Tin 



published his celebrated paper " On some Points in the Mor- 

 phology of the "Wings of Birds " in the ' Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society of London' for 1887. In this paper 

 Mr. Wray has given an historical sketch which must be read by 

 every inquirer into the development of the study and import- 

 ance of Pterylography. TVray's work is indisputably the best 

 on this subject up to the present time; but it is far from being 

 exhaustive, and there are many points unexplained, though 

 not wholly overlooked, by the lamented author, who would 

 have undoubtedly pushed his studies further had not his 

 career been cut short by death. 



Mr. Gcodchild^s paper on the " Cubital Coverts of the 

 Euornithes in relation to Taxonomy,"" published in the 'Pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh ' for 

 1890-91 (vol. x.)j has also proved a useful contribution to 

 our knowledge of the subject, and he especially endeavours 

 to supplement Wray's work as regards the peculiar break in 

 the outline of the bird's wing, caused by the absence of the" 

 fifth cubital remex. 



I shall have occasion in the course of the present paper to 

 refer to the labours of ray predecessors in the field of Ptery- 

 lography, and especially I must mention how much I have 

 been indebted to the excellent work which has been done i)y 

 Mr. W. P. Pycrat't, whose paper, entitled " A Contribution 

 to the Pterylography of Birds' Wings/' published in the 

 ' Transactions of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical 

 Society,' vol. ii. (1890), is again a great advance in our 

 knowledge of the subject, and brings it once more up to date. 

 jNIr. Pycraft has supplemented !Mr. Wray's work in fnany 

 important particulars, and I have to acknowledge the assist- 

 ance which I have received from his valuable essay. 



Finally, I may state that the occasion of my taking up this 

 branch of study was the interest which was manifested in 

 Pterylography by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, who pointed out to 

 me certain peculiarities in the wings of the Charadriidce 

 which he could not comprehend, and begged me to look into 

 the subject. In the course of time I became quite as much 

 interested in the matter as uas my kind friend Dr. Sharpe, 



