1031 



GRALLATORES. 



GRALLATORES. 



1083 



made on the ground; sexual congress varying ('nuptiis variis'). 

 Analogous to the Sruta. 



The same author divides the order into two sections : 



* Feet four-toed. 



Pkatnicoptcrus, Platalea, Palamedea, Mycteria, Tantalui, Ardea, 

 Recurviroitra, Scohpax, Tringa, Fulica, Parra, Rallus, Psophia, 

 Cancroma. 



* Feet cursorial, that is, 3-toed. 

 ffcematopui, Charadrius, Otis, Struthio. 



In the body of the work Linnaeus gives the following definition of 

 the Grotto: : Bill subcylindrical, rather obtuse. Tongue entire, fleshy. 

 Thighs naked above the knees. [GRALLATORES.] 



GRALLATOTIES (Illiger), the fourth order of Birds according to 

 the system of Mr. Vigors, the Ranores being the third, and the 

 tfatalorei the fifth. 



Mr. Vigors considers the Gmllatores as one of the aberrant groups 

 of the class, and as exhibiting an equally circumscribed sphere of 

 action as the Raore. Holding an intermediate station between the 

 Gallinaceous Birds, which are restricted to the land, aud the Nata- 

 torial groups, which are confined to the water, their typical groups 

 appear to Mr. Vigors to be those which partake most equally of the 

 advantages of both elements ; and the aberrant groups those which 

 discover a more predominant inclination to either. " Of the five 

 families," continues Mr. Vigors, " into which the order before us 

 branches out, we may, in this point of view, pronounce those two to 

 be most typical which inhabit the land, but derive their support from 

 the water, or, to speak more correctly, which derive their whole 

 support from the latter element, without possessing those powers of 

 swimming or diving which are peculiar to the true water-fowl. The 

 exclusive food of such groups will be fish, water reptiles and insects, 

 JUollutca, and animalcules ; and their distinguishing external charac- 

 ters, length of legs and bill, the former for the purpose of wading, 

 the latter for that of seizing their prey, or of extracting it by suction 

 from the waters or marshes. Of the three remaining families, two, 

 as I have observed in an early part of this inquiry, will be found to 

 deviate from the more typical, in their food and manners being more 

 terrestrial, and their general appearance and structure more conform- 

 able to that of some groups of the preceding order of Raaorei : while 

 the third, by its capability of swimming and the rudiments of the 

 natatorial membrane that connects the fore toes of some of its species, 

 equally deserts the same type, and goes off, on the other hand, to the 

 Natatortt. Taking these peculiarities into consideration, we may 

 venture to view the order according to the following arrangement, 

 placing, an usual, the more typical families in the centre : 



Grmdte. 



Ardeida, Leach. 

 Scolopacida. 

 Rallidue, Leach. 

 Charadriadae, Leach. 



" The following disposition distinguishes the normal and aberrant 

 families : 



Normal Group. 



{ Ardeidce. 

 Bills long, principally fitted for suction . . 



Aberrant Group. 



r Rallidte. 



Bills short, and fitted for capturing, not sucking i Charadriadce. 



\_ Gruidce." 



The species that enter into the different families are noticed in the 

 articles which treat of them, as well as the mode of union between one 

 family and another. 



Mr. W. S. M'Leay, in his paper ' On the Comparative Anatomy of 

 Certain Birds of Cuba,' observes that the relations of analogy pointed 

 out by Linnaeus between Mammalia and Birds are, as Hermann has 

 observed, not always correct; aud that his errors have arisen from 

 the misfortune of his not detecting the natural group of Aristotle and 

 Ray, which the latter has called Ungulata. " Having," says Mr. 

 M'Leay, " only been able to seize Aristotle's subdivisions of To pfv 

 ai>K 4^<j>o<!i'To, he lost the parallelism of analogy, and fell, as I shall 

 hereafter show, into very glaring mistakes. In the ' Systema Naturae ' 

 however he has mentioned that very striking analogy which appears 

 between the groups of GralUe and Bruta [GiiALL*], that is, accord- 

 ing to the parallelism of analogy, between the order of Grallatores 

 and L'nyulata, since the Bruta, as we have seen, do not form an order, 

 but only a natural subdivision of the Ungulata. That this analogy 

 is demonstrably true, I deduce from the following facts. Of their 

 respective classes, the orders of Ungulata and Grallatoret contain 

 examples of the longest legs in proportion to the body witness 

 Camelopardali* and Hosmantopui (Himantopui of authors ?). Both 

 orders present us, in groups not exactly aquatic, with instances of the 

 toea being soldered together, as the Horse; or connected together 

 with a web, as the Flamingo. Both orders present us with the 

 greatest elongation of muzzle or facies witness Myrmemphaga [ANT- 

 EATER], or Antilope (particularly A. Buualui) [ANTILOPE.E], and 



Scolopax ; and also with the most depressed form of muzzle witness 

 Hippopotamus aud Platalea, which genera also afford us the truest 

 specimens of wading Verlebmta. In both orders we have the most 

 elongated claws witness Megalonyx and Parra. Both orders afford 

 us the swiftest animals in running as the Horse aud Tachydronms ; 

 and the most pugnacious on account of love as the Bull and Machetes. 

 The Bull moreover and the Butor (or Bostaurus, for hence comes the 

 bird's name) [BITTERN], afford us the loudest aud hoarsest voice of 

 their respective orders; where we have also the most remarkable 

 instances of the upper and under inaudible touching each other 

 merely at their base and point, as Mi/rmecophaya, or the whole of the 

 Ta /lev owe cyi^oSoWa of Aristotle, and Anastomus, Illig. Both orders 

 exhibit ornamental appendages to the head as the antlers of the 

 Stag and the crown of the Crane; and both afford us the only 

 instances of true horns, as Bos, or Rhinoceros, and Palamedea,, Linn. 

 To see a hundred such instances of resemblance it is only necessary 

 to walk into a museum. I shall therefore only further say, that both 

 orders contain polygamous animals, are generally gregarious, and 

 more graminivorous than granivorous, being essentially inhabitants 

 of marshes and savannahs. Thus then with Linnaeus I place the 

 Bruta, or rather the whole order of Ungulata, to which they belong, 

 opposite to the Grallatores." 



Mr. M'Leay then proceeds to observe that four orders in each class 

 being disposed of, it follows by parallelism of analogy that the Gtires 

 ought to be placed opposite to the Rasores. But he asks, setting 

 theory wholly aside, is this position true in fact ? Linnaeus, he 

 remarks, from the above-mentioned error in his series of affinity con- 

 sidered the Rasores to be analogous to his group of Pecora. But this 

 group, according to Aristotle and Ray, is only a subdivision of Un- 

 gulata, which have, Mr. M'Leay considers, been now proved to be 

 analogous to the Grallatores. If therefore, he concludes, Linnaeus be 

 right in making his Bruta analogous to the order of Wading Birds, it 

 follows that his Pecora must be so also. 



In the same paper therefore Mr. M'Leay gives the following tables 

 of analogies between the Mammalia and Av es : 



Animals typically 



1. Ferte carnivorous . . 



2. Primates omnivorous . . 



3. Glires frugivorous . . . 



4. Ungulata . frequenting the vicinity of water 



5. Cetacea aquatic 



1. Raptores. 



2. Imessores. 



3. Rasores. 



4. Grallatores. 



5. Natatores. 



Scansores. Inscssores. Aves. 



Psittacida representing the . Dentirostrei, and therefore the . . . Raptores. 

 RhamphastidfB joining the . Cttnirostres, and forming part of the Insessorea. 



Cuculid(E forming part of the Scansores, and joining the Jtasores. 



Certhladtt joining the .... Temiirostres, and representing the . Grallatores. 

 1'icidae representing the . . . Fissirostres, and therefore the . . . Nntatores. 



The latter table, Mr. M'Leay observes, will express several analo- 

 gical relations of the utmost value, and the reader will find them fully 

 explained in Mr. M'Leay's memoir. (' Linn. Trans.,' vol. xvi. p. 1.) 



Mr. Swainson (' Classification of Birds," vol. i.) remarks, that the 

 grallatorial or tenuirostral type is shown in birds, as in quadrupeds, 

 by a great slenderness and elongation of the jaws, muzzle, or bill 

 for all these, he states, are merely different terms to express nearly 

 the same thing ; " The notch in the bill, when it exists, is very slight, 

 and the feathers of the front are considerably advanced upon the 

 base of the upper mandible. The opening of the nostrils is very long, 

 often tumid, but never round. Great swiftness either of foot or of 

 wing is a constant indication of this type. Sometimes, as in the 

 Snipes, both these characters are united ; at other times, as we see in 

 the Humming-Birds, this swiftness is confined only to flight ; while 

 in some few, as in the Flamingo, the wings are short, but the feet very 

 long. The aperture or gape of the mouth is generally very small, as 

 in all suctorial animals, witness the whole of the typical GraUatores, 

 or Waders, and their representatives the TrochilidiK. The smallest 

 birds, no less than the smallest quadrupeds, are of this type, which is 

 again represented by the little gliriform Mammalia." 



Mr. Swainson gives, in the same volume, the following table of 

 analogies : 



Primary Orders Typical Orders of 



Types. of Birds. Characters. Quadrupeds. 



1. Typical Insetsores Organs of prehension and general Quadrumana. 



structure highly developed. 



2. Sub-typical Itaptoret Carnivorous; claws retractile. Fertx. 



3. Aquatic Natatorel Live and feed in the water ; feet Cetacea. 



very short or none. 



4. Suctorial Grallatorcs Jaws much prolonged ; burrow for Gliref. 



their food. 



5. Rasorial Ratores Head with crests of horn or fea- I'ngttlala, 



thers; habits domestic ; feet 

 long, formed for walking. 



Mr. Swaiuson considers that " these analogies are so perfect, and 

 the series so completely in unison with those of all other animals," 

 that he deems it unnecessary to go into any long details. 



In further support of the relation between the Grallatores and 

 Glirei insisted on also in the 'Natural History and Classification of 



