BIRDS OSCINES. 
205 
D. Primaries, ten, the first nearly half as long as the second. The bill gently curved and 
moderately notched, or without notch, at the tip. 
a. Nostrils uncovered by bristly feathers. 
Liotrichidae. — Bill slender, nearly as long as the head, or much longer, gently or 
much curved. First quill more than half the second. Basal joint of middle 
toe usually free nearly to the base internally, and halfway externally. 
b. Nostrils usually covered with bristly feathers. 
Paridae. — Base of bill covered with rather broad bristly feathers directed forwards, 
with the shaft projecting anteriorly in a simple bristle, or the lateral branches 
elongated. Side of tarsi without any groove. Basal joint of middle toe united 
to lateral nearly its whole length. Bill mostly without terminal notch. First 
primary less than half the second. 
Corvidae. — Base of bill covered usually with narrow bristly feathers directed for- 
wards, with short branches to the very tip. Middle of sides of tarsi with a 
groove, usually more or less occupied by a row of small scales. Basal joint 
of middle toe united halfway only to the lateral. First primary more than 
half the second. Bill mostly notched. 
The preceding arrangement is not entirely natural, a less exceptionable order, perhaps, being 
that adopted in the succeeding pages, namely, Turdidae, Sylvicolidae, Hirundinidae, Bomby- 
cillidae, Laniidae, Liotrichidae, Certhiadae, Paridae, Alaudidae, Fringillidae, Icteridae, and 
Corvidae. It must be always borne in mind that one set of characters alone is rarely sufficient 
to establish zoological rank, but rather the varying combination of several sets. The grouping 
of the families of Oscines, as of other orders, will vary greatly with any change in the points of 
reference adopted. Thus, as to the character of the tarsus, it is very long in Turdus and Saxi- 
cola, and in most Liotrichidae ; short in Bombycillidae, and excessively short in the swallows. 
The lateral toes are generally nearly equal, but they are very unequal in the Certhiadae. The 
basal joint of the middle toe is sometimes nearly free internally, and united externally by the 
basal third, as in Tardus, Geothlypis, and the Bombycillidae. In Regulus, Sialia, and Cinclus, 
the union externally is about one-half, while in 3lyiodioctes and Icteria it is nearly complete. 
In Toxostoma, Mimus, and Troglodytes, the union of this basal joint externally is about one-half, 
internally about one- third. In Campylorhynchus, Catherpes, and Thryothorus, the union is 
nearly two-thirds on both sides. In Salpinctes and Lanius it is nearly complete externally. 
In the Certhiadae, Paridae, and, to some extent, in Vireo, the union of this basal joint is almost 
complete on both sides. 
As already stated, the tarsus is entirely without scutellae in the thrushes or in Turdus, 
Regulus, Sialia, Cinclus, &c, as also in Myiadestes. In all the others it is scutellate or divided 
into broad plates anteriorly ; but in Lcteria, Geothlypis, Myiodioctes, and Chamaea, there are no 
plates visible on the outer side at all, the division only commencing on the extreme anterior face, 
or towards its inner edge. The same is the case in Helmitherus swainsoni, and Seiurus nove- 
boracensis, but in S. aurocapillus the plates are more evident. In all the others the scutellae 
are well defined externally, near the median line of the outer side. The rest of the surface is 
generally undivided, each side being completed by a single plate, the two uniting behind in a 
sharp edge. Sometimes there is a tendency to division on the sides of the tarsi below, and in 
in Corvidae there is a row of small scales on the middle of one or both sides. In Lanius 
borealis and Ampelis garrulus there is a tendency to scales behind and on the sides, inferiorly, 
