PASSERINE. CONIROSTRES. 263 



wren (Sylvia* Sibilatrix), are all well-known examples 

 of genuine warblers, familiar to the British natu- 

 ralist, "f In fact, most of the little birds which hurry 

 to and fro amongst the quivering leaves, making the 

 lone woods cheerful with their joyous songs, belong 

 to this great family; not only in this, but in all 

 countries. 



FAM. II. CONIROSTRES. J 



This also is a numerous division, comprehending 

 many well-known birds, distinguished by the short, 

 thick, conical bill, stronger and stouter in proportion 

 as they feed more exclusively on seeds. The Tana- 

 gers, placed by Cuvier in the last family on account 

 of their bill being strongly notched, possess the 

 same form of that organ as the present family, 

 though they are almost wholly insect-eaters. Thus 

 they form one of the many connecting links between 

 the two families. 



Though found in all countries, they seem to be 

 appointed chiefly for such as are temperate and cold ; 

 where they are generally permanent inhabitants. 

 While, perhaps, they cannot altogether be acquitted 

 of the charge of occasionally feeding on the grain 

 of the husbandman, they doubtless perform a service 

 far more than equivalent, in accumulating in vast 

 flocks on the fields in \winter, to devour the minute 

 seeds abundantly shed from weeds, which no culture 

 can destroy. 



* Sylva, a wood, t Swainson, in Cab. Cyc. " Birds." Vol. ii. p. 38. 

 $ ConuSy a cone, and rostrum^ a beak. 



