PRIMA FAMILIARIS. 
thologie, it is placed next to Certhia; and M. Temminck is of opinion, that our 
genus Orthotomus agrees essentially with Opetiorynchos. 
The bill of the Prinia familiaris agrees with the head in length. It is nearly 
straight at the base ; from the middle of its length the upper mandible is very 
slightly arched ; the lower mandible is comparatively robust ; it is greatly depressed 
at the base, increases in dimensions to the middle, where the myxa (in Illiger's 
language) begins, and thence rises very gradually to the point. Both mandibles are 
entire, and the cutting edges are somewhat diaphanous. The culmen of the upper 
mandible is rounded and broad, and the sides are regidar, and very slightly convex. 
The general regularity of its form, the broad culm en, the smallness of the hori- 
zontal diameter at the base, and the complete absence of the terminal notch, 
distinguish our bird from Sylvia, as exhibited in the true type of that genus. The 
form of the bill is carefully expressed in the illustrations which are added to the 
Plate in letter (a). In the figure of the bird the bill appears somewhat larger 
in its vertical diameter than it is in nature. The nostrils are rather large, situated 
in an oblong depression near the base, covered in the upper portion with a mem- 
brane, and pierced in the lower part with a longitudinal aperture. Our bird is 
represented of natural size on the Plate. The entire length is five inches. The 
wings are short and obtuse : the first of the quill-feathers is short ; the second and 
third increase successively ; from the fourth to the seventh they are of equal length ; 
the others, to the twelfth, are scarcely perceptibly shorter: from the third to the 
seventh the exterior vane is very slightly emarginate. The tail is wedge-shaped, 
and as long as the body. The tail-feathers are disposed in pairs ; the first, or exterior 
pair, is short ; the second abruptly longer ; the third, fourth, and fifth increase very 
gradually in length. The tarsi are slender and elevated, and the anterior toes 
delicate and compressed ; the middle toe exceeds the others in length, and is united 
to the outer, which is rather longer than the interior toe, at the base ; the hind 
toe is robust, and of moderate length. The claws are compressed, slightly arched, 
and nearly acute. The claw of the hind toe has double the size of that of the 
middle toe. 
The colour of our bird is dark brown above, with a faint tint of orange. The 
throat and neck anteriorly are white, and the breast and abdomen pale sulphureous 
yellow. The wings are crossed transversely, in an oblique direction, with two 
white bands. The tail-feathers, with the exception of the two intermediate ones, 
are marked near the end with a broad band of blackish brown ; the tips are dirty 
white. The intermediate tail-feathers have throughout a brownish tint underneath, 
