Honey-guide, INDICATOR, or MOROC

Honey-guide, INDICATOR, or MOROC, a genus of birds (Indicator) formerly classed as cuckoos, and to an extent partaking of their habits, but now ranked as a small separate family (Indicatoridae), perhaps most nearly allied to the woodpeckers and barbets. Of eleven species known eight are peculiar to Africa. They are all birds of similar coloration, being generally of a dull gray tinged with yellow or olive; they vary considerably in size, the larger species measuring about 8 inches in length, the smaller not exceeding four inches. They have acquired their name from their habit of guiding men to honey, a curious instinct prompting them to hop from tree to tree before the traveller whose notice they have succeeded in attracting by fluttering and uttering a peculiar cry, and to lead to a place where a bees' nest may be found. The cry is said to change in character on reaching the locality of the nest.