THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 273 
Plataleide from the Spoonbill!; and the fifth and last, 2bidide, 
takes its denomination from the Sacred Bird of Egypt’. 
The next order, Alectorides, contains at least 243 species, and 
is divisible into two suborders—l. Gruarie and 2. Fulicaric, 
with the following characters :— 
Order X. ALECTORIDES. 
Spinal feather-tract forked on upper neck; if a plantar 
tendon goes to hallux, it is from the flewor hallucis ; young born 
covered with down and able to run in a few hours ; palate not 
desmognathous; basipterygoid processes present or absent ; 
nasals schizorhinal or holorhinal ; ambiens and femoro-caudal not 
simultaneously absent; mandible not produced backwards 
beyond quadrate ; dorsal vertebre heteroccelous; sternum not 
perforated for coracoids. 
Suborder 1. Gruarie. 
Maxillo-palatines not coalescing together or with vomer: 
nasals schizorhinal; oil-gland present, nude or tufted. 
Suborder 2. Fulicarice. 
Palate schizognathous ; nasals holorhinal; oil-gland present 
or absent, nude or tufted. 
There are nine families in this order, whereof four belong to 
the first suborder. 
The first family is that of the Cranes, Gruide, and the 
second that of the Hemipodes *, whence it is called Turnicide. 
The third family, Rhinochetide, contains the Kagu*; and the 
fourth, Hurypygide, consists of the Sun-bittern’ alone, which 
is thus a very different bird from the true Bittern. The fifth 
family, Otide, has its name from the Bustards*, while the 
sixth, Cariamide, contains but two species, one of which is 
that singular bird the Cariama’. Next follows the Heliornithida, 
named from the South-American bird before noticed®. The 
