84 DICTIONARY OF BIRDS 



Spheniscomorph^ ; (5) Alectoromorph^ ; and finally (6) Peristero- 

 MORPHiE. In the third of these "Suborders," the Desmognathx, the 

 vomer is either abortive or so small as to disappear from the skeleton. 

 When it exists it is always slender, and tapers to a point anteriorly. The 

 maxillo-palatals are bound together (whence the name of the " Suborder ") 

 across the middle line, either directly or by the ossification of the nasal 

 septum. The posterior ends of the palatals and anterior of the pterygoids 

 articulate directly with the rostrum. The groups of Desmognathx are 

 characterized as carefully as are those of the preceding " Suborder," and 

 are as follows : — (1) Chenomorph^ ; (2) Amphimorphje ; (3) Pelargo- 



MORPHiE ; (4) DySPOROMORPHiE ; (5) AeTOMORPH^ ; (6) PsiTTACOMORPH^; 



and lastly (7) CoccYGOMORPHiE, containing four groups, to which, however, 

 names were not given. Next in order come the Celeomorph^, a group 

 respecting the exact position of which Prof. Huxley was uncertain,^ 

 though he inclined to think its relations were with the next group, 

 jEgithognatHjE, the fourth and last of his " Suborders," characterized 

 by a form of palate in some respects intermediate between the two pre- 

 ceding. The vomer is broad, abruptly truncated in front, and deeply cleft 

 behind, so as to embrace the rostrum of the sphenoid ; the palatals have 

 produced postero-external angles ; the maxillo-palatals are slender at their 

 origin, and extend obliquely inwards and forwards over the palatals, end- 

 ing beneath the vomer in expanded extremities, not united either with 

 one another or with the vomer, nor does the latter unite with the nasal 

 septum, though that is frequently ossified. Of the ^githognathx two 

 divisions are made — (1) Cypselomorph^, and (2) CoRACOMORPHiE,^ 

 which last are separable into two groups, one (a) formed of the genus 

 Menura (Lyre-bird), which then seemed to stand alone, and the other (b) 

 made up of PoLYMYOD.ffi, TRACHEOPHON.ffi and OLiGOMYODiE, sections 

 founded on the syringeal structure, but declared to be not natural. 



The above abstract ^ shews the general drift of this very remarkable 

 contribution to Ornithology, and it has to be added that for by far the 

 greater number of his minor groups Huxley relied solely on the form of 

 the palatal structure, the importance, of which Cornay, as already stated 

 (page 69), had before urged, though to so little purpose. That the palatal 

 structure must be taken into consideration by taxonomers as aflfording 

 hints of some utility there could no longer be a doubt ; but the present 

 writer is inclined to think that the characters drawn thence owe more of 

 their worth to the extraordinary perspicuity with which they were 

 presented by Huxley than to their own intrinsic value, and that if the 

 same power had been employed to elucidate in the same way other parts 

 of the skeleton — say the bones of the sternal apparatus or even of the 

 pelvic girdle — either set could have been made to appear quite as in- 

 structive and perhaps more so. Adventitious value would therefore seem 



^ Prof. Parker subsequently advanced the Woodpeckers to a higher rank under 

 the name of SAUROGNATHiE {Microscop. Journ. 1872, p. 219, and Tr. Linn. Soc. ser. 

 2, Zoology, i. p. 2). 



2 By mistake this group was referred (page 104) to the Desmognathous Birds. 



- This is adapted from one {Record of Zool. Lit. iv. ^p. 46-49) which was sub- 

 mitted to the author's approval. 



