| OCR Text |
Show 1867.] PROF. HUXLEY ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 461 the other, that it can be ranged with neither of these groups, but must stand as the type of a division hy itself. Thus the skull has the long lachrymo-nasal region, the basipterygoid facets, the prolonged and recurved angle of the mandibles, the laminated horny sheath of the Chenomorphae ; but the maxillo-palatines are spongy, and the general structure of the rostrum is quite similar to that found in the Storks and Herons. The lower end of the crus is bare; but the feet are fully webbed, and the pterylosis is said by Nitzsch to be " completely Storklike." 3. The PELARGOMORPH^E. There are no basipterygoid processes, and the palatines usually unite for a greater or less distance behind the posterior nares ; but they send down no vertical plate from their junction. The maxillo-palatines are large and spongy. The angle of the mandible is truncated (except in Platalea and Lbis). The sternum is broad, and may have two or four posterior notches. The hallux varies in its proportions, but is not turned forwards or inwards, or united by a web with the other toes, the web between which is always incomplete. The ratio of the phalanges is as in the preceding groups. The oil-gland is surmounted by a circlet. The disposition of the carotids and the characters of the larynx vary. I associate in this division the Herodiee, Pelargi, and Hemiglottides of Nitzsch. The last group, including the genera Lbis and Platalea, differs from the rest in having a produced and recurved mandibular angle, and in some other respects approaches Phoenicopterus. The typical forms incline rather to the succeeding group. 4. The DYSPOROMORPHiE. The rostrum is long and pointed and more or less curved, and the external nasal apertures are very small. There are no basipterygoid processes. The palate-bones unite for a considerable distance behind the posterior nares, and send down a vertical crest from their junction. The maxillo-palatines are large and spongy. The angle of the mandible is truncated. The sternum is broad, and its truncated posterior edge is either entire or has a shallow excavation on each side of the middle line. The hallux is turned forwards or inwards, and is united by a web with the completely webbed anterior toes. The ratio of the phalanges is as in the preceding genera. The oil-gland is surmounted by a circlet of feathers. This group answers to the " Steganopodes " of Illiger; and since the appearance of the admirable memoir of Brandt, ' Zur Osteologie der Vogel,' in 1840, no doubt can have been entertained as to its extremely natural characters. The genera composing it are sharply |
