INTRODL'CTIUN. 



XIX 



j-^ 





m 



lum conthicnt with its keel. Carotids double. Palate hij?lily desmofpia- 

 thous. lleiro'l';< lion alrricial; young psiloidedic or ptilopteJic. Eggs 



three or tewt-r. 



li. LONOIPBNNBS. (T«» most of the characters of the group here given 

 the ireuus llalodrnina is a signal ex<-tption, though un([uestionahly helong- 

 inir here.) Feet palmate. Til)i;e leatlieiiMl. Legs at or near centre ofeipii- 

 lihrium, allonling horizontal position «>}' axis of hotly in walking. Knee 

 scr.rcely buried in common integument; lioia sometimes with a long apo- 

 physis. Hallux elevated, free, functionless : \-xy small, rudimentary, or 

 wantinir. Rostrum of variable shape, usually compri-ssed ami straight to 

 the hooked en<l. sometimes entirely straight and acute, connnonly length- 

 ene<l. alwavs corneous, without serration or true lamelhe. Nt)strils of vari- 

 ous I'orms. tubular or simply fissured, never abortive. No gular pouch. 

 Wim;s very long and pointe«l, surpassing the base and often the end of the 

 larire, well-formed, f'W-feathered tail. Carotids double. Palate schizog- 

 nathous. Reproduction altricial; young ptilopicdic. Eggs three or fewer. 

 Habit highly volucral. 



1?I. PTGOPODES. Feet palmate or lobate. Tibiie feathered, otlen with 

 a loni; apophysis, always buried in common integument nearly to the heel- 

 joint, necessitating a more or less erect posture of the body on land, where 

 progression is dilhcult. Hallux small, elevated or wanting; feet lobate or 

 palmate. Rill of indeterminate shape, wholly corneous, never lamellate or 

 serrate, nor with gular pouch. Nostrils not abortive. Wings very short, 

 reacliini; scarcely or not to the base, never to the tip, of the short, some- 

 times rudimentary, tail. Palate schizognathous. Carotid usually double, 

 sometimes single (in Poih'rejtti and Merguhis). Nature altricial or pnecocial; 

 vounir ptilopa'dic. Highly natatorial. 



Hf. SPHENISCI. With general characters of the last group, but dis- 

 tini^'uished by unitpie ptilosis and wing-structure, etc. Plumage without 

 apteria, of singularly moditied scale-like feathers on m.ost parts; no devel- 

 oped remiges. Wings unfit for flight, insusceptible of perfect flexion or 

 extension, very short, with peculiarly flattened bones and stable articulations. 

 Skeleton non-i)neumatic. Many bones, terete in ordinary birds, here flattened. 

 Metatarsal bone flattened transversely, doubly fenestrate. Hallux elevated, 

 lateral, minute, free. No free pollex. Two anconal sesamoids ; patella 

 from double centres; tibia without apophysis; a free tarsal ossicle. Ster- 

 num with long lateral apophyses. Pelvic connections unstable. Caro- 

 tids double. Comprising only the Penguins. Confined to the Southern 

 Hemisphere. 



Having thus presented and defined an arranfrement of the higher groups 

 into which recent Carinate birds are susceptible of division, I next proceed 

 to the consideration of the Xorth American Families of birds which tlie 

 authors of the present work have provisionally adopted as suitable to 

 the end they had in view. Professor Baird urges the caution that the 

 scheme is intended merely for the convenient determination of the Xorth 

 American species, aware that in many instances diagnoses or antitheses of 

 entire pertinence in such application would fail or be negatived by con- 

 sideration of the exotic forms. The arrangement of the families here 

 adopted is essentially that presented in 1858 in Professor Baird's " Birds of 



