VII TYRANNIDAE 473 
buildings, and so forth, is formed of bents, roots, and feathers, and 
contains from three to five white eggs. 
Fam. IV Tyrannidae.—This comprises some four hundred 
species, chiefly of an olive or black-and-grey coloration, which is occa- 
sionally relieved by bright scarlet as in Pyrocephalus, orange-red as 
in Muscivora, or yellow as in Todirostrum ; but these hues are not 
necessarily common to whole genera. Agriornis and Megarhynchus 
are exceptionally large forms, but the majorityare small,and in habits 
and appearance resemble the Old World Flycatchers, or even Shrikes. 
From the former, however, they are easily distinguished by their 
normal outer primary and the exteriorly scutellated back of the 
metatarsus (exaspidean). Dr. Sclater ' recognises four Sub-families, 
Taeniopterinae, Platyrhynchinae, Elaineinae, and Tyranninae. 
The curved bill, varying in length and stoutness, is compressed 
and bristly at the gape in the Taeniopterinae, hardly bristly in the 
Elaineinae, depressed and decidedly bristly in the Platyrhynchinae 
and Tyranninae ; while the culmen is most strongly hooked in the 
larger species, being much curved in Oncostoma, particularly broad 
and flat in Platyrhynchus, Megarhynchus, Muscivora, Todirostrum, 
and Huscarthmus, swollen and very wide in Rhynchocyclus. In 
the first and last of the Sub-families the metatarsus is strong and 
often long; in the remainder it is comparatively weak ; Centrites 
has an extremely elongated hallux, correlated with Lark-like 
habits. The wing is usually short, but is often long in the 
Taeniopterinae and Tyranninae; the outer of the ten primaries are 
at times acuminate in Zyrannus, Hapalocercus, Cnipolegus, and 
Taenioptera, whereas in Colopterus and Alectrurus these quills are 
unusually reduced. The secondaries are nine. The tail, normally 
of twelve rectrices, varies much in length, and is very deeply forked 
and graduated in Milvulus, Muscipipra, and three members of 
Tyrannus, moderately divided in Contopus and certain species of 
Taenioptera, and so forth; it is not infrequently nearly square ; 
while it is long and rounded in Capsiempis and the like; long and 
graduated, with only ten narrowly-barbed feathers in Culicivora; of 
_ the same shape in Cybernetes ; and excessively reduced in Orchilus 
ecaudatus. Copurus possesses two very long median rectrices ; the 
male of Alectrurus tricolor has the two fairly long outer feathers 
with their inner webs abnormally developed, and that of A. riso- 
rius has them enormously lengthened and broadened. 
1 Oat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. 1888. 
