WHITE-PACED BARBET . — Monasa Icucops. 
The Barbets, or Puff Birds, clearly form a connecting link between the 
trogons and the kingfishers, possessing several of the peculiarities of the former 
birds, together with some characteristics of the latter. 
In shape they bear a close resemblance to the kingfishers, and none of 
them are of any great size. Their food consists chiefly of insects, which they 
chase much after the manner of the woodpeckers, prying into the hollows of trees, 
and striking away the bark in their endeavours to secure the concealed prey. 
They can cling to the upright trunk of a tree, and support themselves by the 
pressure of their short stiff tails against the bark. They also possess some of the 
habits which belong to the flycatchers, and taking their perch upon a twig, will 
wait patiently until an unfortunate insect passes within a short distance, when 
they will launch themselves on the devoted creature, and return to the identical 
twig from which they started. The White-Paced Barbet lives in South America. 
To all appearance the Barbets are dull birds, chained as it were to a single 
spot, and apparently feeling every movement a source of trouble. But to the 
Barbet itself, this kind of inactive life constitutes its best happiness ; and we 
should be wrong to attribute sadness and melancholy to it. While sitting upon 
the twig which it has chosen for its perch, the Barbet has a curious habit of puffing 
out its plumcge, so as to transform itself into an almost cylindrical ball of feathers. 
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