1862.] OF PTEROCLES, SYRRHAPTES, AND TINAMUS. 255 
“ The third family, or ‘ Longirostres,’ is said to be composed of 
such forms as the ‘ Gambet, Avocet, Snipe, Ruff, Turnstone, Curlew, 
Sandpiper,’ and ‘ Godwit.’ 
“And the fourth, or the ‘ Pressirostres,’ the ‘ Oyster-catcher, 
Thicknee, Plover, Lapwing, Bustard,’ and ‘ Courser.’ 
“Then in his Third Order, the Cursores, Professor Owen places 
these genera, and in this succession, viz. :— 
‘ Apteryz. 
Didus, Pezophaps. 
Ostrich, Emeu, Nandi. 
Cassowary. 
Notornis. 
Dinornis, Palapteryz.’ 
**In the Order 4, ‘ Rasores,’ he gives us two families, viz. the 
Gallinacei or Clamatores, and the Columbacei or Gemitores. 
“The first of these is exemplified by the ‘ Pea-fowl, Partridge, 
Quail, Pheasant, Ganga, Grouse, Pintado, Tinamu, Turkey, Curas- 
sow,’ and ‘ Guan.’ 
«The second is made to contain the ‘ Dove, Goura,’ and ‘ Vinago.’ 
“ First, as to the Macrodactylous Gralla, the Porphyriine Notornis 
is wanting ; and, besides the Megapode, the Crane certainly has no 
business there, being (as its embryology reveals) a gigantic special- 
ized aberrant of the Pressirostral family. 
As to the Culérirostres, I feel pretty certain that the Spoonbill 
and the Ibis will have to be placed in the next family, the Longi- 
rostres, a group less specialized from the Plover type than the Cranes. 
If this should turn out to be the truth, the ‘ Pressirostres’ and the 
‘ Longirostres’ must receive accessions at the expense of the ‘ Cultri- 
rostres,’ which family, however, possesses the Baleniceps, the Um- 
bre, and the Eurypyga. 
“With regard to the ‘ Cursores,’ it seems to me much better to 
use the simple term Struthionide, and to let Didus and Pezophaps 
abide where Messrs. Strickland and Melville most appropriately 
placed them, viz. amongst the Ground-Pigeons; the Notornis being 
marched back again to its proper place, between Tribonyx and Por- 
phyrio*. 
“T hope to console the lover of the struthious tribe by compen- 
sating him for the loss of the Dodo and the Notornis with the gain 
of what has hitherto been considered as a true gallinaceous genus: 
I refer to the Tinamou. 
"The examples given of the gallinaceous genera in Professor 
Owen’s classification are principally remarkable for want of order, 
as the Ganga is not intermediate between the Pheasant and the 
Grouse, but between the Grouse and the Pigeon, and the Tinamou 
certainly has no place between the Pintado and the Turkey. 
* Dr. Mantell (Petrifactions and their Teachings, page 125) says that “the 
general form of the skull” of Notornis mantelli “approaches nearest that of 
Brachypteryx ;” whereas that of Tribonyx mortieri (Osteol. Catal. Mus. Coll. 
Chir. vol. i. p. 239, No. 1281) comes nearer, In the sternum, however, Notornis 
is most like Brachypteryx. 
