18G2.] OF PTEROCLES, SYRRHAPTES, AND TINAMUS. 255 



"The third family, or 'Loiigirostres,' 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, : — 

 ' Apteryx. 

 Didus, PesojpJiaps. 

 Ostrich, Emeu, Nandu. 

 Cassowary. 

 Notornis. 

 Dinoi'nis, Palapteryx.' 



" In the Order 4, ' Rasores,' he gives us two families, viz. the 

 Gallinacei or Clamatores, and the Columhaeei 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 Gi-allce, 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 Cultrirostres, 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 Balxsniceps, the Um- 

 bre, and the Eiirypyga. 



"With regard to the ' Cursores,' it seems to me much better to 

 use the simple term Struthionidte, 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 For- 

 phyrio*. 



" I 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. lu the sternum, however, Notornis 

 is most like Brachypteryx, 



