220 On the Natural History of 



Saurothera follows Sythrops, and at once brings us among the ge- 

 n uineCuculidce. 



All our best writers, without a solitary exception, have placed the 

 honey-guides (Indicator) among the cuckoos, but by a singular 

 oversight, they have overlooked the equally strong affinity which 

 these remarkable birds possess to the African genus Bnphaga ; or 

 at least having perceived some relation (as evinced by the name of 

 Indicator Buphagoides) between the two, they have fancied it mere- 

 ly analogical. The analysis, however, of this tribe, has convinced 

 me that the two genera actually follow each other, and this will ap- 

 pear more evident on a subsequent exposition of the family of Cer- 

 thiadae, to which Bnphaga directly introduces us. The short, ro- 

 bust bill of this latter genus is nearly preserved in the- Australian 

 Orthonyx, which, by means of the Brazilian genus Sclerurus, brings 

 us at once among the typical Certhiadai. Sitta, in this latter fami- 

 ly, leads immediately to Oxyrhynchus in that of the Picidee, the 

 group, in fact, from whence we first began to trace the circle of the 

 Scan sores. 



Having now sufficiently dwelt upon the station, in the circle of 

 the scansorial birds, which the family under consideration appears 

 to hold, we may at once proceed to the internal arrangement of the 

 primary divisions of the family. Looking, therefore, to those ge- 

 nera which show the most prominent differences, I conceive that 

 the whole are naturally arranged in the following divisions : 



Sub-families of the Cuculid^e. 

 Sub-families. Essential Characters. Typical Genera. 



r ,„, mi „ r J Wings long, more or less pointed,) „ T . 



Cuculinje, \ ° . ., ° , l r Cuculus, Lin. 



{ nostrils round, } ' 



f Wings short, more or less rounded ; ^ 



CoccYZiNiE, < nostrils linear, base of the upper C Coccyzus, Vieil. 



( mandible dilated. ) 



o „ m -^T.r.r „ S Bill long, large, either serrated or \ Q T ~ ., 



Saurotkerin^e, J ,,, D ' ° ' r Saurothera, Vied. 



OpisTHOCOMiN^:,...Legs very long, Opisthocomus? Huff. 



Indicatorin^e, Bill short, thick ; tail somewhat rigid,... Indicator, Sparm. 



The aberrant genera, which represent the sub-families, are few ; 

 but they are sufficiently marked, as will subsequently appear, to 

 point out their true rank and station. The two typical sub-fami- 

 lies, on the other hand, are so diversified in their subordinate divi- 

 sions or genera, that they may each be considered as perfect circles, 

 thus adding another proof of the position so often verified, that ty- 

 pical groups are almost invariably more exuberant in species, and 

 in modifications of form, than any others. 



My first object will be to show in what manner these sub-fami- 



