131 

 TRIBE III. 



DEXTIROSTRES. 



The birds forming this division of the Passerine 

 order are distinguished by having a more or less dis- 

 tinct tooth or notch on each side of the upper man- 

 dible, near the tip, which is usually more or less 

 hooked.* The bill is sometimes slender and weak, 

 sometimes stout and powerful ; in the latter case, the 

 tooth-like projections are generally strong-, and the 

 birds as predacious in their habits as some of the 

 smaller hawks. The feet are slender, but usually 

 armed w4th curved and acute claws. 



FAMILY I. 



LusciNiD.E. The Warblers. 



Gkx. Chabac— Bill subulate, more or less slender and straight, with the 

 upper mandible curved and emarginated, the base sometimes broad, but the 

 bill always compressed towards the tip ; the nostrils basal, and placed in a 

 membranous grooTC, with the opening exposed ; the wings more or less long, 

 sometimes rounded and sometimes pointed ; the tail of various lengths, 

 truncated at the end, or rounded, and sometimes graduated ; the tarsi more 

 or less long, always slender ; the toes varying in length, with the outer toe 

 more or less united to the middle toe. 



In these birds the sides of the upper mandible are 

 but slightly toothed; the mngs are long, the tarsi 

 slender, and the toes terminated by claws of moderate 

 length. They are for the most part distinguished 

 for great power of song. Their food consists almost 

 entirely of insects and worms, so that those which 

 inhabit cold and temperate regions are for the most 

 part migratoiy. 



To this family belong the Soft-tailed Warblers, 

 the Warblers, the Robins, the Accentors, the Titmice, 

 the Wagtails, and the Wood- Warblers. 



* See Animal Creation, p. 419. 



