PASSEBES. 



Earn. ARTAMID.E*. 



Bill wide at the base, somewhat conic in shape, the cnlmen and margin both curved, the 

 gape slightly angulated, the tips of both mandibles notched in some species. Wings long and 

 pointed, the 1st quill minute, not exceeding the primary-coverts. Tail short, of 12 feathers. 

 Legs short. 



Sternum posteriorly wide, with a deep notch in each half of the hinder margin. 



Genus AETAMUS. 

 Bill with the characters of the family, very stout at the base ; the nostrils lateral, circular, 

 and pierced in the horny substance of the mandible ; gape curved ; rictal bristles moderate. 

 Wings very pointed, exceeding the tail ; the 3rd quill slightly shorter than the 2nd, which is the 

 longest ; the secondaries falling short of the primaries by nearly the length of the tail. Tail 

 even at the tip. Tarsus not exceeding the middle toe and claw, covered in front with stout 

 transverse scales. Toes short, strongly scaled ; outer toe slightly syndactyle, and longer than 

 the inner ; claws stout and well curved. 



AETAMUS FUSCUS. 



(THE ASHY WOOD-SWALLOW.) 



Artamus fuscus, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xvii. p. 297 (1817) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. 



B. p. 199 (1849) ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 124 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 



Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 12S ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 101 (1854) ; 



Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 441 (18(32); Beavan, Ibis, 18G5, p. 420; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, 



p. 369 ; Holdsw. P. Z.S. 1872, p. 440; Hume, Nests and Eggs, i. p. 194 (1873); Ball, 



Str. Feath. 1874, p. 403; Hume & Oates, ibid. 1875, p. 102; Ball, t.c. p. 291; 



Blyth & Walden, B. of Burmah, p. 126 (1875); Armstrong, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 321 ; 



Inglis, ibid. 1877, p. 30 ; Fairbank, t. c. p. 401 ; Davison & Hume, B. of Tenass., ibid. 



1878, p. 223 ; Ball, ibid. vii. p. 211 ; Cripps, t. c. p. 273. 

 Artamus leucorhynchus (Linn.), M'Clell. P. Z. S. 1839, p. 158. 

 Ocypterus leucorhynchus (Linn.), Jerd. Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1839, x. p. 237. 



* The Swallow-Shrikes are among the most singular of Old-World birds, and are so isolated that they might be 

 considered to rank as a distinct family. Mr. Wallace, who was the first to place them near the Starlings, ably desig- 

 nates them as a " short-legged Hirundine modification of the Stumoid type " of bird. They have been placed by some 

 naturalists (Swainson and others) among the Shrikes, their notched bills and mode of feeding probably fostering this 

 classification. By others, their long wings and aerial habits have been considered to indicate an affinity to the Swallows. 

 The wing-structure, however, is that of a Starling and not a Swallow ; and in the contour of the bill, the slightly angulate 

 gape, and also in the structure of the sternum they resemble the former type. 



