PASSERES. 



Series B. Tanagroid Passeres. 



Wing with 9 primaries, the 1st of which is fully developed and very long. 

 (Cf. Wallace, Ibis, 1874, p. 410.) 



Fam. DIC^ID^l. 



Bill variable, moderately short and wide at the base ; curved and compressed in some, in 

 others very thick and triangular, with the lower mandible inflated at the gonys. Wings pointed, 

 with the 1st quill long. Tail of 12 feathers, usually very short, always less than the wings. Legs 

 and feet strong. Tarsus scaled. 



Of small size and of arboreal and mostly gregarious habit. 



Genus DICiEUM. 

 Bill high and wide at the base, suddenly compressed beyond the nostrils, the upper mandible 

 curved throughout, tip entire and very acute ; gonys straight. Nostrils basal, oval, and placed 

 close beneath the culmen. Wings with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quills nearly equal and longest. 

 Tail very short and even at the tip. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw, and shielded 

 with broad transverse scales ; outer toe slightly longer than the inner ; hind toe and claw large. 



DICTUM MINIMUM. 



(TICKELL'S FLOWERPECKER.) 



Nectarinia minima, Tickell, J. A. S. B. 1833, ii. p. 577. 



Licaum minimum, (Tick.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 227 (1849); Jerdon, B. of Ind. 



i. p. 374 (1862); Beavan, Ibis, 1865, p. 416; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 434; Hume, 



Nests and Eggs, p. 155 (1873); Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 397; Legge, Ibis, 1875, 



p. 275; Fairbank, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 256. 

 BiccBum tickellke, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1843, xii. p. 983. 

 Dicceum Uckelli, Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 119 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 



1853, xii. p. 175. 

 " Parasite'iird," Europeans in Ceylon. Simgti-pro-pho, Lepchas (Jerdon). 



Adult male. Length 3-4 inches ; wing 1-85 to l - 95 ; tail 0-05 : tarsus 0-45 to 0-5 : middle toe and claw (>4 : bill to 

 gape 045. 



i ' male. Length 33 inches ; wing 1*7 to 1*75. 



Iris yellowish brown or brown; bill dark brown above, the lower mandible fleshy ; legs and feet brownish slate. 

 Ux>ve olivaceous brown, slightly greenish on the rump; wings brown, the coverts and tertials with slightly paler 

 margins ; tail blackish brown ; lores and cheeks albescent, darkening on the ear-coverts ; beneath whitish, with a 



