4 
BEAUTIFUL BIEDS. 
three toes before and one behind, the outer toe being 
joined to the middle one as far as the second joint ; 
the inner one the same as far as the first. Claws small, 
curved; that of the hind toe the smallest. Wings 
long and pointed ; the first quill very short, and the 
second the longest in the wing. The form of the tail 
varies with the species, being square at the end in 
some, forked in others, and in others, again, w'ith the 
middle feathers produced ; but in all the species it 
is of considerable length. 
In the breast-bone of the Bee-eater the keel is very 
much produced, as in all birds of powerful wing, and 
extends the whole length of the sternum. This bone, 
Mr. Mudie observes, is very beautifully adapted to 
the habits of its owner. It combines great flying 
power : length for the support of a body habitually 
on the wing, and flexibility in the posterior angles, by 
means of which the bird can better thread its way 
among obstacles. And the birds of this and the 
analogous genera are all powerful, and long continued 
in their fiight, although none of them are lofty fliers. 
Feeding chiefly upon winged insects by the banks 
of rivers, or over other humid surfaces in warm cli- 
mates, where vegetation is luxuriant, they have to 
pursue their prey among twigs and branches, the 
pendent festoons of climbing plants, and the tall 
stems and large leaves of aquatic ones, so that while 
they pursue in a swift and smooth forward fiight, it 
is also necessary that they should be able to guide 
and turn in all directions with the utmost freedom. 
This facility in turning is very necessary to birds 
which feed upon insects, many of which are them- 
