﻿CHARACTERS OF THE DENTIROSTREs/ 347 



occasion,* we shall do so on this. It is a matter, 

 however, of little importance, at what point the investi- 

 gation of a circular group is commenced ; nor is there 

 occasion to adhere implicitly to any fixed rule on the 

 subject, provided that the subordinate groups are treated 

 of in the same series as they are observed to follow each 

 other in nature. 



(288.) Our survey of the Insessorial Order thus 

 commences with the Dentirostres, or rapacious tribe, 

 whose prominent characters we have just noticed. The 

 families of which this group is composed, with but one 

 exceptionf, live almost exclusively upon insects, to se- 

 cure which their bill is furnished with a distinct notch 

 near the tip, assuming in the typical families the form of 

 a prominent tooth. As a farther provision for procuring 

 such sustenance, the angles of the mouth are more or less 

 defended by stiff bristles, the legs are less robust than 

 those of the typical perchers, and the claws are more 

 acute. The bill is of various shapes in the different 

 families. In the shrikes it is compressed ; while in the 

 flycatchers, which lead immediately to the swallow tribe 

 (Fissirostres), it is much depressed, and the feet begin 

 to be very small. 



(289-) In detailing the characters of any comprehen» 

 sive natural group, our attention must always be fixed 

 more especially upon the typical examples of that group, 

 and the characters it exhibits ; for, as the minor divi- 

 sions branch off to the right and the left, and blend into 

 other groups, it necessarily follows that these aberrant 

 divisions lose many of the prominent features of their 

 own type, and assume others more properly belonging 

 to the next group. When, therefore, we say that the 

 tribe before us is characterised by a strongly-toothed 

 bill, by acute claws, &c, we speak only of its typical 

 examples; — the intelligent naturalist understanding that 

 there are not only many exceptions, but that he will 



* Northern Zoology, vol. ii. 



f The Ampelidce, or berry- eaters, the types of which live more upon 

 fruits. 



