191 



AVES. 



are short ; and their general proportions occasioned them to he long regarded as allied to the Tits 

 At their head, hut as a separate subdivision, should be placed 



The Rock-manakins (Rupicola, Brisson), — 



Which are large birds, and have a double vertical crest on the head, composed of feathers disposed 



longitudinally like a fan. 



The adult males of the two species, both from America (Pip. rupicola, Gin., and P. peruviana, Lath.), — are of a 

 delicate rich orange colour, while the young are dull brown. They live on fruits, and scratch the ground like a 

 common Fowl, construct their nests with wood in the depths of caverns, the female laying two eggs. 



The Emerald-manakins (Catyptomena, Horsf.) — 

 Merely differ from the preceding in the head-feathers not being disposed like a fan. 



There is a species, not larger than a Thrush, in the Indian Archipelago, the colour of which is intensely brilliant 

 emerald-green. 



The True Manakins (Pipra, Cuv.) — 



Are diminutive birds, generally remarkable for their vivid colours. They inhabit humid forests in 

 large troops. 

 [All are American, and they obviously pertain to the great Cotinga family, as do also the Rock-manakins.] 



The Eurylaimes (Eurylaimus, Horsf.) — 



Have feet similar to those of the Manakins and Rock-manakins ; but their beak, as strong as in the 

 Tyrants, is exceedingly wide and depressed, its base being wider even than the forehead. 



These birds inhabit the Indian Archipelago, and have a black ground-colour, relieved by vivid colours ; they 

 have much the air of the Barbets, a genus of a very different order. Frequent watery situations, and feed on 

 insects [and also berries]. 



The Fissirostres, — 



Compose a family numerically small, but very distinct from all others in the beak, which is 

 short, broad, horizontally depressed, slightly hooked, unemarginated, and very deeply cleft, 

 so that the opening of the mouth is extremely wide, and suited for swallowing insects, which 

 are sought for on the wing. 



The tribe of Flycatchers is that to which they are most nearly allied, and especially the 

 genus Procnias, the beak of which only differs in its emargination. 



Their regimen, exclusively insectivorous [in the generality of instances], renders them 

 eminently birds of passage, which quit Europe in winter. They separate into diurnal and 

 nocturnal, like the Birds of Prey. 



The Swallow t s (Hirundo, Lin.) — 

 Are diurnal species remarkable for their close plumage, the extreme length of their wings, and rapidity 

 of fli-ht. We distinguish among them 



The Swifts (Cypselus, llliger), — 



Which, of all birds, have proportionally the longest wings, and fly with the greatest rapidity. [The 



Humming-birds will bear comparison, if not the 

 pelagic Tachypete.] Their tail is forked, [and con- 

 sists of ten feathers only] ; their extremely short 

 feet have a very peculiar character, the thumb 

 being directed forward almost as much as the 

 other toes, and the middle and outer toes having 

 each but three phalanges, like the inner one. 



The shortness of the humerus, the breadth of 

 its apophyses, the oval fourchette [devoid of any 

 medial appendage], the sternum (fig. 92), destitute 

 of posterior emarginations, — indicate, even in the 

 skeleton, their adaptation for vigorous flight ; 

 while the shortness of their feet, combined with 



the length of their wings, disables them from rising from a plane surface. Hence they pass their time 



Fig. 92.— Sternum of Swift. 



