DEGLUBITORES. HUSKERS. 313 



bill short, strong, with more or less convex outlines, the lower 

 mandible larger, and having its sides more or less flattened at 

 the base, the sharp overlapping edges of the upper with a dis- 

 tinct notch close to the tip, the gape-line nearly straight, the 

 nasal fossa short and broad, the nostrils roundish. This group, 

 composed of the genera Tanagra, Pyranga, Phibalura, and 

 others, is peculiar to America, and remarkable for the gaudy 

 and often brilliant colours, always however without metallic 

 lustre, with which the species are adorned. The Passerinw 

 belong to both continents, and are characterized by a short, 

 thick, conical bill, of which the mandibles are nearly equal in 

 size, although not always in length, the upper with the edges 

 a little overlapping, while those of the lowe? are involute, the 

 tip destitute of a notch, and the gape-line nearly straight. To 

 this group belong the genera Fringilla, Passer, Linaria, Pyrrhu- 

 la, and others. The Emherizanw are in many respects similar 

 to the Passerinas, but present the peculiar characters of having 

 the upper mandible much narrowed, so that its edges do not 

 overlap, the gape-line ascending and afterwards direct, there 

 being as it were an angular portion cut out of the mandible, 

 while a hard knob projects from the palate, and the lower jaw 

 is much bent in the middle. To this group belong the genera 

 Emberiza and Plectrophanes. The Larks, which by some 

 writers are associated with the Buntings and Finches, seem to 

 me not even to belong to the order, but to be allied to the 

 Pipits, Thrushes, and other slender-billed birds. Lastly, The 

 Icterince^ peculiar to America, have the bill elongated, coni- 

 cal, tapering to a point, its edges involute, the gape-line de- 

 flected at the base as in the Emberizanae. They form a group 

 intermediate between the Passerinae and Emberizanse on the 

 one hand, and the Corvinae and Thremmaphilinae on the other. 



Of these families the first and last have no representatives in 

 Britain, they being, as stated, exclusively American. All our 

 species therefore belong to the Passerinae and Emberizanae, the 

 characters common to which are the following : 



The bill is short, strong, conical, its sides convex, the edges 

 sharp and inflected, the tip acute, the upper mandible with 

 scarcely any notch or sinus near the extremity. The tongue 



