252 AVES. 
The adult sternum usually has but one notch on each side 
of its lower edge. There are two, however, in Coracias, 
Alcedo, and Merops, and it is totally wanting in Cypselus and 
Trochilus. 
Our first division is founded upon the feet; we then have 
recourse to the beak. 
The first and most numerous comprehends those genera in 
which the external toe is united to its fellow by one or two 
phalanges only. 
FAMILY I. 
DENTIROSTRES. 
In this family the beak is emarginate on the sides of the 
point. It is in this family that we find the greatest number of 
insectivorous birds, though almost all of them likewise feed 
on berries and other soft fruits. 
The genera are determined by the general form of the 
beak, which is strong and compressed in Lanius and in 
Turdus, depressed in Muscicapa, round and thick in Tanagra, 
slender and pointed in Motacilla; but the change from one 
of these forms to the other is so gradual, that it is an extremely 
difficult matter to fix the limits of the genera. 
Lantus, Lin. 
The beak conical or compressed, and more or less hooked at the 
point. — 
Lantus, properly 30 called. 
The true Shrikes have a beak triangular at base, and compressed 
on the sides. , 
Shrikes live in families, ane ‘Ay irregularly and precipitately, 
uttering shrill cries; they build on trees, lay five or six eggs, and 
take great care of their young. They have a habit of imitating, on 
the spot, a part of the songs of such birds as liye .in their vicinity. 
The upper part of the females and of the young is marked with 
fine transverse lines. 
Some of them have the upper mandible arcuated; those in which 
its point is strong and much curved, and in which the notch forms 
