Alfred Newton

“ The birds of the family also show their affinity to the kingfishers, motmots and bee-eaters by burrowing holes in the ground in which to make their nest, and therein laying eggs with a white translucent shell. The sexes differ little in plumage.
All the four species of Todus, as now restricted, present a general similarity of appearance, and possess very similar habits; and even these, by some ornithologists, might be regarded as geographical races. The Cuban form is T. multicolor ”

“ Always conspicuous from its bright grass-green, coat and crimson-velvet gorget, it is still a very tame bird; yet this seems rather the tameness of indifference than of confidence; it will allow a person to approach very near, and, if disturbed, alight on another twig a few yards distant . ”

“ Hist. Jamaica, p. 476) to a little bird remarkable for its slender legs and small feet, the “green sparrow” or “green hummingbird” of Sir H. Sloane (Voyage, ii. 306) . The name, having been taken up by Brisson (loc. cit.) in 1760, was adopted by Linnaeus, and has since been recognized by ornithologists as that of a valid genus, though many species have been referred to it which are now known to have no affinity to the type, the Todus viridis of Jamaica, and accordingly have since been removed from it. The genus Todus was at one time placed among the Muscicapidae (cf. Flycatcher) ”