The Cubital Coverts of the Euronithce, 321 



species. Mr Wray's figure is not quite correct in some minor 

 details. 



Tracinej the feathers of the outer surface of the cubital 

 region of the wing from behind forwards, they succeed each 

 other as follows : — (1) the Cubital Remiges, (2) the Major 

 Coverts, (3) the Inframedials (or the "Supplementary Row 

 of Median Wing Coverts " of my former paper), (4) the 

 Medials, (5) the Minor Coverts, and (6) the Marginals. It 

 may be at once stated that the Cubital Remiges and the 

 Major Coverts next above them are invariably imbricated in 

 such a manner that they overlap distally, or so that the outer 

 margin of each feather lies above the inner margin of the one 

 next removed from the vertebral axis. The reverse order of 

 overlap I termed 'proximal. These terms have been generally 

 adopted by American and other writers since. 



The principal seat of variation on the wang is the area 

 covered by the Inframedians, the Medians, and the Minors — 

 the variation consisting (1) in the number of rows, and also 

 of the number of feathers in each row ; and (2) in the direc- 

 tion of imbrication of the several feathers, whether distal or 

 proximal. The outline figures accompanying this paper will 

 serve to make the nature of the difference in each case much 

 clearer than could be done by many pages of description. In 

 a few cases I have been unable to distinguish satisfactorily 

 between the Marginals and the Minors. This is especially 

 the case with the Pigeons, which present a very abnormal 

 style of wing coverts, and one so complicated as almost to 

 baffle description. 



I. The Cypseline Style. — The simplest style of wing 

 coverts is found in the Humming Birds (Fig. 1). In these 

 birds, as I interpret the evidence, the cubital feathers are 

 (1) the Remiges, (2) the Major Coverts, and (6) the Marginals. 

 Both the Medians and the Minors appear to be entirely 

 "unrepresented. 



It is not a little remarkable, and is also significant, that 

 the birds whose wing style agrees most closely with the 

 Humming Bird are the Swifts (Fig. 2). In the Swifts there 

 is a slight approach to the Passerine style; but, judging by 

 this feature alone, those taxonomists are right who class the 



