482 PASSEEINES. 



dactyJes, Tenuirostres, Conirostres, Fissirostres, and Dentirostres. 

 Tiie first is based on tlie structure of the feet ; the otiier four on 

 the formation of the bill. But this classification is very 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. 



Syndacttles. 



The Byndactyles (having the toes united) have the external 

 toe nearly as long as the middle one, and imited 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 {Buceros, Linn.), 

 the Flj'-catchers {^itiscicapidce), the King-fishers {Alcedo, Linn.), 

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



The Hornbills, or Calaos, are remarkable for their enormous 

 development of beak, which is long, verj^ 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 {Corcus mdicus). They walk with 

 difficulty, and their flight is clumsy, their favourite j)osition 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. Thej' are omnivorous, 

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

 cijoal food ; j'et they feed also on flesh. In India they are 

 domesticated, their services in destroj'ing rats and mice being 

 much appreciated. The plumage of the HornbiU 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 Horubill, 

 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 



