CHAPTER IV.— OLD WORLD WARBLERS 



Fam SYLVIID^ 



LIKE the Saxicolidw, the Sylviidw are a large group of chiefl,y 

 Old World species, having few representatives in this coaa- 

 try. The family is not well distinguished from the Turdidm 

 and Saxicolidw, and no attempt will be made here to cover all 

 its phases by any diagnostic phrase — it is perhaps insusceptible 

 of exact definition. While there are several hundred species of 

 the Eastern Hemisphere, less than a score occur in America. 

 One of these is a typical Sylviine, a species of Phyllopneuste, 

 found in Alaska. The other representatives are the two genera 

 Begulus and Polioptila, each of which most writers now consider 

 the type of a subfamily. They agree in their extremely small 

 size (length four or five inches, less than any of the Turdidce 

 or Saxiculidce), and in possessing ten primaries (by which th^y 

 are separated from any of the Syloicolidw, or American Warb- 

 lers), deeply cleft toes (compare Troglodytidce), and straight, 

 slender bill, with bristly rictus and exposed nostrils (compare 

 Gerthiidw, Paridce, and Sittidw). The tarsi are booted in Begu- 

 lincB, scutellate in Polioptilinw. 



Subfamily REGULINtE : Kinglets 



Chars. — Tarsi booted, very slender, longer than the middle 

 toe and claw. Lateral toes nearly equal to each other. First 

 quill of the wing spurious, its exposed portion less than half as 

 long as the second. Wings pointed, longer than the tail, which 

 is emarginate, with acuminate feathers. Bill shorter than the 

 head, straight, slender, and typically sylviine, not hooked at 

 the end, well bristled at rictus, with the nostrils overshadowed 

 by tiny feathers. 



These characters may be compared with those given beyond 

 under head of Polioptilince, to which they are antithetical. 

 There is but one genus in America, though several are recog- 

 nized by some among the Old World species. 



