Querula Rubricollis.

Psariance.

Bill large, thick, subcylindrical. Culmen convex, and without any ridge; the tip abruptly bent and notched. Head large, depressed. Mouth very wide. Feet weak: lateral toes unequal; interior scales of the tarsi transverse; lateral scales small, numerous. Wings long.

Psaris Cayanensis.

Mr. Swainson (who gives the above as the characters of the subfamily to which, in his opinion, Alectrura immediately leads) states that in the Psariana there are but three ascertained genera. These birds,' says Mr. Swainson, like their representatives, Monacha and Psarisoma, depart considerably from the types of this family: the bill is less depressed than in any other of the flycatchers, and its structure is altogether stronger and thicker; they are all natives of Tropical America, and are generally found only in thick forests. Gubernetes is the genus by which they appear to be connected with the waterchats, through the medium of Alectrura. One species only is yet known, the Gubernetes forficatus, remarkable for its long forked tail:

to this succeeds Psaris, where we find nearly all the species coloured alike; that is, they are more or less of a grey or pearl white, with black head, wings, and tail: they remind us immediately of the gulls, and this analogy is one of the most beautiful, when worked out, in the whole family. The smaller birds of the genus Pachyrynchus immediately follow. Two or three already prepare us for the next division (Querulina), by the great depression of their bills, and the singularly formed red feathers on the throat.' (Classification of Birds, part iii.) In the Synopsis (part iv.) only two genera are given, Psaris, Cuv., and Pachyrynchus, Spix. Of these we select Psaris as an example.

Generic Character.-Bill large. The rictus smooth, often naked round the eye. Wings lengthened; the first quill equal to or longer than the fourth. Tail short, even. Inner toe shorter than the outer. (Sw.)

In

Mr. Swainson states that the Fluvicoline, or waterchats, with the exception of one genus, whose situation is still somewhat doubtful, are entirely restricted to the warm latitudes of America, where they seem to represent the stonechats and the wagtails of the Old World. They are,' continues this author, 'strictly ambulating Flycatchers, and constitute the rasorial division of this family. The legs are consequently very long, and formed especially for walking; the toes are also long, quite divided to their base, and furnished with long and slightly curved claws. This structure enables these birds to run with great celerity; and they are generally seen on the sides of streams and rivers, feeding upon flying insects which resort to such situations; for they never hunt among trees, and rarely perch; such at least are the manners of the typical species; but there are of course various modifications of habit, corresponding to those, which will now be glanced at, in their structure.' Mr. Swainson exhibits some variation in his views as to this group in the third and fourth parts of the Classification of Birds. the third part the first genus, with which he begins the series, is that of Seisura, differing only from Rhipidura by its more lengthened bill and feet: indeed he by no means feels satisfied that Seisura is naturally separated from Rhipidura, although, for the present, he adopts the group as proposed by Mr. Vigors and Dr. Horsfield. He nevertheless expresses his suspicion that all the genera of the Fluvicolina may prove to be natives of Tropical America, and that Seisura is only composed of aberrant species of Rhipidura which pass into the Fluvicolina. Both these divisions (Seisura and Rhipidura), as well as that of Seicircus, have broad fan-shaped tails, which, he observes, plainly indicate the type to which they belong, although the rank they respectively hold cannot, in our present state of knowledge, be clearly ascertained. Leaving this group,' says Mr. Swainson in continuation, we reach that of Fluvicola, by means of certain black and glossy birds of Brazil, some of which have distinct crests: these latter conduct us to the typical Fluvicola, having the legs unusually long, the bill depressed, the tail lengthened, and the plumage differently varied with white and black. One of the most characteristic of these singular birds is the Fluvicola cursoria, of the size of a lark; but some are nearly equal to a small thrush. Perspicilla, so called from the naked fleshy lobe which surrounds the eyes like spectacles, is the next genus this is succeeded by Alectrura, one of the most distinct and well defined groups in the whole circle of ornithology: the remarkable development of the tail-feathers in this group only finds a parallel in the genus Vidua among the finches and that of Gallus on the rasorial circle. Besides these genera, there are several black and white coloured birds

In the third part of Mr. Swainsou's Classification of Birds, the subfamilies stand in the following order :-Eurylaimina, Muscicapina, Fluvicolis Psariance, Queruline. In the fourth part (Synopsis')they are thus arranged:Queruline, Psariana, Fluvicolina, Muscicapina, Eurylaimine.

having a general resemblance to the foregoing, which would seem to enter among the waterchats; yet, as we have not sufficiently analyzed the group, we must leave this point undetermined: among these are the white-headed tody of the old writers, which is either a Tyrannula or an aberrant Fluvicola, as well as the Muscicapa leucocilla of Hahn, which, in outward appearance, so much resembles a manakin, that it may possibly prove a representative of that family in the present circle.' In the fourth part the subfamily is made to consist of the following genera, arranged

in the order here given :

Gubernetes, Vig. Alectrurus, Vieill. Fluvicola, Sw. (with its subgenus Blechropus, Sw. Pepoaza, D'Azar.). Seisura, Horsf. and Vig. Perspicilla, Św. Of these we select

Gubernetes.

Generic Character.-Bill thick, subdepressed, raised at the base, culmen rounded; upper mandible slightly notched at the apex; nostrils rounded; the rictus furnished with close-set rigid vibrissæ. Wings moderate; quills, from the 1st to the 5th nearly equal, the first the shortest, the second the longest; the external beards (pogoniis), except the beards of the first feather, notched in the middle; internal beards entire. Feet with moderate tarsi; the acrotarsia and paratarsia scutellated; soles reticulated with oval scales. Tail very long and forked. (Vig.)

Example, Gubernetes Cunninghami. Description.-Ash-coloured, longitudinally lineated with brown, throat and rump white, lunulated pectoral band purplish-brown, wings and tail brownish-black; quills longitudinally banded with ferruginous.

Gubernetes Cunninghami. (Vig., Zool, Joyrn.)

Mr. Vigors, whose generic and specific descriptions we have given above, says that this bird, which he named after Colonel Cunningham of Rio Janeiro, appears to have a considerable affinity to the genus Psaris of Cuvier in the structure of its bill and wings, but that it differs from it by other such essential characters, as to have induced Mr. Vigors to place it in a separate genus. Besides the difference in the structure of the tail, an important character, he observes, in the group of the Laniadae, which still retain some of the powers of flight belonging to the Fissirostres, he notes the following differences between the two forms. The rictal bristles of his bird are strong and numerous

while in Psaris they are scarcely perceptible. The tarst, though somewhat weaker than those of Psaris, are in a slight degree weaker, while the toes are longer and stronger The lateral scales of the tarsi are square and far asunder, while in Psaris they are rounded and numerous. hinder scales also are less rounded, less close, and less conspicuous than in the latter genus. (Zool. Journ., vol. ii.), Muscicapina.

The

(excepting in Todus), but always very slender, and often Feet weak, formed only for perching, generally short syndactyle. Bill more or less depressed. Gape with stiff bristles. Claws small, considerably curved. Lateral toes unequal. Inhabits warm and tropical latitudes, but excluded from North America. (Sw.)

This extensive subfamily contains the ordinary Flycatchers, the generality of which do not exceed the dimensions of Muscicapa grisola. Mr. Swainson remarks that the bill, although it is rarely so broad as in the Eurylaiminæ, is much more flattened, and the bristles at the gape are more developed. Their whole structure also,' continues Mr. Swainson, 'is more slight and delicate; but their colouring, although sometimes elegant, is almost devoid of vivid tints. The different form and length of the bill and feet furnish the characters by which the genera and subgenera are distinguished; while the species, which are exceedingly numerous, with the exception of the genus Todus, are only and Muscicapa; the aberrant are Megalophus, Monacha, found in the Old World. The typical genera are Todus and Rhipidura: the two first are so numerous in species as to contain subgenera.' Mr. Swainson then enters into a lengthened notice of the different genera and subgenera; exhibits the circle of Todus, which he considers to be complete with that of Muscicapa; and gives the following as a table, showing the comparison of Todus with the orders of birds, and the tribes of the Perchers.

This illustration Mr. Swainson considers to be perfect. (Classification of Birds, part iii.)

The genera and subgenera of the Muscicapince are, in the fourth part of the work last quoted, placed in the following order :

Rhipidura, Horsf. and Vig.; Monacha, Horsf. and Vig.; Megalophus, Sw.; Todus, Auct. (with the following subgenera: Conopophaga, Vieill.; Platyrhynchus, Desm.; Todus, Linn.; Lepturus, Sw.; Platystera, Jard. and Selby); Muscicapa, Linn. (with the following subgenera:-Cryptolopha, Sw.; Muscipeta, Cuv.; Myiagra, Horsf. and Vig.; Muscicapa, Linn.; and Hyliota, Sw.).

*

Our limits will not permit more than a selection of some of these forms, and we must confine ourselves in this article to an attempt to illustrate those of Rhipidura, Todus, and Muscicapa.

Rhipidura.

Generic Character.-Bill short, depressed, broad at the base, compressed at the apex, the culmen arched; upper mandible notched at the apex; nostrils basal, oval, nearly covered with bristles and plumules; rictus furnished with close-set bristles, generally exceeding the mandibles in length. Wings moderate, subacuminate; the first quill shortest, the second longer by twice, the third and fourth (which last is the longest) gradually longer. Tail elongated, Feet moderate, slender; the patulous, rounded at the tip. acrotarsia and paratarsia entire. (Vig. and Horsf.) Example, Rhipidura flabellifera.

Description.-Brown-black; superciliary and postocular spot, throat, points of the wing-coverts, and stems and tips of the tail-feathers white; abdomen inclining to ferruginous. (V. and H.) This is the Muscicapa flabellifera of Gmelin ; the Fan-tailed Flycatcher of Latham.

Mr. Vigors and Dr. Horsfield remark that the figure of this species given by Dr. Latham has much more white on

Substituted for Seicircus,

keen devourer of all the smaller fruits, has in most instances been mistaken for the present bird. The same author tells us that it is of rare occurrence in Scotland; Mr. Gould says that it is found throughout England and a portion of Scotland, wherever there exists a locality suitable to its economy. It quits us in September and October, having bred and brought up its young here. M. Temminck says that it is spread in Europe as far as Sweden, and that it is found in the temperate provinces of Russia; but that it is rare in Holland. Mr. Selby states that its summer or polar migration extends as far as Sweden and Norway. The Prince of Musignano (Specchio Comparativo) notes it as rare in the summer near Rome; and as found in Europe generally. (Geographical and Comparative List.) Mr. Gould says, The Spotted Flycatcher appears to enjoy a wide range over the continent of Europe, being generally dispersed from the border of the Arctic circle to its most southern boundary; and we have also frequently observed it among collections from India.' The nest, loosely constructed of moss, fibres, catkins of the hazel, or small twigs lined with straw and wool or hair and feathers, is often placed upon the jutting ends of beams and rafters in toolhouses, or other garden or farm buildings, whence its name of Beam-bird. The four or five eggs are greyish-white, with pale orange-brown spots. When the young are able to leave the nest, the parents lead them to some place where insects abound. There the young soon learn to capture their prey after the manner of the old birds.

The sexes are alike in plumage. The young, for a short time after they begin to fly, have the feathers tipped with yellowish-white, which gives them a mottled appearance. The chirp of this Flycatcher, its only note, is weak.

the five leading types have come to light, although only one example of the genera Serilophus, Psarisoma, and Platystoma, are yet known. It may here be observed that notwithstanding the great width of the bill in all these birds, it is nevertheless much more convex above, and in some instances is even more raised on the culmen than any of the others; the feet also and the whole structure of the body are more robust. Hence, although the width of the mouth and the great size of the head would indicate this to be the pre-eminent typical group, yet all the other characters would place it as the typical. Serilophus is evidently the rasorial or crested type; and it departs considerably from the others by the only species yet known being very fond of fruits; this is in conformity with the strong and remarkable analogy it shows, even in its outward appearance, to the wax-winged chatterers (Bombycilla).'

The genera given by Mr. Swainson in the 'Synopsis' are. Eurylaimus, Horsf.; Cymbirhynchus, Vig.; Platystomus, Sw. (both of which are placed by M. Lesson in his genus Erolla); Psarisomus, Sw.; and Serilophus, Sw. Mr. Swainson considers Eurylaimus to be the pre-eminent type; Cymbirhynchus the subtypical type; Platystomus the fissirostral type; and Serilophus the rasorial type; by which last and Megalophus regius he considers that the Eurylaimine and Muscicapina are united. Of these genera we select

Eurylaimus.

Generic Character.-Bill broader than the head; under mandible very thin, particularly at the base. Nostrils basal, second almost imperceptibly graduated. Tail short, rounded. transverse, oval; the aperture naked. First quill' slightly,

Muscicapa Grisola (male). Eurylaiminæ.

Size large. Structure powerful. Bill short, excessively broad; the upper mandible convex above, dilated at its base, and the margins folding over those of the upper mandible; the tip abruptly hooked. Wings rather short. Feet strong, moderate. The outer toe connected for half its length to the middle toe; hinder toe long; inner toe

shortest.

Mr. Swainson, who gives this as the character of the subfamily, observes that the Eurylaimine are the most remarkable birds of the whole family; the species are very few, and their geographical limits seem to be restricted to the hottest parts of India, where they inhabit the forests. In size,' continues Mr. Swainson, they exceed all others, save the genus Querula, in this family, being about the size of starlings, while the enormous breadth of their bills and the peculiar brightness of their colouring render it impossible for the student to mistake them for any other genus. The bill is not only excessively broad, but the margins of the base are so dilated that they often project over those of the lower mandible, while its substance seems much more solid than in the ordinary Flycatchers. Although very few species have hitherto been discovered, it is quite clear that

a, bill of Eurylaimus Javanicus seen in profile; b, seen frora above; c, anterior toes of the same, to show their relative connexion. (Horsfield.) Example, Eurylaimus Javanicus (Eurylaimus Horsfieldii, Temm.).

Description.-Entire length eight inches. Head, sides of the neck, and the whole of the neck and body underneath violet, or rather vinous, varying in intensity. The part of the forehead around the bill nearly black. Upper part of the neck brown, darker towards the back, where the tint is sooty. Wings very deep blackish-brown above, more intense near the shoulder, and lighter towards the extremity. A yellow streak between the coverts and secondary quills. Wings beneath from the axillæ to the shoulder yellow, which borders the wing externally. Tail-coverts black at the base and yellow at the tips, so that the rump appears yellow, which is the colour at the vent. Two intermediate tail-feathers black, four next on each side black, with a white transverse band near the extremity. On the two external feathers the band is near the middle, and rather broader. Bill reddish-brown at the base, with both mandibles irregularly variegated, and striped towards the extremity; culmen yellowish; cutting-edges intensely black and shining. Tarsi and toes dusky yellowish; claws brown, inclining to black.

Geographical Distribution and Habits.-Dr. Horsfield is of opinion that from the observations of Sir Stataford

Raffles in the catalogue of a zoological collection made in the island of Sumatra under his direction, and communicated to the Linnean Society, we can also in some measure determine the range of this genus: It extends,' continues the Doctor, from Sumatra eastward to Singapura, and thence south to the eastern extremity of Java near the Straits of Baly, where I discovered it in the year 1806; since that period I have not met with it again. We are indebted to Sir Stamford Raffles for the following remarks on the first species:-'It frequents the banks of rivers and lakes, feeding on insects and worms. It builds its nest pendent from the branch of a tree or bush which overhangs the water.' I found it in Java, in one of the most distant and inaccessible parts covered with extensive forests and abounding with rivers and marshes.'

In the most recent work on Dipterous insects the section Brachocera is divided into three groups:-first, the Herachates, in which the proboscis is composed of six setæ in the females; the palpi are ovate and elevated in the males, conical and decumbent in the females, and adhering to the base of the set; the third joint of the antennæ curved.

The second subdivision, Tetrachotes, is thus characterised:-proboscis composed of four seta; palpi generally adhering to the base of the set; third joint of the antenna either curved or simple, with the stylet usually terminal; wings generally with four or five posterior cells.

In the third subdivision, Dichotes, the proboscis has only two setæ, the palpi are generally placed on the base of the proboscis, and the stylet is situated on the upper surface of the third joint of the antenna: the wings have usually but one submarginal cell; three posterior cells; the anal cell is usually short, and there are sometimes no transverse cells. The subsection Athericera, which forms one of the subdivisions of the great group Dichotes, is distinguished by the sucker being enclosed in the proboscis; the antenna having the last joint usually patelliform. In the Muscide the proboscis is always very distinct and susceptible of being entirely retracted within the oral cavity; the sucker is composed of two pieces; the stylet of the antenna is usually plumose to the apex; the body is short and tolerably broad'; the eyes, in the male sex, are usually contiguous.

The genus Musca, as now restricted, contains such species as have the third joint of the antennæ twice or three Histoire Naturelle des Insectes--Diptères, par M. Macquart, in the Suites

times as large as the second; the first posterior cellule of the wings extends to the margin.

The common house-fly (Musca domestica of authors) affords a familiar example of this genus, and is too well known to require description. The larvae, called maggots, live in putrid substances.

MUSCLE is an animal tissue composed of bundles of soft and usually reddish fibres, endowed with a peculiar power of contracting.

The muscles are divided into two classes; the voluntary and the involuntary. The former class, those over which the will exercises a direct control, are subservient to all the actions by which the animal is placed in active relation with the external world, as in all the motions of the limbs, of speech, of the eyes, ears, &c., and they are therefore often called the muscles of animal life; the latter class, comprehending those whose actions are connected with the internal and nutritive functions of the body, over which the will has no immediate or constant control, form the muscular system of organic life, as the heart, the muscular coat of the stomach, &c.

Each voluntary muscle is composed of a number of parallel or nearly parallel fleshy bundles, enclosed in coverings of cellular tissue, by which each is connected with and at the same time isolated from those adjacent to it. Each bundle is again divided into smaller fasciculi similarly ensheathed, and so on through an uncertain number of gradations ti!! one arrives at the muscular fibre, the only definite and fixed form in the system, and the only part which possesses characters common to the muscles of all classes of animals The muscles being thus divided, each fibre or each fasciculus may be regarded as a separate contractile organ, which though usually acting in concert with those adjacent to it, is capa ble of independent contraction; and the power of a whole muscle will thus be equal to the sum of the powers of its separate fibres, and will bear a direct proportion to the number.

The voluntary muscular fibre is of a cylindrical or prismatic form; its diameter (taking the average of the results of several observations) is of an inch, and it varies in length in different muscles. Each fibre is enclosed in a sheath of extremely delicate cellular tissue, and is marked externally by transverse striæ, by which it is at once distinguished from the fibre peculiar to any other tissue.

The muscular fibre is hollow, and contains a small quantity of glutinous fluid and numerous very minute filaments These filaments are delicate cylindrical threads, about ha of an inch in diameter, and about 100 of them are arranges parallel to each other within the fibre.

In the involuntary muscles the fibres and fasciculi are not arranged in parallel lines, but form varied interlacements crossing and appearing to anastomose with each other, so as to present only a trace of the general direction in which they act. The fasciculi are connected by less cellular tissue than those of the voluntary muscles. They are generally of a paler colour, and the fibres are not marked by transverse striæ, except those of the heart, on which they are faintly visible.

All the muscles receive large arteries and veins from the trunks passing near to them, whose branches run in the cellular interspaces between the fasciculi, and form at last an irregular network among the fibres. They receive also a large supply of nerves, probably more than any other organs in the body. Nearly one-half of the brain and spina! chord is for the supply of nerves through which the will may act upon the voluntary muscles, or through which their motions may be excited by other stimuli. The involuntary muscles are chiefly supplied from the ganglionic or sympathetic system of nerves. [NERVE.]

Chemically, the muscles are composed chiefly of fibrine. Those of animals, which form a large portion of our food. have been carefully analyzed by Berzelius and many others who have found that the muscular tissue generally contains about 77 per cent. of water, the rest being composed of fleshy fibre or fibrine, a small quantity of fat and gelatine, albe men, and colouring matter, and a number of peculiar extracts of which the chief are osmazome, on which the odour of meats depends, and zomidine, from which they acquire their peculiar flavour. The nutritive qualities of meat are, cæteru paribus, in direct proportion to the quantity of fibrine which it contains; and this may generally be judged of by the strength and ruddiness of the fibres: hence the more nutritions quality of the muscles of adult than of young animals, and