94 DICTIONARY OF BIRDS 



to belong to the same group, — Philefittidx and Xenicidse, more properly 

 AcanthidositHdse (Xenicus), and it is remarkable that these last three 

 Families are the only members of the Mesomyodi which are not peculiar 

 to the New World — nay more, if we except the Tyrannidee, which in 

 North America occur chiefly as migrants, — not peculiar to the Neotropical 

 Region. Tlie Tracheophonae are held to contain five Families— Fitrnariidse 

 (Oven-bird), Pteroptochidse (Tapaculo), Dendrocolaptidse, (Picucule), 

 Gonopophagidse, and Formicariidse (Ant-Thrush). Returning now to the 

 Acromyodi, which include, it has just been said, a normal and an abnormal 

 section, the latter consists of Birds agreeing in the main, though not 

 absolutely, as to the structure of the syrinx with that of the former, yet 

 differing so considerably in their osteology as to be most justifiablyseparated. 

 At that time only two types of these abnormal Acromyodi were known — 

 Menura (Lyre-bird) and Atrichornis (Scrub-bird), both from Australia, 

 while all the remaining Passer es, that is to say, incomparably the greater 

 number of Birds in general, belong to the normal section. Thus the 

 whole scheme of the Passeres,^ as worked out by Garrod and Forbes, can 

 be briefly expressed as below ; and this expression, so far as it goes, is 

 probably near the truth, though for simplicity's sake some of the inter- 

 mediate group-names might perhaps be omitted : — 



ELEUTHERODACTYLI, 

 ACROMYODI, 



NOBMALES, 



Abnormales, Menura, Atrichornis. 

 MESOMYODI, 



HOMOEOMERI, 



Tracheophouse, 



Furnariidm, PteroptocMdse, Dendrocolaptidae, Conopophagidae, Fot- 

 micariidw. 

 Haploophonae, 



Tyrannidm, R^qncola, Pittidse, Philepittidie, Xenicidas. 

 Heteromeri, Gotingidee, Fijpridw. 

 DESMODACTYLI, 



Eurylaemidm. 



It will be seen that no attempt was made to separate the Normal 

 Acromyodians into Families. Already, in The Ibis for 1874 (pp. 406- 

 416), Mr. Wallace had published a plan,- which, with two slight modifica- 

 tions that there were manifestly improvements, he employed two years 

 later in his great work on The Geographical Distribution of Animals, and 

 this included a method of arranging the Families of this division. Being 

 based, however, wholly on alar characters, it has of course a great simi- 

 larity to the schemes of Prof. Cabanis and of Sundevall, aud, though 

 simpler than either of those, there is no need here to enter much into its 

 details. The Birds which would fall under the category of Garrod's 

 Acromyodi normales are grouped in three series: — A. "Typical or 



^ It is right to observe that this scheme was not a little aided by a consideration 

 of palatal characters, as well as regard to the disposition of some of the tendons of the 

 wiug-niuscles. 



- Presenting some analogy to the work of Garrod and Forbes, though mainly 

 based on external characters, is that carried on in regard to the feathering of Birds' 

 wings, as quoted elsewhere (Remiges, p. 781, note), and deserving much attention. 



