480 SHUFELDT. [Vor. III. 
courtesy of Mr. Ridgway, skins of both A. modularis and A. vul- 
garis, and this recent examination has in no way altered the 
opinion I expressed on this point a year or more ago; indeed, it 
has in fact only strengthened it. So far as its topographical 
anatomy goes, A. modularis has all the appearance of a large 
ground Warbler; still, I intend to carry it along in our examina- 
tions in the present monograph, as it will widen the field and 
prove useful in other ways. 
Of the Pterylography. — Upon plucking a specimen of Cha- 
mca, the ornithotomist is at once struck with the great length 
of the thighs and legs as compared with the size of the body of 
the bird. Further, it becomes evident that the pectoral limbs 
are relatively short, a short brachium, antibrachium, and pinion, 
and likewise this species has a short, thickset neck. As we 
would naturally expect, we find the pattern of the pterylo- 
graphic areas to be passerine, with the “saddle tract” of the 
spinal pteryla to be rather small and distinctly lozenge-shaped. 
The continuation of this from its posterior angle to the uro- 
pygial (and untufted) gland is composed of almost a single line of 
feathers. The “ventral tracts” seem to present nothing peculiar. 
After removing the plumage of a specimen of Parus inornatius 
griseus, it is seen to markedly differ in form from Chamea, be- 
ing indeed in contour the perfect miniature of a Jay in this par- 
ticular; and this species may remotely link the Paridé and the 
Corvide, perhaps through such a genus as Perisoreus. As to 
its pterylography, we find the “ventral tracts’’ considerably 
broader in proportion than they exist in Cham@a, while the 
“saddle” of the spinal tract is more inclined to be rounded at 
its corners, though the same meagre line of feathers is con- 
tinued from it below to the tail. There is a great deal to be 
learned by the careful study and comparison of the plucked 
bodies of birds, and similarity of form should be given its due 
weight. I was never more thoroughly impressed with this fact 
than when I for the first time compared the plucked bodies of 
a Swift and a Humming-bird. No two birds could be more 
thoroughly dissimilar than these in this important particular. 
Parus tnornatus griseus has the “alar tracts” very densely 
feathered, and in this species there is an evident tendency for 
the tracts of the shoulders and neck to run together, — not so, 
however, in the subject of our paper. 
