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remarkable for its bare neck and the great leagth of the two cen- 
tra! tail feathers. 
The breeding habits of the Hornbills, first described by 
Col, Tickell in ISSS, are, if anything, still more extraordinary 
than their externa! appearance. When the female has laid her 
eggs in the hollow of a tree, and begins to incubate, the male 
closes up the hole with clay leaving only an opening sufficiently 
large to be able to feed his mate. This, no doubt, is done as a 
protection against enemies. Thai the nests must be inccjn- 
ceivably filthy by the time the young ones are ready to leave 
thera» goes without saying. 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
The Perching Birds or Fasseres (i.e. Sparrow-like Birds) 
are a large and extremely unwieldy order. No less than 257 
out of 520 species, i.e. almost exactly one half of the birds in 
the Raffles Museum, belong to this order. It is almost impos- 
sible to give an exact definition of them. They are generally 
birds of small size, with feet adapted for perching, i.e. having 
three toes directed forwards and one back wards. Mmi of I hem 
also agree in the structure of the skull and in the arrangement 
of the tendons of the feet. All song birds belong to this order, 
though by no means all members of the order have the power 
of singing. 
Leaving out a few small and little important groups, we 
divide the Perching Birds into the following 28 families : 
Akedinidae: Kingfishers Timeliidae : Babblers. 
Meropidae: Bee-Eaters. Turdidae : Thrushes. 
Carticiidae : Rollers* Syhiidae : Warblers. 
Podargidae : Frogmouths. Lamidae : Shrikes. 
Capnmulgidae : Nightjars or Corvidae : Crows. 
Goatsuckers. Pmddiseidae : Birds of 
Cypselidae : Swifts. Paradise. 
Trogonidae : Trogons. OrioUdae : Orioles. - 
Eurylaemidae : Broadbills, Dkrm idae : King Crows or 
Pittidae: Pittas or Ant- Drongos. 
Thrushes. Zmteropidae : White-eyes. 
Hirundinidae : Swallows. Nectariniidae : Sunbirds. 
MotttdlUdae : Wagtails. Dkaeidae : Flower Peckers, 
Miiscicapidae : Flycatchers. Fringillidae : Finches, 
Cttmpofthagidae: Cuckoo- Phceidae : Weaver Birds 
Shrikes, Sturnidae : Starlings, 
Pvctionotidae : Bulbuls. 
