100 SHUFELDT. [Vot. III. 
instance, the skull of a specimen of /yzarchus crinitus with the 
skull of Lanius 1. excubitorides, and my speculations will at once 
be appreciated. See how the anterior portion of the rhinal 
chamber in each is filled in with bone in precisely the same man- 
ner ; the maxillo-palatines are of the same pattern, as is also the 
vomer in each, and a number of minor points also corresponding. 
Dentirostral bills, like zygodactyle feet and unnotched sterna, 
are not always sure indications of affinity, as one and all of them 
may be instances of physiological adaptation, and not indices of 
fundamental morphological structure determining near kinship. 
When we come better to know, —and, alas, how deficient our 
knowledge in such matters yet is, — the anatomy of more of the 
foreign allies of our Tyrant Flycatchers, and diverging affines 
of the Shrikes, I am sure the opinion here advanced will not 
be considered so wide of the mark. Such affinity as the Lan- 
tide may have with the Corvzdg, I am not at present prepared 
to enter upon, as the opportunity to fully examine the material 
requisite for the decision of such a question has never as yet 
been offered me. 
Last January (1888) Prof. W. Kitchen Parker, F.R.S., kindly 
defended for me, before the Linnzan Society of London, a 
paper of mine upon the Morphology of the Macrochires and 
allied groups of birds. In that paper is given quite an exhaust- 
ive account of the skeleton of Ampelis cedrorum as a represen- 
tative of the Family Ampelide ; further, both in text and plates, 
the family Azrundinide is very thoroughly dealt with, the 
structure of every American species being described and com- 
pared. Possibly this paper will appear in the course of the 
year, and in any event it obviates the necessity of my reviewing 
the morphology of those forms here again. The Swallows con- 
stitute a very well-defined family of passerine birds, seeing their 
nearest allies in the Cyfse/z (Swifts) outside their order ; while 
these latter are in no ways especially affined with the Humming 
birds (Zvochilz). 
I find also that I will have appear in Te Auk for October 
(1888) a paper (illustrated) upon the skeleton of Habza melano- 
cephala, wherein the osteology of all our principal species of the 
Family /ringillide is carefully presented, so this large and 
important group will not be touched upon in this paper. 
Coming next to the three families of the Corvide, Sturnide, 
