322 TIMELTID^i;. 



Subfamily III. MIMING. 



The Mocking-Thrushes of America appear to form a very natural 

 group, representing in the New World the strong-legged Babbling- 

 Thrushes of the Old. Between some of them and the Crateropi of 

 the Eastern Hemisphere there is considerable resemblance ; but in 

 habits the two groups are very different, for, as is well known, the 

 American Mocking-birds are highly esteemed as songsters, a quality 

 in which the Timeliidai of the Old World are somewhat deficient. 

 Some of the genera of Mimliue, such as Cincloceriliia, MJuanphocinclus, 

 and Rhodinoclnda, appear to connect the Mocking-Thrushes with 

 the Wrens, as does also the genus HarporliyncTivs. Of the relation- 

 ship of Melanoptila with the present subfamily, I am not so well 

 assured, but it apparently finds an ally in the genus Galeoscoptes. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Wing equal to or longer than the tail. 

 a'. Bill longer than the head. 



a". Nasal aperture a long oval, shut in by a 



superior and posterior membrane 46. Cinclocebthia, 



h". Nasal aperture round and situated in the [p. 323. 



anterior part of a very strong membrane 

 which shuts in almost the entire nostril. 47. RHASfPHOCiN- 

 b'. Bill equal to or longer than the head. [cLXJS, p. 826. 



c". First primary long and broad, more than 

 half the length of the second. 

 «'". Wings longer, falling short of the tail 

 by about the length of the tarsus ; 

 feet strong and clumsy, the tarsus 

 about equal to the middle toe and 



claw 48. CiCHLHERMINIA, 



h'". Wings shorter, falling short of tail by [p. 326. 



more than the length of the tarsus ; 



feet slender, the tarsus exceeding the 



length of the middle toe and claw . . 49. Melanoptila, 

 d". First primary less than half the length [p. 331, 



of the second. 

 c'". BUrdistinctly notched ; legs very stout, 



the tarsus equal in length to the 



middle toe and claw ; wings falling 



short of tail by about the length of 



the tarsus 50. Nesocichla, 



cV". Bill without a distinct subterminal [p. 332. 



notch ; legs slender, the tarsus much 



longer than the middle toe and claw ; 



wings falling short of tail by more 



than length of tarsus 51. Oheoscoptes, 



h. Tail longer than wing. [p. 333^ 



c'. First primary long and broad, and falling 

 short of the tip of the second by less than 



the length of the tarsus ; biU shorter than [p. 335. 



the head ; rictal bristles strong 52. Galeoscoptes, 



i 



