158 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
pended from a brancli with their head downwards. The coly 
found at the Cape of Good Hope^ from its grey colour and 
its habit of creeping up the branchy is commonly called the 
Mouse-bird (Plate X. fig. 4). This species is very destructive 
to the gardens in the Cape Colony^ as it nips off the buds of 
fruit-trees and eats the young plants as they spring out of the 
ground ; the note is monotonous^ as the trachea is furnished 
with only one pair of vocal muscles. The bodies of the co- 
lies are more bulky than would be supposed^ the feathers 
lying very close to the skin; the flesh is of delicate flavour. 
The family MusoPHAGiDiE derives its name from the ty- 
pical genus Miisopliaga, the Plantain-eater^ a form of birds 
in which the base of the beak expands into a horny disc, 
covering part of the forehead. The name is applied to this 
African bird from the banana fruit forming its chief support. 
To the same family belong the Touracos [Corytliaix), with 
their compressed bill and crest, and generally bright green 
colours, with some bright red or other fine contrasting 
colour on some part of their plumage. Another genus, 
named ChizcEfJiis, contains African birds generally of a grey- 
ish or sombre plumage, with a rounded beak ; by Linnseus, 
who knew them imperfectly, a species of this genus was 
regarded as a Pheasant '(the (7. Africanus) . 
