
FALCONIFORMES. 15 
Suborder 10. SERPENTARII. 
The Secretary Bird may be diagnosed as follows :— 
A. Palate desmognathous. B. Basipterygoid processes present. ©. Spinal feather- 
tract well defined on the neck. D. Deep plantar tendons galline. E. Oil-gland 







tufted. 
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The Secretary Bird further differs from the Accipitres in having no femoro-caudal muscle, 
in haying an accessory femoro-caudal, and in having a semitendinosus and an accessory 
semitendinosus. 
Some ornithologists regard Secretarius as very closely allied to Cariama, which I have placed 
in the Fulicariz or Holorhinal Gralle. That it should be possible for any difference of opinion 
to exist on the subject is a proof of the feebleness of the characters which separate the Orders 
of Birds. The Raptores have an ossified nasal septum which divides the nostrils, and the 
lateral bare tracts run far up the neck. In both cases Curiama agrees with the majority of 
the Fulicariw, and differs from all the Raptores. Unfortunately the young of Cariama is 
unknown. If they are born able to run, Cariama belongs to the Gallo-Gralle ; if they are 
fed for some days in the nest, it ought possibly to be placed in an Order between the Raptores 
and the Psittaci; but probably the subclass Falconiformes could not then be diagnosed. 
