328 
ERUCIVORA? SW. VOLVOCIVORA NOBIS. 
fluently black. Alar and caudal plumes, with 
the lining of the wings, albescent on the in- 
ferior aspect : two central tail feathers almost 
wholly concolorous with the body ; the rest 
black, with clear broad whitish tips : the ter- 
tiai wing feathers wholly, and the edges of 
most of the rest, slaty like the body : bill and 
legs, jet black : iris, dark browm. The female, 
equal in size to her mate, is paler on the in- 
ferior surface of the neck and body, where, as 
well as on the lining of the wings, the slaty 
hue is transversely lineated on a whitish 
ground : the edging of her alar plumes also is 
\vhitish ; and she wants, nearly or wholly, 
the black zone surrounding the entire base of 
the bill in the male. The young males, for a 
whole year, resemble her. 
CEBLEPYRINiE. 
Erucivora ? Sw. Volvocivora nobis. 
8th Species. New and type. Melaschistos 
nobis. This singular bird indicates its affi- 
nity with the last named by its slaty and 
black garb, transversely lineated below, in 
the female ; as well as by its puffy and spi- 
nous rump feathers, the rest of the plumage 
being unglossed, soft, and discomposed. The 
wings, tail, and feet, too, are not materially 
dissimilar, though the bill is. The wings, 
however, are obviously feebler, and, being so, 
are naturally accompanied by a longer and 
distinctly wedged tail. But the almost 
purely conical and wholly undepressed bill 
seems to defy whatever has yet been predi- 
cated of the sub-family 1 
In the whole structure there is an evident 
approach to Malaconotus and Phoenicornis. 
Size and from. Bill scarcely longer than 
the head, vex-y moderate in all respects, elon- 
gately conical, culmen straight and concealed 
as far as the nares, very slightly inclined and 
apert beyond them. Nostrils central, small, 
oval, lateral, membranous'ly edged above, 
and hid by semi-setaceous curling plumuli and 
hairs. Rictus moderate, subciliated. Nape 
with a few feeble hairs hardly escaping from 
the plumage. Wings moderate, round, acu> 
minate ; 4th quill longest, gradated as in 
grauculus. Tail as long as the body, or 
longer, consisting of 12 feathers ; whereof the 
6 central are even, and the 6 lateral, consi- 
derably gradated, to l|:inch in the extremes ; 
the whole, firm and broad tipped. Tarsi 
sub-clevate, moderately stout, rather finely 
scaled. Toes not short, rather slender ; 
fores somewhat compressed and basally con- 
nected; central, sub-elongate ; hind, short 
but broad and depressed. Nails subacute. 9| 
inches long by 14 wide, and if oz. bill 1; tail 
5 ; tarsus 1 ; central toe jfi. hind closed 
wing 4| ; whereof 1st quill is 2^, 2na 4f, 3rd 
and 5th 4f. and 4th and longest, 4|. tertials 
If less the primes. 
Colour, blackish slaty, with jet black 
wings, tail, and lores ; the 6 or 8 lateral rec- 
trices with broad white points. Legs, dusky 
slaty; bill black; iris, brown. Femde rather 
less, paler below, and transversely rayed 
throughout with a more saturate series of 
zigzags. She has, also, a white spot, inter- 
nal and basal, occupying 3 or 4 of her prime 
quills ; and her lores arc not blackened. 
The young of a year resemble the female. 
They have, at first, whitish drops on a pur- 
plish black mantle. The species is confined 
to the woods, and is solitary or nearly so. 
The intestines are 10 to 11 inches long, of 
nearly equal calibre throughout, and having 
the caeca hardly traceable. The stomach is 
muscular and red, with an outer coat of me- 
dial unequal thickness, and a tough lining. 
The principal food is caterpillars and other 
soft wingless insects ; but many soft and 
hard flying insects are likewise taken, with 
grubs, larvae, and insect eggs, and frequently 
stony berries and even seeds. These birds, 
though they procure the greatest portion of 
their food on trees, yet freely descend to the 
ground to gather it there also. 
Our birds, in the structure of the bill, ap- 
pear to be allied to Mr. Swainson’s Eruci- 
vora ; but they have the croup puffy and 
spinous, like the majority of their confami - 
liars. 1 have procured abundance of speci- 
mens from all parts of the hills, and at ail 
seasons of the year, the species (like all those 
previously described) not being migratory. 
General Remarks. 
Cuvier observes of the Edoliance that they 
are principally distinguished by the two man- 
dibles being bent the wffiole length. This is 
a character distinctly marked in our 3 first 
species, but wanting in the 3 next ; seen 
again, in the 7th and absent in the 8th. Cu- 
vier adds that the Edolian bill is depressed ; 
a feature not strictly belonging to any otour 
species save the 6th. Mr. Swainson says 
that the Edolianae are characterised by a bill 
broad at the base and compressed on the 
sides. This, with some allowance, holds 
true of our 5' first species, and also of the 7th, 
if breadth at the base be not confounded with 
depression. Mr. Swainson further observes 
that “ in every species yet discovered the hind 
toe is so much developed as to exceed the tar- 
sus, being little shorter than the middle toe”. 
Now, in all my species, the tarsus is long- 
er than the central digit, which again ex- 
ceeds the thumb in length. I measure the 
tarsus, on the inner side, from its more 
salient angle down to the sole of the foot ; and 
the digits from their strict insertion, supe- 
riorly, to the commencement of the claw. So 
measured, there is not one of the foregoing 
8 species, in w’hich the tarsus does not ex- 
ceed any of the digits, or, in which the middle 
finger does not surpass the thumb ; though 
the superior size of the thumb in the 3 first 
species, as compared with the other 5, is very 
noticeable. In the former, this member is 
equal to the outer fore digit ; whilst in the 
latter it is equal only to the inner fore, or less. 
Strong rictal bristles characterise the wffiole 
of the 6 first species which I have classed 
with the Edoliaaee ; and the 6th agrees with 
the 3 first in possessing, on the neck, at least 
ornamental feathers, as well as a highly-bur- 
nished general plumage. But the bhuchan- 
gas want both these marks ; and, in the two 
species of them, the hook and tooth of the 
bill, by their superior development, indicate 
a leaning towards the lanianie. In all our 
