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Show 460 PROF. HUXLEY ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. [Apr. 1 1, The inferior larynx is provided with a single pair of intrinsic muscles (1 Didus). The relations of the Peristeromorphae with the Alectoromorphae are very close. On the other side they seem to be allied with the Owls and the Vultures. I have not been able to examine, for myself, more than an incomplete skull and the feet of Opisthocomus. The phalanges of the anterior toes (leaving the ungual phalanges out of consideration) are nearly equal in length. The tarso-metatarse is similar to that of the Alectoromorphae. But the extraordinary sternum, furcula, and the many other peculiarities of this bird described by L'Herminier, Deville, and Gervais lead me to think that it must be placed in a special subdivision of the Schizognathae. The DESMOGNATH^E, like the Schizognathae, may be without intrinsic muscles of the lower larynx, or they may possess only one pair, or they may have three pairs; but the lower larynx is never constructed on the plan of that of the song-birds. The carotids may be double or single. Not fewer than seven groups of families appear to me to be clearly distinguishable in this suborder, viz. the C H E N O M O R P H * , the A M - PHIMORPHJE, the PELARGOMORPHJ;, the DYSPOROMORPH*, the AETOMORPH^E, the PSITTACOMORPH^E, and the COCCYGOMORPH^E. In addition to these undoubted Desmognathae I shall at the end of this series consider the Woodpeckers under the name of CELEO-MORPHJE*. 1. The CHENOMORPH^. The lachrymal region of the skull is remarkably long. The basisphenoidal rostrum has oval, sessile, basipterygoid facets, like those of the Alectoromorphae. The flat and lamellar maxillo-palatines unite and form a bridge across the palate. The angle of the mandible is greatly produced and recurved. The sternum has a single pair of notches at its truncated posterior margin. The feet generally have a short hallux, and the anterior toes are completely webbed ; but Palamedea and Anseranas are remarkable exceptions to this rule. The phalanges of the anterior toes decrease in length from the basal to the penultimate. The oil-gland is surmounted by a circlet of feathers, and the larynx has no intrinsic muscles (? Palamedea). 2. The AMPHIMORPH^E. The genus Phoznicopterus is so completely intermediate between the Anserine birds on the one side, and the Storks and Herons on * X»)v, a goose; cifxcpi, on both sides; UcXapybs, a stork; Dysporus, a generic name applied to the gannets by Illiger; 'Aeros, an eagle; ^irraKos, a parrot; KOKKVZ, a cuckoo; KeXeos, a woodpecker. |