406 C. J. Sundcvall on the Wings of Birds. 



So also in the PygopocTes, namely, to 3 in Colymhus and 

 Podiceps, but little more than \ in Alca, Uria, &c. 



Among the Waders the wing-bones are longest in the 

 larger Ardea, in which they are but little shorter than the 

 trunk (I or more) ; in the Ciconiacese they reach about |. 

 (They appear to be longer in Phoenicopterus) . 



In G7-ns and Otis they reach to | ; in the Tringacese and 

 CharadrinaB to rather more than ^ ; and in the Rallinae, with 

 Fulica, not quite to h. 



In the Gallinse the wing-bones usually do not quite reach 

 half the length of the body (in Lagopus §) . 



The Raptorial birds, again, have them longer, and it is 

 remarkable that those which live upon carrion and fish and 

 about water stand foremost in this respect. 



In the Vultvirinse the wing-bones appear generally to reach 

 nearly to the extremity of the trunk ; in Pandion to {} ; in 

 Aquila albicilla to ^ ; in Aquila chnjsaetos nearly tof; in 

 Buteo to I ; somewhat shorter in Astur &c. In the true 

 Falcons they are scarcely over \. 



The Owls are distinguished by their long extremities and 

 larger head contrasted with the small body. The wing-bones 

 most commonly reach to about | [Bubo, Aluco liturata, &c.) ; 

 but to f in St7'ix otus, and only to | in Striae nisoria, and i 

 in S. passerina (Day-Owls). 



The Coccyges appear to include no form with long wing- 

 bones. Most commonly they reach to about half the length 

 of the body, somewhat more or less (Colwuba, Cuculi, Psit- 

 taci, Alcedo, &c.) ; they are rather longer in Coracias and 

 Caprimulgus ; Picas and Upupa, which agree so much with 

 the Song-birds, have them rather shorter; Trochilus and 

 Cypselus have already been mentioned on account of their 

 extremely short wing-bones. 



In all the forms hitherto enumerated, the length varies 

 somewhat on either side of the mean numbers here given, 

 even in species of the same natural genus, just like the 

 number of quill-feathers ; but this variation almost ceases 

 among the Song-birds, in which the wing-bones generally ex- 

 tend half the length of the body, or are a little shorter {e. g. in 



