PASSERINA. 287 
These birds inhabit the archipelago of India. The ground of 
their plumage is black, variegated with patches of bright colours, 
and they have something of the air of the Bucco, a genus of a very 
different order. They live near water, and feed on insects.(1)_ Ste 
App. XIX of Am. Ed. 
FAMILY Il. 
FISSIROSTRES. 
The Fissirostres form a family, numerically small, but very 
distinct from all others in the beak, which is short, broad, hor- 
izontally flattened, slightly hooked, unemarginate, and with 
an extended commissure, so that the opening of the mouth is 
very large, which enables them to swallow with ease the in- 
sects they capture while on the wing. 
They are most nearly allied to the Flycatchers, and to the 
Procniz in particular, whose beak only differs from theirs in 
being emarginate. 
Their decidedly insectivorous regimen eminently qualifies 
them for birds of passage, which leave us in the winter. 
They are separated, like the birds of prey, into two divi- 
sions, the diurnal and the nocturnal. The genus’ 
Hirunpo, Linn. 
Or the Swallow, comprehends the diurnal species, all of which are 
remarkable for their dense plumage, extreme length of wing, and 
velocity of flight. Among them we distinguish, 
CypsELUs, Illiger. 
Of all birds, these have the longest wings in proportion to their 
size, and the greatest powers of flight. Their tail is forked; their 
extremely short feet have this very peculiar character: the thumb is 
directed forward almost as much as the other toes, and the middle 
(1) Todus macrorhynchos, Gm., Lath., Syn. M1, pl. xxx and Col. 154, under the 
name of Euryl. nasutus;—Euryl. javanus, Horsf., and Col. 130 and 131, under the 
name of Euryl. Horsfieldii;—Eur. cucullatus, Tem. Col. 261; Eur. Blainvillii, Less. 
and Garn. Voy. de la Coquille, pl. xix, f. 2. The character of the beak is excess- 
ively developed in the Eur. corydon, Temm. Col. 297. 
