354 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 



or Passeres (Lat. passer, sparrow). They are generally divided 

 into five groups, and we may indicate some of the principal mem- 

 bers of each in order to give a general idea of their components. 

 The first group consists exclusively of Australian birds. They 

 include the. two species of lyre birds, which in the male are 



provided with beau- 

 tiful, lyrelike tails 

 composed of sixteen 

 rectrices. The brush 

 or scrub birds also 

 belong here, and are 

 noteworthy because 

 of their remarkable 

 ability to imitate the 

 sounds of other ani- 

 mals. 



The second group 

 consists of the broad- 

 mouths or broadbills, 

 small birds not much 

 larger than a spar- 

 row, found in south- 

 eastern Asia and 

 some adjacent is- 

 lands, as well as in 

 South America. 

 There are only about 

 a dozen species, and 

 many are brilliantly 

 colored. 



The third group is 

 a large one, about six 

 hundred species, found all over the world in the tropics, and 

 most numerous in America, where some of them extend into 

 temperate regions. Some are brilliantly colored, but many are 

 dull. They consist of the very numerous tyrant birds, the cock- 

 of-the-rock, and the kingbirds. 



The fourth group consists of >.he ant birds, some five hundred 

 species confined strictly to Central and South America. 



FIG. 350. Melospiza fasciata, the song sparrow. (From a 

 photograph provided i>\ the American Museum ol Natural 

 History.) 



