80 PASSERES. S YLVI AD^ . 



localities ; while those insects that affect humid 

 and wet places are the chosen food of Wagtails 

 and Titlarks (Motacillmce) ; and, lastly, the Tits 

 (Parince) search assiduously among the buds and 

 tender shoots of trees, thus destroying a mul- 

 titude of hidden enemies to vegetation.* 



The birds of this Family have the beak slen- 

 der, tapering to the point, both of the mandibles 

 having, in most cases, the vertical outline slightly 

 arched, and the lateral outline slightly incurved : 

 the tip is perceptibly notched. Their form is 

 elegant, their plumage fine and close, and their pre- 

 vailing colours are olive-brown, yellow, and blue, 

 often chastely but beautifully arranged, and some- 

 times set off with deep black. Their motions are 

 sprightly, but their flight is feeble ; yet they are 

 almost all migratory, inhabiting the torrid zone 

 during the winter months, and visiting temperate 

 climates in the spring, where they breed during 

 the summer. We have remarked that most of 

 them are musical, and though of many, the song, 

 if heard alone, would be scarcely thought worthy 

 of admiration, yet, when mingled with many 

 more, each contributes its part to that concert of 

 many notes that fills the groves in spring, and 

 which, though a confused medley of melody, 

 never fails to please, and even charm the auditor. 



GENUS PHILOMELA. (SWAINS.) 



The generic characters of the Nightingales are 

 the following : the beak straight, the upper edge 

 rounded, the tip slightly bent, and notched ; the 

 wings, with the first quill very short, the third 



* Classif. of -Birds. 



