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BIRDS.

Birds are perhaps the most difficult to classify of all the divisions of the vertebrata. The species and genera are exceedingly numerous, and there is such a great uniformity in general structure and even in the details of external form, that it is exceedingly difficult to find characters by which orders and families can be characterised. For a long time the system of Vigors and Swainson was followed; but this wholly ignored anatomical characters and in many cases plainly violated wellmarked affinities. Characters derived from the form of the sternum, the scutellation of the tarsi, and the arrangement of the feathers, have all assisted in determining natural groups. More recently Professor Huxley has applied the variations of the bony palate to the general arrangement of birds; and still more recently Professor Garrod has studied certain leg-muscles for the same purpose. The condition of the young as regards plumage, and even the form, texture, and coloration of the egg, have also been applied to solve doubtful cases of affinity; yet the problem is not settled, and it will probably remain for another generation of ornithologists to determine with any approach to accuracy what are the most natural divisions of the class into orders and families. In a work like the present it is evidently not advisable to adopt all the recent classifications; since experience has shown that no arrangement in which one set of characters is mainly relied on, long holds its ground. Such modifications of the old system as seem to be well established will be adopted; but the older groups will be adhered to in cases where the most recent classifications are open to doubt, or seem inconvenient as separating families, which, owing to their similarity in general structure, form and habits are best kept together for the purposes of geographical distribution.

The old plan of putting the birds of prey at the head of the class, is now almost wholly given up; both because they are not

the most highly organised, but only one of the most specialised forms of birds, and because their affinities are not with the Passeres, but rather with the cormorants and some other of the aquatic groups. The Passeres therefore are placed first; and the series of families is begun by the thrushes, which are certainly the most typical and generally well-organised form of birds. Instead of the Scansores and Fissirostres of the older authors, the order Picariæ, which includes them both, is adopted, but with some reluctance; as the former are, generally speaking, well marked and strongly contrasted groups, although certain families have been shown to be intermediate. In the Picaria are included the goat-suckers, swifts, and humming-birds, sometimes separated as a distinct order, Macrochires. The parrots and the pigeons form each a separate order. The old groups of Grallæ and Anseres are preserved, as more convenient than breaking them up into widely separated parts; for though the latter plan may in some cases more strictly represent their affinities, its details are not yet established, nor is it much used by ornithologists. In accordance with these views the following is the series of orders and families of birds adopted in this work:

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Class-AVES.

Including the great mass of the smaller birds-Crows,
Finches, Flycatchers, Creepers, Honeysuckers, &c., &c.
Including Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, Toucans, Kingfishers,
Swifts, &c., &c.

Parrots only.

4. Columbæ Pigeons and the Dodo.

5. Gallina

6. Opisthocomi

7. Accipitres

8. Graliæ

9. Anseres

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10. Struthiones...

Grouse, Pheasants, Curassows, Mound-builders, &c.
The Hoazin only.

Eagles, Owls, and Vultures.

Herons, Plovers, Rails, &c.

Gulls, Ducks, Divers, &c

Ostrich, Cassowary, Apteryx, &c.

The Passeres consist of fifty families, which may be arranged and grouped in series as follows. It must however be remembered that the first family in each series is not always that which is most allied to the last family of the preceding series. All extensive natural groups consist of divergent or branching alliances, which renders it impossible to arrange the whole in

one continuous series.

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The preceding arrangement is a modification of that proposed by myself in the Ibis (1874, p. 406). The principal alterations are adding the families Panuridæ and Sittidæ in series A, commencing series B with Dicæida; bringing Vireonidæ next to the allied American family Mniotiltidæ; and placing Motacillidæ in series C next to Alaudidæ. At the suggestion of Professor Newton I place Menuridæ and Atrichidæ apart from the other Passeres, as they both possess striking peculiarities of anatomical structure.

The heterogeneous families constituting the order Picariæ may be conveniently arranged as follows:

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The Psittaci or parrot tribe are still in a very unsettled state of classification; that recently proposed by Professor Garrod differing widely from the arrangement adopted in Dr. Finsch's monograph of the order. Taking advantage of the researches of these and other authors, the following families are adopted as the most convenient in the present state of our knowledge:

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The Columbæ, or pigeons, are also in a very unsatisfactory state as regards a natural classification. The families, subfamilies, and genera proposed by various authors are very numerous, and often quite irreconcilable. I therefore adopt only two families; and generally follow Mr. G. R. Gray's handlist for the genera, except where trustworthy authorities exist for a different arrangement. The families are:

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The Gallinæ, or game-birds, may be divided into seven families:

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