PRINIA FAMILIARIS. 



thologie, it is placed next to Certhia ; and M. Temminck is of opinion, that our 

 genus Orthotomus agrees essentially with Opetiorynchos. 



The bill of the Prinia familiaris agrees ■\^dth the head in length. It is nearly 

 straight at the base ; from the middle of its length the upper mandible is very 

 slightly arched ; the lower mandible is comparatively robust ; it is greatly depressed 

 at the base, increases in dimensions to the middle, where the myxa (in lUiger's 

 language) begins, and thence rises very gradually to the point. Both mandibles are 

 entire, and the cutting edges are somewhat diaphanous. The culmen of the upper 

 mandible is rounded and broad, and the sides are regular, and very slightly convex. 

 The general regulai'ity of its form, the broad cuhnen, the smallness of the hori- 

 zontal diameter at the base, and the complete absence of the terminal notch, 

 distinguish our bird from Sylvia, as exhibited in the true type of that genus. The 

 form of the bill is carefully expressed in the illustrations which are added to the 

 Plate in letter (a). In the figure of the bird the bill appears somewhat larger 

 in its vertical diameter than it is in nature. The nostrils are rather large, situated 

 in an oblong depression near the base, covered in the upper portion with a mem- 

 brane, and pierced in the lower part with a longitudinal aperture. Our bird is 

 represented of natural size on the Plate. The entu-e length is five inches. The 

 wings are short and obtuse : the first of the quill-feathers is short ; the second and 

 third increase successively ; fi-om the fourth to the seventh they are of equal length ; 

 the others, to the twelfth, are scarcely perceptibly shorter : from the third to the 

 seventh the exterior vane is very slightly emarginate. The tail is wedge-shaped, 

 and as long as the body. The tad-feathers are disposed in pairs ; the first, or exterior 

 pair, is short ; the second abruptly longer ; the third, fourth, and fifth increase veiy 

 gradually in length. The tarsi are slender and elevated, and the anterior toes 

 deUcate and compressed ; the middle toe exceeds the others in length, and is united 

 to the outer, which is rather longer than the interior toe, at the base; the hind 

 toe is robust, and of moderate length. The claws are compressed, slightly arched, 

 and nearly acute. The claw of the hind toe ha§ double the size of that of the 

 middle toe. 



The colour of our bird is dark brown above, with a faint tint of orange. The 

 throat and neck anteriorly are white, and the breast and abdomen pale sulphureous 

 yellow. The wings are crossed transversely, in an oblique direction, with two 

 white bands. The tail-feathers, with the exception of tlie two intermediate ones, 

 are marked near the end vnth a broad band of blackish brown ; the tips are dirty 

 white. The intermediate tail-feathers have throughout a brownish tint underneath. 



