58 
POPULAE HISTORY OP BIEDS. 
tonous note. Their flying powers are feeble^ their food con- 
sists of insects, and they are reported to pursue small birds, 
and pillage the nests of others of their young and eggs. 
They nestle in holes. 
These todies, kingfishers, bee-eaters, and motmots are 
arranged by Cuvier in a group {Syndactyli), which derives 
its name from the outer and middle toe of the birds com- 
posing it, being united as far as the second joint. 
We now come to the Tenuirostral birds, which are dis- 
tinguished for the most part by their slender and generally 
long curved bills, without any notch at the end. 
If gorgeous plumage confer kingship on birds, the truly 
magnificent^'' Rifle-bird [Ptiloris magnifica\ Ejoimachtts 
joaradisetis of Gray and MitchelFs ^ Genera of Birds,^ may be 
regarded as a king of its family. The male of this long-beaked 
bird has a fine gorget of metallic-green feathers, terminating 
in a circlet of black, red, yellow and yellowish-green feathers, 
forming a crescent on his breast : his ^^cap^^ or head-covering 
is also, like the breast-gorge, of scale-like metallic-green 
feathers, the face being purplish, and shading off into the 
general black of the plumage. He contrasts finely with 
the sombre-coloured greyish-brown female, with its buffy- 
white under-part flecked with brown. This bird, formerly re- 
