420 Mr. N. A. Vigors on the Natural Affinities 



orders before us, did not escape'the penetrating eye of Linnaeus, 

 who, by the name of Pelecanus Aquilus which he assigned it, 

 pointed out at once its place among the Aquatic birds, and its 

 vicinity to the Aquiliiie. It is by no means so easy to determine 

 the point where the Raptores meet it, as to detect its own gene- 

 ral affinity to that order. We know, perhaps, less of the raptorial 

 tribes than of any order in the whole class, notwithstanding the 

 importance of their size and the prominency of their habits. 

 Several groups in particular, of which we have very unsatisfac- 

 tory descriptions, are known to exist in the New World. In this 

 imperfect state of information, — having had few opportunities of 

 examining any of these birds in question, or of judging of them 

 by so accurate a description as we fortunately possess of the Ta- 

 chypetes, — I hesitate to decide with any confidence, where I can 

 only speak from conjecture. All that I shall at present insist on 

 is, the general approximation of these two leading groups. They 

 evince a decided affinity in the more important of their habits and 

 characters ; and I make no doubt that, when our knowledge of 

 the Raptorial order becomes more enlarged and defined, we shall 

 find the chain of affinities as perfect in the minuter particulars 

 that connect these groups, as it is between the other similar divi- 

 sions of the feathered race. 



ON THE FAMILIES OF BIRDS. 



Ord. I. RAPTORES. 



In descending from the consideration of the more extensive 

 divisions or orders of Ornithology to that of the next succeeding 

 subdivisions, we are naturally led to the consideration of the fa- 

 milies of the Raptores, the first of the two orders that form the 

 normal or typical group of the class. And here I have to regret 



that 



