of the colouring can be made out. 



In size the Eifle-Bird is equal to a large pigeon, and in spite of its beauty it is not 

 very often seen, as it is retiring in its habits, and seems to be confined to a very limited 

 range of country. As far as is at present known, it is found only in the thick " bush " of 

 the south-eastern portions of Australia, and even there appears to be a very local bird. It 

 is no wanderer, never flying to any great distance from its home, and procuring its food in 

 the near vicinity of its nest. Por lengthened flight, indeed, it is singularly incapacitated 

 by the shortness and rounded form of the wings, which is a never-failing characteristic of 

 weakness in the flight and want of sustaining power. Wliile in its native woods it seems 

 never to make more use of its wings than is needful for the purpose of conveying it from 

 one tree to another. 



The habits of this bird are very like those of the common creeper of England, for it 

 is generally seen upon the trunks and large branches of trees, running nimbly round them 

 in a spiral course, and extracting the insects on which it feeds from the crevices and 

 recesses of the bark. 



Although in many instances, some of which have already been mentioned, the two 

 sexes are clothed in very different plumage, there are few species where the distinction 

 is so great as is the case with the Eifle-Bird. In the male bird, the upper part of the 

 body is deep velvet-black, wdth a tinge of purple in a cross light, and the breast, abdomen, 

 and under parts are of the same velvety hue, but diversified with a fine olive-green, which 

 stains the edges of each feather. The crown of the head and the throat are covered with 

 a multitude of remarkably little patches of the most brilliant emerald-green, glancing 

 with a lustrous metallic sheen that equals the well-known emerald feathers of the 

 humming-bird, and is in vivid contrast with the velvet-black of the body. The tail is 

 black, with the exception of the two central feathers, which are of a rich metallic green, 

 nearly as gorgeous as those of the head and neck. The bill is black. 



