INSESSORES. BOMBYCILLA. 267 



cola (BRISS.), Catyptomena (RAFFLES), &c. To the aber- 

 rant subdivisions (the limits of which have not yet been 

 strictly defined) belong, amongst others, the genera Procnias 

 (HOFFMAN), Phibalura (VIEILL.), Bombycilla (BRISS.) Vi- 

 reo (VIEILL.), Liothrix (SWAINS.), and Pachycephala 

 (SWAINS.). With the exception of the genera Bombycilla, 

 Liothrix, Pachycephala, and Pardalotus, the whole of the 

 present family is restricted to the New World ; the typical 

 genera inhabiting the warmer parts of South America, where 

 they find, in the thick and extensive forests, a never failing 

 supply of those fruits and berries upon which they subsist. 

 In Europe only one form belonging to this family is known, 

 viz. the Wax-Wing (Bombycilla garruld), which, from its 

 occasional visits, is entitled to rank as a British bird. 



GENUS BOMBYCILLA, BRISS. WAX-WING. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



BILL strong, short, and strait, broad at the base ; the gape 

 wide ; the upper mandible slightly bent at the tip, and 

 emarginated. Nostrils basal, ovoid, and open, concealed by 

 closely set feathers directed forwards. Wings long ; the 

 second quill feather being the longest ; and the first longer 

 than the third. Secondary quills having their tips orna- 

 mented with a wax-like appendage. Feet with three toes 

 before, and one behind ; the outer and inner toes joined at 

 their base to the middle one. Tarsus shorter than the mid- 

 dle toe. Sole broad. Claws sharp, and curved. 



The Wax- Wings were considered by BRISSON (with that 

 judgment he so eminently displayed) as generally distinct 

 from the true chatterers (genus Ampelis of LINNAEUS and 

 LATHAM), though both these systematists allowed them to 

 remain confounded together, in defiance of their distinct se- 

 parating characters. By TEMMINCK, also, they have been 



