108 SHUFELDT. [VOL. III. 
applies with equal force to much else in its economy ; its brain 
is relatively larger, in proportion to the size of the bird, than 
others of the order; its young substantially have the plumage 
of the parents at atime when as nestlings they first take on 
their plumage ; and finally, the Raven is a far more intelligent 
bird than any species of Sza/za that the author has ever made a 
psychological study of, and, indeed, than any other Thrush. The 
power of song is by no means an index of a high order of intel- 
ligence, much less an indication of a highly specialized organiza- 
tion. 
Through their natural structural affinities, the Corvide must 
next be followed by the Sturnid@ and /cterid@, and through such 
linking species as Molothrus and Dolichonyx these must be fol- 
lowed by the Fringz//id@, whereas no family can stand between 
these latter and the Zanagrid@. Admitting then that the Cor 
vid@ are fully entitled to stand at the head of the Order Pas- 
seres, and that the Starlings, Orioles, Finches, and Tanagers 
follow as a natural series or sequence, I am fully convinced 
that the Parzdeé should, by all our previous arguments, enjoy the 
next position of distinction. Indeed, were it not totally out of 
the question to introduce a family zz among the first five I have 
placed first in the list, the Pavzde might hold a more exalted 
rank, for in my opinion the group of Tits and their more imme- 
diate affines are birds of markedly high organization. They 
possess unusually large brains for their size; there is just a pos- 
sibility that they are connected with the Corvzde through such 
a species as Perisoreus ; they show wonderful ingenuity in the 
construction of their nests; the plumage of the young is almost 
identical with the parents; and finally, some of their kin (as 
Chamea) have absolute scutellate podothece. 
As to this last character, referring as I do to the “ booted” 
tarsus, or a tarsus which shows in the adult a continuous podo- 
thecal envelop, granting that it is an indication of high special- 
ization of structure in birds, I am in no way prepared to say 
that it is to be outweighed by a relatively larger brain for any 
particular species. The size of the brain in my judgment, as 
compared with the size of its owner, being by far the better 
criterion of perfection in general specialized structure. Perhaps 
the “booted tarsus,” and such a degree of refinement in structure 
as we find in the turdine syrinx, may be claimed to be on a par. 
