xxii NOUTII AMKKK'AX DIUDS. 



Bill stout, tiimitl, convex in nearly all its outlin«\<: tomia not 

 an^Milatt'il, luU with oni' or more lubes or nicks in advance of 

 the iiiuic. Nostrils placol very high. Other characters nuieh 

 wi'm Sijlrirolit/a. Odors chidly red and yellow. Une geini.s of Tannrpida. 



liill truly conic, nnich shorter than head, usually with the an- 

 gulation evident; no lol.e along middle of tomia, l»ut usually a 

 notch at end. Nostrils placed very h'xh. liictal bristles usually 

 o^^'^^\^^ FnuyilUda. 



Bill conic, hut lengthened, little if any shorter than head; the 

 angulation of the tomia evident ; no notch at end. Nostrils high. 



No rictal bristles Ictenda. 



bb. Primaries ten. 



Otherwise with characters much as in Iderkhc . . . Sturni'da:. 

 d. Nostrils concealed with antrorse bristly feathers (except in 

 Psilor/tiiius ii\u\ (iyniHokittii)} 



Base oi' bdl sheathed with antrorse bristlv feathers, havino' 

 lateral branches to their very ends; its tip mostly notched. 

 Basal joint of middle toe united only half-way to the lateral. 

 Sides, of tarsus oc»-upied by a lateral groove, mostly lille<l in 

 with small plates. First i)rimary more than half as long a.s 



secontl. Large, — over seven inches Corvidce. 



Base of bill with two tufts of bristly feathers, ending in sim- 

 plo fdaments without lateral branches, its tip mostl}- un- 

 notched. Basal joint of middle toe united nearly all its length 

 with the lateral. Sides of tarsus ungroove<l. First primary 

 leSvS than half as long jis second. Small, - - under seven inches. Parida} 

 dd. Nostrils exposed. 



e. Tail scansorial, with rigid acute featheis. Whole bill 

 slender, compressed, acute, decurved. uiniotched, unbristled 



Outer toe much longer than inner CertJiiidce. 



ee. Tail not scnnsorial, graduated. First primary not less 

 (generally more) than half as long as the second, and inner 

 toe united to the middle by at least one half (usually more) 

 of the length of its basal joint. 



Tarsus with few obscure scutella. Rictal bristles present. 

 Bill stout, but not tootiied nor hooked. Wing excessively 

 rounded Hifth, sixth, and seventh primaries longest), nuich 

 shorter than the long graduated tail. Size small. Plumage 

 brown, unhanded ....... ChamceadcB. 



Tarsus distinctly scutellate. Nostrils wholly exposed, 



nostrils are nearer the culmen than the tomia. The whole bill is more or less l)ent in its axis from 

 the axis of the eram'al base, so that the palate curves tlown, or is excavated or, as it wciv, is broken 

 into two planes nict-ting at an angle, — one plane the anterior hard imperforate roof of the mouth, 

 the other the l>aek palate where the internal nares are situate (Sumlevall). The single North 

 American genus of TmKnfriihc {P;irnn<i<i) is here conventionally ranged on account of its higli 

 nostiils and conic bill, although it does not sliow angulation of the tomia. The Icftrithr, with 

 oltviously angrdated t(»niia, shade into the Frutyinidiv in shovtiii'afi and thickness of bill, and into 

 other fannlies in its length and slenderness. 



^ These two geneia, Psu'/orhiinis nnd Giimitol-'itta, of the family Corcidce, have naked nostrils, 

 as under dd, hut otherwise show the characters of Corridrr. 



^ "With the P((ri<hc the authors of this work inelu<le the Nuthatches as a subfamily Sittincc, 

 which I prefer to dissociate and place as a group of e(iual grade next to Certhiida;. 



