AMPELID^ — THE CHATTERERS. 395 



Family AMPELID^. — The Chatteeers. 



The characteristics of the Ampelidcc have already been presented in the 

 synopsis of allied families ; chief among them, the short, broad, depressed, 

 and triangular bill with short gonys, the deeply cleft month, the short tarsus, 

 and the tendency to subdivison of its lateral plates. 



The South American genus, Didus, probably forms the type of a subfamily 

 Dulinoj, characterized by the much arched gape of mouth, the metatarsal 

 scutellte in two series, and the body streaked beneath, as in young Ampclis. 

 The two other subfamilies may be defined as follows : — 



Subfamilies. 



Common Characters. Gape of mouth nearly straight. Metatarsal scutelte in 

 three series. Body plain beneath. 



Ampelinae. Wings very long and much pointed, longer than the shoi-t, 

 even tail. First primary excessively rudimentary ; the outermost about the 

 longest. Gape without bristles. Frontal feathers extending forward beyond 

 the nostrils. 



Ptilogonatinee. Horny appendages like red sealing-wax at end of shaft of 

 secondaries. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. First primary 

 nearly half the second. Gape well bristled. Frontal feathers falhng short of 

 the nostrils. No red horny appendage to wing-feathers. 



Subfamily AMPELINiE. 



Char. Legs moderate. Nostrils elongated, linear, with the frontal feathers extending 

 close to the edge and to anterior extremity, concealing them ; these feathers short, vel- 

 vety, and erect, with few bristles. Wings very long and acute ; outer or first primary so 

 much reduced as to be almost inappreciable ; the second nearly the longest. Wing nearly 

 twice the length of the short, narrow, even tail. Under coverts of tail reaching almost to 

 its tip. Secondary quills with flat horny appendages at end of shaft like red sealing-wax. 

 Young birds streaked beneath as in Dulus. Adults plain. 



Of this family as restricted, we have but a single genus in America. 



Genus AMPELIS, Linn. 



Ampelis, Linn. Sy.st. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 297. (Type, Lanius garrulus, L. Named 

 Linnaeus in 1735.) 



Gen. Char. Tail even. Tertials and secondaries with horny appendages like red seal- 

 ing-wax. A well-developed soft crest. 



A more elaborate diagnosis of this genus could be readily given (see Eev. 

 Am. Birds, 404), but the above characters, as entirely peculiar, will serve to 

 establish it. 



