10 
THE ZOOLOGICAL DEPAKTilENT. 
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their name ; some of the Drongos, or Indian forked-tailed Shrikes, 
have great powers of song. 
Cases 62-73. The Conirostral Passerine birds feed chiefly on grain 
and fruit, hut may be called omnivorous. The Crows and Jays ; the 
curious bare-necked Grakles of South America ; the gorgeous Birds of 
Paradise from New Guinea and the adjoining islands, to which th«y 
prove a considerable source of revenue. Case 65. The metallic- 
plumed shining Thrushes ; the satin Bower Bird of Australia forms a 
bower of twigs, which it adorns with feathers and strews with bones 
and stones, and uses it as a place to play in. The Oxpeckers of Africa 
with their strong beaks pick grubs out of the skin of oxen and other 
beasts. 
Case 67. The yellow and black Orioles, some of which, like the 
Cowpen Bunting of North America, lay their eggs in the nests of 
other birds. Case 68. The Weavers of Africa and Asia, so named 
from the elegant nests they weave with dried grasses : some of these 
live in great colonies with the nests under one great cover ; the Gros- 
beaks, particularly the thick-billed Ground-sparrow of the Galapagos ; 
the Tanagers of tlae New World, remarkable for the gay plumage of the 
males; the Finches and Buntings, living chiefly on seeds; the Larks, 
which sing when fluttering in the air ; the Crossbills, with the points of 
tlie beak crossing each other and giving them great power in tearing 
pine-cones to pieces to get at the seeds ; the Colies of Africa and 
India, which sleep in companies, suspended by one foot ; the African 
Plantain-eaters. Cases 72, 73. The Hornbills, with their enormous 
beaks : the females when incubating are imprisoned in the nest and 
fed by tlie male. Cases 74-83. The Scansorial Birds, powerful grasp- 
ers from the arrangement of the toes, two before and two behind ; 
they chiefly live on fruit; the long-tailed Brazilian Maccaws w^ith their 
naked cheeks ; the Australian Parakeets ; the Cockatoos ; the New 
Zealand Strigops with its owl-like aspect, and the red and blue Lories 
of the Indian Archipelago. 
Case 77. The Toucans of the New World, with large beaks ; one of 
the most curious is the curl-crested species. Cases 78-80. The 
Woodpeckers, with their wedge-shaped beaks and bristly-pointed tails ; 
they live on insects and larvse, which they extract from trees, by peck- 
ing with their strong chisel-like beaks, and then insinuating their long 
extensile tongues. The species are most numerous in America and 
Asia. Cases 81-83. The Cuckoos. Many of these deposit their 
eggs in the nests of other birds, which sit upon them and rear the 
young ; the Honey guides of South Africa are so called from guiding 
the natives to the nests of wild bees ; the Golden Cuckoos of South 
Africa have brilliant metallic green and purple plumage ; the Anis are 
black birds, found in South America and the West Indies. They are 
very fond of warmth, and live on insects. 
On the East side of the room, in Cases 84-106, are placed the 
Gallinaceous Birds, beginning with the Pigeons ; the most conspicuous 
of these are — the Victoria and great Crowned Pigeons of the East Indian 
Islands; the Nutmeg Pigeons, feeding on aromatic fruits ; the Bronze- 
