EDOL1AN«.
Characterized by a bill broad at the base, and compressed on the sides; the rictus
being, in most cases, defended by very stiff and lengthened bristles; and the upper
mandible no longer provided with that distinct tooth which belongs only to the
two preceding divisions. The construction of the feet, likewise, deserves particular
attention, as being formed upon a peculiar model. In every species yet discovered,
these members are short, and the hind toe so much developed, as generally
to exceed the length of the tarsus, and to be little shorter than the middle toe.
This is very apparent in the genus Edolius, Cuv., and prevails, in a less degree,
through the kindred genera Ocypterus, Cuv., and Analcipus, Sw. The wings, in all
these groups, are much lengthened, particularly in Ocypterus, where they exhibit an
hirundiform structure, the first quill being longest, and the rest graduated. So
far, therefore, we see a conformation totally distinct from a Lanins or a Thamnophi-
lus ; but the subordinate types of this division are very imperfectly known; nor
can we pronounce, with any certainty, which may be the typical groups. The
original Vanga of Buffon, together with some other very curious birds from
Madagascar, where that species is also found, lead us to suspect the existence of a
group closely related to Ocypterus, but whose typical characters we have not sufficiently
ascertained*. Of the three genera above named, Ocypterus and A m ir
cipus appear the most typical; inasmuch as the bill, in certain species of Edolius, assumes much of that depressed form belonging to the Ceblepyrince. The situation
of the Australian Vanga destructor, and its allies, is still more uncertain;
while Sparactus must now be forgotten: the specimen upon which this genus was
founded having turned out, according to M. Cuvier, to be the fabrication of a
dealer! The immediate passage from this division to the
CEBLEPYRINCE
is unknown, as we consider our former suspicions on this union being effected
by Muscicapa labrosa (Zool. 111., pi. 175) not well founded; that bird being,
in all probability, a true Ceblepyris, Cuv. ,
The birds of this group are too remarkable in themselves to be easily mistaken.
Retaining much of that general form of bill which belongs to Edolius, there
* The Shrikes of Madagascar are so little known, as to be rarely, if ever, seen in museums; and it unfortunately
happens that, notwithstanding the greatest care, those few now in the Royal Museum at Paris are too much injured
by time, to admit of accurate description.—Sw.
is, nevertheless, a greater depression, and consequently a greater weakness,
exhibited in this member; the nostrils are equally concealed, but the frontal feathers,
instead of being lengthened, and reflected forwards, are short and velvety ;
while the rictus, no longer provided with stiff bristles, is merely furnished with
short cetaceous feathers. Continuing this comparison to the tarsi and the wings,
we find the first rather longer, and the hind toe shorter ; but the form of wing,
and the arrangement of the quills, in Ceblepyrus and Edolius, are much alike.
The most remarkable distinction, however, of this curious bird, is the spine-like
rigidity of the rump feathers, which, when pressed against the hand, feel as if
they were intermixed with prickles, an effect produced by the bending of the
shafts *, one portion of which is very thick, while the other becomes suddenly very
slender; by pressure, the outer half is bent, and presents a sharp angle to the
touch, which feels like a spine. It is worthy of remark, that the Cuckoos, which,
in the tribe of Scansores, occupy the same relative station as the Ceblepyrince do
among the Shrikes, should also exhibit this singular structure. On the whole,
distinct as this sub-family is from the last, yet there is such a decided and direct
affinity between them, that we must altogether reject the idea of placing the two
groups at opposite points in the circle of Laniadm.
No ornithologist has yet attempted to arrange this group, or to characterize
the different modifications of form which it presents. We must, therefore, be
content to notice those only which we have personally examined. Premising
that all the species seem restricted to the hot latitudes of the Old World, and
that they have received the name of Caterpillar-catchers from feeding principally,
as Le Vaillant informs us, on such soft insects.
We have already intimated that the true passage from the Edoliance to the
Ceblepyrince may be yet undiscovered. If, however, we may consider the absence
of spinous feathers in certain of the latter birds, together with an unusually compressed
bill, as indications of such a transition, we shall find these characters in
the genus Erucivora f, a group of small birds, hitherto found only in the Indian
Islands. We are, nevertheless, inclined to believe that the true annectant type is
at present unknown. From Erucivora to the typical genera Ceblepyris and Phce-
nicornis, as now modified, the gradations are almost imperceptible; the first seems
* An error on this subject appears to have crept into the- Règne Animal, where it is stated, vol. i., p. 3631 that
Les tiges sont un peu prolongées, roides et piquantes des plumes de leur croupion.” Wehave never seen one species
where the feathers are so constructed.
•f- We first detected this form among the stores of the Zoological Society ; but in conformity, as we were told, with
the rules of the Society, we were prohibited from taking any notes. Fortunately, however, the liberality of MM.
Cuvier and Geoffroy St. Hilaire enabled us to make full use of the specimens at the Garden of Plants, by which means
we have here been enabled to define the group.—Sw.
S