502 PASSERIFORMES 



eluded by Dr. Sharpe^ many genera rather referable to the Turdidae, 

 Pycnonotidae, Troglodytidae, and Paradiseidae ; but the Family 

 may be taken to contain most of that author's Crateropodes and 

 Timeliae^ the Tit-like Liotriches, and perhaps Clitonyx, Chaetobias, 

 and Myioplioneus. The whole question, however, is very doubtful, 

 and no decision can yet be arrived at. The supposed diagnostic 

 points are the rounded wings curved to fit the body, the lax, soft 

 plumage, the comparatively large outer primary, the similarity of 

 the unspotted females and young, and the Thrush-like bill. This 

 bill, however, may be very strong and hooked, as in Myiophoneus 

 and Gampsorhynchtis ; stout, deep, and wide, with festooned maxilla, 

 as in Paradoxornis ; similar but smaller, as in Chleuasicus and 

 Suthora ; short and blunt, as in several of the Liotriches ; ex- 

 tremely elongated, slender and decurved, as in Pomatorhinus ; or 

 extraordinarily so, as in Xiphorhamphus. It is not infrequently 

 notched. The metatarsi are typically strong or even clumsy, 

 and vary considerably in length ; in Liothrix, however, they are 

 slender ; while CJiolornis has only two anterior toes (p. 10). The 

 tail, often broad and much graduated, may be very long, as in Sihia, 

 or no longer than the upper coverts, as in Oligura ; the rectrices 

 being obliquely truncated in Siva, curved outwardly in Liothrix, 

 and frequently pointed or somewhat spiny. Elongated rictal 

 bristles are not uncommon ; several species have crests, that of 

 Grammatoptila being exceptionally large ; rigid shafts occur in 

 the head- and mantle-feathers of Acantlioptila, on the forehead in 

 Dumetia, Timelia, and Chaetop)s ; hair-like plumes decorate the 

 back of Macronus ; the inner secondaries are much produced in 

 CinclorhampMis ; the cheeks are bare in Aethocichla. 



The sexes are commonly alike, the plain rufous coloration 

 being often relieved by black, white, and grey ; Liothrix and 

 Clitonyx, however, shew tints of red or yellow ; Myiophoneus of 

 purple, blue, and black, and in some cases maroon ; Brachypiteryx 

 of indigo. Hyperergus is partly olive-green, while Trochalopterum 

 chrysopterum and T. phoeniceum^ exhibit respectively golden and 

 crimson hues, not to mention other instances. 



Many of the forms are found from the Indian Eegion to New 

 Guinea, New Caledonia, and New Britain, one reaching Fiji 

 and two New Zealand ; others occur in the Ethiopian countries, 

 whence a species of Argya extends to Morocco and Tripoli, and 



^ Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vi. 1881. " op. cit. vii. 1883, pp. xii-xvi. 



