136 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



ANALOGIES OF THE LANIADiE. 



Typical Characters. 



Dentirostres . Bill short, toothed ; seize their prey by the foot . . . Laniance. 



Conirostres . Bill lengthened, compressed ; feet strong, robust . . . ThamnophilirHe. 



Scansores . . Tarsi short ; hind toe lengthened Edoliance. 



Tenuirostres Bill weak; feed only on soft substances; rictus smooth . Ceblepyrince. 



Fissirostres . Bill greatly depressed; nostrils round ; feed upon the wing Tyrannince. 



The skulking-, thievish propensities of the Bush Shrikes and the Jays, in plun- 

 dering the eggs and destroying the young of other birds, is thus explained by the 

 relation of the Thamnophilince to the Conirostres. The great developement of the 

 tail, in nearly all the true Edolince, the boat-shaped form which it assumes in one 

 species, the singular frontal crests of two others, and the pointed and metallic- 

 coloured neck-feathers in several, are all characters which we see more developed 

 among the Rasores, than in any other tribe or order of birds. The soft and ten- 

 der food of the Caterpillar-catchers evinces that even the Tenuirostres may be 

 represented by insectivorous Shrikes ; the analogy between the Tyrannince and the 

 Fissirostres, although sufficiently evident, is not, perhaps, at first sight, so striking. 



It may, on the other hand, be urged, that the Edoliance, by means of Ocypterus, 

 bear a much closer resemblance to Hirundo among the Fissirostres, than to the 

 Scansores ; and this analogy appears so strong, that we were for a long time 

 much perplexed by the apparent violation of Nature committed in the foregoing 

 table. A little reflection, however, convinced us, that if analogies are really cor- 

 rect between any two points in different circles, they must hold good between 

 all the other points ; a test by which the above supposition, in its further details, 

 gives the most contradictory results. Whether we compare the general habits, 

 or the weakness of structure of the Tyrannince, coupled with the fact, that several 

 of the smaller species have the two outer toes much united, we feel disposed to 

 consider these evidences as certainly in favour of this group being the true repre- 

 sentation of the Fissirostres. 



A very singular and novel fact also, which we shall now make use of, is another 

 argument strongly corroborating this analogy. The following is an extract from 

 our notes on the Zoology of Brazil : — 



" 7th April, 1817. Sitting in the house this morning, I suddenly heard a 



