CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Preface - ■ - - vii 



List of Illustrations in the Text - - xv 



List of Plates xix 



Introduction - - xxiii 



List of Authors quoted xxxi 



CHAPTER I 

 Introductory ------ --..--i 



General characters of structure — ^feathers, glands, the skeleton, the 

 respiratory system, the lungs and air-sacs, the digestive system, 

 the circulatory system, the muscular system, the nervous system, 

 the senses. 



CHAPTER II 



Phylogenetic ----- 30 



Birds and their position in the animal kingdom. Relationship to the 

 reptiles, and the evidence thereof. Archagopteryx — the first bird. 

 Hesperornis and early specialisation. Ichthyornis. The Pro-aves. 



CHAPTER III 



Phylogenetic (continued) — The Classification of Birds in Broad 

 Outline — The Main Lines of the Evolution of the Class 

 Ayes -------.--.-. 41 



Archornithes and Neornithes. The position of the Ostrich tribe in the 

 system. What the structure of the bony palate reveals. Palaeo- 

 gnathae and Neognathae. The classification of the Paljeo- 

 gnathse and of the Neognathae. A hypothetical ancestor. The 

 Grebes and Divers, Penguins and Petrels, Steganopodous birds, the 

 Accipitres, the Anseres, the Alectoromorphae, — the Game-birds, 

 Cranes and Rails, Plovers, Pigeons, the " Coraciiform " birds; the 

 Passeres. Numerical strength. 



CHAPTER IV 



CEcological 61 



Peculiarities of distribution. Continuous and discontinuous areas. Zoo- 

 geographical regions. The northern and southern hemispheres and 

 the origin of life. Some British birds and the lessons they teach in 

 regard to the migration of animal life from north to south. Factors 

 in the formation of isolation areas. The haunts of birds. 



ix 



