CONIROSTRES. 



241 



CONIROSTRES. 



The lesser Tyrant Fly-catchers of the New World appear stationed, in the great 

 scheme of Nature, either at the utmost limits of the Laniadce, or in that part 

 of the circle of Todidce which forms a connecting- passage between the two. If 

 these views be correct, it follows that no typical forms of the Muscicapidce (or 

 rather Todidce*) have yet been discovered in America. We pass, therefore, to 

 the Conirostres, the typical tribe of the perching order. This, in comparison 

 with the Dentirostres, is a most imperfect group ; not only are the variations 

 fewer, and the sub-families more unequal in their contents, but several forms are 

 wanting. Hence it is that wide intervals between groups, yet evincing an 

 unquestionable tendency to unite, frequently occur. And while these gaps in the 

 chain of continuity offer the best facilities to the makers of artificial methods, 

 they oppose obstacles of the greatest difficulty to the investigators of the natural 

 system. In these cases the study of analogies becomes of the first importance ; 

 since, however we may insist on degrees of affinity, they can never be admitted 

 as correct, until established by such analogical tests as we have applied to the 

 groups investigated in the preceding pages. On the other hand, as the hiati in 

 the Conirostral circle are nearly confined to two only of the aberrant divisions, 

 we have little doubt on the correctness of the following table, as explaining 

 the circular succession of the families. 



Bill strong, the upper mandible curved, obsoletely ] 



notched ; nostrils concealed ; wings lengthened, > Corvivje. 

 rounded ; tarsi elevated. , J 



Bill more lengthened, sub-conic, upper mandible 

 nearly straight, not thicker than the under, 

 generally entire; nostrils naked ; wings length- 

 ened, pointed ; tarsi shorter. 

 Bill short, very strong, and perfectly conic. 1 



Bill short, strong, the under mandible weak, the ( 

 margins serrated ; feet various. 

 . Bill ,vi ormous, greatly compressed; feet syndactyle. 



Typical group. 



2. 



Sub-typical group. 



Aberrant group. 



Sturnid/e. 



Fringillid^:. 



musophagid^. 



BuCERIDiE. 



* We are more than usually embai.. 1 in proposing a name for this group; having ascertained, by analysis, that 

 the Todus viridis is a sub-generic Fissirostral type among the broad-billed Fly-catchers, strictly so termed. System- 

 atise, however, have lately detached this bird as a distinct genus, while the typical form of the whole family, to which 

 the name of Todus has been correctly applied by the old writers, is now known as the genus Eurylaimus. This confu- 

 sion, unintentional on all sides, is the inevitable consequence of giving names to forms, before their affinities have 

 been thoroughly investigated. In this dilemma, we know not how to proceed : if we restore the appellation of Todus 

 to Eurylaimus, we must give a new name to the Todus viridis ; while, if this be not done, the denomination of the 

 sub-families is incorrect : upon the whole, we have preferred the latter, as less liable to disturb the received nomen- 



2 I 



