TODUS. THE FIVE SUBGENERA. 
87 
connection to Conopophaga is equally demonstrated by 
the Platystera syndactyla Sw.j an African bird in the 
British Museum, having merely the rudiments of a 
tail, with very short, unequal, and syndactyle lateral 
toes. The circle of Todus is thus complete ; and we 
shall now see, by placing them together, how it agrees 
with the genus Muscicapce : — 
7 cipeta 
M^'iug^ra 
Platyrhynchus j \ 
■ o — 
Canopupha^Q. ^u-avAcapa 
(lOO.)Tbe longest bills among the JlTMacicap* are found 
in the typical group ; and so, also, are the longest among 
the todies. Several of the flycatchers in the subgenus 
My'iagra are to this day described as species of Platy- 
rynckus by modern authors, notwithstanding their only 
resemblance consists in the unusual breadth and shortness 
of their bills. Cimnpcyphaga and Muscicapa have the 
bill smaU, and but slightly dilated, although they are 
both remarkable for their length of leg. Platystera and 
Hyliota agree in having the ridge of their bills, or the 
Culmen, elevated, and in the outer half being often 
compressed : their whole appearance, also, is more like 
to each other than to their own types. Lepturus and 
Seicircus differ from all their congeners, by their elon- 
gated fan-shaped tails. If, as we strongly suspect, 
Rhipidura is not a genus, but a subgenus, of Musci- 
capa (in which case it would take the place of Seicircu.s 
in the above circle), the analogy would be equally 
perfect, because Lepturus, no less than Rhipidura, is 
unquestionably a rasorial type. To place this beyond all 
doubt, it is only necessary to compare the subgenera of 
o 4 
