Part 5

Opposed to the Passeres. The feet are relatively weaker and smaller.

FAMILY CYPSELIDÆ (SWIFTS)

Tail of ten feathers (swallows have twelve). Gape very wide.

49. CÝPSELUS (Swift). Bill very short, flattened horizontally, triangular; upper mandible curved downwards at the point; gape extending beyond the eyes; legs very short; toes all directed forwards; wings extremely long; first primary a little shorter than the second. Page 123

FAMILY CAPRIMULGIDÆ (GOATSUCKERS)

The bill in this family resembles that of the Swallows, but is shorter and weaker; the gape is enormous and its sides are, for the most part, furnished with long and stiff bristles, which point forwards; the wings are long, and formed for powerful flight; the feet are small, and feathered to the toes; plumage soft and downy, and beautifully mottled with black, brown, grey, and white, varying in colour with the soil of their habitat; the claw of the middle toe is dilated on one side and toothed like a comb. Tail of ten feathers. Nocturnal birds, feeding on large insects, which they capture in their flight.

50. CAPRIMÚLGUS (Goatsucker or Nightjar). Bill very short, somewhat curved, broad and flattened at the base; upper mandible curved downwards at the tip; gape extending beyond the eyes, and armed with strong bristles; wings long; first primary shorter than the second, which is the longest. Page 125

FAMILY PICIDÆ (WOODPECKERS)

Feet short, but of unusual strength; the rigid toes diverge from a centre, two pointing forwards, and two backwards; claws large, much curved, and very hard and sharp; breast-bone shallow; flight weak and undulating.

SUB-FAMILY PICINÆ

Tail feathers stiff and pointed: nostrils covered with bristles.

51. DENDROCOPUS (Spotted Woodpeckers). Bill about as long as the head, robust, straight, irregular, compressed, pyramidal, laterally bevelled at the tip; tongue long and extensile, the tip barbed; nostrils basal, oval, concealed by reflected bristly feathers; wings with the first primary very short, fourth and fifth longest; tail-feathers graduated, stiff and pointed. Fourth toe much longer than third. Prevailing colours of the plumage black and white, or black and red. Page 127

52. GÉCINUS (Green Woodpecker). Bill hard, broad at base, compressed at tip; upper mandible slightly arched, ending abruptly with shallow groove on each side running parallel to and near the culmen, and longer than lower mandible, which is pointed and has the gonys nearer the tip than the base and the tomia rounded. The fourth toe equal to the third. Prevailing colour greenish, otherwise much as in Dendrocopus. Page 129

SUB-FAMILY IYNGINÆ

Nostrils partly covered by a membrane.

53. IYNX (Wryneck). Bill shorter than the head, straight, conical; tongue long and extensile; nostrils without bristles, partly closed by a membrane; wings with the second primary somewhat the longest; tail-feathers soft and flexible. Page 131

FAMILY ALCEDINIDÆ (KINGFISHERS)

Bill long, stout, and pointed, with angular sides, not serrated; feet small and feeble, the outer and middle toes united to the last joint; wings rounded and hollow, ill adapted for protracted flight; form robust, with a large head and usually a short tail. Predatory birds, feeding on fish, insects, and even reptiles, birds, and small quadrupeds. Scattered over the world, but Australia and South America contain the greatest number of species.

54. ALCÉDO (Kingfisher). Bill long, straight, quadrangular, sharp; wings short with the third primary the longest; tail very short. Page 132

FAMILY CORACIIDÆ (ROLLERS)

Bill corvine in shape; culmen rounded; nostrils near base of upper mandible and hidden by bristly feathers; tail feathers twelve.

54. CORÁCIAS (Roller). Bill compressed, straight, with cutting edges; upper mandible slightly hooked at the point; sides of the gape bristled; tarsus short; wings long; first primary a little shorter than the second, which is the longest. Page 134

FAMILY MEROPIDÆ (BEE-EATERS)

Bill long; culmen with sharply defined ridge; toes joined for part of length.

55. MÊROPS (Bee-eater). Bill long, compressed, slightly curved, slender, with cutting edges, broad at the base; upper mandible keeled, the tip not hooked; tarsus very short; wings long, pointed, second primary the longest; centre tail feathers elongated. Page 135

FAMILY UPUPIDÆ (HOOPOES)

56. UPUPA (Hoopoe). Bill longer than the head, slender, slightly arched, compressed; feathers of the head long, forming a two-ranked crest; tail even at the extremity. Page 136

FAMILY CUCULIDÆ (CUCKOOS)