434 EMBERIZANiE. 



narrow and flat ; in the latter large and concave ; in the one 

 case, there is a prominent hard part at the commencement of 

 the soft palate, in the other none. Whether these characters 

 be sufficient to constitute a family distinction, or merely that of 

 a group or subdivision of the same family, may be questioned. 

 But the TanagranfB, which are generally held to occupy the 

 rank of a family, differ much less from the Passerinre ; for the 

 circumstance of their having a notched mandible is of compara- 

 tively slight importance. The general characters of the Em- 

 berizanos then are the following : 



The bill is short, stout, conical, its sides convex ; the upper 

 mandible smaller and narrower, its dorsal outline nearly straight, 

 its sides convex, its edges inflected, the tip acute ; the lower 

 mandible with the angle short, broad, and rounded, the dorsal 

 outline nearly straight, the back rounded, the sides convex, the 

 edges sharp and much inflected. The gape-line ascends ob- 

 liquely for nearly half its length, and is then direct. Internally 

 the upper mandible is very narrow, not concave, but having a 

 hard knob generally of an oblong form, and towards the end 

 flat, with three prominent lines and four grooves. The lower 

 mandible is very deeply concave. The tongue is sagittate and 

 denticulate at the base, compressed, deep, with two bristly 

 points. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear. The 

 pharynx is of moderate width. The oesophagus, PI. VIII, Fig. 

 2, a, 5, c, <^, is dilated on the middle of the neck into a crop, b^ 

 lying on the left side ; the proventriculus, <7, is oblong and 

 studded with oblong or cylindrical glandules. The stomach, ^, 

 y, y,.is a strong gizzard, roundish, compressed, with two power- 

 ful lateral muscles, ^, /, a distinct lower muscle, ^, and central 

 tendinous spaces. The intestine, A, 2, j^ k, I, m, w, is of mode- 

 rate length, its duodenal portion, ^, z, j, wider. The cceca, /, 

 are very small, adnate, and cylindrical. In all essential re- 

 spects these organs are similar to those of the Passerinse, which 

 is also the case with the skeleton and the dermal or tegumen- 

 tary system, the wings being of ordinary length, with the first, 

 second, and third quills longest, the tail generally more or less 

 emarginate. 



These birds are in certain respects intermediate between the 



