MUSCICAPINJE. 117 



with a group more in accordance with their own ; 

 or, in other words, the resemhlances loose that 

 remoteness which was the inevitable consequence 

 of our last comparison. Thus, we find, that not 

 only the analogy between the fan-tailed flycatchers 

 (Rhipidura) and the babbling thrushes is perfect, 

 but that other unexpected points of analogy come 

 to light in the remaining groups. The orioles 

 (Oriolince) and the hooded flycatchers, for in- 

 stance, not only are the most aberrant in all their 

 characters, but they have a peculiarity of colouring 

 in the black hood which envelopes the head and 

 neck of nearly all the species, which is very 

 striking. The bill of Monacha carlnata is much 

 more like that of an oriole than of a flycatcher, 

 while the plumage, again, of Monacha chrysomela, 

 is almost a counterpart of that of its prototypes, 

 the Oriolus paradiscus and the Sericulus chryso- 

 cepkalus, not only as to its colour, but in that 

 peculiar rich velvetty texture which is found in no 

 other birds of these two families. The analogy 

 between Megalophus and Bracks/pus is not so 

 strong as among the others, but both have very 

 short and peculiarly feeble feet; the weakness, 

 however, of our comparison between these two last 

 groups is amply made up by the strong resemblance 

 of the todies to the Myotherma, as sufficiently 

 expressed in the table, while the same observation 

 is applicable regarding those points in which the 

 typical flycatchers (Muscicapa) so perfectly repre- 

 sent the typical thrushes (Merulidce}. 



