66 John Hogg, Esq., on the Classification of Birds. 



to them for many days, until they are fledged and sufficiently 

 strong to leave the nest. They are principally monogamous, 

 and have the feet endued v^ith great constrictilitt/, or com- 

 plete power of grasping ; and the thumb or hind-toe, which 

 almost always exists, entirely rests, upon the ground, and is 

 in the same plane with the other, or fore toes. 



The Order I. Faptores, I have distinguished by tmo tribes, 

 viz., 1st, Planicerirostres ; and, 2d, Tecticerirostres. The 

 first comprehends those genera which possess the cere of the 

 bill plain^ or conspicuous, and it is in general large, indeed 

 often very extensive. But in the present rostral classifica- 

 tion, the birds of prey might form a natural tribe, — Adun- 

 cirostres, on account of their strong and hooked beak, as in 

 the words of Pliny — " rostra — rapto viventibus adunca^ 

 Still I must add, that I much prefer the two first mentioned 

 tribes, derived from the important characters of the cere. 



Family 1. Sarcoramphidce ; — considering the power o^ flight 

 as the chief characteristic of birds, I would commence this 

 class by the condor. That magnificent monarch of the 

 feathered race is, I believe, the largest of those species that 

 are endued with the strongest, the most extended, and per- 

 fect wings ; and it also possesses the power of flying in the 

 highest degree. And I would terminate this class by the 

 wingless auk {Alcaimpennis), and the penguins {Spheniscidoe), 

 because these remarkable birds do not at all possess the 

 faculty of flying, and have wings which are only rudimen- 

 tary, or very imperfectly formed. The condor receives its 

 generic title of Sarcoramphus, or flesh-hill, from the large 

 fleshy cere, or skin with which its bill is so conspicuously 

 furnished. 



Sub tribe 2. Nocturni : — the nocturnal birds of prey come 

 under my second tribe — Tecticerirostres, or those raptores 

 which have the cere of their bill hid, or covered with feathers : 

 Linnwus erroneously characterised owls as possessing, " rost- 

 rum aduncum {absque cerd)'' So Dr Fleming says, the bill 

 of owls is " rvithout cere,'' and the Prince of Canino de- 

 scribes them with " cera obsoleta." On the contrary, in the 

 genus Qtus, the cere is large ; although in all the genera 



