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LEPTURUS, 
the vasorial type of the todies, and to which we are 
conducted by Todus megacephalus. So close indeed 
is this approximation, that the profile of the bills 
of the two are almost precisely the same ; with this 
difference only, that in Lepturus the sides are more 
compressed, so that the outer half of the hill is as 
high as it is broad. This is a nice, hut a very im- 
portant distinction ; because it shows that in Todus 
•megacephalus we had the last remnant of the boat- 
shaped biff of that sub-genus. At present we know 
but of one example of this type, which, as its 
name implies, has rather a long, but very slender 
tail. It resembles, in fact, a little Malurus, or 
Orthotomus, with the bill of a flycatcher. Its wings 
are even still shorter, for the size of the bird, than 
those of T. megacephalus, but here the similarity 
ceases : instead of possessing the short weak feet 
and small toes so characteristic of all the species of 
Todus we have just dwelt upon, those of the bird 
before us are long, and, for its size, even robust. 
The toes are all cleft to their base ; the lateral ones 
are of equal length, and the middle one is much 
developed. This structure, added to its remark- 
ably short wings and lengthened tail, points out 
this singular bird to be the rasorial sub-genus of 
