LEPTURUS, 



the rasorlal type of the todies, and to which we arc 

 conducted by Todus megacephalus. So close indeed 

 is this approximation, that the profile of the hills 

 of the two are almost precisely the same ; with this 

 difference only, that in Lepturus the sides are more 

 compressed, so that the outer half of the hill is as 

 high as it is broad. This is a nice, hut a very im- 

 portant distinction ; hecause it shows that in Todu* 

 megaceplialus we had the last remnant of the boat- 

 shaped bill of that sub-genus. At present we know 

 but of one example of this type, which, as its 

 name implies, has rather a long, but very slender 

 tail. It resembles, in fact, a little Malurus y or 

 Orthotomus, with the bill of a flycatcher. Its wings 

 1 are even still shorter, for the size of the bird, than 

 ' those of T. megaceplialus^ but here the similarity 

 : ceases : instead of possessing the short weak feet 

 and small toes so characteristic of all the species of 

 t Todus we have just dwelt upon, those of the bird 

 before us are long, and, for its size, even robust. 

 i The toes are all cleft to their base ; the lateral ones 

 are of equal length, and the middle one is much 

 ! developed. This structure, added to its remark- 

 ' ably short wings and lengthened tail, points out 

 this singular bird to be the rasorial sub-genus of 



