2 REVIEW OF AMERICAN BIRDS. (PART I. 
having uncovered nostrils and with ten primaries, the first of which 
is either spurious or much shorter than the second, agreeing in this 
respect with the Sylvicolide having nine primaries only. The most 
striking of these common characters is seen in the deeply cleft toes, 
of which the outer is united by the basal joint alone to the middle 
toe, while the inner is separated almost to the very base of its first 
joint.t The frontal feathers extend, with rare exceptions, to the 
very nostrils. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately 
slender, and usually notched at tip; the culmen moderately curved 
from the base, and the mouth well provided with bristles, except 
in a few cases. Usually the scutelle covering the front and sides 
of the tarsus are fused into one continuous plate, or else scarcely 
appreciable, except on the inner edge only; in the Mocking Thrushes 
they are, however, distinctly marked. The lateral toes are nearly 
equal, the outer rather the longer. With these as some of the prin- 
cipal characteristics, they may be distinguished from each other as 
follows :-— 
A. Nostrils oval. Loral and frontal feathers with bristly points, ar inter- 
spersed with bristles ; rictus with longer or shorter bristles. 
Saxicolidz. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the 
middle of the short square or emarginated tail, and one and a half 
times or more the length of the latter. The spurious primary very 
short, the second quill longer than the fourth. In the closed wing the 
outer secondary reaches only about two-thirds the length of longest 
primary. 
Turdidz. Wings moderate, more rounded, not reaching beyond middle 
of the often’ rounded tail, and not more than one and a third the 
latter, usually more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes half 
the length of second quill; the second quill shorter than the fourth. 
In the closed wing the outer secondary reaches three-fourths or more 
the length of longest primary. 
' Ina perfectly fresh specimen of Turdus mustelinus, the basal half of the 
first phalanx of the inner toe is connected with the 1st joint of the middle toe 
by a membrane which stretches across to within two-fifths of the end of the 
latter; there appears however to be no ligamentous adhesion. The basal 
joint of the outer toe is entirely adherent, and a membrane extends from nearly 
the basal half of the second joint to the distal end of the first joint of th> 
middle toe. When this connecting membrane becomes dried the division 
of the toes appears considerably greater. 
When the toes are all extended in line with the tarsus, the hind claw 
stretches a little beyond the lateral and scarcely reaches the base of the 
middle claw. , 
The plates at the upper surface of the basal joints of the toes are quadran- 
gular and opposite each other. 
