592 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Insessores. Lesson, reddish above and gray oelow, streaked with 

 ' brown. The Epimachus superbus is likewise of a velvet 

 black, glossed in various parts with golden green and pur- 

 ple, the flank feathers greatly developed, and terminated 

 by a brilliant edging. The tail is of such enormous length 

 (Plate CCCXCIII. fig. 4) that the total extent of this 

 species is nearly four feet. The female ( Upupafusca of 

 Gmelin ?) is described as reddish on the wings and tail, the 

 body of a mingled black and brown. The two preceding 

 kinds inhabit New Guinea. The Paradiseaalba of the older 

 systems is by some referred to our present genus, which 

 has also been made to contain a beautiful New Holland 

 species, known to the natives by the name of rifle-bird, 

 and described by Mr Swainson under the title of Ptilorus 

 paradiseus. It is the Epim. regius of Lesson and Gar- 

 not, 1 and was previously figured by Mr Wilson as Epim. 

 Brisbanii, in honour of General Sir Thomas [Brisbane, 

 by whom it is believed to have been first transmitted 

 to this country. 5 If not a true Epimachus, it certainly 

 greatly resembles that genus, having the form and colour- 

 ing of E. magnificus, and the same tendency (though less 

 strongly developed) to an elongation of the lateral plumes. 

 The obscure black and brown plumage of the female like- 

 wise corresponds to what M. Lesson regards as the sexual 

 distinctions of the other species. We have had recent in- 

 formation, which confirms our former views, that it is not 

 of honey-sucking propensities. It rather exhibits a ten- 

 dency to scansorial habits ; and in its search for insects 

 its bill may be heard from some distance tapping the bark, 

 like that of a woodpecker. 



All the preceding groups of the Passerine Order 

 belong to Cuvier's first primary division, which, as we said 

 at starting (see page 567), is characterized by never hav- 

 ing the outer united to the inner toe by more than the 

 length of one or two phalanges. 



Those which follow, on the contrary, forming the second 

 and much less numerous primary division of our present 

 order, have the outer toe almost as long as the middle 

 one, and united to it as far as the base of the terminal 

 articulation. Such a principle of division might, a priori, 

 be inferred to lead to some serious mal-arrangement of 

 the groups ; for it is extremely unlikely that so trifling 

 a character should be found in uniform accordance with 

 other and more influential attributes, and the slightest 

 study or most superficial inspection of this the Syndac- 

 tylous Division of Baron Cuvier's passerine order will suffice 

 to show that the said division is in many points extremely 

 heterogeneous and unnatural. To prove this to the satis- 

 faction of any one at all conversant with the character of 

 the prevailing forms in Ornithology, it will suffice merely 

 to enumerate its component parts, viz. the bee-eaters ( Me- 

 rops), the motmots (Priorities), the king-fishers (Alcedo), 

 the todies ( Todus), and the horn-bills (Buceros). It is 

 indeed surprising that any one so gifted with the power of 

 philosophical observation, so qualified by his profound ac- 

 quaintance with comparative anatomy to trace the natural 

 relations of living creatures, and so signally successful in 

 his usual generalizations, should either have brought to- 

 gether, or permitted to remain in juxtaposition, so dis- 

 cordant a group. The regulating character supposed to 

 be competent to amalgamate these discordant materials is 

 alleged to consist simply in the close adherence of the 

 outer and middle toe throughout a considerable portion of 

 their length, that is, as far as the penultimate joints. Now, 

 that this character by itself is of no avail in the forma- 

 tion of natural groups, is evident from two considera- 

 tions: — lrf,From its beingfoundin numerousgenera, which 

 are admitted to bear no affinity to each oilier ; — 2dly, 



from its being absent in some of the component members Insessorei 

 of a natural family, and present in others. We may illus- "— "y~~-' 

 trate this by an example. In the South American genus 

 Ampelis there are genuine species, in some of which the 

 outer and middle toes are united, while in others they are 

 free. This is well seen in the beautiful Ampelis carnifex, in 

 which these parts are joined together, while in the closely 

 allied species A. pompadoura they are disunited. Having 

 called the reader's attention to this inconsistency, we shall 

 proceed to a brief sketch of the different generic groups 

 above named. 



In the beautiful genus Merops, Linn., the bill is elon- 

 gated, somewhat triangular at the base, slightly arched, 

 sharp pointed. The wings are long, and narrow at the 

 extremity. The feet are short. The flight of these birds, 

 commonly called bee-eaters, is easy and buoyant, resem- 

 bling that of the swallow. The species are numerous in 

 Africa and the East; but only one is accustomed to show 

 itself in Europe, the Merops apiaster, or common bee-eater 

 of English writers (to whom, however, it is one of the 

 rarest of the feathered race), an elegantly-formed and 

 richly-plumaged bird (Plate CCCXCIV. fig. 2). It arrives 

 in the southern countries of the Continent in March, and 

 departs in September. It flies in flocks, usually at a con- 

 siderable elevation, and utters with hoarse and guttural 

 voice, in startling disaccordance with its slender aspect, a 

 continual cry of gra, gra, gra. It builds in deep horizontal 

 holes in sandy banks, which it excavates in whole or in part, 

 working vigorously with feet and bill, and kicking out the 

 dry earth behind it with great dexterity. It lays six or 

 seven eggs, white, lucid, and almost spherical. When the 

 young are partly fledged, but not yet fit to fly, they creep 

 to the mouth of their holes, where they seem to enjoy the 

 happy summer light and genial sunshine ; but on the least 

 alarm they trundle stern foremost into their inner chambers, 

 where they lie concealed until tranquillity again prevails. So 

 accustomed do they seem indeed to this peculiar movement, 

 that when taken from the nest, and placed in any more ex- 

 posed position, they seek to escape by running backwards. 

 In fact, for a time they seem unable to walk in any other 

 direction. All these birds are exclusively insectivorous, 

 and prey almost entirely on the hymenopterous tribes. 

 Although they often take their food upon the wing, they 

 also gather it from the ground ; and whenever they espy 

 the small hole which leads into the nest of wasp or bem- 

 bex, they place themselves close beside it, and snap up 

 the industrious tenants on their exit or arrival. The Ita- 

 lian contadini regard the cry of the bee-eater as a sign 

 of rain when they hear it uttered from a great height. 

 The appearance of this beautiful bird in England is acci- 

 dental. We may add, that none of the species occurs in 

 America. 



In the genus Prionites, Illiger, the feet and form are 

 similar, but the bill is much stronger than in the preced- 

 ing, the margins of both mandibles are crenulated (see 

 Plate CCCXCIV. fig. 3), and the tongue is feathered. 

 These birds are natives of South America. The plumage 

 of their head is loose, like that of our common jay, the tail 

 is long and graduated, and in adult birds the two central 

 feathers are often bare or barbless for a space not far from 

 the extremity. They prey on insects, occasionally attack 

 small birds, and build their nests in the hollows of trees. 

 Example, the blue-crowned motmot, Rainphastos momota, 

 Gmelin. 



The genus Alcedo, containing the king-fishers, has the 

 legs still shorter than the bee-eaters, and the bill long, 

 straight, angular, and pointed (CCCXCIV. figs. 1 and 4). 

 As originally constituted, it contained a numerous assem- 

 blage of species from various countries of the world, of shape 



Voyage dc Dupcrrey, pi. xxviii. 



Illustrations of Zoology, vol. i. pi. xi. 



