405 



REGULUS. KINGLET. 



The diminutive, beautiful, and lively birds distinguished ge- 

 nerically by the name of Reguli, are placed on the limits of the 

 Sylvianae and Parinse, of which they combine the characters 

 and habits. They are readily distinguished by their small size, 

 the tuft of silky and coloured feathers on the head, which, 

 bearing a fanciful resemblance to a golden crown, has given 

 rise to their name. Their body is extremely short and roundish ; 

 the neck short ; the head large, roundish, anteriorly convex. 



The bill is shortish, straight, very slender, rather broader 

 than high at the base, compressed towards the end, acute ; the 

 upper mandible with the culmen rather sharp, the sides slop- 

 ing, at the base concave, towards the end convex ; the edges 

 overlapping, slightly inflected towards the tip, which is a little 

 declinate, and destitute of notch ; the lower mandible straight, 

 its ridge and sides convex, the crura short, with a narrow but 

 rounded angle, the edges inflected, the tip very narrow ; the 

 gape-line quite straight. The mouth narrow ; both mandibles 

 with a central prominent line. The palate flat ; the posterior 

 aperture of the nares linear, margined with papillae. The 

 tongue sagittate, slender, thin, concave above, slightly bristly 

 at the tip. The oesophagus is narrow, without dilatation ; the 

 stomach elliptical, compressed ; its muscular coat thick ; its 

 cuticular lining dense and rugous. The intestine is short and 

 of moderate width ; the coeca very small and cylindrical. 



The eyes are of moderate size ; the aperture of the ears large 

 and roundish ; the nostrils linear-oblong, direct, in the fore 

 part of the longish nasal groove, and covered by a single deli- 

 cate oblong feather. The legs are rather long ; the tarsus 

 longer than the middle toe, slender, compressed, scarcely 

 rounded anteriorly, where it is covered by a single long plate, 

 and three very short scutella at the lower part, posteriorly 



