114 MUSCICAPIN^E. 



most perfectly organized group, in reference to 

 the true distinctions of that circle to which they 

 belong, in the whole sub-family. These typical 

 distinctions are seen in the length of their wings, 

 giving a power of flight not possessed by the Todies ; 

 their strongly hooked bill, the long and stiff bristles 

 round the mouth, and their remarkably short, but 

 not syndactyle feet; their habits are strictly in 

 unison with these characters. They fill the same 

 station, in short, in their own circle, as the Coni- 

 rostres do among the Perchers, and we hence 

 conclude that they are analogous. If this position 

 is true, it necessarily follows that the Todies and the 

 Dentirostres are also analogous; because the affinity 

 between Muscicapa and Todus is just as perfect and 

 unquestionable as that between the Conirostres and 

 the Dentirostres. Whether this analogy is shown 

 in a more direct manner by certain habits possessed 

 by both, of which we are at present ignorant, is a 

 question to be determined hereafter; but we can 

 discover no tangible analogy in their structure 

 which would lead us immediately to conclude that 

 they mutually represented each other. Passing to 

 the two next groups brought under comparison, 

 namely, Megalophus and the Fissirostres, we have 

 one point of strong resemblance in the feet. The 

 toes of the only species of Megapodius yet disco- 

 vered, are much more united than in the typical 

 examples of the two preceding genera, although its 

 crest would seem to give this bird an equal claim 

 to be considered a rasorial type. In determining, 



