61 



It will now be necessary to return to the vicinity of the AjHeryges to 

 follow up the main stem of our phylogenetic arrangement, if we are to 

 accept the weighty dictum of Professor Fiirbringer^ who places these 

 Ratite birds in close proximity to the Rails, an arrangement which I 

 have no difficulty myself in accepting, especially when the habits of 

 Apteryx are considered : they answer very well to what we should 

 expect from a Ralline bird of ancient pedigree, though I confess that 

 the size and colour of the egg does not help us much. Any one who 

 saw Apteryx in confinement, and knew nothing of its Struthious 

 affinities, would consider it to be a clumsy kind of Rail. 



Of the bii'ds in our present category, Opisthocomus is the most curious, 

 with its general appearance of a Curassow and its Gallinuline nest ; Avhile 

 its faculty of climbing when young by means of its claw on the pollex 

 and index digit, which has gained for it the name of the " Mammalian 

 Bird,^^ is also known to be shared by nestling Porphyrio, and Professor 

 Newton has recorded an instance of a nestling Grebe [Podiceps fluviatilis) 

 using its fore limbs as instruments of progression (Ibis, 1889, p. 577). 



Proceeding next to the true Ralli, we should require to delineate the 

 Rails with several illustrative groups of Gallinules, Coots, Rails, and 

 Crctkes, while by means of Podica and the Heliornithes our path would 

 lead to the Podicipedides and Pygopodes, which would not require many 

 cases, as the habits and nesting of the species of these two groups 

 are almost the same. 



Here, however, we should find ourselves in the vicinity of two gi'oups 

 of birds, the Penguins and the Petrels, which seem to stand apart 

 from all the other Pelagic Birds and must be illustrated separately. In 

 the case of the Impennes this is not difficult, as one group would suffice ; 

 but for the Tubinares at least three cases would be required, that of the 

 DiomedeidiB demanding great space, while the Shearwaters and Stormy 

 Petrels would also require considerable attention. 



The next great groups to be arranged consist of the Limicola, the 

 Lari, and the Alca. I do not agree with placing the Auks with the 

 Lari*. They seem to me to constitute quite a group by themselves, 

 differing in habits, nestlings, eggs, and other characters from the Gulls ; 

 while in Mormon we have probably the nearest existing ally to the 

 Tubinares, judging from its burrowing nesting-habits, its white egg, 

 and the style of its downy nestling. Thus the Auks would require 

 separate illustration as a group, and they must be placed furthest away 

 from the Ralli, not far from the Pygopjodes, and the nearest of all the 

 groups to the outlying Tubinares. 



* Their diving habits and short wings should separate them from the long--\vinged 

 Gulls and Terns. Some of the latter, however, lay an q^^^ iu style of coloration like 

 that of a Guillemot (e. g. Sterna heryii), with almost an equal variation in colour and 

 markings. 



