author of "The Vestiges of Creation" regards
the hollow protuberance upon the upper mandible (which is the
distinguishing feature of the family), as "a sounding-board to
increase the vociferation which these birds delight to utter." The
remarkable varieties in the cases, are the helmet hornbill of India,
and the African rhinoceros hornbill. These birds prey upon small birds
and reptiles, which they toss into the air and then swallow whole.

The Scansores, or Climbers, form the last section of the perching
birds. This is an interesting group, since it includes all the
varieties of the parrot, cockatoo, and macaw species; the woodpeckers,
the toucans, and the cuckoos.

The visitor will arrive first before the three cases (74-76) devoted
to the Parrots, Cockatoos, and Macaws. The gaudy colours which they
display, and their well-known habits and powers, always ensure them a
large circle of spectators. Here the visitor should notice the
red-crowned parrot, and ground parrot of Australia; the South American
yellow-headed, and hawk-headed parrots; the horned parrot from New
Caledonia and the racket-tailed parrot of the Philippines. Among the
Macaws are the hyacinthine macaw of South America, and the blue and
yellow varieties. Among the Cockatoos, the visitor should notice the
great white cockatoo from the Indian Archipelago; and here also are
the Alexandrine parroquet and the Papuan lory. The Toucans, which
inhabit the deep recesses of tropical American forests, here occupy
the next case (77). They are recognised as a branch of the great
corvine family. Their enormous beaks are peculiarly adapted for
searching in quest of eggs about the crevices of trees. The varieties
here, include the Janeiro toucan, and the yellow-breasted toucan. The
three next cases contain the many varieties of the Woodpecker.
Woodpeckers are represented by naturalists as crows with a structure
adapted to "an insect-eating life amidst growing timber." They are to
be found in all quarters of the globe, searching out, with their long
beaks, the minute life that gathers in the interstices of trees. The
first case of the series, contains the South American and African
barbets, and the groove-billed barbican; the minute woodpecker, the
North American three-toed and white-billed woodpecker, and the spotted
woodpecker common in Europe. In the second case are the larger
varieties of the woodpecker, including the well-known great black
woodpecker of Europe; th