190 Div. 1. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS— AYES. Class 2. 



very short over the rump]. They are birds of Africa and India, which climb somewhat in the manner of 

 Parrots, live in troops, and even breed in society, constructing numerous nests in the same bushes ; 

 lastly, they sleep suspended to a branch, vrith the head downward, many of them together, and subsist 

 on fruits [the buds of trees, and tender sprouts of vegetables. 



These very curious birds are closely allied by affinity to the Plantain-eaters and Touracos, and have no especial 

 character of the Passerin<e. Tliey sail from bush to bush in a long row one after another, alighting always near 

 the ground, and clambering to the topmost twig with the assistance of the beak and long stifltail, picking off the 

 buds or berries ; and do not pass to the next until the whole flock are ready, when they again sail in the same 

 regular succession. They are very riiischievous in gardens in the Cape colony, devouring the young plants of 

 vegetables as fast as they spring up; and are there known by the term Mui/s-rdgel, or " Mouse-bird:" their cry 

 is monotonous, (having but one pair of vocal muscles,) and in the largest species closely resembles the bleating of 

 a lamb. They constitute the ordinary food of several species of Birds of Prey, and have remarkably heavy, massive 

 bodies, for their apparent size, the plumage lying flat and close]. 



Here also should be placed 



The Oxpeckers (Bupkaga, Brisson), — 

 A small genus, wherein the beak, of medium length, is first cylindrical, both mandildes bulging 

 towards the end, which terminates obtusely. They employ it to compress the skin of cattle, in order 

 to force out the larvae of CEstridce lodged within it, upon which they feed. [The claws are accordingly 

 extraordinarily sharp, to enable them to cling v^hile so occupied. 



Two species are now known, both from South Africa : they strictly pertain to the Starling family, and have no 

 sort of relationship with the Honeyguides (near which some systematists place them), being true Paseerince.'] 



The Cassicans {Cassicus, Cuv.) — 

 Have a large beak, exactly conical, thick at the base, and singularly sharp at the point ; small round 

 nostrils pierced at its sides ; the commissure of the mandibles forming a broken line, or an angle as in 

 the Starlings. They are American birds, with manners approaching those of our Starlings, [at least in 

 some instances,] frequently construct their nests close together, and sometimes with much art. They 

 subsist on insects and grain, and the numerous flocks of them commit great ravages in the cultivated 

 districts. 



We subdivide them into 



The Cassicans, properly so called, (Cassicus, as restricted), 

 WTierein the beak mounts upon the forehead, encroaching circularly on the plumage. The largest 

 species are included in this group. 

 [Some are very superior songsters, and rival the Mocking-bird m mimicry.] 



The Baltimores {Icterus, Cuv.) — 

 Have the beak arcuated throughout its length, and forming oidy a pointed notch on the forehead. 



[This name is now generally applied to the Baltimore-birds of North America, with some proximate species from 

 the southern continent. They do not congregate, and build an elegant pensile nest, as do also the preceding. 

 The males are several years attaining their mature colouring.] 



The Troopials {Xanthornus, Cuv.) 

 Only differ from the last in having the beak straight. 



[Certain of these, the true Troopiais (Aglaiui, Swainson), have a comparatively short beak, thick at the base. 

 Their habits are those of the Starlings, and they are exceedingly destructive in the maize plantations : they breed 

 in small societies, soinetimes on or near the ground, and where opportunities occur, in the interstices of the 

 massive nests of the Osprey ; it is said that the proportions of the sexes in these little communities are very irre- 

 gidar, which would intimate that they do not pair*; a circumstance the less unlikely, from thtir close affinity to 

 the next, or 



The Molothrahs (Molothrut, Swainson) ; of which two species are now known, both parasitic in their mode of 

 propagation, depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds, like the Cuckoo of Europe : these certainly do not 

 mate. They are distinguished by a still shorter bill, and ditl'er little in their habits from the Troopials. 



Several other natural subdivisions have been instituted, of which the Bobalinks, or Rice-birds, have been already 

 noticed (p. 187). The Chewinks (i'i/)i7o, Vieillot,) with a bulging sparrow-like bill, pertain to the same group ; 

 and there are others which approximate the Crows, as the divisions Qitiscalus, Scolephagns, &c., and even the 

 Larks, as SturneVa, Swainson. the members of which have the beak obtusely pointed, like the true Starlings, and 

 are nearly related to the Bobalinksl. 



