Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/67

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The Hoopoes constitute a small, and somewhat isolated Family, having some relations with the Tribe we have just dismissed. They have an elongated, curved, slender beak, much compressed, but somewhat dilated at the base; the nostrils, which are pierced near the base, are more or less covered with small velvety feathers which point forwards. The feet have the outer pair of toes partially united, as in several of the fissirostral genera. The toes are long and strong, the claws almost straight, that of the hind toe lengthened.

The birds of this Family are few in number, but of rather large size, and have much of the habit and appearance of the Crows. They walk on moist land, as pasture-grounds and newly turned earth, in search for insects and their larvae; but some species, as those of the genus Promerops, seek for minute insects in the corollas of flowers. The Family is confined to the Old World, and most of them are African and Indian.

The true Hoopoes have the beak very long and slender, slightly curved through its length, and compressed at the sides: the nostrils are basal, small, covered by a scale, and surmounted by the feathers of the forehead. The wings are long and rounded: the tail long and broad. The toes are three before, and one behind; the hind-toe