286 PROPESSOE W. K. PAEKEE ON THE 



that this bu'd 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 lAothrix. My own belief, I think, I have 

 mentioned to you before — that Panurus has no very near allies ; and I am prepared to 

 make it the type of a new family, Panuridse, 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 external characters, though they are many and strong) : — 



"1. The presence of a gizzard. 



" 2. The character of the plumage, quite unlike that of the Paridae. 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 Liothrix lays the same kind of egg. 



" 4. The kind of nest it builds, which is quite unlike that of any of the Paridae — 

 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 rims 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) wiU be seen to yield deductions in perfect 

 conformity with the views of that accomplished ornithologist. How little this type 

 resembles the Paridse may be seen by comparing its palate with those of that family 

 (Plate LI. figs. 1 & 7, and 8, 9). In the next Plate (LII. fig. 10) I have purposely put 



' See Brit. Birds, vol. iii. pp. 694-698. The same author, speaking of its habit? (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 fuU chorus 

 their sweetly musical note. It may be compared to the music of very small c}'mbals, is clear and ringing, 

 though soft, and corresponds well with the delicacy and beauty of the form and colour of the birds.' " 



