passerine:. 183 



a singular character in the secondary quills of the wing, the ends of which [at least in two of the three 

 species, are converted into] smooth, oval, red disks, [much resembling red sealing-wax]. 



There is one in Europe, the Common Waxwing- (Amp. garrulus, Lin.), [and which also occurs in America west- 

 ward of the Rocky Jlountains, and in Asia to China and Japan.] It is less than a Thrush, with soft vinous-grey 

 plumage, the throat black ; tail black, tipped with yellow, [withndnute scarlet lobes resembling those on the wing- 

 secondaries in old specimens*, wherein the primary quills also are each terminated with white, forming a series of 

 transverse markings] ; wings black, variegated with white [and yellow]. This bird appears in flocks, at long inter- 

 vals, and without regularity, from which circumstance its presence was long considered an evil omen. It is not 

 timorous, is easily captured and kept in captivity, eats of every thing, and a great quantity, [but in the wild state 

 is principally baccivorous, and in times of necessity has been seen to eat the buds and sprouts of various trees: 

 it flies rapidly, and has a low warbling songj. This bird is supposed to breed very far to the north. Its flesh is 

 esteemed good eating. 



There is a very similar but smaller species in America {Amp. garrulus, B., Lin. ; A. americana, Wils. ; B. caro- 

 lineiisiSjBrisson; B. cedrorum,\iei\lot), [the Cedar-bird of the Anglo-Americans: it inhabits eastward only of 

 the Rocky Mountains.] 



A third, in Japan (li.^^(B?!(co/)ferffl, Teni.), has no wax-like appendages to the wings, and the tail and lesser 

 wing-coverts are tipped with red. [Its size equals that of the first.] 



M. M. Hofmansegg and Illigerhave separated, with equal propriety, — 



The Camp.\nero and some others {Procnias, Hof.), — 

 Wherein the beak, weaker and more depressed, opens nearly as far as the eye. They are indigenous 

 to South America, and subsist on insects. 



They require to be subdivided into 



The Campaneros (Procnias, as restricted), — 

 Which have feathered throats. 



One species {Amp. carunculata, Gm.), distinguished by a long soft caruncle at the base of its beak, is white when 

 adult, greenish when young. [This is the celebrated Campanero or Bell-bird of Guiana, the loud sonorous voice 

 of which, heard from time in the depths of the forest, during the stillness of mid-day, exactly resembles the tolling 

 of a bell.] 



Others, 



The Averanos {Casmarhynchus, Tern.), — 

 Have naked throats. 



There is one in which the naked part of the throat of the male is covered with fleshy caruncles : the Averano of 

 Bufion {Amp. variegata, Lin.). Another (Procn. araponga, Pr. Max ; Casm. ecarunculafus, Spix) has some small 

 thinly-scattered feathers on the same place. These birds also are white in the adult state, and have the females 

 and young greenish. 



Finally, we place at the end of the Cotinga group, 



The Gymnodes {Gymnoderes, Geoft'.), — 

 The beak of which is only a little stouter, but the neck is partly naked, and the head covered with 

 velvety feathers. 



Tlie species known is from South America, and in great part frugivorous. It is the size of a Pigeon, and black, 

 with bhnsh wings. (The Gracula nudicollis, Sh. ; Corvus nudus and Gracula fetida, Gm.). — N.B. M. Vieiliot 

 brings the Choucaris, Gymnode, and Dragoon-bird together, to form his genus Coraciiia. 



The Droxgos (Edolius, Cuv. ; Dicrurus, Vieiliot) — 

 Also pertain to the great series of Flycatchers. Their beak is equally emarginated and depressed, its 

 upper ridge acute ; but they are distinguished by having both mandibles slightly arcuated throughout 

 their length : the nostrils are covered with feathers, besides which there are long hairs forming mous- 

 taches. [These interesting birds exhibit a flycatching modification of the great corvine type]. 



The species are numerous in the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and are generally glossy black, with a 

 forked tail, [the outermost feathers of which are often extremely long, with a naked shaft except at tl e base and 

 tip : they are gregarious, assembling towards the evening, and subsist on insects, particularly Bees and Wasps, for 

 which tliey hawk in the vicinity of the hive ; are popularly termed Devil-birds]. It is said that some of them sing 

 as finely as a Nightingale. 



The genus Sparactcs of Illiger was founded on a disguised specimen of one of these birds, decorated with feathers 

 not its own by a dealer, and the legs of a Hoopoe. 



• Tliis tt*[nis tl) corroborate a remark in p. I'jfi, w-hercir. the tail-feathors are stated to correspond tu the wing.secondaries, exccplintf the 

 midiile pair, or uropygials, which represent the wiuif-tertiaries.— Ed. 



