286 PROFESSOR W. K. PARKER ON THE 
that this bird was a genuine Titmouse, but subtypical. This was objected to by my 
correspondent, who, however, was satisfied of the truth of some of my remarks. “ What 
you say [is his rejoinder] of a general resemblance which Panurus has to soft-billed 
Passeres is to me an indication that it is not so near Parus; but I think you dispose 
of the notion completely that it is nearer Liothriz. My own belief, I think, I have 
mentioned to you before—that Panwrus has no very near allies; and I am prepared to 
make it the type of a new family, Panuride, to which possibly some other forms may 
subsequently be referred. I have grounded my faith on these characters among others 
(I omit those drawn from eaternal characters, though they are many and strong) :— 
‘1, The presence of a gizzard. 
“©2. The character of the plumage, quite unlike that of the Paride. The young 
having a style of plumage essentially peculiar to it, which becomes lost in 
the adult. 
‘“¢3. The character of the egg, quite unlike that of any bird known to me, though 
Bartlett says that /iothria lays the same kind of egg. 
“4. The kind of nest it builds, which is quite unlike that of any of the Paride— 
no soft moss, fur, or feathers felted together, but a roughly woven ark of 
rushes, on which Moses’s mother would have hardly hesitated to put her 
son, had it been big enough. 
“5. The fact that the bird runs on the ground like a Wagtail or a Starling, in- 
stead of hopping like a Titmouse or a Finch. 
“6. The difference between its vocal powers and those of Parus.” 
In the same letter Professor Newton says:—“ In one way your conclusions are much 
to my taste; I never could reconcile to myself the Fringilline-affinity theory, in spite 
of Macgillivray! and Tomes. (N.B. The latter took osteological grounds. )” 
So far my correspondent. The following account of this bird’s palate (to which will 
succeed a description of that of Liothrix) will be seen to yield deductions in perfect 
conformity with the views of that accomplished ornithologist. How little this type 
resembles the Paride may be seen by comparing its palate with those of that family 
(Plate LI. figs. 1 & 7, and 8, 9). In the next Plate (LIL. fig. 10) I have purposely put 
‘ See Brit. Birds, vol. iii. pp. 694-698, The same author, speaking of its habits (p. 697), says :—“ Their 
flight is quick and undulated; but they are seldom seen proceeding to a distance—the flocks, as observed by a 
writer in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History,’ ‘just topping the reeds in their flight, and uttering in full chorus 
their sweetly musical note. It may be compared to the music of very small cymbals, is clear and ringing, 
though soft, and corresponds well with the delicacy and beauty of the form and colour of the birds.’” 
