PASSERINiE. 
205 
Their anatomy offers some peculiarities which connect them with the Kingfishers and Wood- 
peckers ; the sternum (fig. 94) is doubly emarginated, they have but one pair of laryngeal muscles, 
and the stotnach is membranous ; [they have also no coeca to the intestine. In every essential par- 
ticular they thus accord with the Kingfishers and Bee-eaters, with which they form a special natural 
group, all the members of which take their food commonly on the wing, lay numerous polished 
white eggs, of an almost spherical shape, in holes of some description, collecting no nest, the young 
retaining their first plumage, which is little less bright than that 
of the adult, until the second autumn : the whole of them subsist 
exclusively on animal diet] . 
The Rollers, properly so called, — 
Have a straight beak, higher than broad, [and comparatively 
elongated] . 
There is one in Europe (C. garrula, Lin.).— Vivid sea-green, with red- 
dish-fulvous back and scapularies ; some pure blue at the bend of the 
wing; and size about equal to that of a Jay. It is a very wild bird, 
though social with its own kind ; noisy ; which nestles in the holes of 
trees in the forests, and leaves at the approach of winter. It feeds on 
worms, insects, and small Frogs. Some have the exterior tail-feathers 
elongated, [as in the common Swallow ; and there is one species, inhabit- 
ing South Africa, which is stated to perch and watch for prey on the 
horn of the Rhinoceros, giving notice to that animal of the approach of 
Ij Fig. 94.-Sternum of Roller. the hunter]. 
J The Rolles (Colaris, Cuv., Eurystomus, Vieillot), 
i| Differ from the preceding by having a shorter and more arcuated bill, and particularly by its being 
j widened at the base, which is broader than high. 
! [Tlie species are less numerous ; and there is one inhabiting Australia.] 
! The Birds-of-Paradise {Paradiscea, Lin.), 
j Have a straight, compressed, stout, and unemarginated beak, with covered nostrils, as in the Crows ; 
I but the influence of the climate they inhabit, which extends to birds of several other genera [so far 
j as the beak is concerned], imparts a velvety texture, and frequently also a metallic gloss, to those fea- 
! thers which overlie the nostrils, while the plumage of various other parts acquires a singular develope- 
i ment. These birds are indigenous to New Guinea and the neighbouring islands. From the mode in 
j which the specimens brought to Europe are prepared by the savages of those countries, it was for- 
'I merly thought that they were quite destitute of limbs, and supported themselves entirely by their airy 
ij plumes. It is said that they live on fruits, and are particularly fond of aromatics. [They also subsist 
I 
I largely upon insects.] 
!j Some of them have thinly-barbed feathers on the flanks, [or rather shoulder-tufts, which cover the closed 
Ij wing,] inordinately prolonged, so as to form immense tufts, that extend far backward beyond the body ; there 
i are also two [generally] barbless filaments [the uropygials] attached to the rump, w'hich are even more elongated 
j than the airy lateral plumes. Such are 
I The Emerald Bird-of- Paradise (P. apoda, Lin.), which is the most anciently known species ; and the Red (P. rubra, 
! Vaillant). These compose the Samalia of Vieillot. [They are large birds, much more so than the contracted 
skins brought to Europe, which ar^evidently shrunk by the application of great heat, would lead to suppose : it 
is only in such specimens that the wings and legs appear disproportionately large.] 
Others have the same long filaments, but their lateral tufts, though still elongated, do not extend past the tail. As 
The King Bird-of-Paradise (P. regia, Cincinnurus regius, Vieillot), and the Magnificent B. (P. magnifica, Sonne- 
rat), [which are very distinct, generically, from the preceding]. 
Some have the thinly-webbed feathers on the flanks, but they are short, and the filaments on the rump are 
wanting, as 
The Six-stemmed B. (P. aurea, Gm. ; P. sexsetacea, Shaw), with a golden-green spot on the throat, and three 
long filaments proceeding from each ear, which are terminated by a small disk of barbs of the same colour. It 
i constitutes the Parotia of Vieillot. 
I Lastly, there are some with neither elongated filaments nor lateral tufts (the Lophorina, Vieillot), as 
The Superb B. (P. superba, Sonnerat), and the Golden B. (P. aurea, Shaw ; Oriolus aureus, Gmelin), [which 
last is congenerous with the Australian Regent-bird, and therefore a Sericulus.'] 
[ The fourth family of the Passerince, or that of 
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