Genus— POLO PHILUS. 
POLOPHILUS Leach, Zool. Miscell., VoL I., p. 115, 1814 . . Type P. 'phasianinus. 
Largest Centropine birds with short strong bills, long rounded Vings, 
very long tail and medium legs and feet, inner hind toe with long straight claw. 
The biU is short, strong, decurved, rather deep, laterally compressed : 
the lower mandible is rather shallow, the rami divergent, gonys short, inter- 
ramal space feathered. The nostrils appear as aperculate hnear slits placed 
low down at base of cuLmen. 
The wing is long and rounded, the fourth, fifth and sixth primaries 
subequal and longest, the third shorter than the seventh but longer than the 
eighth, the second equal to the ninth, the first shorter than the secondaries 
which are about the length of the tenth, the fiirst is only about half the length 
of the fourth. 
The tail is very long, about half as long again as the wing, roundly wedge- 
shaped, the outer feather about two-thirds the length of the middle six which 
are about equal. 
The legs are long and strong, with long prominent scutes on the front 
of the tarsus and obsolete scutes behind. The toes are short, the inner hind toe 
bearing a long straight claw, longer than the toe itself, the other claws curved 
and normal of medium length. The outer fore toe is longest, the outer hind 
toe longer than inner fore toe, inner hind toe shortest. 
This genus has been included in Centropus, but it seems best to distinguish 
the differences by the usage of the above name, as the endemic Austrahan 
bird is the largest of the family and has a comparatively short biU, very long 
tail, different wing formula and different toe proportions. As the forms are 
all generalised it is possible that anatomical comparison would show features 
of interest. 
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