AMPELID^ — THE CHATTERERS. 305 



Fa.mily AMPELID-Sl. — The Chatterers. 



The characteristics of the Anrpclidw h;ive ah-eady been presented in tlie 

 synopsis of allied families ; chief among them, the short, broad, depressed, 

 and triangular bill with short gonys, the deeply cleft mouth, the short tarsus, 

 and the tendency to subdivisou of its lateral plates. 



The South American genus, iJ^ii/s, probably forms the type of a subfamily 

 Dulincc, characterized by the much arched gape of mouth, the metatarsal 

 scutellaj in two series, and the body streaked beneath, as in young A^npdis. 

 The two other subfamilies may be defined as follows : — 



Subfamilies. 



Common Characters. Gape of mouth nearly straight. Metatarsal soutellae in 

 three seric.<;. Body plain beneath. 



Ampelinas. Wings very long and much pointed, longer than the short, 

 even tail. First primary excessively rudimentary ; the outermost about the 

 longest. Gape without bristles. Frontal feathers extending forward beyond 

 the nostrils. 



Ptilogonatinae. Horny appendages like red sealing-wax at end of shaft of 

 secondaries. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. First primary 

 nearly half the second. Gape well bristled. Frontal feathers falling short of 

 the nostrils. No red horny appendage to wing-feathers. 



Subfamily AMPELIN.^. 



Char. Legs moderate. Nostrils elongated, linear, with the frontal feathers extending 

 close to the edge and to anterior extremity, concealing them ; these feathers short, vel- 

 vety, and erect, with few bristles. Wings very long and acute ; outer or first primary so 

 much reduced as to be almost inappreciable; the second nearly the longest. Wing nearly 

 twice the length of the .short, narrow, even tail. Under coverts of tail reaching almost to 

 its tip. Secondary quills with flat horny appendages at end of shaft like red sealing-wax. 

 Young birds streaked bene;ith as in Diilns. Adults plain. 



Of this family as restricted, we ha^'e but a single genus in America. 



Genus AMPELIS, Linn. 



Ampelis, LiNN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 297. (Type, Laniv.s garrulus, L. Named 

 Linnaeus in 17:i.T.) 



Ges. Char. Tail even. Tertials and secondaries with horny appendages like red seal- 

 ing-wax. A well-developed soft crest. 



A more elaborate diagnosis of this genus could be readily given (see Rev. 

 Am. Birds, 404), but the above characters, as entirely peculiar, will serve to 

 establish it. 



