Family AMPELIDÆ.—The Chatterers.
The characteristics of the Ampelidæ have already been presented in the synopsis of allied families; chief among them, the short, broad, depressed, and triangular bill with short gonys, the deeply cleft mouth, the short tarsus, and the tendency to subdivision of its lateral plates.
The South American genus, Dulus, probably forms the type of a subfamily Dulinæ, characterized by the much arched gape of mouth, the metatarsal scutellæ in two series, and the body streaked beneath, as in young Ampelis. The two other subfamilies may be defined as follows:—
Subfamilies.
Common Characters. Grape of mouth nearly straight. Metatarsal scutellæ in three series. Body plain beneath.
Ampelinæ. Wings very long and much pointed, longer than the short, even tail. First primary excessively rudimentary; the outermost about the longest. Gape without bristles. Frontal feathers extending forward beyond the nostrils.
Ptilogonatinæ. Horny appendages like red sealing-wax at end of shaft of secondaries. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. First primary nearly half the second. Gape well bristled. Frontal feathers falling short of the nostrils. No red horny appendage to wing-feathers.
Subfamily AMPELINÆ.
Char. Legs moderate. Nostrils elongated, linear, with the frontal feathers extending close to the edge and to anterior extremity, concealing them; these feathers short, velvety, and erect, with few bristles. Wings very long and acute; outer or first primary so much reduced as to be almost inappreciable; the second nearly the longest. Wing nearly twice the length of the short, narrow, even tail. Under coverts of tail reaching almost to its tip. Secondary quills with flat horny appendages at end of shaft like red sealing-wax. Young birds streaked beneath as in Dulus. Adults plain.
Of this family as restricted, we have but a single genus in America.