148 
PROCEEDINGS OF METROPOLITAN SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
June 26th.—A live specimen of the Peregrine Falcon was exhi- 
bited, which had been captured, about three hundred miles from 
land, on the Atlantic. Mr. Blyth then produced a new arrange- 
ment of the class of birds, which occupied the attention of the meet- 
ing for the remainder of the evening. After discussing at some 
length the relative value of different characters, considered as bases 
of classification, or indicia of the true physiological relations of or- 
ganisms, and drawing a wide distinction betwixt the fundamental 
characters, and those secondary and comparatively superficial modi- 
fications which are merely especial adaptations to locality or the 
mode of procuring sustenance, Mr. Blyth proceeded to indicate the 
following as distinct orders, together with a few peculiar genera 
which could not be legitimately admitted into any of them :— 
1. Scansores (Climbers) : composed of the Parrots exclusively. 
2. Raptores (Preyers) : corresponding to the Accipitres of Cuvier. 
3. Strepitores (Screechers): or those Insessores of Vigors which 
have a simple vocal apparatus. 
4. Cantores (Warblers or Songsters) : consisting of the remainder 
of the Insessores of the quinary classification. 
5. Gemitores (Cooers): or the Pigeons. 
6. Rasores (Scratchers): or the Poultry group. 
Hereabouts, it was stated, should range the singular and anoma- 
lous genus Opisthocomus, and probably the Mesites of De Blainville. 
7. Cursores (Runners): or the genera destitute of a sternal pro- 
cess, the Oiseaux abnormaua of L’Herminier and other French natu- 
ralists. 
8. Calcatores (Stampers; ground-patters): or the Bustards, 
Plovers, and Snipes; also the Sheathbill, the Courlan, and some 
other remarkable genera which accord in their anatomical conforma- 
tion. 
9. Gradatores (Stalkers): or the Cranes, the Storks, and Herons, 
and perhaps the Trumpeter and the Cariama. 
10. Latittores (Skulkers): or the Rails and Gallinules. 
11. Natatores (Swimmers): restricted to the Lamellirostres of 
Cuvier, with the addition of the Flamingoes. 
12. Mergitores (Immergers) : or the Loons and Grebes. 
13. Piscatores (Fishers) : or the T'uttpalmati of Cuvier. 
14. Vagatores (Wanderers) : or the Gulls and Petrels. 
15. Urinatores (Divers): or the Auks and Penguins. 
Should it be desired to collate these numerous ordinal] divisions 
into higher groups, it was suggested that the successive modifications 
