MEGALAIMID^. 307 



Bill stout, and somewhat conic, inflated at the sides, moderate in 

 length or short, wide at the base, more or less compressed towards 

 the tip ; base of upper mandible continued backward to the gape, and 

 usually furnished at the base with numerous stiff bristles projecting 

 forwards; some have the mandibles denticulated, and grooved at the 

 sides; culmen generally blunt; wings and tail short; the latter even, 

 or nearly so, with the feathers soft, only ten in number ; toes in 

 pairs, the hind-claws much curved ; tongue of ordinary structure. 



This family is placed by Swainson and Gray, as a sul)family of 

 Picidm ; but the very different general structure, short tongue, non- 

 climbing habits, &c., warrant a higher separation. 



They are birds chiefly from India; some are African ; and a few 

 S. American. They perch like ordinary Insessores; nestle in holes 

 of trees, which I believe they excavate for themselves, though this 

 has been doubted ; laying two to four white eggs; and they live 

 chiefly upon fruit. 



Their plumage is generally bright and gay, and in texture 

 resembles that of the Toucans of S. America ; the feathers posses- 

 sing the supplementary plume, as in that closely-allied family. In 

 their anatomy, they are much more nearly related to the Toucans 

 than to the Woodpeckers ; and their feet are formed quite after the 

 model of that family, to which Mr. Blyth even subordinates them. 

 Their clavicles are imperfect, and do not, in general, if ever, unite 

 to form the furcula ; in this remarkable point, also, agreeing with the 

 Toucans. Their cranium is broad, angular, and weak; the sternum 

 has the keel low, with two emarginations on each side ; the oesopha- 

 gus is wide, the stomach slightly muscular, and the intestinal canal 

 is short and wide, without coeca. They have no gall-bladder. The 

 tongue is long and thin, slightly barbed in some of the larger species. 

 The bill varies in length and degree of compression, and is 

 toothed only in some African species. They have a tuft of bristles 

 over each nostril, another at the angle of the gape, and one on the 

 chin, and these vary in length in the different divisions. (These 

 tufts are also seen in the Motmots. ) The wings have generally 

 the first, second, and sometimes the third, quills short, and 

 the next three or four sub-equal ; and their flight is moderately 

 rapid, though never prolonged to any extent. The sexes appear to 



