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Genus COSSYPHA. 



Cossypha, Guerin, Rev. Zool. 1843, p. 162. 



Saxicola apud Pelzeln, Sitz. Ak. Wissensch. Wien, xlviii. p. 150 (1863). 



Irania apud DeFilippi, Viagg. in Pers. p. 347 (1865). 



£essornis apud Tristram, Ibis, 1867, p. 89. 



Bessonornis apud Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 265 (1869). 



This genus, in which I have placed the single species found within our limits, was founded 

 by Vigors in 1825 for a small group of African birds, the type being Cossypha reclamator 

 (Vieill.). With the exception of C. gutturalis, all the species included in Cossypha inhabit the 

 Ethiopian Region ; and that species differs somewhat from the type, and might almost be sepa- 

 rated, in which case it would stand as Irania, DeFilippi. It appears to be nearly allied to 

 Daulias, and is not far distant from Saxicola. The birds belonging to the genus Cossypha 

 inhabit the borders of woods, orchards, and groves in well-watered or cultivated districts. They 

 are good songsters, and feed on insects, which they search for both amongst the foliage and on the 

 ground. Their flight is somewhat slow ; and when on the wing they look larger than they really 

 are. Full particulars respecting the habits and nidification of the single species found within 

 our limits are given in the article on that bird ; and I give the generic characters of the species 

 Cossypha gutturalis as follows : — Beak moderately long, somewhat broad at the base, the culmen 

 gradually curved ; nostrils basal, oval, placed in a small membranous groove ; gape slightly 

 bristled ; wings moderately long, rounded, the first quill short, the second shorter than the fifth, 

 the third and fourth longest ; tail long, broad, and rounded ; tarsi rather long, covered in front 

 with one long plate, or several indistinct plates, and four inferior scutellae ; toes moderate and 

 rather weak, claws small, curved. 



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