and other Passerines, fottnded on their Vocal Muscles. 3 



These osteological differences are no more important in the Passerines than in the 

 Gallinaceae. As in the latter there are genera with one notch, as Crjipiuns and Hemipodtus ; 

 and with two ; so are there among the Passerines species with one notch, and others 

 with two {Pteroptochis, Scytaloj)iis, Colitis, Goracias, HurystonmH, Merops, Prioniies, Alcedo) ; 

 and while this notch may become a foramen, as in Ampelis, the sternum in some cases 

 becomes quite solid, as in TrocJdlus and Cypselus. In this same natural family, as in the 

 family of Traclieophoni, discovered by me, there are genera with one notch in the sternum, 

 as Thamnophilus, Myiotliera, Tiuactor, Furnarius, Cinclodes, Chamaeza, ConopopluKja, Synallaxis, 

 Xenops, Anabates, Bendrocolaptes ; while there are, on the other hand, closely related genera 

 with two, as Pleropfoc/ms and Scytalopns. It is just the same in the genus Todus L. ; 

 Todirostrum Less., and OrcMhis Cab. {Todus megacepJialvs Sw.), have only one notch, 

 while the true Todus [T. viridis L.) has two notches in the sternum. 



Nitzsch considered that the genera TrocJiilus, Cypselus, Caprimulgus, Coracias, Vpvpa, 

 Merops, and Alcedo did not conform to the Passerine type ; and he separated Cypselus 

 from Hirundo, which latter possesses the muscular organ of voice, into quite different 

 orders of birds. In his paper on the Carotids he errs slightly, through considering only 

 the genera which should be separated from the Singing Birds, and not those which should 

 be left with them. Among the false Passerines out of TrocJiilus, Cypselus, and Heimprocne 

 he formed his Family Macrochires ; out of the genera JJpupa, Buceros, Epimachus (?) and 

 Alcedo, his Lipoglossae ; out of Caprimulgus, Nyctornis, Podargus, Coracias, and Merops, 

 together with some of the Scansores — Gallula, Cucidus, Phoenicophaeus, Coccygius, Centropus, 

 Crotopkaga, ScytJirops, Leptosomatus, Ikdicator, Trogon — his family Cuculinae. Then 

 follow the Psitlacidae, and finally the Amphiholae : Musopliaga, Colius, and Opistko- 

 comns. 



In the System of Pterylography Nitzsch carried his classification further by the aid 

 of the not very useful ' feather-tracts ;' he was obliged to assign a position to all the 

 birds which he took for Singing Birds, but as he based his arrangement of the genera 

 of which he did not know the larynges, on other grounds, he must have erred through 

 the untenableness of his assumptions. 



His division of Singing Birds contains a large number of genera which possess no 

 singing muscles ; his division of Picariae consists of the Macrochires, Caprimulginae, Todidae, 

 Cucidinae, Picinae, Psittacinae, Lipoglossae, and Amphiholae. 



The very useful anatomical work of Nitzsch gave, as was natural, great weight to 

 his systematic views, and consequently they have been recognised, and accepted, by 

 eminent zoologists in Germany. A. Wagner, Burmeister, Count Keyserling, and Blasius 



B a 



