ROOM XIII.] 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
01 
The family of Cuckoos (Cases 40 and 41) have a slightly 
arched, compressed beak, and long rounded tail; they live 
chiefly on insects, and many of the species are birds of 
passage. In the Coucals, the claws of the hind toes are 
elongated, resembling those of the Larks. The Indicators 
live chiefly on the wild bees of Africa, and serve to point 
out their nests to the natives, whence their name. They 
are furnished with a very hard skin, but the bees attack 
their eyes. 
The family of Barbels (Case 42) have large conical 
beaks, swollen out at the sides, and surrounded at the base 
by bristles; they live chiefly on fruit, but some eat in¬ 
sects, and even attack small birds^: some species have large 
teeth on the side of the bill. [The Qurucuis differ only 
in having shorter beaks, and by being covered with very 
fine, soft feathers; many of them are beautifully coloured ; 
thev live chiefly in low damp woods, dying in the evening. 
The f Toucans (Cases 43 and 44) are known by their 
enormous, light, cellular beaks, which are irregularly 
notched on the edge, and by their peculiar, long, feather¬ 
like tongues ; they live on fruit and small birds; they are 
only found in tropical America. 
The family of Hornbills (same Cases), which come from 
India and Africa, have the beak large, like the Toucans, 
but they are heavier, and vary greatly in shape according 
to the age of the bird ; they feed on fruit, mice, small 
birds and reptiles. 
The Gallinaceous Birds (Cases 45 —57) usually lay 
their eggs on the earth ; the males are generally poly¬ 
gamous. The Pheasants and Crons, which constitute the 
first group, have the hind toes placed higher on the tarsus 
than the rest, so that only the tip touches the ground; the 
former have the nostrils covered by a naked, horny scale, 
the legs not feathered, and those of the male generally 
furnished with spurs; in the latter the scale covering the 
nostrils is always feathered, and the legs generally so. In 
these Cases there is a great variety of Birds of this tribe, 
amongst which may be seen, in Case 45, Jungle and Javan 
Cock, Fire-backed Pheasant, and Pencilled Pheasant. In 
43 and 47, the Peacock, both wild and domesticated. In 48 
and 49, various Pheasants, such as Reeves’s Pheasant, from 
China; Nepaul and Wallick’s Pheasants from Himalaya 
e 3 
