154 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



name, it would be impossible to divine in what manner the genus Dulus could 

 possibly differ from a dozen other genera *. The only specimen of this rare bird 

 we have yet seen, is in the Royal Museum at Paris. In its wings, feet, and the 

 shortness of the bill, it agrees with the preceding division ; but, like the Orioles, 

 the rictus is perfectly smooth, the nostrils large, naked, oblique, and open, and 

 the bill thick, much compressed, and strongly notched. This singular bird is 

 said to live in societies, to construct its nest with great skill, and to have no 

 song ; in all which it resembles the birds of this division ; while it seems to have 

 borrowed the plumage of the female Orioles. 



The Palm Thrush makes a still nearer approach to the typical Orioles. This 

 approximation is so strongly manifested by the lengthened form of the bill, and 

 the perfect accordance of structure in the nostrils, feet, wings, and tail, that no 

 intervening form becomes necessary to establish the affinity. The rictus, indeed, 

 is bristled, while that of the Oriolus galbula is smooth ; but between these inter- 

 venes an undescribed Oriole from Sierra Leone, of which we possess two speci-. 

 mens, wherein this part is thickly set with setaceous hairs ; the intermediate 

 link is thus supplied. The Oriole Thrush f, like the true Orioles, is a restless, shy 

 bird, constantly in motion among high and thick trees, without shewing a preference 

 to any one sort. " Cest un oiseau solitaire, qu'il est rare ale rencontrer par couple ; 

 mais il est sans cesse en mouvement, voltigeant de branche en branche, afin de 

 gueter les insectes, dont il fait sa nourriture ordinaire.'''' — (Sonnini. Buff., x. 166.) 

 Whether this bird, like the Oriole, builds a pendulous nest, has not been ascer- 

 tained ; but the above passage perfectly coincides with our own observations on 

 the habits of Oriolus galbula. 



The suspicions of Dr. Horsfield, on the possible affinity of his Irena puella 

 with the Orioles, have been fully confirmed by our recent observations on this 

 bird, which we were formerly compelled to speak of from the descriptions in 

 books. Specimens of this elegant species we now possess ; they have completely 

 annulled our former idea, borrowed from M. Temminck, that Irena had some con- 

 nection either with Edolius or Thamnophilus. The examination, also, of a most 

 perfect and magnificent specimen of the Golden Bird of Paradise, now in the 



* Esclave, Dulus. — Bee nu a la base, un peu robuste, convex en dessus, comprime lateralement ; mandibule sup6- 

 rieure un peu flechie en arc, ecanchree vers le bout ; l'inferieure droit. Esp. Tangara esclave. Buff. {Analyse d'une 

 Nouv. Orn. tlimentaire, 1816, (1815). This inability to define differences, of which the mind may, nevertheless, have 

 a vague perception, is unpardonable in the maker of a system. 



•f- We substitute this vernacular name for that of Palm Thrush, which M. Vieillot remarks is altogether inappli- 

 cable, the bird never being seen in palms. These trees, in fact, from our own observation, afford no shelter or shade 

 for such birds as prefer, like this, to live in " broussailles touffues ;" and they are completely destitute of insects. 



