90 MR. P. E. BEDDARD OX THE 



that " the relation to the common type is, however, easily made 

 out " *. 



In the same way, the Ralli are a quite circumscribed group 

 judged by their intestinal coils, which bear only a general resem- 

 blance to other groups and, indeed, to no group in particular. 

 Their characters are constant throughout the group, so far as 

 known facts enable us to make a statement. The most that can 

 be said is, perhaps, that they are nearer to the Grebes than the 

 latter are to any other subdivision of the Bird tribe. On the 

 other hand, it seems to me to be quite clear that if judged by 

 their intestinal coils the newer ideas with respect to the New 

 World Vultures and other Accipitresf must be abandoned, as 

 Dr. Mitchell has correctly pointed out ; it is necessary to revert 

 to the older view which regarded the Condors as merely Viiltures. 

 In the same way, although in this Dr. Mitchell does not agree 

 with me, the older opinion as to the Owls, that which placed 

 them close to the Accipitres and not in the neighbourhood of 

 vai-ious Picarian genera, is most certainly justified by the close 

 similarities in the mode of arrangement of the intestinal loops. 

 At the same time, it is also easy to distinguish these two groups 

 by the small but constant characters afforded by the ileo-duodenal 

 ligament. 



And, again, it is by no means possible to distinguish by cha- 

 racters that carry any conviction the intestinal tract of a Grebe or 

 Tern from that of the Owls on the one hand or large Passerine 

 birds on the other ; while the Gulls and Terns on their side 

 offer resemblances to what I venture to term " the other " Limico- 

 line birds. Negative features are perhaps more salient in making 

 a brief sui-vey like the present. Thus it is clear that the 

 Tinamous are quite unlike the Gallinaceous birds and that the 

 genus Turnix is equally to be removed from that assemblage. 

 The Bustards and Cariama, moreover, show no. particular likeness 

 to the Cranes, though the first two seem to be closely allied to each 

 other, as I have already pointed out. It is noteworthy that all the 

 four types J of Struthious birds differ from each other as much 

 as would seem to be possible in view of the undoubtedly primitive 

 characters of the gut in all of them, with the possible exception of 

 Rhea. 



§ The Relationship between the Gut and the 

 Nature of the Food. 



"When we contrast the intestine of a Penguin with its enormous 

 series of closely adpressed straight loops and the intestine of a 

 Bustard with only three short intestinal loops, there would appear 

 to be a very marked difference between a fish-eater and an 

 omnivorous bird, and thus a close relationship between the form 

 and length of the gut and the nature of the food eaten by its 



* P. Z. S. 1896, p. 155. 



t These opinions are so well known that I need not quote what would have to be 

 a lonp: list of books and memoirs. 

 X Casuarius and Droitiicus belong, of coursBj to the same type, 



