192 





OPISTHOCOMUS. SERPENTsEATER. 



Generic Character. 



Rostrum mediocre, crassuin, 

 validum, lateratim com- 

 pressum,basi vibrissis di ver- 

 gentibus obductum, mar- 

 ginibus postice serratis, an- 

 tice utrinque incisis ; man- 

 dibula superiore culmine 

 rotundato, versus apicem 

 inflexa ; inferiore apice re- 

 curvata. 



Tarsi reticulati, digito medio 

 breviores. 



Ungues longiusculi, com- 

 pressi, curvati, acuti ; por- 

 tions longior, valde adun- 

 cus. 



Cauda rectricibus decem. 



OPISTHOCOMUS. Hoffmansegg. 

 ORTHOCORYS. Vieillot. 

 PHASIANUS. Gmcl. Lath. 

 CBAX. Briss. 



JL HIS genus was separated from the Pheasants 

 by that active and indefatigable zoologist Hoff- 

 mansegg : it is distinguished by having a shorter 



Beak middle sized, thick, 

 strong, laterally compress- 

 ed, the base furnished with 

 divergent bristles, the 

 edges serrated behind, and 

 cleft on each side ; the 

 ridge of the upper mandi- 

 ble rounded, towards the 

 tip bent down, the under 

 one at the tip recurved. 



Tarsi reticulated, shorter 

 than the middle toe. 



Claws long, compressed, 

 curved, acute ; the hinder 

 one long, and very much 

 bent. 



Tail with ten feathers. 



