that connect the Orders and Families of Birds. 505 
Frigate Bird of our cabinets. The manners of this last bird 1 
have discussed somewhat at large at the commencement of this 
inquiry, as well as the various particulars by which it de- 
viates from the type of the Nafatores, in conjunction with the 
greater portion of the present family. I shall not therefore dwell 
upon the subject any further than to mention its intimate and 
acknowledged connexion with the genus Phaeton, both in habits 
and general economy. In these particulars, as well as in the length ` 
of their wings and their extended powers of flight, these two 
groups evince a near alliance with the family of Laridæ which 
succeeds, and from which they can only be separated in conse- 
quence of their syndactyle foot. The genus P/otus, united by its 
bill to Phaeton, leads back to the earlier groups of the Pelicanide, 
with which, though it differs from them by the straightness of 
the bill, it agrees in manners and general organization. 
The Phaeton of the last family bears a considerable resemblance 
in general appearance and habits to the Sterna, Linn. of that 
upon which we now enter. ‘The before-mentioned construction 
of their foot alone effects a separation between them. Even here, 
however, we may observe the gradation that exists between the 
feet of the two families; the web that unites the toes of the Tro- 
pic, as well as of the Frigate Bird, is but half the size of that of the 
Pelecanide in general; and thus their foot preserves a connexion 
with that of the Terns, where the same membrane is equally con- 
tracted. We thus enter the family of Laride, by means of Sterna, 
with which RAynchops, Linn. most intimately accords in habits 
and external characters, notwithstanding the dissimilitude of the 
bill. The Sterna Anglica, or gull-billed Tern of Col. Montague, 
conducts us from these genera to the groups which compose the 
Linnean Larus, now justly subdivided into two genera, the Les- 
tris, Ill., and Larus of authors. From this group we are led to the 
genera Diomedea, Linn., and Haladroma, Ill., which are charac- 
terized 
