Sclater 011 the Sy sterna Avium, 35 



In my opinion Sundevall's groups of the Oscines are therefore 

 far more naturally conceived ; and in our ' Nomenclator ' I have 

 nearly followed them, using only the more familiar expressions 

 ending in ' rostres,' throughout the divisions. Thus : — 



Sundevall's Cichlomorphas = Oscines dentirostres of the ' Nomenclator.' 



Conirostres = Oscines conirostres " 



Coliormorphae * = Oscines cultrirostres " 



Cinnyrimorphae = Oscines tenuirostres 



Chelidomorphae = Oscines latirostres " 



No species of Sundevall's u Certhiomorphae" being found in 

 the New World. I have not given that group any equivalent 

 designation. But calling these "Oscines curvirostres." for uni- 

 formity's sake, and keeping the Larks apart on account of their 

 peculiar planta I should propose to arrange the Oscines as 

 follows : — - 



A. Laminiplantares. i. Dentirostres. 



2. Latirostres. 



3. Curvirostres. 



4. Tenuirostres. 



5. Conirostres. 



6. Cultrirostres. 

 % B. Scutiplantares. (Alaudidae). 



These six groups may, I think, be separated without much 

 difficulty- But when we come to attempt to subdivide them. 

 there is room for endless varieties of opinion as to the nearest 

 allies of many of the forms. It would. I fear, be impossible to 

 discuss the best arrangement of the different subdivisions of these 

 groups within the limits of this paper. 



The second suborder of Passeres, the Oligomyodae, are not 

 nearly so numerous as the Oscines. It embraces, however, ac- 

 cording to the present state of our knowledge, some 550 species, 

 belonging to 8 families, most of which are restricted to the Ne~v\ 

 World. 



* Mr. Sharpe's " Coliomorpha? " (Cat. Birds, iii. pp. 3, 4) is quite a different group 

 from that designated by Sundevall ('Tentamen,' p. 37) by the same name. Sundevall's 

 I oliomorphae is nearly equivalent to my "Oscines cultrirostres" (Sundevall's group 

 includes Irrisor, on which point see above, p. 343), and consists of the following families 

 (according to my nomenclature) : — Icteridce, Sturnida?, Buphagidce, Paradiseidse, and 

 ( lorvidae. But Mr. Sharpe puts in his " Coliomorpha" only the last two of these five 

 families, and adds to them the Oriolidae, Dicrurid;e, and Prionopidre. The first two 

 of these belong to Sundevall's Cichlomorphce (i. e. my Dentirostres) ; the last consists 

 of a heterogeneous assemblage of genera, mostly also Dentirostres, but having, in my 

 opinion, no sort of connexion together. 



