Family of Laniadce. $03 



or divisions, is of no consequence whatever to the science itself, 

 for it is a mere question of nomenclature. We see that these 

 forms do actually exist in Nature, and that they indicate a change 

 or modification of economy ; and by whatever name we call them, 

 still they must be kept distinct in our ideas, if we wish to study 

 natural affinities, and the operations of Providence in preserving 

 the harmony of creation. 



Referring to what we have already said, when noticing the 

 genus Prionops, we shall make use of that type to conduct us to 

 the third family of these birds, 



Eooi.iAir.aE. 



It is to M. Le Vaillant that we were first indebted for a know- 

 ledge of the habits and economy of certain African birds, which he 

 brought together under the common appellation of Drongos. Yet 

 the ill-directed zeal for nomenclature among our Linna;an writers 

 prompted them to pass over the opinions of this accurate observer 

 of Nature ; and, up to this day, we find the species confusedly 

 mixed, in their systems, with the Shrikes and Flycatchers. The 

 Drongos first found a place in systematic arrangement, in the 

 Nouvelle Ornithologie of M. Vieillot ; who has given them the 

 name of Dicrurus, from the tail, in nearly all the species, being 

 considerably forked ; in the following year they appeared in the 

 Regne Animal, as the genus Edolius. Guided by the impartial 

 rule of priority, I shall speak of these birds under the first of these 

 names. 



The Dicruri are altogether excluded from the American conti- 

 nent ; they are met with in India, but are chiefly found in Africa, 

 where M. Le Vaillant discovered a great number of species, and 

 has given their history at some length, accompanied by numerous 

 figures, in his valuable work Les Oiseaux d'Afriqite. We find they 

 are insectivorous, and take their prey on the wing : these habits 

 are in perfect harmony with their structure : the wings are longer, 

 more pointed, and consequently more powerful than in the Thain- 

 nophilince. Their bill is short, strong, and arched above, as in the 

 true Shrikes ; but, (as suited to their particular mode of feeding) 



