DENTIRO8TRES. FAMILY SYLVJADJE. 



441 



by the correspondence of its general characters with those of the 

 truly toothed-billed species. But there are many whose charac- 

 ters are so intermediate between those of the Dentirostral and 

 the Conirostral tribes, that they may be placed either in one or 

 the other, with considerable show of reason. In fact, there are 

 no such arbitrary divisions in Nature ; and it is in the study of 

 Birds, more perhaps than in that of any other class, that the 

 Zoologist feels a difficulty in strictly defining his genera and 

 families, on account of the gradual passage which is formed 

 between one and another, by intermediate species. It is inter- 

 esting to observe, that several of the families contained in this 

 tribe are evidently analogous to the principal families of the last. 

 Thus we have in the first instance the SYLVIAD^, or Warblers ; 

 a very large family of small Birds, which evidently represent 

 the Finches. The LANIAD^E, Shrikes or Butcher Birds, the 

 largest and most powerful of the order, are strikingly analogous 

 to the Crows. And the TURDID^E, or Thrushes, which are like 

 Shrikes with their peculiar characters softened down, may be 

 likened to the Starlings. Besides these, we have in this tribe 

 the MUSCICAPID^E, or Fly Catchers; and the AMPELID^E, or 

 Chatterers. 



399. The family SYLVIAD^E, or Warblers, consists of small 

 Birds which have rather long and slender bills, with the tip 

 slightly curved and 

 toothed ; and it con- 

 tains a large propor- 

 tion of the species 

 which are most re- 

 markable for their 

 power of song. The 

 Nightingale (Fig. 

 241) will serve as a 

 good example of the 

 general aspect and 

 characters of the 

 group. These Birds 

 are solitary in their habits ; feeding on insects, worms, and berries ; 



Fto. 241 NIGHTINGALE. 



