482 PASSERINES. 



dactyles, Tenuirostres, Conirostres, Fissirostres, and Dentirostres. 

 The first is based on the structure of the feet ; the other four on 

 the formation of the bill. But this classification is yery arbitrary, 

 as it is not always possible to assign a place to certain groups by 

 an inspection of the beak alone. We shall, however, follow this 

 distribution, as being that generally adopted. 



Sl'NDACTYLES. 



The Syndactyles (having the toes united) have the external 

 toe nearly as long as the middle one, and united to it up to the 

 last articulation. The birds which constitute this group have 

 little analogy with each other, the physical characters which we 

 shall have occasion to notice being purely artificial as a means of 

 classification. The family includes the Hornbills (JBuceros, Linn.), 

 the Fly-catchers {Muscicapidce), the King-fishers {Alcedo, Linn.), 

 the Bee-eaters {Merops, Linn.), and the Momots (JPrionites, 111.). 



The HoENBiLLS, or Calaos, are remarkable for their enormous 

 development of beak, which is long, very wide, compressed, 

 and more or less curved and notched, and in some species 

 surmounted by a large helmet-like protuberance. This immense 

 beak is nevertheless very light, being cellulose, as in the Tou- 

 cans. The Hornbills have in some respects the bearing of the 

 Crow : this led Bontius to class them among the Crows, under 

 the name of Indian Crow {Corvus indicus). They walk with 

 difficulty, and their flight is clumsy, their favourite position being 

 on a perch at the summit of lofty trees. Great flocks of these 

 haunt the forests of the warmer regions of the Old "World, 

 especially Africa, India, and the Oceanic Archipelago. They 

 build their nests in the hollows of trees. They are omnivorous, 

 and the fruits, seeds, and insects of those regions are their prin- 

 cipal food; yet they feed also on flesh. In India they are 

 domesticated, their services in destroying rats and mice being 

 much appreciated. The plumage of the Hornbill is black or 

 grey, of various shades ; but there is a species described by Dr. 

 Latham and Dr. Shaw, under the name of the Crimson Hornbill, 

 which Mr. Swainson thinks may prove to be a link between 

 Toucans and Hornbills, and thus combine the beauty of plumage 

 of the former with the peculiarity of form of the latter. Their 



