The TODIES (_Todi_), a group of American birds, apparently representing the Broad-throats, are remarkable for the very peculiar formation of their beak; and on this account much diversity of opinion has arisen as to the place that should properly be assigned them. All the species with which we are acquainted are small, delicately-built birds, possessing moderate-sized and straight beaks, with both mandibles so flatly compressed that they may literally be described as two thin plates; the margins of the bill are finely incised, and the gape extends as far back as the eyes; the tarsus is slender, and scarcely longer than the middle toe; the toes are unusually long and thin, armed with short, delicate, but very sharp hooked claws; the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills in the short, rounded wings exceed the rest in length; the tail, of moderate length, is broad, and slightly incised. The plumage, which consists of soft, compact feathers, is replaced by bristles in the region of the beak; the tongue, except at its fleshy root, resembles a horny plate, and is as transparent as the barrel of a quill.
The TODY, or GREEN FLAT-BILL (_Todus viridis_), is of a blueish green on the back, and greyish-white on the under side. The throat and upper breast are bright rose red, and the belly pale yellow; the quills are greyish green; the centre tail-feathers green, and those at the exterior grey; the eye is pale grey, the beak reddish horn-grey above, and bright scarlet beneath; the foot flesh-pink or brownish red. This species is four inches and a quarter long, and six and a half broad; the wing measures one inch and four-fifths, and the tail one inch and a half. The sexes closely resemble each other in the coloration of their plumage.