Part III. — Continued. 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS 



OF 



NOKTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Order PICARI^: Picarian Birds. 



nnHIS is a miscellaneous assortment (in scientific language, "a polymorphic group ") of birds 

 -*- of highly diversified forms, grouped together more because they differ from other birds in 

 one way or another, than on account of their resemblance to one another. As commonly re- 

 ceived, this order includes all non-passerine Land Birds down to those with a cered bill (Par- 

 rots and Birds of Prey). Excluding Parrots, which constitute a strongly marked natural group 

 of equal value with those called orders in this work, Picaria correspond to Strisores -\- Scan- 

 sores of authors ; including, however, some that are often referred to Clamatores. (This 

 ''order" Scansores, or Zygodactyli, containing all the birds that have the toes arranged in 

 jndrs, two in front and two behind (and some that have not), is one of the most unmitigated 

 inflictions that ornithology has suffered; it is as thoroughly unnatural as the divisions of my 

 artificial key to our genera.) I have no faith whatever in the integrity of any such groupius; 

 as "Picaria;" implies; but if I sliould break up tliis conventional assemblage, I should not 

 know what to do witli the fragments; not being prepared to follow Garrod to the length of 

 a classification of birds based primarily upon the condition of certain muscles of the leg; and 

 knowing of no available alternative. With this protest, and upon such understanding, I retain 

 the Picarian group, as iu the original edition of the Key, to include all tlie Nortli American 

 Land Birds of non-passerine character, without a liooked and cered bill, and without tlie proper 

 characters of the Columbine and Galliue families. The A. 0. U. ignores the major group, and 

 presents instead three orders — Coccyges, Pid, and Macrochires. With this procedure I have 

 no quarrel, as the three are precisely coincident with my tlirce suborders CucuUformcs, Pici- 

 formes, and Cypseliformes. 



Manifestly, from what has been saiil, Pivaria- are insusce]>tible of satisfactory dcfiuititm : 

 but I may indicate some leading features, wlietiier of positive or negative diaraeter, tliat tiioy 



