Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE UNITED-TOED PERCHING BIRDS
THE BROAD-BILLS
Broad Bill Species
Of the next four genera in which the bill is of much the same shape as in the last except that the upper mandible is not overhanging, we may mention the Long-tailed Broad-bill (Psarisomus dalhousm), which is distinguished by the very long, greatly graduated tail. The general color is bright green, with a patch olblue on the crown, and bright yellow on the chin, frontal space, lores, and behind the eye; it is ten and a half inches in length. The habits of this beautiful bird are similar to those of the other members of the family. The genus Serilophus, three species of which are now recognized, is similar to the last except that the tail is shorter than the wing and is much rounded, while the head is supplied with soft silky plumes. The best-known species, which has been selected for illustration, is the Frilled Broad-bill, or Frilled Tody (S. lunatus), as it is called by the Indian ornithologists, a native of Burma andTenasserim. It is not so brilliant as many of the others, being pale brownish gray above, with the rump brownish chestnut, the wings black, crossed by a bluish and a white band, and the under parts white or nearly so. It is a retiring species, inhabiting the desert jungles and feeding largely on fruit. The final genus of three species (Calyptomena) is known at once by the smaller bill and dense tuft of forward-pointing loral plumes, which not only conceal the nostrils at the base of the bill, but the greater part of the upper mandible as well. The harsh plumage is a bright green nearly throughout. The Green Broad-bill (C. viridis) of India, whence it ranges over the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, frequents the tops of the trees in pairs or small parties and feeds entirely on fruits, which it seeks only in the morning and evening. The other two species are found in the mountains of northwestern Borneo, Whitehead's Broad-bill (C. whiteheadi), for instance, being a very striking bird, the general color being a bright shining green, relieved on the front of the neck and behind the ears by blotches of black, while the back and breast are black, each feather with a lanceolate green tip; the tail is velvety black and the secondaries slightly edged with blue.