266 INSESSORES. AMPELID^E. 



Breast yellowish-brown, with oblong dark-brown spots. 

 Belly and abdomen white, with a tinge of wood-brown. 

 Flanks yellowish-brown. Back, wing-coverts, and sca- 

 pulars, blackish-brown ; the feathers being deeply edged 

 with yellowish-brown, and having a slight tinge of oil- 

 green. The middle feathers of the tail deep-brown, 

 with paler edges ; the outer feather on each side almost 

 entirely white ; and the next to it having the anterior 

 part white ; the shaft and basal part black. Tail ex- 

 tending nearly two inches beyond the tips of the closed 

 wings. Legs and feet yellowish-brown ; the tarsi long 

 and stout ; hind claw much produced, and slightly 

 curved. 



FAMILY V. AMPELID^. 



THE Ampelidae, or Fruit-eaters, which form the fifth pri- 

 mary division of the Dentirostral Insessores, are distinguished 

 by a short bill, attended with an extensive gape, enabling 

 them to swallow in an entire state the large berries and fruits 

 that constitute their support. In all the typical genera the 

 setae, or those hairs which protect the mouth of the Laniadse 

 and other Insectivorous groups, are wanting, and it is only 

 in such aberrant forms as lead to the Flycatchers and War- 

 blers, that we detect the partial acquisition of the rictal 

 bristles. These are strictly insessorial or perching birds, 

 and are never seen upon the ground ; consequently their 

 legs and feet are short, the latter being well adapted for 

 grasping the branches of trees, by the toes being more or less 

 united at the base, and the soles broad and scabrous. The 

 typical subdivisions of the family are those of Ampelina and 

 Piprina, the former embracing the birds belonging to the 

 genus Ampelis (LiNN.) as now restricted, Cassmorynclms 

 (TEMM.), &c. ; and the latter those of Pipra (LiNN.), Rupi- 



