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BEAUTIFUL BIEDS. 
'Plujtotoma, tlie four toes are arranged apparently like 
those of the rinches. One genus, Ilyreus, possesses 
only three toes on each foot — two before and one 
behind. These various modifications of structure in 
the foot are adapted to different localities, plants, or 
shrubs, where their food is to be obtained, and where 
a peculiar grasping power is required. 
Xearly all the species of this sub-familj are 
natives of Africa, inhabitins: chieflv close and rich 
woods or thickets by the banks of rivers, and nestling 
in the holes of decayed trees. Their habits are but 
imperfectly understood, their range being limited to 
the intertropical regions of that extensive and little- 
k]iown continent. 
The PhytotomcB, Plant-cutters, bear considerable 
resemblance to the Bullfinches, both in size and in 
their entire aspect ; and from them we pass to the 
Colies (^Colincp), which have all the four toes capable 
of being directed forwards. All the known species 
are African birds, dwelling chiefly in bushes and 
thickets. They seldom venture out of the shade of the 
trees, being bad flyers, but they run along the branches 
with considerable dexterity. They are said to feed 
upon buds and fruit, and are attacked, therefore, with 
great hostility by cultivators. They live in societies, 
building their nests close to each other in the centre 
of some bush, as a security, it is supposed, from birds 
of prey. 
No less attractive for their liveliness of colour, than 
the graceful agility of their motions, the Touracco 
birds are perhaps the most elegant of the JSLusopliagince. 
The crest which ornaments their head and the nape of 
