﻿Swifts 
  and 
  Humming-birds. 
  365 
  

  

  XXXIV. 
  — 
  Sivifts 
  and 
  Humming-birds. 
  

   By 
  Frederic 
  A. 
  Lucas. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Shufeldt's 
  recent 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  Swifts 
  and 
  Humming- 
  

   birds 
  * 
  is 
  the 
  argument 
  of 
  an 
  Advocate 
  rather 
  than 
  the 
  

   careful 
  summing-up 
  of 
  an 
  unbiased 
  Judge^ 
  and 
  I 
  for 
  one 
  

   must 
  protest^ 
  not 
  only 
  at 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  matter 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  

   article, 
  but 
  also 
  at 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  its 
  presentation. 
  Note- 
  

   worthy 
  in 
  this 
  latter 
  connection 
  is 
  the 
  continued 
  reiteration 
  

   that 
  nowadays 
  none, 
  save 
  a 
  few 
  benighted 
  ornithologists, 
  

   consider 
  that 
  the 
  Swifts 
  have 
  aught 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  the 
  Humming;- 
  

   birds, 
  this 
  idea, 
  we 
  are 
  told^ 
  having 
  been 
  long 
  ago 
  exploded. 
  

   Even 
  while 
  Dr. 
  Shufeldt's 
  paper 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  printer's 
  hands 
  

   there 
  have 
  ajjpeared 
  two 
  important 
  contributions 
  to 
  orni- 
  

   thological 
  literature, 
  — 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  

   Trochilidce 
  ,hj 
  Mr. 
  Salvin, 
  and 
  a 
  paper 
  on 
  Avian 
  Classification, 
  

   by 
  Dr. 
  Gadow. 
  Neither 
  of 
  these 
  gentlemen 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  explosion," 
  nor 
  have 
  Dr. 
  Fiirbringer, 
  

   Dr. 
  Sharpe, 
  or 
  Professor 
  Huxley 
  (whom 
  Dr. 
  Shufeldt 
  

   persistently 
  misquotes 
  t) 
  recanted 
  their 
  previously 
  expressed 
  

   opinions, 
  so 
  that 
  in 
  justice 
  to 
  his 
  readers 
  Dr. 
  Shufeldt 
  should 
  

   tell 
  us 
  precisely 
  who, 
  among 
  ornithologists, 
  have 
  accepted 
  his 
  

   conclusions 
  that 
  the 
  Swifts 
  are 
  practically 
  Swallows 
  and 
  have 
  

   no 
  relations 
  with 
  the 
  Humming-birds. 
  

  

  Let 
  me 
  say 
  here 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  separation 
  of 
  Swifts 
  and 
  

   Humming-birds, 
  provided 
  they 
  are 
  kept 
  near 
  one 
  another, 
  

   that 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  objected 
  to, 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  the 
  constant 
  statement 
  

   that 
  they 
  have 
  no 
  characters 
  in 
  common, 
  while 
  the 
  Swifts 
  

   and 
  Swallow^s 
  are 
  so 
  near 
  akin. 
  My 
  own 
  views 
  at 
  present 
  

   are 
  that 
  through 
  Macropteryx 
  the 
  Swifts 
  touch 
  the 
  Goat- 
  

   suckers 
  closely 
  ; 
  that 
  through 
  Chcetura 
  they 
  have 
  relations 
  

   with 
  the 
  Humming-birds, 
  although 
  in 
  certain 
  structural 
  

   points 
  the 
  generalized 
  Macropteryx 
  shows 
  Trochiline 
  relations 
  

   also 
  ; 
  and 
  that, 
  unless 
  we 
  can 
  take 
  the 
  Goatsuckers 
  into 
  the 
  

   great 
  Passerine 
  circle, 
  the 
  Swifts 
  too 
  must 
  stay 
  outside. 
  

  

  * 
  'The 
  Ibis,' 
  January 
  1893, 
  pp. 
  84-100. 
  

  

  t 
  Not 
  that 
  Professor 
  Huxley's 
  words 
  have 
  been 
  changed, 
  but 
  that 
  they 
  

   have 
  been 
  so 
  used 
  as 
  to 
  convey 
  a 
  false 
  impression 
  ; 
  and 
  this, 
  to 
  my 
  mind, 
  

   is 
  the 
  most 
  unfair 
  kind 
  of 
  misquotation: 
  

  

  