<4I6 Mr. Swainson's descriptions 



n€ss. The larger, or typical species, are remarkable for their 

 long and graduated tail ; while this part is usually rounded and 

 much shorter in the others, which thereby assimilate to the typical 

 form of the African genus Malaconotus. 



In a group like the present, where the species often bear a 

 very close resemblance to each other, it becomes essentially ne- 

 cessary to enter into minute details, and to institute comparative 

 characters which in other cases might be thought superfluous. 



The sexes, as in the true raptorial birds, vary somewhat in their 

 size, and generally in their plumage, that of the female being 

 lighter; and not unfrequently rufous where the male is black. 

 It would however appear that there are some exceptions to this 

 rule. 



The beautiful Thamnophili described by that intelligent natu- 

 ralist Dr. Such, in this Journal, seem all to belong to the typical 

 or long tailed division ; while in those which form the subject of 

 this paper, the tail is round. Besides these, two other species 

 have been described by M. Vieillot, two by Dr. Leach, and one 

 by M. Le Vaillant, making a total of nineteen : this number will 

 probably be doubled when the Laniadae of Dr. Latham, amount- 

 ing to 122 species, are distributed under their modern genera. 



** Cauda rotundata. 



1. Thamnophilus bicolor. 



Red eyed Bush-Shrike. 



T. cristatus^ supra niger, albus infra ; iectricium apicibus^ remi^ 

 gum marginibus, caudceque fasciis interruptis albis, 



T. crested, above black, beneath white ; tips of the wing covers, 

 margins of the quills, and interrupted bands on the tail white. 



Black and white Shrike. Lath. Gen. Sys. 2d. ed. Vol. 2. p. 22. 



The red eyed Shrike may be considered as the best example 

 of that division of the American Thamnophili, wherein the tail 

 is shorter and less graduated than in the more typical species. 

 Its total length is eight inches. The irides are crimson. The 



