136 AVES. 



construct their nests with pieces of dry wood, in the depths of rocky caverns. 

 The female lays two eggs. 



EURYLAIMUS, Horsf. 



Toes similar to those of the Manakins and the'Rock Manakins; but the beak, 

 as strong as that of the Tyrants, is enormously broad and depressed, the base 

 even surpassing the width of the forehead. The point is a little hooked, 

 and slightly emarginate on each side; the ridge is blunt. 



These birds inhabit the archipelago of India. The ground of their plu- 

 mage is black, variegated with patches of bright colours, and they have 

 something of the air of the Bucco, a genus of a very different order. They 

 live near water, and feed on insects. 

 ' 



FAMILY II. 



FISSIROSTRES. 



The Fissirostres form a family, numerically small, but very distinct 

 from all others in the beak, which is short, broad, horizontally flat- 

 tened, slightly hooked, unemarginate, and with an extended commiss- 

 ure, so that the opening of the mouth is very large, which enables 

 them to swallow with ease the Insects they capture while on the wing. 



They are most nearly allied to the Fly-catchers, and to the Proc- 

 niae in particular, whose beak only differs from theirs in being emar- 

 ginate. 



They are separated, like the Birds of Prey, into two divisions, the 

 Diurnal and the Nocturnal. The genus 



HIRUNDO, Lin. 



Or the Swallows, comprehends the diurnal species, all of which are remark- 

 able for their dense plumage, extreme length of wing, and velocity of flight. 

 Among them we distinguish 



CYPSELUS, Illiger. 



Of all Birds, these have the longest wings in proportion to their size, and 

 the greatest powers of flight. Their tail is forked; their extremely short 

 feet have this very peculiar character: the thumb is directed forward almost 

 as much as the other toes, and the middle and external ones consist each of 

 three phalanges like the internal one . The shortness of their feet, together 

 with the length of their wings, prevents them, when on the ground, from 

 rising, and consequently they pass their lives, if I may so express it, in the 

 air, pursuing, in flocks and with loud cries, their Insect prey through the 

 highest regions of the atmosphere. They nestle in holes of walls, or fissures 

 in rocks, and climb along the smoothest surfaces with great rapidity. 



