XXIV] CLASSIFICATION 633 



of them are wading birds with long legs, but they are distinguished 

 by having a schizognathous palate and by having the hallux or big 

 toe inserted in the leg higher up than the other toes. 



The Charadriiformes, or Plover-like Birds, include Plovers, Gulls 

 and Pigeons. They are usually Birds with short legs and powerful 

 wings. Like the Gruiformes, they have a schizognathous palate. 



The Cuculiformes,. or Cuckoo-like Birds, include the two very 

 different groups of the Cuckoos and Parrots, united by the desmo- 

 gnathous palate and the turning of the fourth toe back parallel to 

 the hallux; whether these two groups are really closely related 

 is doubtful. 



The Coraciiformes, Roller-like Birds named after the Roller 

 (Coracias), include such diverse groups as Owls, Swifts, King- 

 fishers and Woodpeckers, and can only be described as a lumber 

 room a mere temporary convenience. Most of the Birds in it have 

 weak legs and descend very little to the ground, and, though nidi- 

 colous, do not make nests, but live in holes. 



The Passeriformes, or Sparrow-like Birds, distinguished by an 

 aegithognathous palate and by being nidicolous and constructing 

 nests, are to be regarded as the most finished products of bird- 

 evolution. They include, besides Crows, Magpies, Shrikes, Swallows 

 and Jays, all our native songsters, and in the sub-division Oscines 

 alone, which includes the best songsters, there are 5000 species. 



Sub-class I. AECHAEORNITHES. 



The three fingers and their metacarpals remain separate, each 

 with a claw. Both jaws with alveolar teeth ; tail without pygostyle ; 

 wings with well- developed remiges. 



Only example, Archaeopteryx. 



Sub-class II. NEORNITHES. 

 Metacarpals fused. 

 Division I. Ratitae. 



Flightless ; without a keel on the sternum ; without a 

 pygostyle. Coracoid and scapula fused. 



Ex. Struthio, African Ostrich ; Rhea, American Ostrich ; 

 Dromaeus, Emeu ; Casuarim, Cassowary ; Apteryx, Kiwi. 



Division II. Odontolcae. 



Marine, flightless, without sternal keel; teeth in furrows. 

 Ex. Hesperornis (extinct). 



