Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Prionites. 327 
numerous specimens of Nirmi, some of which were sent to 
Mr. Denny, who is now engaged on a monograph of the 
British species of this very curious race of insects. That 
gentleman obligingly furnished the drawing for the an- 
nexed wood-cut, and the following 
remarks: “ It belongs to one of the 
nera most numerous in species ; 
the most striking character is the 
great size of the trabeculz or move- 
able organs before the antenne ; I 
know of no species in which they 
are so large or thick; the nearest 
approach is in those species infest- 
ing the Crow family; you will see 
these organs thick and strong in the 
Nirmi from the Jay, Raven, Carrion 
Crow, Rook, and Jackdaw.” 
The spatulate form of the tail- 
feathers is another part of the struc- 
ture of this group which seems to 
have attracted general observation. 
It is the popular notion in their 
native country that the bare portions of the tail-feathers are 
cut by the bird itself*, which, for this purpose, has been pro- 
vided with a serrated bill. The observations of Mr. Kirk all 
tend to disprove this, and we would certainly consider it as 
merely a state of adult plumage, and when we look around to 
other groups we see corresponding structures to be far from 
uncommon. The utility or design of it is not at first appa- 
rent, except as an indication of maturity. It is common to 
both sexes, and does not appear before the second moult ; pre- 
viously the feathers are entire, but there is a narrowing of the 
web where it becomes afterwards stripped off, and in one or 
two examples we have seen a lateral feather stripped in.the 
same manner with those in the centre. The bill may be used 
to dress the feathers, but the serratures on its edges are at 
once explained by Mr. Kirk’s notes, and must prove eminently 
useful in holding fast the reptiles which constitute a great 
Docophorus Prionitis, from 
P, Bahamensis. 
* “This bird seems to suppose that its beauty can be increased by trim- 
ming the tail, which undergoes the same operation as our hair in a barber’s 
shop, only with this difference, that it uses its own beak, which is serrated, 
in lieu of a pair of scissors; as soon as his tail is full-grown, he begins about 
an inch from the extremity of the two longest feathers in it, and cuts away 
the web on both sides of the shaft, making a gap about an inch long; both 
male and female adonize their tails in this manner, which gives them a re-~ 
markable appearance among all other birds.”—/Waterton’s Wanderings, 
p. 127. 
