296 ON THE CLASSIFICATION "OP BIRDS. 
(lible very thin. Feet short, formed for clinging. The 
toes various. 
SunrAM. PHITOTOMIN^. Plant-cutters. 
BiE serrated, but not swoEen. Feet with two or three 
toes forward, and one backward. 
PnYTOTOiiA, MoEna. BiE short, compressed, the base 
widened ; high at the base, and gradually curved : 
the lower mandible much weaker, straight: the com- 
missure slightly arched, with the margins crested. 
Tongue short, pointed. Nostrils hasal, smaE, rounded. 
Wings moderate ; the two first quills graduated. 
Tail moderate, even. Feet strong. Lateral toes un- 
equal, the inner shortest. Claws slender, slightly 
curved. 
P. rufescens. III. of Orn. i. pi. 5. 
Hyreus, Stevens.* BiE more lengthened, nearly as long 
as the head ; the margins serrated. Tail forked. 
Toes only three, two before and one behind. 
H. Abyssinicus. Lath. Syn. Sup. ii. pi. 133. 
SuEFAM. COLIN.(E. Colies. 
All the four toes placed forward. 
CoLius, Linn. BEl short : the upper mandihle widened 
at the base, but very convex above : culmen elevated, 
and arched downwards ; commissure entire : the mar- 
gin of the upper mandible folding over the edges, and 
almost hiding the lower, which is very thin and 
straight. Nostrils laige, basal, naked ; the aperture- 
linear, oblique, and a little removed from the base of 
the bill. Wings rather short, pointed. Tail very 
long, cuneated ; the feathers very narrow, and some- 
what rigid. Feet strong, four-toed. The exterior 
toe and the liaEu.x (placed on the inner side) inserted 
in an oblique direction. Claws slender, rather acute, 
not much curved. 
* Imperfect as is theaboyc account, taken from the obscure description 
and rude Sgure of Dr. Latham, I feel fully persuaded that this is a per- 
fectly distinct type from the true Phytotoma; of the New World. The dif- 
ference of food alone sanctions me in this opinion, if, as it is stated, the 
first lives upon the toots of plants, and the latter upon kernels of fruits. 
