152 TODUS. 



nevertheless so much longer. We know, however, 

 that a syndactyle foot, from its giving greater 

 breadth to the sole, is much more adapted for 

 grasping than one in which all the toes are cleft to 

 their origin ; and as this power is called more into 

 exertion among the todies than in the flycatchers, 

 strictly so termed, we see that their toes are accord- 

 ingly more united. Now the pre-eminent type of 

 the whole group seems to be the Todus viridls. 

 And it is consequently this very bird which has the 

 most syndactyle foot ; while the strong curvature and 

 breadth of its claws would seem to disprove at once 

 the assertion that it feeds upon the ground*. No 

 bird, out of thousands which we know of, having 

 the peculiar sort of claw possessed by the Todus 

 viridiS) has hitherto proved to be in any way terres- 

 trial. On the contrary, their habits, whenever they 

 come to light, turn out to be strictly arboreal. Now, 

 in proportion as we recede from a type, its distinc- 

 tions become less marked ; and hence it is that in 

 the black-capped tody the feet are less syndactyle, 

 and the claws more like those of a raptorial type. 

 The preceding observations on the natural history, 

 properly so called, of the todies, chiefly relate to 

 the typical examples; for as to the manners of 

 Platyrynchus, and of the aberrant sub-genera, we 

 know absolutely nothing. Let us now, therefore, 

 consider the group more in detail ; for which pur- 

 pose we shall designate the sub-genera as follows : 

 1. Conopophaya, or short-tailed todies; 2. Platy- 

 * Vieillot, Ois. d'Amerique. 



