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in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 297Africa, Asia, and Australia, no larger than sparrows, to thepheasant-like ground cuckoo of Borneo, the Scythrops of theMoluccas, which almost resembles a hornbill, the Rhamphococcyxof Celebes with its richly -coloured bill, and theGoliath cuckoo of Gilolo with its enormously long and ampletail.Cuckoos, being invariably weak and defenceless birds,conceal themselves as much as possible among foliage orherbage and as a;further protection, many of them haveacquired the coloration of rapacious or combative birds. Inseveral parts of the world cuckoos are coloured exactly likehawks, while some of the small Malayan cuckoos closelyresemble the pugnacious drongo-shrikes.Trogons, Barlets, Toucans, and HornbUlsMany of the families of Picariae are confined to the tropicalforests, and are remarkable for their varied and beautifulcolouring. Such are the trogons of America, Africa, andMalaya, whose dense puffy plumage exhibits the purest tintsof rosy-pink, yellow, and white, set off by black heads and agolden-green or rich brown upper surface. Of more slenderforms, but hardly less brilliant in colour, are the jacamars andmotmots of America, with the bee-eaters and rollers of theEast, the latter exhibiting tints of pale-blue or verditer-green,which are very unusual. The barbets are rather clumsy fruiteatingbirds, found in all the great tropical regions except thatof the Austro- Malay islands, and they exhibit a wonderfulvariety as well as strange combinations of colours. Those ofAsia and Malaya are mostly green, but adorned about thehead and neck with patches of the most vivid reds, blues, andyellows in endless combinations. The African species areusually black or greenish-black, with masses of intense crimson,yellow, or white, mixed in various proportions andpatterns ;while the American species combine both styles ofcolouring, but the tints are usually more delicate, and areoften more varied and more harmoniously interblended. Inthe Messrs. Marshall's fine work x all the species are describedand figured, and few more instructive examples can be found1A Monograph of the Capitonidm or Scansorial Barbels, by C. F. T.Marshall and G. F. L. Marshall. 1871.