A EEVISION or THE 



FAMILY INDICATORID^. 



By R. BOWDLER SHARPE, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, 

 Zoological Department, British Museum. 



In 'The Ibis' for 1870 (p. 176) Dr. Sclater has given an instructive paper on the 

 position of the Honey-guides in the Natural System ; and, even from the scanty 

 material at his command, he shows pretty clearly that these birds constitute a 

 separate family, rather more nearly allied to the Barbets than to the Cuckoos; 

 and he establishes the family name " Indicatoridee " for them. This proposal 

 appears to have been acquiesced in by subsequent writers. About the same 

 time Mr. Blanford (Geol. & Zool. Abyss, p. 309) advocated the placing of 

 the Honey-guides with the Barbets or with the Colics rather than with the 

 Cuckoos, arriving at this conclusion quite independently and from the study 

 of specimens shot by himself. In regard to the affinities of the family with 

 the Coliidoe, as suggested by Mr. Blanford, Dr. Murie is silent in his paper 

 on the latter birds (Ibis, 1872, p. 262) ; and at present their position may be 

 said to be established in the neighbourhood of the Capitonid^. But they 

 must also have a certain affinity Avith the Cuculidse ; for there are decidedly 

 Cuculine characters, such as are found in the tongue {cf. Sclater, /. c), the 

 nostril (cf. Blanford, /. c), and also in the presumed parasitic habits of the 

 bird (cf. Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ostafr. p. 515). 



I need not dilate on the "honey-guiding'" propensities of the Indica- 

 toridse — a fact so well known to us from the writings of African naturahsts, 

 but one which has never been credited to the Indian species (cf. Jerdon, B. 

 Ind. i, p. 306). Information on this subject can be found on reference to the 



