416 Kev. J. Sibree^ Jr., on the 



XXXVII. — On the Birds of Madagascar, and their Connec- 

 tion with Native Folk-lore, Proverbs, and Superstitions. 

 By the Rev. James Sibbee, Jr., F.R.G.S.^— Part II. 

 [Continued from p. 228.] 

 III. — The Passeres or Perching Birds. 

 The third Order into which Birds are divided by most natu- 

 ralists contains that large group of feathered creatures which 

 are the principal songsters of the woods, and which, as their 

 name implies, are found chiefly in the forests, or at least 

 where there are trees. As will be seen by referring to the 

 tabular arrangement given herewith (Table III., pp. 436-442), 

 there are no less than 60 species of perching birds found in 

 Madagascar. The greater proportion of these are seen only 

 in the lower and wooded regions of the island ; although a 

 few, as will be noticed presently, inhabit the barer regions 

 of the upper plateau, with their scanty clothing of trees and 

 shrubs. 



The greater number of these Perching Birds are of some- 

 what sombre plumage of browns and greys, with the exception 

 of the Sun-birds, tbe Swallow-Shrikes, and the Weaver-birds. 

 Of about forty families into which the whole Order is usually 

 divided, sixteen have representatives in the island, several 

 of these, especially the Thrushes and Warblers, including 

 many species. Among the Madagascar Passeres, therefore, 

 we find Swallow-Shrikes, Shrikes, Flycatchers, Thrushes, 

 Warblers, Babblers, Bulbuls, Butcher-birds, Sun-birds, Swal- 

 lows, Weaver- birds, and Starlings. Of the Crows, Titmice, 

 Wagtails, and Larks there is a single species of each family. 

 The Order includes also two species of birds (Philepitta) 

 which were at one time supposed to be nearly allied to the 

 Paradise-birds of New Guinea and the Moluccas, but are 

 now known to belong to a peculiar group of Passeres {Oligo- 

 myodae), mostly found in South America f. 



Many of the birds found in Madagascar are by no means 



* Reprinted from the 'Antananarivo Annual,' 1890, witli additions 

 and corrections by the Author. 



t Cf. Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 409. 



