3IY0THEIlIN.a:. — ANALOGIES. 
SI 
with the principal divisions or subfamilies of the shrikes 
{Laniadce). 
Subfamilies of 
the Laniad®. 
Lanianeg. 
Thamnophilirue. 
Dicruriruc. 
Ceblepyrincc. 
Tyranniruv. 
Analogies. 
Genera of the 
MyOTHORINwJB. 
Bill short, curved from the base. 
Bill long, curved only at the end. 
rHind toe and claw lengthened} tail^ 
i ending in slender points j mouth V 
t strongly bristled. j 
f Plumage particularly soft ; mouth 7 
I smooth. S 
CBase of the bill depressed, the tip! 
i abruptly hooked ; mouth bristled. J 
Pitta. 
Myothera, 
Myophonus. 
Cincltis. 
Dasycephala. 
The value of this last table is twofold ; for not only 
does it demonstrate the natural series of the Myotherince, 
but likewise that of the Laniadm, or shrike family. 
The speculative theory, therefore, about the Tham- 
nophilinm being that aberrant group which connects 
the shrikes with the thrushes — built, as it was, 
upon a mere supposition — must be given up. How, 
then, it may be asked, can we reconcile this circular 
succession of affinities with the indisputable fact, that 
the Thamnophilina; blend so insensibly into the Myo- 
therina; that no ornithologist can separate them ? Our 
reply is, that in proportion to the smallness of any 
circular group, so do its two typical divisions show a 
constant tendency to unite with the two corresponding 
groups in the next circle ; and that this tendency in 
groups, where tlie species are particularly numerous, is 
carried to such an extreme that a union is actually 
effected. Did our space allow of the digression, we 
could demonstrate this proposition still further in regard 
to the Sylviadtp, but we now cite this family as an ab- 
solute demonstration of what we have elsewhere stated 
as one of the properties of the same principle of natural 
system. 
(33.) Before taking leave of the Merulidee, their 
analogies deserve particular consideration ; since no- 
thing is more calculated to impress us with the harmo- 
nies of creation, than to contemplate the various modes 
by which nature unfolds her types and symbols. T.et 
