232 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



beyond all question that the Scops and Otus of the 

 former, and the Asio of the latter, were in truth nothing- 

 else than Owls, and had consequently no connexion 

 with the Numidian Crane. 



M. Savigny, on the other hand, refers the latter bird 

 to the Crex of Aristotle and other classical authors ; 

 but we must confess that we entertain considerable 

 doubt of the accuracy of this opinion also. The scat- 

 tered notices of the ancient Crex appear to us by far 

 too scanty and indefinite to admit of their positive ap- 

 propriation ; and they combine moreover several traits 

 which are quite irreconcilable with the identity of the 

 two animals. With the exception of this distinguished 

 naturalist, almost all the modern authors who have 

 spoken of the Demoiselle have merely copied Buffon, 

 who, with singular inconsistency, at the same time that 

 he corrects the error of synonymy into which the Acade- 

 micians had fallen, adopts all their quotations founded 

 upon this very mistake. The truth is that the real 

 history of the bird cannot be traced with certainty 

 beyond the period of M. Perrault's Memoirs, in which 

 it was for the first time described under the fanciful 

 denomination which it has ever since retained. 



In the Linnean classification the two remarkable 

 species of which M. Vieillot formed the genus Anthro- 

 poides, constituted a distinct section of the genus Ardea, 

 characterized by their short bills and the crest upon 

 their heads. Modern systematists place them in the 

 family of Gruidse, in an intermediate station between 

 the Trumpeters and Cranes. They are characterized, 

 according to M. Vieillot, as follows. Their bill is 

 scarcely longer than the head, compressed on the sides, 

 entire at the point, thick, convex, and furrowed above ; 

 their nostrils are seated in the furrows of the bill, and 

 are concave, elliptical, and open, but partly concealed 



