45^ REPTILES AND BIRDS.. 



Syndactyles. 



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 arti- 

 culation. The Birds which constitute this group have little analogy 

 with each other, the physical character which we shall have occasion 

 to notice being purely artificial as a means of classification. The 

 family includes the Hornbills, the Fly-catchers, the King-fishers, the 

 Bee-eaters, and the Motmots. 



The Hornbills (Buceros) are remarkable for their enormous deve- 

 lopment 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 Toucans. 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 principal food ; yet they will 

 not refuse flesh. In India they are domesticated, their services in 

 destroying rats and mice being valuable. 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 flesh is delicate, especially when fed on aromatic seeds. Many 

 species are described, varying in size, among which the Rhinoceros 

 Hornbill {Buceros rhinoceros, Fig. 180) is the most worthy of notice. 

 This bird is so named from the singular protuberance with which its 

 bill is surmounted : this is a smooth horny casque or helmet, curving 

 upwards from the bill, somewhat resembling the horn of the rhinoceros, 

 It is a native of India and the islands of the Indian Ocean. 



The Fly-catchers (Muscidapid<z) are a family of insectivorous birds, 

 many of which are British, containing, according to Temminck, 

 the Todies {Todus), distinguished by long, broad, and very flat bills, 

 contracting suddenly at the tip ; tail short, slender, and rounded ; 

 legs long and weak ; toes short, the outer one more or less united to 

 the middle one. T. viridis, the only species mentioned by this 



