380 



timeliid.t;. 



Subfamily V. PTILONORHYNCHINiE. 



The Bower-birds have been placed in various positions in the 

 class Aves. By some systeraatists they have been considered to be 

 Thrushes, by others Birds of Paradise, while Professor Sundevall 

 has associated them with the Shrikes. It is quite certain that, 

 wherever they are placed in the natural system, they are sure to be 

 more or less aberrant, and will have to stand, to a great extent, 

 alone, as is so often the case with Australian forms of bird-life. 

 Their habits seem to mo to associate them with the Grround-Thrushea 

 and Babblers, of which they will form an outlying group with affi- 

 nities towards the Crows and Paradise-birds. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. BiU higher than it is broad at nostrils. 



a'. With a lateral subterminal notch on the 

 upper mandible. 

 a". Nostrils entirely covered with silky 



feathers, dense and recurved so as to [p. 380. 



hide the base of the bill 61. Ptilonoehynchus, 



b". Nostrils exposed, not completely hidden 



by plumes. 



«'". Nostrils overhung by scanty plumes ; 



biU very stout, its depth at nostrils 



beiug equal to the length of tlie inner 



toe without claw 62. .^lurcedus, p. 382. 



h'" . Nostrils oval, with a posterior mem- 

 brane on which the feathers of the 

 forehead encroach ; bill longer and 

 thinner, its depth at nostrils much [p. 388. 



less than inner toe 63. Chlamydodeba, 



b'. With a distinct festoon in the upper man- 

 dible, formed by two notches on the edge 64. Scenop^us, p. 394. 



b. Bill at nostrils as high as it is broad. 



c'. Nostrils entirely hidden by plumes ; sexes 

 alike ; plumage of head and neck ordi- 

 nary 65. Amblyobnis, p. 394. 



d' . Nostrds exposed; sexes strikingly diffe- 

 rent; plumage of head and neck dense 

 and velvety 66. Sebiculus, p. 395. 



61. PTILONOEHYNCHUS. 



Type. 

 Ptilonorhjiichus, Kuhl, Beitr. zur Zool. p. 150 (1820) . . P. violaceus. 



Range. Confined to Australia. 



