472 Mr. Swainson on New Australasian Birds. 



natural groups. The tail, in fact, is but an accessory help to the 

 wings, and therefore deserves an inferior consideration, although 

 its form may be usefully employed in sectional divisions. Among 

 the characters which may perhaps guide us in distinguishing infe- 

 rior groups, or at least sections, may be noticed the naked orbits 

 so conspicuous in several exotic species.* The Ground Doves of 

 the New World + show a peculiar character in having the sides of 

 their tarsi margined by a row of minute feathers, which often con- 

 ceal the knees. Their first quill feather is also very broad, and almost 

 as long as any of the others : if these characters hold good in more 

 instances than those I have quoted, we shall be justified in using 

 them in a generic sense, by separating these birds from the other 

 Columbi-Gallines of M. Le Vaillant. Allied to the Ground Doves 

 in manners, but greatly distinguished from them in the structure of 

 theirfeet, is the Bronze-winged Pigeon of Australasia, {Col. chal- 

 coptera^ Lath.) ; in this, the frontal scales of the tarsi, (unlike 

 any other species I have yet seen,) are formed of two series; 

 while those of the sides are reticulated and very minute ; the hind 

 toe (or hallux) is also remarkably short, and clearly evinces an 

 approximation to the more perfect Gallinacece. Many other indi- 

 cations of particular groups may doubtless be discovered by 

 naturalists whose materials for inquiry are more extensive than my 

 own. In giving this hasty and imperfect sketch of the family, I 

 have only been desirous of proving that it contains distinct groups, 

 and bona fide genera ; as fully capable of definition as any others 

 already admitted into our Systems. We can do no more than make 

 the best use of those materials within our reach ; and probably 

 these hints may elicit further observations from naturalists who 

 are more fortunate than myself in possessing a numerous collection 

 of birds. 



» Coliimba Franciae. Gm. 779. (Le Rainier Herisse. Vail. Ois. d'Af. 6. 267.) 

 C. auricularis. Tern. (8vo) 236. Col. gymnopthalmus. Tern. 225. 



+ Columba martinica. Lin, — Coluniba passerina. Lin. Wilson. Am. Orn. 

 Vol 6. pi. 46. f. 2, 3. 



