302 Zoological Society : — 



ture, differ from the Common and Ocellated Turkeys (Meleagris 

 Gallo-pavo and M. ocellata), I was indeed surprised to find that, as 

 late as last spring, Professor Owen had classed them with Cuvier's 

 Macrodactyli. 



" In the report in the ' Medical Times and Gazette ' of the fourth 

 of Professor Owen's Jermyn Street Lectures for this year, delivered 

 on the 23rd of May, I find the classification which he has adopted, 

 and in which the mound-making birds are placed between the Rail 

 and the Screamer. 



" As there are in the same system of classification several other 

 instances of what appear to me, to say the least, very odd and con- 

 fusing misplacements, I shall crave the liberty to point them out, 

 and to make my own remarks upon them, especially as the position 

 in nature of these birds is exactly what I have set myself to try and 

 find out. It is in Professor Owen's Second, Third, and Fourth 

 Orders, viz. the ' Grallatores,' ' Cursores,' and ' Rasores,' that I find 

 most to surprise and confuse me. 



" The family Macrodactyli, of the Second Order, ' Grallatores,' 

 according to this eminent author contains the • Coot, Crane, Rail, 

 Megapode, Screamer,' and * Jacana.' 



" The next family, or the * Cultrirostres,' contains, we are told, 

 the ' Boat-bill, Adjutant, Heron, Ibis, Stork, Tantalus,' and ' Spoon- 

 bill.' 



"The third family, or 'Longirostres,' is said to be composed of 

 such forms as the ' Gambet, Avocet, Snipe, Ruff, Turnstone, Curlew, 

 Sandpiper,' and • Godwit.' 



" And the fourth, or the ' Pressirostres,' the ' Oyster-catcher, 

 Thick-knee, Plover, Lapwing, Bustard,' and ' Courser.' 



" Then in his Third Order, the Cursores, Professor Owen places 

 these genera, and in this succession, viz. : — 

 ' Apteryx. 

 Didus, Pezophaps. 

 • Ostrich, Emeu, Nandu. 

 Cassowary. 

 Notornis. 

 Dinornis, Palapteryx.' 



" In the Order 4, ' Rasores,' he gives us two families, viz. the 

 Gallinacei or Clamatores, and the Columbacei or Gemitores. 



" The first of these is exemplified by the ' Pea-fowl, Partridge, 

 Quail, Pheasant, Ganga, Grouse, Pintado, Tinamii, Turkey, Curas- 

 sow,' and ' Guan.' 



"The second is made to contain the 'Dove, Goura,' and 'Vinago.' 



" First, as to the Macrodactylous Gralla, the Porphyriine Notornis 

 is wanting ; and, besides the Megapode, the Crane certainly has no 

 business there, being (as its embryology reveals) a gigantic special- 

 ized aberrant of the Pressirostral family. 



" As to the Cultrirostres, I feel pretty certain that the Spoonbill 

 and the Ibis will have to be placed in the next family, the Lonyi- 

 rostres, a group less specialized from the Plover type than the Cranes. 

 If this should turn out to be the truth, the ' Pressirostres ' and the 



