146 



NARROW-BILLED BIRDS. 



The first group, Brevipennes (short-wings), con- 

 sists of the ostriches and other land birds which can- 

 not fly ; but the name is not very accurate : and the 

 group to be natural and preserve the gradation should 

 include some birds which can fly, such as the bus- 

 tards, which form the connecting link between the 

 gallinidse'and the ostriches. 



The second group, Pressirostret, includes those 

 birds which have the bill hard and compressed late- 

 rally ; and which are long on the legs, and have the 

 hind toe wanting or merely ruditnental. Some of 

 them are bank birds, but none of them wade deeply 

 in the water ; and their proper character is that of 



Lapwing. 



running birds. In a natural arrangement, some of 

 them should precede and some follow the ostriches. 



