333 



LANIAD.E. 



LANIAD.E. 



331 



Tyrannints is BO perfect that it ig difficult at present to determine 

 where one terminates and the other commences. The Water-Chats of 

 Brazil pass by such imperceptible degrees into the lesser Tyrant- 

 Shrikes (Tyrannula), that although an observer on the spot might, he 

 remarks, draw a distinction, an ornithologist acquainted only with 

 dried skins is at a loss to distinguish their remote ramifications. 

 " The Water-Chats (Flwricolirue)," says Mr. Swainson in continuation, 

 "which seem to connect the Tyrant-Shrikes to the Flycatching 

 family, or the Mwticapidce, like very many other tribes, have their 

 plumage black and white variously blended, but without any mixture 

 of greeu. The Lesser Tyrants (Tyrannula), on the contrary, are all of an 

 olive-coloured plumage ; that colour, in short, which is most adapted 

 for concealment among foliage, and therefore suited to their manner 

 of life : between these however we find some curious birds, which 

 borrow the habits of both groups. The species called by Latham 

 White-Headed Tody, for instance, is black and white : its general 

 resort is on the sides of marshes, where it perches upon the reeds, and 

 darts on passing insects in the same manner as a true Tyrant-Shrike; 

 this we have ourselves repeatedly witnessed. Azara says that it like- 

 wise chases insects upon the ground ; so that we have thus in this one 

 bird the manners of both groups exemplified. Whether this, or the 

 'r :i ::uinu!" ambulant of Brazil, which lives on the ground like a lark, 

 constitute* a generic type in this division is at present uncertain. 

 The Lesser Tyrants (Tyrannulce) are spread over the whole of America, 

 where they represent the true Flycatcher (Muecicapa) of the Old 

 World : both have nearly the same manners ; and so closely do they 

 resemble each other that they can only be distinguished by their feet, 

 tail, and wings. From these we may pass to the True or Greater 

 Tyrants, by a little sub-generic group (itilvulut, Sw.) having very long 

 forked tails. The habits of the typical Tyrants intimately resemble 

 those of the lesser, but they feed upon larger insects more suited to 

 their own size : some imitate the Kingfishers, by diving in the water ; 

 and they will even prey upon small reptiles. The species, which are 

 numerous, swarm in tropical America, where they are everywhere 

 seen, perched upon naked branches, and uttering at short intervals a 

 sharp and monotonous cry. The Tyrants are bold and quarrelsome 

 birds, particularly during the season of incubation ; the male will 

 not then suffer any birds to come near its nest, and becomes so infu- 

 riated against such unconscious intruders that it will attack both 

 hawks and eagles, with a determination not to be resisted, until they 

 are fairly driven away." 



Ceblepyrince. 



Sub-Family Character. Bill broad at the base, but destitute of long 

 bristles. Rictus nearly smooth. Wings pointed ; the three first quills 

 graduated. Feathers on the rump very thick, and apparently spinous. 

 Tail with the centre emarginated, and the sides rounded. Feet short; 

 lateral toes unequal. 



Locality. Warm latitudes of the Old World. 

 Genera. CMfpyrit, Cuv. ; Oxynotus, Sw. ; Campephaga, VieilL, 

 with its sub-genus Plicenicornu, Sw. ; and Entcivora, Sw. 



Mr. Swainson is of opinion that the passage from the Tyrant- 

 Shrikes to the Ccblepyrina is sufficiently marked by the Mexican 

 genus Ptilioyonyt, which brings them very close together. The 

 Ceblepyrina: are confined to the Old World ; but, according to that 

 author, not a single species had yet been found in Europe. They live 

 upon soft caterpillars, for which they search among the foliage of high 

 trees, as Le Vaillant, who first called attention to the group, pointed 

 out. Mr. Swainson remarks that nearly all the species are distin- 

 guished by the feathers on the back, which are very thick set ; and 

 when the hand is passed over them in a direction towards the head 

 they feel as if intermixed with little sharp spines concealed beneath 

 the surface. This singular construction, he adds, is seen also in the 

 Trogons, and, in a less degree, in the families of Orioles and Cuckoos. 

 The genus Pluenicornii, in his opinion, unites thU division to the 

 Tyrant* 



Dicrurince. 



Sub-Family Character. Bill compressed towards the end ; the culmen 

 gradually arched and bent over the lower mandible. Feet short. Tail 

 lengthened, generally forked. Wings long, and more or leas pointed. 

 Locality. The warm latitudes of the Old World. 

 Genera. Tephrodornia, Sw. ; Meloioma, Sw. ; Ocypterus, Cuv., with 

 its sub-genus Analcipui, Sw. ; and Dicrurus, Vieill. 



Mr. Swainson holds that we are led to the IHcrurina, or Drongo- 

 Shrikes of Le Vaillant, by those caterpillar-catchers (Erucivora, Sw.) 

 which have only a few acute feathers on their back ; or that the genus 

 O.rynottu may possibly effect this junction. The Orongos, he states, 

 lire fly-catching birds, having their bill both compressed and depressed, 

 and the mouth furnished with very stiff long bristles. " These," says 

 Mr. Swainson, in continuation, " are entirely unknown in America, 

 where they seem to be represented by the Fork-Tailed Tyrants (Mil- 

 vulut, Sw.) : like them they have the tail, almost universally, long and 

 forked ; and they associate, as do the American birds, in flocks, some- 

 thing like Swallows, pursuing insects upon the wing in every direction. 

 Bees appear to be a favourite food with these birds, as they are like- 

 wise with the King-Tyrant of North America (Tyrannus in(repidus). 

 Home are ornamented with little recurved crests in front of tho head ; 

 others have the neck-feathers pointed, and of a rich metallic hue ; 



most have the tail remarkably developed ; and nearly all are of a 

 uniform glossy black colour : hence it becomes very difficult to dis- 

 tinguish the species, which in truth are much more numerous than 

 has been generally imagined. In the genus Analcipua we first have a 

 few bright colours. Only three species, natives of Madagascar and 

 the Indian Islands, have yet been discovered ; they lead us to the Swift- 

 Shrikes (Ocypterus, Cuv.), so named from their very long wings ; but 

 in Tephrodomii these members again become like those of the Drongos. 

 This latter genus is very remarkable : for, by the bristly nature and 

 the incurved direction of the frontal feathers, we have a clear repre- 

 sentation of Cluftoblemma, and all those bristle-fronted birds which 

 are analogical to Prionops and Dasycephala." 



Mr. Swainson remarks with regard to these three groups, which 

 form, according to him, the aberrant sub-families of the l^aniadce, that 

 the approximation of the Dierurinte to the Tyrannince has been 

 thought so strong and so decisive that one ornithologist supposes they 

 actually pass into each other ; and he thinks that this union is not 

 only highly probable, but what we should naturally expect ; in which 

 case the three aberrant groups would form their own circle. 



Thamnophilince. 



Sub-Family Character. Lateral toes unequal; the outer connected 

 to the first joint of the middle toe. Claws broad, and not very acute. 

 Bill lengthened, abruptly hooked at its tip ; the tooth prominent. 



Genera. TkanmofhUus, VieilL ; Malaconotus, Sw. ; Prionopa, Vieill. ; 

 Colluricincla, Vig. 



Mr. Swainsou remarks that the habits of the Thamnophilince, or 

 Bush-Shrikes, are strikingly opposed to those of the aberrant divisions, 

 as he terms them. The Bush-Shrikes, he tells us, live among thick 

 trees, bushes, and underwood, where they are perpetually prowling 

 about after insects and young and sickly birds, and are great destroyers 

 of eggs. They neither seize their prey with their claws, nor do they 

 daof at it on the wing ; the former therefore are thick and rather 

 blunt, and the wings are so short as to indicate very feeble flight. The 

 bill, which is the capturing instrument, is always stout, much more 

 leugthened^thau in the True Shrikes, and very abruptly hooked at the 

 end, which is armed with a strong tooth. 



Only one species of Prionops (P. plumatus), according to the same 

 author, was known until lately, and that is common in Senegal, where 

 it is said to search for terrestrial insects in humid situations beneath 

 the surface : it has a peculiar crest of rigid feathers falling back on 

 the head, but also reversed over the base of the bill, and completely 

 protecting the nostrils and the sides of the mouth. Mr. Swainsou 

 looks upon this bird as forming the point of union between the Bush- 

 Shrikes and the Forked-Tailed Shrikes, or Dicrurinae, the singular 

 structure above-noticed being partially developed in the genus Teph- 

 rodornit. 



Tliamnophilui, which Mr. Swainson regards as strictly typical, shows, 

 he observes, the perfection of that particular structure which distin- 

 guishes the Bush-Shrikes. The bill is very powerful ; and although 

 many of the species far exceed a thrush in size, others are not much 

 larger than a wren. The group is stated to be confined to the hotter 

 latitudes of America, where the species are very numerous. Though 

 the plumage is thick, the texture of the feathers is very soft and lax. 

 The colours are sombre, but often elegantly varied with dark band.) 

 and white spots. Mr. Swainson looks upon the genus Malaconolua as 

 representing these birds in Africa; and he observes that, although 

 they were long confounded with them, their distinctions are very 

 decisive, the African group being distinguished for the gaiety and 

 brightness of their plumage ; the brightest crimson, combined with 

 glossy black or clear green, with orange or yellow, decorating most of 

 the species. Others however have the sombre colours of the American 

 group, but they are never banded : and a few so nearly approach the 

 JMiiianu: that it is very difficult to distinguish them otherwise than 

 by the great inequality of their lateral toes, the inner one being always 

 much shorter than the outer, and the latter often so connected to the 

 middle toe that the feet are partially syndactyle. The Australian 

 genus Collurisoma (Colluricincla ?) he thinks, probably represents the 

 tenuirostral type. 



Laniance. 



Sub-Family Character. Lateral toes equal and free. Claws slender, 

 acute. Bill generally short, with the tooth very prominent. 



Genera. Lanius, Linn. ; Telophonus, j$w. ; Cluetoblemma, Sw. ; 

 Nilaus, Sw. ; and Falcunculus, Vieill. 



Mr. Swainsou is of opinion that the precise passage between the 

 Thamnophilinai and the Lmdume seems to be effected by the genus 

 Chcetoblemma, a remarkable form discovered in South Africa by Mr. 

 Burchell. This, Mr. Swainsou observes, 'is the only short-billed Shrike 

 that has the frontal feathers stiff and directed forwards upon the base 

 of the bill : in that respect, as well as in the length of its wings, it 

 presents, in his opinion, a curious analogy to Prionopa among the 

 Bush-Shrikes. 



The samo author remarks that as the genus Lanius is pre-eminently 

 typical, not ouly of its own family, but of the whole tribe of Dmtl- 

 roitres, or toothed-billed birds, every country in the world possesses 

 examples of it : even in Australia the True Shrikes are, he states, 

 represented by a peculiar type, tho jfolMmrafat frontalis, which 

 however, instead of watching for its prey, and devouring birds or 



