PHODILUS. 125 



In beginning the second Order, ?;/,?., the Passer if or mes, or Perching Birds, I 

 follow Mr. Bowdler Sharpe in the arrangement of the orders and sub-orders, as- 

 well as the various divisions and sections which this most extensive group can- 

 not but contain. Mr. Sharpe explains that the system of classification for the 

 higher groups of Passerine birds followed in his work is that of Professor A. H. 

 Garrod, who, after an exhaustive consideration of many points in their anatomy, 

 has established his classification on several characters after devoting his atten- 

 tion to the characters given by Professor Sundevall and Dr. Elliott Coues. For 

 the lower groups he follows as far as possible the divisions of Professor 

 Sundevall's "Tentamen" without adopting their exact order. All the great 

 ornithologists have been consulted, and such authorities as Professor Garrod, 

 Mr. Wallace, Professors Baird and Ridgeway have helped him in his great work, 

 which cannot but be of the greatest assistance to students and working ornitho- 

 logists. In regard to Genera, though following Sharpe, it will be necessary in 

 this work to modify their characters to a certain extent. 



ORDER II. PASSERIFORMES. 



Perching birds, with a nude oil gland and colic caeca. Cf. Garrod, P. Z. 

 S., 1874, p. 119; (Sharpe, Cat. Pass. B. B. Mus.) 



SUB-ORDER I. PASSERES. 



Anomalogonatous birds with the second, third, and fourth toes directed for- 

 wards and the hallux backwards ; \heflexor longus halliicis muscle independent 

 of the flexor perforans digitorum, the caeca coli short but at the same time 

 of characteristic shape ; oil gland nude ; palate aegithognathous ; tensor 

 patagii bre vis, specialized and quite peculiar. (Garr.) 



DIVISION I. ACROMYODI. 

 Sub-Division I. Passeres Normales. 



Section A. Turdiformes. Typical or Thrush-like Passeres, with 10 pri- 

 maries, the first more or less markedly reduced in size. (Cf. Wallace.) 



GROUP I. COLIOMORPH/E. 



Bill stout, generally of large size, not deflected at all or very little so. Chin 

 angle produced before the line of the nostrils ; cutting edge of lower man- 

 dible simple ; tongue thick and fleshy, the tip horny, slight, divided or split 

 in various ways ; feet in most, strong and large, with the claw of the midtoe 

 oblique. (Cf. Sund. Av. Tent.) ; Sharpe, Cat, Pass. B. B. Mus. 



Family . 



Bill without a distinct sub-terminal notch in the upper mandible ; hallux 

 strong ; its claw not as long as the midtoe and claw. Toes normal. 



