PASSERINE. 247 



The species belonging to the new continent are much more nume- 

 rous, their tints are of a deeper brown, and they vary as to strength, and 

 tlic length of the bill. They obtain their living from the enormous ant- 

 hills which abound in the woods and deserts of this part of the world ; 

 the females are larger than the males. These birds seldom fly, and have 

 a sonorous cry, which, in some species, is even extraordinary. 

 Among those with a thick and arcuated bill, we remark, 



M. rex ; Turdus rex, Gm. ; Corvus grallarius, Shaw, Enl. 702. 

 (King of the Ant-catchers). The largest of all, and stands the 

 highest: its tail, on the other hand, is the shortest, and at the first 

 glance it might be taken for a wader ; it is about the size of a quail, 

 and its grey plumage is agreeably chequered. It is more solitary 

 than the others*. 

 The species with a straighter, but still tolerably strong bill, are allied 

 to the Shrikes with a similar onef . 



Others have a slender, sharp bill, which, with their striated tail, ap- 

 proximates them to the Wren J. 



The Ortiionyx, Tem., may be approximated to the Ant-catchers. 

 They have the bill of a Thrush, but it is short and slender ; their legs 

 are long, the nails almost straight, and the quills of the tail terminate in 

 a point like those of the creepers. 



We must also separate from the Thrushes : 



of tlieir genus Thimalia, is but a little removed from the azurin, if we except its 

 sombre hues and its bill, which latter diminishes more regularly in front, and thereby 

 approaches the Tanagers. 



* M. Vieillot has taken his genus Grallaria, Galer. 154, from this bird. 



Add the Grcaid beffroi {Turdus tbmiens), Enl. 706, 1, of which Vieill. makes his 

 genus MvoTHERA: its bill is smaller; — Myrmotliera guttata, Vieill. Gal. 155. 



t Such are the Tetema {Turdus-colma, B.), Enl. 821;— the Paltcour {T. formici- 

 vortis), Enl. 700, 1;— the Petit beffroi {Turdus lijicatus), Enl. 823, 1;— the Thamno- 

 philus stellaris, Spix, 39;-^-Tha7n7i. myotherinus, Id. 42. The M. let(cophris, Tem. Col. 

 448, although from Java, seems to approach this group. The Brachyptcryx montana, 

 Horsf. Jav. also approximates to it in the height of its legs, but its tail is longer in 

 proportion, and the bill is somewhat allied to that of the Saxicolae. 



X Such are the Bamhla {Turd, bambla), Enl. 703;— the Arada {T. canlans), Enl. 

 70(), 2. Here comes the genus Rhamphocene, Vieill. 9, 128. 



We are compelled, however, to replace among the Thrushes, several species which 

 Buffon arranged with the Ant-catchers, on account of some relative similarity of 

 colour, viz. the Carillonneur {T. tintinnahilatus), Enl. 700, 2;— the Merle a cravale 

 {T. cinnamoimcs, Enl. 560, 2;— those of the pi. Eul. 644, 1 and 2, which, contrary 

 to all appearances, he considers as varieties of the formicivurus. I place in the same 

 class the Thamnophiliis griseus, Spix, 41, 1, and 48,' 2; — striatus. Id., 40, 2; — melano- 

 gaster, Id. 43, 1. The Myothera capistrata melanothorax, Tem. Col. 185, [and M. 

 obsultta, Bonap. I. p. 1, 2.] We must also send back to the Thrushes, notwith- 

 standing their smallness, the long-tailed species, called by Buffon FourmiUiers ros- 

 signols {T. coroya and T. alapi, Gm.), Enl. 701, as well as the Myiothera malura, 

 Natterer, Col. 353, and the M. ferrugiiiea and rufimargi)iata, Col. 132, which are 

 even closely allied to the T. punctatus and grammiceps ; — the M. galaris and pyrrho- 

 genis, Tem. 442, 448. 



The Myiothera mentalis and strictothorax, Natterer, Col. 179, as it appears to me, 

 should be placed among the Shrikes. There is no group which has been more overload- 

 ed with species foreign to it than that of the Ant-catchers. We nnist confess, how- 

 ever, that it is not more rigorously limited than the other groups of the Dentirostres. 



