vii TURDIDAE 5 1 3 



of the latter one has a black mark on the breast, as has a fourth 

 form with a white lower surface. 



In the Thamnobiae the sexes are alike, or the females duller. 

 The colour, as in Callene and Copsychus, may be dull blue and 

 cobalt, purplish- or bluish-black, or bluish-grey, often with white 

 rump ; or, as in Cossypha and Thamnobia, grey, brown or blackish, 

 with orange-chestnut or rufous rump, tail, and abdomen. Stripes 

 of black and white often adorn the face, the ruddy hue occasionally 

 tinges the breast, nape, or wing, while a blue alar patch or a white 

 head occur exceptionally. Cittocincla is intermediate in colora- 

 tion ; Alethe is chiefly chestnut or rufescent-olive above, but grey 

 and white or creamy buff below, with orange crown in two cases. 

 Turnagra has brown upper parts with reddish tail, and the lower 

 surface either grey with white throat, or whitish with dusky 

 stripes ; Cichladusa is similar, or has buff under parts, with black 

 spots and gular crescent. All the above frequently exhibit white 

 on the wings or tail. Lamprolia is velvety-black, with blue 

 spangles on the head and neck, and white rump-region ; Tarsiger 

 is either blue above, varied with black, white, olive, or yellow, 

 and with more or less orange below, or lacks the blue entirely. 

 Aedonopsis and Phaeornis are brown, with grey and white under 

 parts. 



In the Turdinae the young are constantly spotted, as opposed 

 to the Sylviinae, 



Sub-fam. 2. Myiodectinae. These birds differ from the Tur- 

 dinae in their short, somewhat depressed bills, and strong rictal 

 bristles. Myiodectes and Cichlopsis are in both sexes fairly uniform 

 brown, grey, or blackish, with a grey lower surface, and occasionally 

 chestnut or orange throat and belly ; one species of the former, 

 however, is cinnamon, with black head and under parts, and a 

 white band across the cheeks. 



Sub-fam. 3. Sylviinae. Besides the typical Warblers are here 

 included most of Dr. Sharpe's groups Bradypteri and Cisticolae, 1 but 

 not, of course, the American " Warblers " (Mniotiltidae). They differ 

 from the Turdinae in being smaller, with the bill usually weak and 

 slender, though it is very stout in Rhopophilus and Arundinax ; 

 a few genera shew strong rictal hairs; while Eegulus has the nostrils 

 covered by one or more peculiar bristly feathers. The metatarsus 

 is sometimes scutellated anteriorly ; the wings are comparatively 



1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vii. 1883, pp. x. xi. (Timeliidae). 

 VOL. IX 2 L 



