102 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



is quite impossible to enter into greater details 

 concerning this vast assemblage of birds, which 

 vary in size from the Raven, say, to the Goldcrest, 

 and although differing but little in structure 

 present an amount of variation in colour, in 

 form, in song, in general habits and economy, 

 that can only be described as amazing. The 

 Passeriformes represent the latest stage of avine 

 evolution ; they are unquestionably the most 

 highly specialised as they are the most abundant 

 and dominant of all avine life. The two most 

 important characters that distinguish these birds 

 from all others are the aegithognathous palate, in 

 which the vomer is truncated anteriorly and not 

 connected with the maxillo-palatines ; and the 

 anterior toes are connected with the flexor per- 

 forans digitorum, and the hallux by the flexor 

 longus hallucis. There are many birds that 

 superficially resemble the Passeriformes, so that 

 external characters are comparatively useless. 



