148 



is not only given to one, but to all. The " flood 

 of light", as it has been happily termed, which 

 results from the demonstration of a single natural 

 group, radiates, far and wide, upon all other such 

 groups, and is again reflected back, with additional 

 force, upon that which has been newly evolved. 

 Of this description, in truth, do we consider the 

 group we are about to illustrate. The views, now 

 submitted to the scientific world, on the natural 

 arrangement of this intricate family, have been 

 " slowly and painfully" elaborating for near eleven 

 years, in which period, as may be supposed, they 

 have undergone numerous alterations and revisions ; 

 for so long as a single modification of form could 

 not be explained and accounted for, we havs 

 studiously refrained from viewing our arrangement 

 otherwise than as provisional. That it may not be 

 found, hereafter, without errors, no one can sup- 

 pose ; and yet we may be allowed the satisfaction of 

 saying, that there is no one bird, belonging to 

 this genus, which has yet fallen under our inspec- 

 tion, but what may well find its place in the series, 

 and furnish additional evidence that that series is in 

 union with all those already established in other 

 departments of nature. We venture to make these 

 preliminary observations upon two grounds : 1 . the 

 scientific importance of the group before us; and, 

 2. as the reasons of our entering so fully into its 

 detail. 



The types of the genus 



