248 BIRDS. 
Cincius,* Bechst. 
Or the Water-Thrushes, which have a compressed, straight bill, with 
mandibles of an equal height, nearly linear, and becoming sharp near the 
point; the upper one hardly arcuated. There is but one in Europe. 
Sturnus cinclus, L.; Turdus cinclus, Lath.; Enl. 940; Vieill. 
Gal. 152. (The Water-Thrush). Legs rather long, and a rather 
short tail, which approximate it to the Ant-catchers. It is brown, 
with a white throat and breast, and has the singular habit of de- 
scending into the water, not swimming, but walking about on the 
bottom in search of the little animals which constitute its food. 
Africa, and the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean, produce a 
genus of birds neighbours of the Thrushes, which I shall call 
Puitepont. 
Their bill is compressed, slightly arcuated throughout its length, and 
emarginate near the point; nostrils large, and covered by a cartilaginous 
scale; their tongue terminated by a pencil of hairs. 
The species generally remarkable for some singularity of conformation, 
have been bandied about by authors in all kinds of genera. 
Some of them have fleshy bobs at the base of the billf. 
In others, portions of the skin on the cheeks are divested of feathers||. 
Even in those which are completely feathered, we still observe, at 
times, a singular disposition of the plumage§. 
* Vieillot has changed this name into that of HyprosaTa. 
+ Commerson had an idea of thus naming the Polochion (Merops moluccensis, Gm.), 
which is of this genus. See Buff. Hist. des Ois. VI., 4to. p. 477. Vieillot places 
the greater number of these birds in his genus Polochion, and in Latin he prefers 
calling it Philemon rather than Philedon, Gal. 189. The genus Mexnipuaca of 
Lewin also is comprised in it. 
{ Here comes the New Holland bird called, by Daudin, Ornith. II. pl. xvi, Pie 
a pendeloques, or Corvus paradozus, Vieill. Gal. 94, the same as the Merops caruncu- 
latus of Phillip., of Latham, and of Shaw, but which has not the feet of a Merops, 
and whose bill is notched, the tongue pencillated, and nostrils without feathers. 
The Sturnus carunculatus, Lath. and ‘Gm., or Gracula carunculata, Daud. and Shaw, 
(Lath. Syn. IIT, pl. xxxvi), and the Certhia carunculata, Lath. and Gm. (Vieill. 
Ois. Dor. IT, pl. ixix), also appear to me to belong to it. he latter bird, it is said, 
sings delightfully, and belongs to the Friendly Islands. It is from this sub-division 
that Vieillot has taken his genus CREADION, Gal. 94. 
|| The Merops phrygius of Shaw, Gen. Zool. VIII, pl. xx;—the Goruck, Vieill. 
Ois. Dor. II, pl. Ixxxviii. (C. goruck, Sh.);—the Fuscalbin, Id. Ib. pl. xi. (C. luna- 
ta) ;—the Graculé, Id. Ib. pl. Ixxxvii. (C. graculina) ;—the Palachion of Buff. (Me- 
rops moluccensis, Gm.);—the Ph. @ oreilles jaunes, Less. Voy. de Duperrey, pl. 21, 
bis, and some new species belong to this division. 
§ Particularly in the Merops Nove Hollandie, Gm. and Brown, Ill. ix., or Merle 
a cravate frisée, Vaill. Afr., or Merops circinnatus, Lath. and Shaw, Gen. Zool. VIIT. 
pl. xxii. They are the feathers of the ears which become frizzled, as they descend 
almost in front of the breast.— Melliph. auricornis, Swains. Zool. Il. p. 43. 
Add Certh. auriculata, Vieill. Ois. Dor. 85.—C. Nove Hollandia, Ib. 7. 
The species of this genus which have none of these singularities, are the Certhia xan- 
totus, Sh. Vieill. Ois. Dor. IT, pl. 84.—C. australasiana, tb. 55.—C. mellivora, Ib. 86.— 
C. cerulea, Ib. 83.—C. seniculus, Ib. 50. I am even of opinion that the Cap noir, 
Vieill. pl. 60, (Certhia cucullata, Sh.) belongs to them, notwithstanding the length 
