| OCR Text |
Show 470 PROF. HUXLEY ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. [Apr. 1 I, This immense group of birds corresponds in great part with the P A S S E R E S of Linnaeus and Cuvier, and wholly with the V O L U C R E S of Sundevall, who thus defines it:- Alarum tectrices breves. Pollex validus solus retroversus. Ungues compressi. Alee pennis cubiti magnis tectricibusque parvis instructee; tectrices cubitales minorem quam dimidiam pennarum partem te-gunt. Margo alee plicatee non a pennis cubiti obtegitur; prima enim earum ad ultimam remigum applicata manet. Digiti semper 4. Pollex crassior vel longior semper volumine major quam digitus internus. Unguis poliicis semper multo major quam laterales sed in quibusdam non major quam medius. Digitus externus toto articulo primo cum digito medio concretus. Phalanx digitorum penultima relicquis multo longior; basales (in digito externo et medio) breves. Cutis pedum firma, arete applicata, antice scutata. Tarsus scutis 7 : mediis longioribus, 2 infimis brevissimis superioribus et inferioribus opposita vice obliquis*; raro plumatus, nunquam reticulatus. Ln-terdum scuta omnia prceter 2 infima in unum levissimum, suturis obsoletis confiuunt (tarsi caligati, Illiger). Digiti scutis pha-langum 1 seu 2 longis, juncturarum brevibus. Apparatus musicus laryngis his avibus peculiaris. The Volucres thus defined are divided into two "orders," as follows:- Ordo I. PASSERES. Rostrum crassius conicum capite brevius. Maxilla inferior marginibus validis infiexis convergentibus postice altioribus. Rostrum a cranio paullo defiexum exit sutura vix longiore quam dorso rostri. Hinc limes faciei rectus apparet, nee ut in sequentibus ad fauces longe retorsum angulatus. Maxilla inferior ad semina frangenda constructa, ut nuper descriptum qua con-formatione in rostro hiante fauces deflexce apparent. Lingua parva subcrassa plerumque caret margine membranaceo. Rictus mediocris. Pedes minores graciles. Ordo II. OSCINES. Rostrum varium marginibus maxilla; inferioris simplicibus nee infiexis. Ordo polymoiphus et specierum ditissimus cujus descriptio gene-ralis adhuc fere tantum negativa existit. Now the " Passeres " of Sundevall have all, so far as I have examined them, that peculiar form of the palatine bones which I have described as characteristic of the Finches; while the "Oscines" have the typical iEgithognathous arrangement. And, thus far, cranial characters appear to bear out the classification of Sundevall, though I neither think that the groups have the value he assigns to them, nor that their names are happily selected. It is quite impos- * Scuta in Ptilonorhyncho, paucis Myotheris, Coracina et Chasmorhyncho 9. In quibusdam inter longilingues majores 8 parallela, sequalia. |
