PICARIAN BIRDS 



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over the nostrils are short and scanty, and the base of the upper margin of the 

 beak forms a sharp ridge ; all the species are tropical. 



Africa is also the home of several of the curious birds known as honey- 

 guides, which are regarded by some writers as forming a subfamily of the 

 Capitonidce, while by others they are classed as a family by themselves, 



ABYSSINIAN GEOUND-HORNBILL. 



Indicatorkhe. These birds, which are also represented in the Himalaya and the 

 Malay Islands, may be compared to wrynecks, from which they differ by their 

 curved beaks and more compact plumage. All of them feed upon insects, and 

 more especially immature bees ; but being of themselves unable to drag out the 

 combs in which the latter live, they have the remarkable habit of attracting the 

 attention of honey -badgers, or ratels, and human beings to the nests by their cries, 



