84 
PACHYRHYNCHUS, 
(A name which some erroneously have applied to 
both), there is such a beautiful series of connecting 
species, as to render it quite impossible to decide 
where one group ends and the other begins ; al- 
though, if we look only to their typical examples, 
the difference is very striking. Several of the large 
Psari have a singular spurious quill, short and very 
slender, the use of which is altogether unknown, 
while in others the orbits and sides of the face are 
bare of feathers ; it is by these nice hut certain cha- 
racteristics of species that we are able to distinguish 
the different sorts, which are all coloured alike. 
There are two or three birds even larger, which 
may possibly come in the range of this sub-family ; 
they are from New Holland, and form the genus 
Sphecotheres of Yieillot ; the size is larger than a 
thrush, and the hill is equally large and broad at 
the base with Psaris, yet it is much more com- 
pressed on the sides ; the under mandible is strong, 
and there is a large naked space round the eyes ; 
the wings, in general, are not unlike those of Psaris, 
hut the tail is much longer ; the feet are short and 
remarkably strong, the nostrils quite bare, and the 
rictus smooth. "We confess, however, our belief) 
that the true affinities of this genus are not to be 
