138 INSESSORES. DENTIROSTRES. 



one. From each corner of the under mandible proceeds 

 a streak of verditer-blue, tinged with verdigris-green. 

 Crown of the head deep ohve-green, the feathers tipped 

 with verdigris-green. From the nape of the neck to the 

 tail is a list of verditer-blue feathers, tinged in some 

 shades with verdigris-green. Wing coverts and quills 

 deep greenish-blue, margined with pale greenish- blue, 

 and tinged with verdigris-green. Chin and throat yel- 

 lowish-white. Breast, belly, and vent, orange-brown, 

 palest towards the under tail coverts. Tail greenish- 

 blue ; the shafts of the feathers black. Legs pale tile- 

 red. 



TRIBE II. DENTIROSTRES, Cuvier. 



The distinct emargination of one or both mandibles, near 

 the tip of the bill, and which may be considered as analo- 

 gous to the tooth or festoon of the typical Raptores, is the 

 marked characteristic of the birds belono-ina; to this division 

 of the Insesso7-es. This formation, though but in few in- 

 stances so powerfully developed as to enable them to tear in 

 pieces their prey, contributes essentially to the firmness and 

 security with which they lay hold of it. In the Laniadce, 

 one of the typical families of the tribe, it is more distinctly 

 prominent than in any of the others, and, as might be ex- 

 pected, we find the habits and food of the Shrikes more as- 

 similated to those of the Raptorial order. In the Dentiros- 

 tres, the bill is generally lengthened, so as to defend the face 

 from the struggles of their prey, which is always taken by 

 the aid of this member ; or, where it is short and broad, the 

 base is furnished with stiff projecting bristles, or having fea- 

 thers that answer the same purpose of defence. The legs 

 and feet are more fully developed than those of the Fissiros- 

 tral tribe (with which, however, the necessary connexion is 

 preserved by different members of the family of the Todida), 



