308 ZOOLOGr. 



The stomach is not muscular but quite thin, and in 

 both specimens of this species, as well as in those of 

 I. Sparrmanni, filled with a mass of wax, from which, 

 however, all the scent of honey was gone. In one 

 instance, at least, fragments of hymenopterous insects in 

 considerable qua,ntities were mixed with the wax : they 

 looked, however, more like portions of ants than of bees. 

 There can apparently be no doubt that both species of 

 Indicator feed on honey and attack Bees' nests, probably 

 feeding also on the Bees themselves. The native stories 

 of their leading people to Bees' nests are well known, but 

 in Northern Abyssinia at least it is asserted that these 

 birds do not always conduct the honey-seeker to the same 

 goal. At times, it is said, they lead to a dead body ; at 

 others to a Lion or a Leopard. Tales told of animals by 

 uncivilized races must, however, in all cases be received 

 with great caution ; and in the instance of a race like the 

 Abyssinians, who are not hunters in general, imagination 

 probably plays a far more important part than observa- 

 tion, precisely as amongst aU the races of India, except 

 the few whose life is spent to a great extent in hunting 

 for wild animals and forest products for food. That by 

 observing and following an Indicator Bees' nests may be 

 found is easily understood, and it is not necessary to 

 conclude that the bird shows the road intentionally. 



The sternum of Indicator does not much resemble 

 that of a Cuckoo. It is more like that of a Woodpecker, 

 but still more similar to that of a Barbet or a Cpjy. There 

 is a deep double notch at each side behind, the two 

 portions separated by an oblique rib, the inner being 



