38 



OllNITHOLOGY 



Thrushes proper, Dippers, Water-Chats (Benieunu), Bush-Chats, 

 and (under the name of EucAlinx) the singular group commonly 

 known as Pittas or Water-Thrushes. 



Phalanx ■_.'. .Yw. mj" -n untie. — o' Families: Pipits, Wagtails, 

 American Fly-Latching Warblers, and Australian Diamond-birds 

 (Pardalotus). 



Phalanx 3. Siilciiforiiics. — 17 Families: divided geographi- 

 cally (?) into two groups— the Old-World tonus, and those of the 

 New. The first is further broken up into three sections — (a) 4 

 Families with moderately long wings and a slender bill, containing 

 what may be called perhaps the normal Warblers, as theWillow- 

 W reus, Whitethroats, .Sedge-birds, and others; (i) 5 Families, with 

 short wings and a slender bill, wdiat are often called by Indian 

 and African writers Bush-babblers (lintdiiplertis, Crntcropits, and 

 others) ; (c) 3 Families, with a somewhat stout or blunt bill, the 

 Thick-heads of some writers (Pachyccphalus) and Titmouse 

 Family. The second or American group comprehends 5 Families, 

 Viieos, Cat-birds, Wrens (not, by the way, peculiar to America), 

 and some other forms for which it is impossible to find names that 

 will pass as English. 



Phalanx 4. Braclajjtlerx. — 3 Families: the short-winged Wren- 

 Warblers, with long tails, of tho Australian (Malitrits), Indian, 

 and Ethiopian Regions. 



Phalanx 5. Latirostres. — 7 Families: the true Flycatchers 

 (Miiscicapa), and several others of fly-catching habits. 



Phalanx 6. Brachypodcs. — 8 Families: Waxwings, Orioles, 

 Swallow- Flycatchers (Arta/inus), Caterpillar-catchers {Campqphaga), 

 and Drongos (Dicrurtis). 



Phalanx 7. Dcutirostrcs or Lanii/ormes. — 3 Families : Shrikes, 

 Puff-backed Shrikes. 



Phalanx 8. Subcorviform.es. — 1 Family : Bower-birds and some 



others. 



Conors 2. Conirostrcs. 



Phalanx 1. Deccuipeniiittx. — 3 Families : Wcaver-birds(P?occiw), 

 Whydah-birds (Vidua), and Hedge-Sparrows (Accentor). 



Phalanx '2. Amplipalatnlcs. — 2 Families: Grosbeaks, true 

 Finches. 



Phalanx 3. Arcti/ialatulcs. — 6 Families: Crossbills, Buntings, 

 Rice-birds, and many hard-billed forms which are usually placed 

 among the Tanagers. 



Phalanx i. Simplicirostrcs. — 4 Families : Tanagers. 



Colons 3. Vuliuinorphx. 



Phalanx 1. Novempennatse. — 3 Families: Crackles or American 

 Starlings. 



Phalanx 2. Ilumilinnrcs.—i Families: True Starlings, Ox- 

 peckers, Choughs. 



Phalanx 3. Altinares. — 3 Families: Nutcrackers, Jays, Crows. 

 Phalanx 4. Idiodactylx. — 5 Families : Crow-Shrikes, Birds of- 

 Paradise. 



Cohors 4. CerthiomorpAas. — 3 Families: Tree-creepers, Nut- 

 hatches. 



Cohors 5. Cinnyrimorphx. — 5 Families: Sun-birds, Honey- 

 suckers. 



Cohors 0. Chelidonomorphx. — 1 Family: Swallows. 



The Scutelliplantares include a much smaller number of 

 forms, and, with the exception of the first " Cohort " and 

 a few groups of the fourth and fifth, all are peculiar to 

 America. 



Cohors 1. Ilohtspidex. — 2 Families: Larks, Hoopoes. 



Cohors 2. Endaspidcie. — 3 Families— all Neotropical: Oven-birds 

 (Fiirmtriux), SyiuiUa.eis, and the Pieululcs (Dendrocolaptes). 



Cohors 3. E.nisjiidex.—i Families: the first two separated as 

 Lysodactylas, including the King-birds or Tyrants, of which twelve 

 groups arc made ; the remaining two as Syndactyly, composed of 

 the Todies and Manakins. 



Cohors i. Pycnaspidese. — 3 Families: Cocks-of-the-Rock (Rupi- 

 cola), to which the Indian genus Cnli/ptomcna, Euri/lxmus, and 

 some others are supposed to be allied, the Chatterers and Fruit- 

 Crows (C/mstiiiirliiiiichiis, Crpliithiplerus, and others), as well as 

 Tilyra and Lipaugus. 



Cohors 5. Taxaspidex. — f. Families : the very singular Madagas- 

 car form Philepitta;the Bush-Shrikes ( Therm m.p'li Hits), Ant-Thrushes 

 (Formicarius), and Tapaculos (Pteroptochus) of the Neotropical 

 Region; and the Australian Lyrebird. 



We thou arrive at the Second Order Volucres, which is 

 divided into two -'Series." Of these the first is made to 

 contain, under the name Zygodactyly 



Cohors 1. Psittaci. — 6 Families : Parrots; 



i ohoi 2. Pirn >'• Families: Woodpeckers, Piculets (Picumnus), 

 and Wrynecks; 



Cohoi ' -12 Families: divided into two groups— 



(1) Altinares, containing the 1 1 y -Guides, Barbels, Toucans, Jaca- 



mars, Puff-birds, and the Madagascar genus Leptosomus ; and (2) 

 Jin niili, mres, comprising all the forms commonly known as Vucu- 

 lutx, broken up, however, into three sections ; 



while to the second " Series" are referred, as Anisodaetyli, 

 Cohors 4. Ca iiiuiinrph.T. — 4 Families: Plantain-eaters or Toura- 



cous, Mouse-birds, Rollers, and the peculiar Madagascar forms 



Atelornis and Brachypti ratios ; 



Cohors 5. Atnplitjularcs. — 4 Families : Trogons, Goatsuckers, and 



Swifts ; 



Cohors 6. Lontjilintjncs or Mellisutjx. — 12 Families : Humming- 

 birds, arranged in three "Series :" 



Cohors 7. Syndactyly. — 4 Families: Bee-eaters, Motmots, King- 

 fishers, and Hornbills ; 



Cohors 8. Pcristcruidcx. — 3 Families: Didunculus, with the Dodo, 

 Pigeons, and the Crowned Pigeons (Goura) separated from the last. 



The Dasypxdes of Sundevall are separated into six 

 " Orders " ; but these will occupy us but a short while. 

 The first of them, Accipitres, comprehending all the Birds- 

 of-Prey, were separated into 4 " Cohorts " in his original 

 work, but these were reduced in his appendix to two — 

 Nyctharpages or Owls with 4 Families divided into 2 series, 

 and Hemeroharpages containing all the rest, and compris- 

 ing 10 Families (the last of which is the Seriema, 

 Dicholophtis) divided into 2 groups as Rapaces and 

 Saprophagi — the latter including the Vultures. Next 

 stands the Order Gallinx with 4 "Cohorts": — (1) Tetraono- 

 morphx, comprising 2 Families, the Sand-Grouse (Pterocles) 

 and the Grouse proper, among which the Central-American 

 Oreophasis finds itself ; (2) PhasianomorpAx, with 4 

 Families, Pheasants, Peacocks, Turkeys, Guinea Fowls, 

 Partridges, Quails, and Hemipodcs (Tvrni.r) ; (3) Macro- 

 nyches, the Megapodes, with 2 Families ; (4) the Dwnl, cim- 

 pennatx, the Curassows and Guans, also with 2 Families ; 



(5) the Struthimiifariiiis, composed of the Tinamous ; and 



(6) the Subgrallatores with 2 Families, one consisting of the 

 curious South-American genera Thinocorus and Attagis and 

 the other of the Sheathbill (Chionis). The Fifth Order 

 (the third of the Dasypxdes) is formed by the Grallatores, 

 divided into 2 "series" — (1) Altinares, consisting of 2 

 " Cohorts," Herodii with 1 Family, the Herons, and Pelargi 

 with 4 Families, Spoonbills, Ibises, Storks, and the 

 Umbre (Scopus), with Balxniceps ; (2) Humtiinares, also 

 consisting of 2 " Cohorts," I/imicolx with 2 Families, 

 Sandpipers and Snipes, Stilts and Avocets, and Cursored 

 with 8 Families, including Plovers, Bustards, Cranes, 

 Rails, and all the other " Waders." The Sixth Order, 

 Natatores, consists of all the Birds that habitually swim 

 and a few that do not, containing 6 Cohorts : — 

 Luti'i'i prunes and Pygopodes with 3 Families each ; Totir 

 palmatx with 1 Family ; Tubinares with 3 Families ; 

 Impennes with 1 Family, Penguins; and Lamellirostres 

 with 2 Families, Flamingoes and Ducks. The Seventh 

 Order, Proceres, is divided into 2 Cohorts — Veri with 2 

 Families, Ostriches and Emeus ; and Subnobiles, consisting 

 of the genus Apteryx. The Eighth Order is formed by 

 the Sawurx. 



Such then is Sundevall's perfected system, which has in 

 various quarters been so much praised, and has been 

 partially recognized by so many succeeding writers, that 

 it would have been impossible to pass it over here, though 

 the present writer is confident that the best-informed 

 ornithologists will agree with him in thinking that the com- 

 pilation of the above abstract has been but so much waste 

 of time, and its insertion here but so much waste of space. 

 Without, however, some such abstract its shortcomings 

 could not be made apparent, and it will be seen to 

 what little purpose so many able men have laboured if 

 arrangement and grouping so manifestly artificial — the 

 latter often of forms possessing no real affinity — can pass 

 as a natural method. We should be too sanguine to hope 

 that it may be the last of its kind, yet any one accustomed 

 to look deeper than the surface must see its numerous 

 defects, and almost every one, whether so accustomed or 

 not, ought by its means to be brought to the conclusion 

 that, when a man of Sundevall's knowledge and experience 



