EURYLA1MUS. 233 



genus ; but Dr. Horsfi eld, who discovered one spe - 

 cies in Java, since distinguished by his name, cha- 

 racterized it as belonging to a distinct group. Un- 

 fortunately he was not able to give any account of 

 its manners, further than that it was found in " one 

 of the most distant and inaccessible parts of Java, 

 covered with extensive forests, and abounding with 

 rivers and marshes." But Sir Stamford Raffles, 

 speaking of another species, observes, " it frequents 

 the banks of rivers and lakes, feeding on insects 

 and worms. It builds its nest pendant from the 

 branches of a tree or bush which overhangs the 

 water." "We have thus two witnesses to the fact 

 of two species of these birds habitually living in the 

 vicinity of water. 



The preceding observations renders it almost un- 

 necessary to state the more minute peculiarities in, 

 which these remarkable birds differ from all the 

 other flycatchers ; yet some of them deserve parti- 

 cular attention, as establishing their collateral affi- 

 nities. The bill, notwithstanding its excessive 

 breadth, is by no means so very much flattened 

 as what we see in Musclcapa; for the culmen is 

 sufficiently elevated to form a regular curve, while 

 the tip is almost as abruptly hooked as that of a 

 raptorial type, although the notch is very small ; 

 the lateral margins of the upper mandible are very 

 much curved, and so much dilated as to fold over 

 and completely hide those of the lower mandible, 

 more especially at the angle of the mouth. The 

 rictal bristles are comparatively very short, and d<* 



