4o6 oberholser: grandalidae 



even slightly concave, with only the tip noticeably decurved (instead 

 of being convex and more or less decurved from base) ; gonys short, 

 not longer than the exposed portion of the mandibular rami (instead of 

 longer, as in the Turdidae), posteriorly not reaching to the anterior end 

 of the nostrils, and not ascending, but, with the mandibular rami, forming 

 a straight line ; nostrils entirely exposed ; wings very long and pointed , 

 when closed reaching nearly to the end of the tail ; secondaries relatively 

 very short, much as in the Hirundinidae, their tips falling short of the 

 tip of the longest primary by nearly one -half of the total length of the 

 closed wing (instead of less than one-third in the Turdidae); second 

 primary, counting from the outermost, usually longest but always at 

 least equal to the third. 



General characters: Bill rather short (about one-half the length of the 

 head), slender, somewhat depressed basally, but somewhat compressed 

 distally, in general aspect motacilline rather than turdine, its lateral 

 outline nearly straight, the culmen straight or slightly concave, near its 

 tip noticeably decurved; tip of maxilla not hooked; gonys short, not 

 longer than the exposed portion of mandibular rami, and posteriorly 

 not reaching to the anterior end of the nostrils, not ascending but con- 

 tinuing in a straight line from the mandibular rami ; terminal portion of 

 maxillar tomium slightly notched; nostrils fusiform or lengthened el- 

 liptical, entirely exposed, the feathers of the forehead reaching to their 

 posterior end; narial and rictal bristles short and weak; wings very 

 long and pointed, when closed reaching nearly to the end of the tail; 

 wing tip long, the secondaries relatively very short, the tip of the longest 

 primary exceeding them by nearly one-half (more than two-fifths) 

 of the total length of the closed wing ; tertials short, about the length of 

 the longest secondaries; first (outermost) primary very short, about 

 15 mm. in length; second primary usually longest; third primary equal 

 to the second or slightly shorter ; fourth primary decidedly shorter than 

 the third ; and all the others regularly decreasing in length ; none of the 

 primaries sinuated on their inner webs, but the third and fourth pri- 

 maries distinctly sinuated on their outer webs, and the fifth slightly so ; 

 tail of 12 feathers, about three-fifths of the length of the wing, deeply 

 emarginate, the feathers moderately broad and stiff, their ends obtusely 

 pointed ; upper tail-coverts rather long ; tarsi moderately long and slen- 

 der, their length about 2V5 times the length of the exposed culmen; 

 acrotarsium entire ; toes moderately long and slender ; claws of moderate 

 length and curvature; claw of hallux not lengthened; length of middle 

 toe without claw three-fifths of the length of the tarsus; plumage of 

 male more or less metallic ; coloration of sexes different ; and young 

 streaked. 



Type genus: Grandala Hodgson. 



Remarks: It is rather surprising that the genus Grandala has not 

 before been taken out of the Turdidae, since its aberrance is so apparent. 

 In only two important characters — its booted tarsi and streaked young 



