SCANSOllES. 221 



The Bnceroides are distinguished by a very sliort and heart-shaped tongue, a siugly-emar- 

 ginatcd sternum, and ten tail-feathers only ; intestines short, and we believe al^^'ays without 

 cceca ; plumage never vividly coloured. In order to mark the degree of value of the two 

 very distinct genera included, we conceive it necessary to indicate the Hornbills by the term 

 Appendirostres, and the Hoopoes by that of Arculirostres. Both are ]jeculiar to the eastern 

 hemisphere. 



The Halcyoides have a doubly-cmarginated sternum, twelve tail-feathers, and, with the 

 sole e.\ception of one group of Kmgfishcrs, splendidly coloured plumage. They fall into tln-eo 

 tribes, viz., Cylindirostres, comprising the Rollers, Uee-eaters, and Kingfishers, which have 

 tongues similar to the foregoing, membranaceous stomachs, and no eoeca; a thick skin, firm 

 ])lumagc (not moulted the first year), and great power of wing; nidificating in holes, and pro- 

 ducing numerous shining white eggs, &c. ; — AiiyuUrostres, composed of tlie Jacamars and 

 Todies, which have thin, lengthened, lamina-like tongues, muscular gizzards, and great cccca, 

 resembling those of the Owls ; thin skin, soft plumage, feeble powers of flight, and which 

 jiroducc coloured or speckled eggs, also in holes ; — and Serratirostrex, or the Motmots, which 

 are intermediate to the Cylindirostres and the Toucans, (wdiich commence the next series). 

 The Anr/idirostres and Serratirostres are confined in their distribution to America ; while the 

 Cylindirostres, with the exception of a single subdivision of Kingfishers partly, are found only 

 in the old world. 



2. Zygodiniyli. — The members of this division likewise fall into two principal minor 

 groups, which may be termed Picoides and Cucaloides. The greater number subsist on mixed 

 diet, and a marked predatory projiensity is retained by some. 



The Picoides have always (at least in every known instance) a doubly-emarginated sternum, 

 comparatively muscular gizzard, and no coeca to the intestine. They all jiroduee white eggs, 

 less spherical than those of the Syndactyli, (in which respect the latter approximate the 

 Raptores, which precede them) ; and have an accessory plume to their feathers, more or less 

 developed; their plumage being almost ah^a^s adorned with vivid colours. It is in this 

 group that the tongue is so variously modified, in the Toucans, Woodpeckers, &c. To bring 

 the s[)ecies as near as possible together, tliey may be arrangetl into two tribes, viz., Ijeviros- 

 tres, consisting of two very distinct families, — that of the Toucans, and that of the Touracos 

 and Colics ; and Ciineirostres, comprehending the Woodpecker family (which includes the 

 Iloneyguides), and that of the B.arbets. The Toucan and Touraco families are respectively 

 peculiar to the old and new worlds, the latter, with the sole exception of two or three Colies, 

 to Africa ; the W()o(l[)eckcrs are generally diffused, ■cxcei)ting in Australia ; and members of 

 the )?arbet family are found in the ivanu regions of both liemisiiheres. 



The Cuculoides have a comparatii-ely lax stomach, ami in\-ariably great eocea, which when- 

 ever they occur throughout the Strepitnres are always of the same proportional dimensions 

 and form as those of the nocturnal Birds of Prey ; their colours, excepting in one grou]) of 

 Cuckoos, are never bright ; and they have no trace of an accessory plume to the feathers : 

 the greater number lay coloured or speckled eggs, and many construct inartificial nests in 

 bushes, (all the preceding genera, save tlie Ctdies only, resorting to holes for that purjiose). 

 A "-reat proportion of tliem have the outer and middle toes more or less directed laterally. 

 They fall under two families only, that of the Courols, Barbaeous, and Puff-birds, which have 

 twelve tail-feathers, and that of the Cuckoos, which have onlj- ten or fewer, and which might 

 be again naturally distributed into several supergeneric divisions, or subfamilies. Of these, 

 we can only remark, that that which com)U'ises the parasitic species is peculiar to the 

 old world. 



3. Heterod(icti/li. — This group consists of Birds the great majority of which are mainly 

 insectivorous, and take their food on the wing. They arc generally endowed, tliercfore, with 

 considerable power of flight, have a wide gape, and short feet, rarely adapted for progression. 

 The only zygodactyle family of them has the toes diifcrently disposed from those of all other 



