Dr. J. Murie on the Genus Colius. 265 



" Now, almost the whole of this description Avill apply to some 

 of the Parrot tribe and to no other birds. Their bill is an 

 approach to that of the Parrot, the upper mandible being thick, 

 much curved, and acutely pointed, while the lower is much 

 smaller, and nearly straight. Their feet are very peculiar, the 

 hind toe being small and capable of being turned forward. The 

 tongue is described as cartilaginous and flat — one step from the 

 ordinary horny-tipped tongue to the fleshy one of the Psitta- 

 cidse. We consider therefore the Coliidse to be more nearly 

 allied to the Parrots than any other birds, and to be an isolated 

 link serving to connect them with the other Scansores in the 

 direction of the Musophagidse." 



On very different grounds, M. Emile Blanchard*, a good 

 authority respecting the osteology of birds, offers the following 

 opinion : — " Un petit groupe d^oiseaux d^Afrique, les Colious 

 {Colius, Briss., Coliid(E,Bp.) ont ete generalement classes parnii 

 les Passereaux. Au contraire, plusieurs zoologistes, d'apres la 

 consideration de leur plumage, ont cru devoir les rapprocher 

 des Musophages. Or je ne connais pas le sternum des Colious, 

 ce qui est vraiment facheux ; mais M. Ed. Verreaux m'ayant 

 obligeamment donne un individu eti peau de Tune des especes de 

 ce genre, j'ai pu etudier les caracteres des membres et delatete. 

 Cette etude, on le verra par la suite, me conduira a etablir que 

 les Colious sont etroitement lies aux R-olliers." 



Prof. Huxleyt, without assigning any explicit reason further 

 than " The first toe turned forwards, as well as the others," 

 locates the Coliidse as a separate family of his Coccygomorphae. 



I might quote LayardJ, Blanford§, and Dr. Otto Finsch|| as 

 among recent writers who have had something to say regarding 

 the Colies ; but they all associate them either alongside or under 

 the family Musophagidse^. As to the Colies^ habits they mainly 

 substantiate the earlier authorities. Layard, however, mentions 



* Ann. des Sciences Nat. tome xi. p. 138. 



t " On the Classification of Birds," P. Z. S. 1867, p. 466. 



t Birds of South Africa, p. 221. 



§ Observations on the Geolopfy and Zoology of Abyssinia, pp. 66, 317. 



II Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vii. p. 276. 



H I regret omitting Schlegel's paper on Coitus, Amsterdam, 1857, and 

 Eyton's notice, neither of which I could conveniently lay hands on. 



