noun
definition
Any of various insectivorous tropical birds, of the family Galbulidae, having iridescent plumage and a long, sharp bill.
Examples of jacamars in a Sentence
To these follow the tanagers (Tanagridae), with upwards of forty genera (only one of which crosses the border), and about 300 species; the piculules (Dendrocolaptidae), with as many genera, and over 200 species; the ant-thrushes, (Formicariidae), with more than thirty genera, and nearly 200 species; together with other groups which, if not so large as those just named, are yet just as well defined, and possibly more significant, namely, the tapaculos (Pteroptochidae), the toucans (Rhamphastidae), the jacamars (Galbulidae), the motmots (Monotidae), the todies (Todidae), the trumpeters (Psophiidae), and the screamers (Palamedeidae); besides such isolated forms as the seriema (Cariama), and the sun-bittern (Eurypyga).
The first volume contains the " Colibris, Oiseaux-mouches, Jacamars et Promerops," the second the " Grimpereaux " and " Oiseaux de Paradis " - associations which set all the laws of systematic method at defiance.
They compose the family Rhamphastidae of Coraciiform birds, and are associated with the woodpeckers (Picidae) and puff-birds and jacamars (Galbulidae); their nearest allies perhaps exist among the Capitonidae, but none of these is believed to have the long feather-like tongue which is so characteristic of the toucans, and is, so far as known, possessed besides only by the Momotidae (see MoTMOT).