A ustralian Birds in the Collection of the Linnecm Society. 235 



deed, almost spurious. Of the foreign groups of the familj?^ we 

 have ab-eady observed that the New Holland genera Malurus 

 and Acanthiza come nearest the European type by the same 

 construction of the wing. The present group essentially ditiers 

 from it. The first (^uill-feather is long, almost equal to the 

 second, which together with the third and fourth, — all of them 

 nearly of a length, — are the longest. The naves also are linear 

 and longitudinal, thus differing from the oval form of the Euro- 

 pean type. In other respects the characters of these two groups 

 have a general accordance. Besides the disposition of the 

 wing-feathers, we may also mention the scutellation of the tarsi, 

 the even tail, and the unarmed rictus, as additional marks of 

 distinction from the before-mentioned New Holland Sijlviadcc. 

 From the genus IJi/lophilns of M. Temminck, which has lately 

 been separated with much judgement from the Si/lvia of Dr. La- 

 tham, and which also has the lirst quill-feather elongated and 

 nearly even with the rest, our present group may readily be dis- 

 tinguished by a much more gracile and arcuated bill, in which 

 the nares also are of a différent construction. The Motacilla 

 Maderaspatana of Linnœus, {Sylvia Madagascariensis, Lath,), 

 belongs to our group, which seems to have a very wide dis- 

 persion. 



1. DoRSALis. Zost . jiavcsccnti-viridis, dorso cincrco, striga ante — [■■— 



subt usque oculos nigra ; snbtus flavescenti-albidus, gutture pal- 

 lida Jiavo, abdominis lateribus ferrugineo tinctis. 



Remiges rectricesque fuscEe, tlavescenti-olivaceo marginata?, sub- 

 tus pallidiores. Tectrices alarum inferiores albidoe. Orbitcc 

 plumulis albis vestitre. Rostru7n pedesque flavescenti-fusci. 

 Longitudo corporis, 4f ; ahe a carpo ad remigem tertiam, 2-;^ ; 

 caudce, 1-fV ; rostri ad frontem, |-, ad rictum,^ ; tarsi, |-. 



Sylvia annulosa, var. (B. Swains. Zool. Illust. pi. 16. 



2 n 2 This 



