i8o 



NATURE 



{Dec. 20, 1888 



that the Pelargo-Herodii are an extremely old group, 

 which has preserved features common to all the other 

 Pelargornithes, or that the division into the various much 

 specialized gentes took place rather recently. Fossil 

 material seems to favour the latter view, and this circum- 

 stance probably explains why the Ciconiae have more in 

 common with the Cathartidfe, whilst the Ardeas approach 

 the Steganopodes and Falconidte. Why the Flamingoes 

 should be elevated to the rank of a gens does not appear 

 clear, considering their close genetic connection with the 

 Pelargi, especially through the Miocene Palalodus. 



Anseriformes.—Vxoh^Wy an old and small pre-Miocene 

 group, which has marked its broader development more 

 recently. The Eocene Gastornis seems to have been a 

 gigantic type, which had lost its power of flight, like the 

 diluvial Cnemiornis of New Zealand. Amongst recent 

 Lamellirostres, Mergus is the lowest, Cygnus the highest 

 type ; they are distantly related to the Podicipitiformes. 



Palamedetfor7ncs show many connective points with the 

 Anseres, Steganopodes, and Pelargo-Herodii, but their 

 reception into the Pelargornithes is rendered impos- 

 sible by various fundamental and primitive peculiarities. 

 Through their intestines and pterylosis they somewhat 

 resemble Rhea. Whether we place them nearer to the 

 Anseres than to the Pelargi and Steganopodes depends 

 upon the taxonomic value which we happen to attribute to 

 their skeletal, muscular, intestinal, or external features. 



The Antarctic Aptenodytifonncs^ s. Spheniscidas, are a 

 very old family, because the genus Palaseudyptes shows 

 that they had become specialized into diving and swimming 

 birds with total loss of the power of flight in the Eocene 

 period, or probably even earlier. Fuerbringer calls the 

 Penguins Trit-Aptenornithes, indicating that they, like the 

 Great Auk, the Dodo, Ocydromus, and others, have lost 

 their power of flight later than the Ratitae. A sharp 

 line between Deutero- and Trit-Aptenornithes cannot, 

 however, be drawn, since Cnemiornis, Gastornis, «&;c., are 

 intermediate forms, just as Stringops is now on the way 

 to become Aptenornithic. 



Many of the characters of the Penguins generally con- 

 sidered as primitive are partly "pseudo-primitive," i.e. 

 phylogenetically reduced and ontogenetically retarded ; 

 e.g. the structure and distribution of the feathers, the fin- 

 hke anterior extremities, the broad scapula, and, according 

 to Fuerbringer, even the metatarsus. The resemblances 

 with Podiceps and Colymbus are superficial only, but 

 he cannot tell to which of recent birds the Penguins 

 approach nearest. All that the author contends against 

 is the removal of the Penguins into a sub-class, equivalent 

 to the rest of the Carinatae. On Plate i()a they are 

 represented as a lonely group. 



The Procella7'iifornies, or Tubinares, have likewise the 

 rank of a sub-order, intermediate between Steganopodes, 

 Ichthyornis, Spheniscidae, and Charadriiformes. They 

 are certainly a very old and now isolated group. 



The large order of the Charadriornithes has split 

 into aquatic and gralline types. The Alcidas are closely 

 allied to the Laridfe, and are probably the most recent of 

 those birds which have assumed a pre-eminently aquatic 

 and diving life, with correlated reduction of the wings. 

 They are restricted to the periarctic zones of the 

 northern hemisphere, whilst their relatives, the Gulls, 

 enjoy a cosmopolitan range. There can be but little 

 doubt that the oldest Charadriifortncs were gralline, so 

 that the Otides, with Q^dicnemus, Parra, and the Thino- 

 coridse, stand nearer the common stock than the more 

 specialized aquatic members. 



The Cruiformes are connected with the Charadrii- 

 formes by Eurypyga, with the Ralliformes by Aramus. 

 They seem to have reached their culminating period in 

 the Miocene age. Dicholophus is the most highly-special- 

 ized form, and has assumed peculiar Raptorial characters 

 isomorphic with those of Gypogeranus, which is a true 

 bird of prey. 



The Ralliformes flourished as early as the Eocene 

 period. The FulicarijE, consisting of the RaUidae and 

 Heliornis, are more nearly related to the Hemipodii than 

 to the Crypturi. The sub-order of the Ralliformes takes, 

 therefore, a position intermediate between Gruiformes,. 

 Crypturiformes, and Apterygiformes. 



The latter two sub-orders, together with the Galli- 

 formes, constitute the order Alectorornithes. 



The relationship of the Crypturi with the Apteryges. 

 is real, and bridges over the gulf between Carinate 

 and Ratite birds, especially through cranial and pelvic 

 structures. 



The Galliformes proper consist of three families ; 

 Megapodii, of Austro-Malayan distribution ; Neotropical 

 Cracidas ; and universal Gallidae. The two former exhibit 

 so many important diflerences in their soft parts that, in 

 spite of their numerous skeletal resemblances, they can- 

 not be opposed to the rest of the Fowls as Peristeropodes. 

 Closely allied to the Galli is Opisthocomus, an old type 

 now dying out ; the last solitary species has reached a 

 high degree of one-sided specialization, which elevates 

 this bird above its nearest allies to the level of low 

 arboreal birds. 



Colnmbiformes stand between Charadriiformes and 

 Peristeropodes, perhaps nearer the former through the 

 Pterocletes, which are undoubtedly the more primitive 

 group, whilst Columbte, beginning with the Miocene only, 

 are still on the ascending scale, and are birds of the 

 future. Didus and Pezophaps are degenerate Columbae, 

 not necessarily very old forms. 



Psittaciformes. — The affinities of the Parrots have 

 puzzled Fuerbringer as much as other ornithologists. He 

 places them as an intermediate sub-order, like the 

 Columbiformes, between the Alectorornithes and Corac- 

 ornithes. Our knowledge of fossil Parrots is very 

 defective. They existed in the Lower Miocene of 

 France, typically developed ; now they are a large, 

 numerous group of birds, with more than intertropical 

 range, and with no living members through which they 

 approach other groups. 



The last great order is that of the Coracornithes. 

 The Cuculiforine'; = Musophagidae and Cuculidae, are 

 connected with the ancestral Limicolas and Galli ; how- 

 ever, their roots meet so distantly, certainly not later 

 than the earliest Eocene period, that these birds have 

 gone along parallel lines of development since those 

 remote times, and that the Cuculiformes cannot be 

 classed with either Galliformes or Charadriiformes. Their 

 original centre was probably the Oriental region, whence 

 they spread chiefly in Western directions. 



The Coraciifo7-mes are relatively least removed from 

 the Charadriiformes. The Coracitis represent the lowest 

 group of arboreal birds, and are related to the Caprimulgi,. 

 more remotely to the Owls, Trogons, and Bee-eaters. The 

 Caprimulgi include necessarily the Podargidae and Steat- 

 ornithidas, whilst their apparent similarity with the 

 Cypseli rests chiefly upon secondary analogies. The 

 same applies to the Striges with reference to the 

 Accipitres. Owls have so many important points in 

 common with the Coraciae (Leptosomus), and especially 

 with the Podargidae, that they have to be looked upon as 

 Raptorial Coraciiformes or " Podargoharpages." 



Haley oniformes. — The Halcyones, Meropes, and Bu- 

 cerotes — the latter of course including Upupa— form a pre- 

 eminently palaeogieic group of syndactylous birds. The 

 Todi, including the Motmots, connect them with the 

 previous and with the next following sub-order. The 

 same applies to the Trogons. 



Pico-Passeriformes. — This large sub-order contains the 

 Pico-Passeres, Makrochires, and the Colli. The Colii 

 have frequently been classed with or near the Muso- 

 phagidae, Fuerbringer thinks owing to superficial analogies 

 only. They are now a very lonely little group in the 

 Ethiopian region, without any known history, or without 



