TESTS OF THE CIRCLE OF MERULID^. 



331 



1. 

 Typical groupi 



Sub-typical 

 group. 



MERULID^. 



"Bill gradually arched, slightly notched;" 

 \ wings adapted for perfect flight ; legs ( 

 ) moderately long ; toes disunited. True I 



_ Thrushes. J 



"Bill abruptly bent, strongly notched; 

 \ wings short, feeble ; tarsi moderate 

 \ toes frequently united at the base. Ant 

 , Thrushes. 



'Bill short, slightly notched or entire ; T Brachypodinse. 

 [ wings rounded; legs short, not adapted ^OriolinEe. 

 for walking. J CrateropodinEP. 



% 



Merulina 



Myotherina. 



Myoth. 



Mtruliuee 



Aberrant 

 group. 



Now this circle is founded simply upon the affinity he 

 discovers between the divisions : he finds that the Me- 

 riiUncB insensibly pass into the Myotherince, that these 

 conduct him to the short-legged division, Brachypodince, 

 which blend into the Orioles ; that from the Orioles 

 the affinity is traced to the long-legged thnishes {Cra- 

 teropodince), and that these again lead back to the Me- 

 rulinee. The above is a tabular exposition of this series; 

 but if we throw it into a circle, it will stand as fol- 

 lows : — 



(407.) Now the veri- 

 fication of this circle is 

 to bfc accomplished by 

 showing that all its di- 

 visions are represented, 

 in the same order, in 

 some other well-known 

 and established series. 

 No circular group, for 

 instance, is better known than that which exhibits the 

 first great orders of the whole feathered creation. These 

 divisions are composed of the rapacious (^Raptores), the 

 perchers (^Insessores) , the gallinaceous {Rasores), the 

 waders (^Grallatores), and the swimmers (^Natatores'). 

 Let us now throw this series, like the last, into a circle, 

 bring them together, and then see in what manner they 

 represent each other : — 



^rioliua 



