PASSERINiE. 287 



These birds inhabit the archipelago of India. The ground of 

 their plumage is black, variegated with patches of bright colours, 

 and they have something of the air of the Bucco, a genus of a very 

 different order. They live near water, and feed on insects. (1) See 

 App. XIX of Am, Ed. 



FAMILY II. 



FISSIROSTRES. 



The Fissirostres form a family, numerically small, but very 

 distinct from all others in the beak, which is short, broad, hor- 

 izontally flattened, slightly hooked, unemarginate, and with 

 an extended commissure, so that the opening of the mouth is 

 very large, which enables them to swallow with ease the in- 

 sects they capture while on the wing. 



They are most nearly allied to the Flycatchers, and to the 

 Procnise in particular, whose beak only differs from theirs in 

 being emarginate. 



Their decidedly insectivorous regimen eminently qualifies 

 them for birds of passage, which leave us in the winter. 



They are separated, like the birds of prey, into two divi- 

 sions, the diurnal and the nocturnal. The genus 



HiRUNDO, Linn. 



Or the Swallow, comprehends the diurnal species, all of which are 

 remarkable for their dense plumage, extreme length of wing, and 

 velocity of flight. Among them we distinguish, 



Cypselus, Illiger. 



Of all birds, these have the longest wings in proportion to their 

 size, and the greatest powers of flight. Their tail is forkedj their 

 extremely short feet have this very peculiar character: the thumb is 

 directed forward almost as much as the other toes, and the middle 



(1) Todus macrorhynchos, Gm., Lath., Syn. II, pi. xxx and Col. 154, under the 

 name oi Euryl. nasutus; Euryl. javanus, Horsf., and Col. 130 and 131, under the 

 name oi Euryl- Horsfieldii; Eur. cucullatus. Tern. Col. 261 ; Eur. Blainvillii, Less. 

 and Garn. Voy. de la Coquille, pi. xix, f. 2. The character of the beak is excess- 

 ively developed in the Eur. corydon, Temm. Col. 297. 



