2 BULLETIlSr 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



groups of the "Cuculiformes" under the name Coccygiformes, as has 

 been done by many authorities, among them such excellent ones as 

 Fiirbringer, Stejneger, and Pycraft. Characters in which the two 

 orders agree and wherein they differ are as follows : — 



CHARACTERS POSSESSED IN COMMON BY COCCYGIFORMES AND 

 PSITTACIFORMES. 



Homalogonatous, desmopelmous, zygodactyle birds with palate 

 desmognathous ; nares holorhinal, usually impervious; basipterygoid 

 processes absent; cervical vertebrae 13-15; metasternum fenestrated 

 or mdented; procoracoid process large; ectepicondyloid process of 

 humerus present; hypotarsus complex; rhamphotheca simple; toes 

 zygodactylous or the outer (fourth) reversible, the deep plantar ten- 

 dons of Type I (Galline) ; myological formula AXY or ABXY (except 

 in Psittaciformes, part) ; both carotids present (except m Psittacifor- 

 mes, part); syrinx bronchial, tracheo-bronchial, or pseudo-bronchial; 

 primaries 10; young gymnopsedic or (in Psittaciformes part, at least), 

 semi-ptilopgedic; nidification nidicolous. 



DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERS OF COCCYGIFORMES AND PSITTACIFORMES. 



a. Dorsal vertebrae heterocoelous; rostrum fixed (immovably articulated with skull), 

 the bill not hooked nor furnished with cere; tarsal envelope scutellate; feet not 

 prehensile; expansor secundariorum muscle present; rectrices 8-10; seconda- 

 ries quinto-cubital; down on apteria only; young gymnopjedic. .Coccygiformes. 

 aa. Dorsal vertebrae opisthocoelous; rostrum separately movable, the bill hooked and 

 fm'nished with a cere (this sometimes feathered, however); feet prehensile; 

 expansor secundariorum muscle absent; rectrices 12-14; secondaries aquinto- 

 cubital; down on both pteryla3 and apteria; young ptilopaedic or semiptilo- 

 paedic Psittaciformes (p. 103). 



KEY TO THE SUPERFAMILIES OP COCCYGIFORMES. 



a. Caeca present; contour feathers without aftershafts; oil-gland nude; outer (fourth) 

 toe permanently reversed; furcula Y-shaped; planta tarsi scutellate; tomia 



smooth; bill variable but never short and thick Cuculi (p. 3). 



aa. Caeca absent; contour feathers with aftershaft; oil-gland tufted; outer (fourth) 

 toe reversible (capable of being directed backward or forward); furcula U- 

 shaped; planta tarsi granulated; tomia more or less distinctly serrated; bill 

 short and thick, with culmen strongly arched, the maxilla sometimes developed 

 basally into a broad "casque" or frontal shield Musophagi (extralimital).o 



a =[Zygodactyli]frugivori Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, 28. = Musophagi Sharpe, Review 

 Recent At. Classif. Bhds, 1891, 82; Hand-list, ii, 1900, 152. 



The Superfamily Musophagi contains a single Family, Musophagidae (Bonaparte, 

 Saggiodistr. An. Vert., 1831, 39; Prodr. Syst. Orn., 1840, 18; Consp. Av., i, 1850, 87; 

 Fiirbringer, Unters. Morph. Syst. Vog., ii, 1888, 1315, 1567), represented by the 

 Toxiracos or Plantain-eaters, a group of frugivorous arboreal bu'ds peculiar to Africa 

 south of the Sahara. They vary in size from about the dimensions of a domestic 

 dove to those of a crow, and in external form are characterized by a relatively very 

 small head, with short, stout bill, rather long neck, and long, broad tail. A majority of 

 the species are very beautifully colored, rich hues of purple or green predominating. 



