This bird would obviously belong to the second division which I had proposed in my former remarks on Platyrhynchus, and it is in every respect allied to P. Ceylonensis, Pl. 13. My reasons for disturbing this previous arrangement have been already given; and, until a complete investigation is made of the immense genus of Flycatchers, I concur with M. Temminck in the distribution which he has proposed; viz. the arrangement of the European species under the old genus of Muscicapa, and of the exotic under that of Muscipeta; the characters of which, however, are very imperfect: they are, indeed, at variance with this bird, which has the outer and middle toe connected only to the first joint, and the inner toe cleft to the base.
NECTARINIA cyanocephala,
Blue-headed Nectarinia.
Generic Character.
Nectarinia. Illiger. Cuvier. Cæreba Brisson. Temminck. Certhia. Motacilla Linn.
Rostrum longius, gracile, acutum, sub-arcuatum, basi crassâ, latâ, trigonâ, lateribus compressis, mandibulâ superiore apicem juxta leviter emarginatâ. Nares basales, ovatæ, breves, membranâ nudâ, in medio ovatè fissâ tectæ. Lingua longa, bifida, apice fibroso, haud extensibilis. Remigum pennæ primæ tres vix pares. Cauda mediocris, emarginata, rectricibus 12, sub-paribus.
Bill slender, acute, slightly curved, of variable length, base thick, broad, trigonal, the sides compressed; upper mandible near the tip slightly notched; nostrils basal, oval, short, covered by a naked membrane, in the middle of which is an oval aperture; tongue long, bifid, not extensible, the tip fibrous; the three first quills of nearly equal length, and longer than the rest; tail moderate, emarginate, of 12 nearly equal feathers.
Generic Types, Div. 1. Certhia cyanea, cayana. Div. 2. Certhia spiza, &c. Linn.