452 THE GEKUS AMPELIS 



among the Vireos. loner quills, as a rule, and sometimes tbe 

 tail-feathers, tipped with curious red, horny appendages, like 

 sealing wax. Tail short, narrow, even, two-thirds or less of 

 the length of the wing. Feet rather weak ; tarsus shorter than 

 the middle toe and claw, distinctly scutellate with five or six 

 divisions anteriorly and somewhat receding from strict Oscine 

 character by subdivision of the lateral plates. Lateral toes of 

 nearly equal lengths, the ends of their claws scarcely reaching 

 the base of the middle claw ; hallux about as long as the inner 

 lateral toe. Basal phalanx of middle toe coherent with outer 

 toe for about two-thirds its length, with inner toe for about 

 half its length. Body stout. Head conspicuously crested. 

 Plumage peculiarly soft, smooth, and silky. Tail tipped with 

 yeliow (or red). Sexes alike ; young different. Eggs spotted. 

 Nest on trees. 



This notable genus consists of three species: A. gamdvs, 

 of the northerly parts of the Northern Hemisphere ; A. caro- 

 linensis, of America ; and the Japanese A. plicenicoptera, in 

 which the tail is tipped with red instead of yellow. The first- 

 named is celebrated for its nomadic disposition, whence its 

 soubriquet " Bohemian". The general traits and habits of the 

 two American species are much the same, and very strongly 

 pronounced. They are insectivorous and frugivorous, gregari- 

 ous and irregularly migratory, and remarkably silent birds to 

 be called "Chatterers'*, having only a weak and wheezy voice. 

 The disposition to be made of the genus is uncertain ; Baird 

 has called attention to the resemblance in many respects be- 

 tween Ampelis and Progne, adding that it would not be surpris- 

 ing if these genera should be more closely associated by authors 

 than has hitherto been the case. 



The " sealing-wax " tips have been subjected to chemical and 

 microscopical examination by L.Stieda (Arch. Mikr. Anat. 1872, 

 639), and shown to be the enlarged, hardened, and peculiarly 

 modified prolongation of the shaft Kself of the feather, com- 

 posed of central and peripheral substances differing in the 

 shape of the pigment-cells, which contain abundance of red 

 and yellow coloring matter. 



Besides occupying due place in unnumbered systematic and 

 faunal publications, the birds of this genus, and especially 

 A. garrulus, have occasioned some literature of their own, the 

 following fragment of which is offered as a contribution to the 

 bibliography of this particular subject: — 



