488 CLASS AVES. 



elegant as those of the shrikes, and their body is thicker and 

 longer ; they are natives of South America. 



To this subdivision seems referable the Spotted Psaris, so 

 named by our respected fnend Major Hamilton Smith. The 

 whole upper part of the head is black ; the upper wing-coverts 

 and back are cinereous, and the quills and tail are black. The 

 whole under part of the bird is white, which on the chin, throat, 

 breast, and anterior part of the abdomen is spotted, or, striped, 

 with dark drop-like patches. 



Of the habits of the Choucaris absolutely nothing is 

 known, and the same observation is applicable to the Bethyles, 

 which are termed Pillurion by M. Vieillot. 



We pass on to the Tanagers. This genus appears to have 

 been a sort of depot for all the birds with conical and notched 

 bill, which could not conveniently be classed elsewhere until the 

 appearance of M. Desmarest's history of the Tanagers, from 

 which he has justly excluded a number of pretended species, 

 and exhibited no small degree of merit as a classifier. According 

 to M. Vieillot, the only birds which should be ranged under this 

 genus, are the Tanagers proper, and the Euphonian Tanagers. 

 All the rest should be referred to groups already known, or 

 purposely created. The preservation of the name of tanager 

 to these, says this naturalist, is only calculated to create con- 

 fusion, and even if the term, which is supposed to signify rich 

 in colours, be applicable to some of them, it is equally appli- 

 cable to an immense number of others of the feathered race. 



The tanagers hve on berries, insects, and small grains; 

 they seek their food in thickets, among brushwood, on plants 

 and trees, many of them hopping about on all the branches, in 

 search of insects, like the warblers. Most of the tanagers are 

 remarkable for the richness and brilliancy of their colours; 

 accordingly M. D'Azara gives them a Spanish name expres- 

 sive of this attribute, Lindo, which both in Italian and Spanish 

 means spruce, neat, elegant, &c. But, as we 'find it to be fre- 



