562 PASSERIFORMES 



a rich song in Eidccbes ; but most forms whistle, chatter, or 

 utter harsh sounds ; and many are extraordinary mimics, or even 

 talk, like the Starling and the Myna, under tuition. By the more 

 typical forms a rough nest of straw, twigs, rags, wool, or feathers 

 is placed in holes in trees, walls, or banks ; under eaves ; in burrows 

 or stone-heaps : from four to seven uniform light blue or whitish 

 eggs being deposited. Sfurnopastor, alone or in societies, affixes a 

 huge structure to the outer branches of trees or bushes ; Dilophus 

 makes a neater cup in similar situations ; Calornis, which usually 

 forms colonies, suspends from the boughs a bulky bottle-shaped 

 structure with a side-entrance, and so forth. Even our Starling 

 at times builds an open nest. The Eulabetidae generally lay 

 spotted eggs, Dilophus occasionally ; Calo7'nis has them greenish 

 with reddish-brown marks. 



Fam. XXV. Drepanididae. — According to the latest views, 

 namely those of Dr. Gadow,i this group contains only the curious 

 forms below, which are all pecuhar to the Sandwich Islands. 

 In most of them the semi-tubular tongue is dorsally frayed out 

 into a single brush, but in several thick-billed species it is but 

 slightly tubular, and is split or frayed. The non-serrated beak 

 varies greatly, being elongated and arched in Vestiaria ; very long 

 and curved with projecting maxilla in Drepanis and Hemignathus ; 

 and similar, but with the upcurved or straight mandible only about 

 half as long as the maxiUa in Heterorhynchus. In Himatione, 

 Oreomyza, Loxops, Falmeria, Ciridops, and Chrysomitridops it is 

 much shorter and little decurved ; in Psittacirostra, Loxioides, 

 Chloridops, and Bhodacanthis it is stout, Finch-hke, and hooked, 

 being enormously developed in the last two ; in the extraordinary 

 Pseudonestor it is Parrot-like. In Loxops the mandible is twisted 

 indifferently to either side, possibly by constant use. Over the 

 nostrUs an operculum is often present ; but bristles of all kinds 

 are absent. The scutes of the moderate metatarsus shew a tend- 

 ency to fusion ; the wings are of medium length, with a hardly 

 visible outer primary. The tail is rather short and nearly square, 

 having pointed rectrices in Vestiaria and Prepanis ; and exhibits 

 a tendency to forking. Fluffy feathering constantly characterizes 

 the back, flanks, or axillary region. There is a more or less 



^ Cf. Wilson and Evans, Avos Haioaiienses, pt. ii. 1891, pp. 17-21 ; pt. vii. 1899, 

 pp. 1-7 ; and, for the Family generally, the same work, Rothschild, Avifauna 

 of Laysan, and Perkins, Ihis, 1893, pp. 101-112. 



