PASSERINE. 2tt 
live on insects, and chiefly on ants. They are found in both conti- 
nents. : 
Those of the eastern world, however, are remarkable for the 
brilliant colours of their plumage: they are the Breves of Buf- 
fon(1)—Corvus brachyurus, Gm., Enl. 257 and 258; Edw. 324, 
to which have been added since, several other beautiful spe- 
cies.(2) We must also add the 2zurin—Turdus cyanurus, Lath., 
and Gmel.; Corvus cyanurus, Shaw, Enl. 355,(3) which only 
differs in the tail, which is somewhat pointed. 
The species belonging to the western continent, are much more 
numerous, their tints are of a deeper brown, and they vary as to 
strength, and the length of the beak. They obtain their living from 
the enormous ant hills which abound in the woods and deserts of 
that country; the females are larger than the males. These birds 
seldom fly, and have a sonorous cry, which, in some species, is 
even extraordinary. 
Among those with a thick and arcuated beak, we remark, 
M. rex; Turdus rex, Gm.; Corvus grallarius, Shaw, Enl. 
702. (King of the Ant-Catchers.) The largest of all, and 
stands the highest; its tail, on the other hand, is the shortest, 
and at the first glance it might be taken for a Waders; it is 
about the size of a Quail, and its grey plumage is agreeably 
chequered. Itis more solitary than the others.(4) 
The species with a straighter, but still tolerably strong beak are 
allied to the Shrikes, with a similar one.(5) 
(1). Vieillot has given to these birds the name of Pirra. 
(2) Such as the Pitta erythrogaster, Cuv., Enl. 212;—P. gigas, Tem. Col. 217;— 
P. cyanoptera, Id. Ib., 218;—P. superciliosa, C._—P. strepitans, Leadbeater, Col. 
333. 
N.B. The Breve des Philippines, Enl. 89, is not, as Vaillant says, that of Angola, 
Edw., 324, with the head of a Thrush artificially attached to it; we have a natural 
specimen of the same. 
(3) The Azurin is not from Cayenne, as Buffon declares it to be, but from the 
East Indies. It is the Pitta cyanura, Vieill., 153. Add Myiothera affinis, Horsf. 
and even his T’urdus cyaneus, which is the Bréve-blewet, Tem. Col. 194, but which 
leads to the straight-beaked Shrikes. 
The Pitta thoracica, Tem., Col. 76, which Messrs Horsf. and Vigors make the 
type of their genus Turaxra, is but little removed from the azurin, if we except 
its sombre hues and its beak, which latter diminishes more regularly in front, and 
thereby approaches the Tanagers. 
(4) M. Vieillot has taken his genus Grattarra, Galer. 154, from this bird. 
Add the Grand beffrot ( Turdus tinniens), Enl. 706, 1 of which Vieill. makes his 
genus Myoruera: its beak is smaller;— Wyrmothera guttata, Vieill. Gal. 155. 
(5) Such are the Tetema (T'urdus-colma, B.) Enl. 821;—the Palicour (T: forme- 
civorus,) Enl. 700, 1;—the Petit beffroi (Turdus lineatus), Enl. 823, 1;—the Tham- 
