236 



MR. W. K. PARKER ON THE OSTEOLOGY 



The Plovers and the Rails do not stand far apart in Nature, and the two types are for 

 ever blending to form secondary types, e. g. Parra, Botaurus, Grus, Psophia ; but the 

 Plover is at once more nearly related both to the Ostrich and to the Lizard than the 

 Rail, and yet it is a more intelligent bird. 



The " Struthionidse " are hemmed in on all sides, except the Mammalian, with the 

 genera that have taken up so much of our attention in the present paper ; yet are they 

 the most unconformable of all the living feathered tribes, and I much question whether 

 the Archaopteryx itself did not agree better with ordinary birds, it having no such con- 

 tiguity to the Mammals as we see in the Ostrich-tribe. 



The relationships of the Talegalla may be faintly shown by the appended scheme. 



Gallus. 

 Crax. 

 Brachypteryx. Talegalla. Rhinochetus. 



Palamedea. 



Those of Hemipodius by the next. 



Didunculus. 



Coturnix. 



Dendrortyx. 



Hemipodius. Charadrius. 



Tinamus. 



The affinities of Syrrhaptes appear to me to be as follows, viz. : — 



Gallus. 



Lagopus. 

 ChanuBopelia, Pterocles. 



Hemipodius. Syrrhaptes. Charadrius. 



Tinamus. 



