368 University of California Publications in Zoologij' I Vol. 13 



hooklets small, sometimes pronged, ventral cilia short and appressed 

 to barbule in inner vane, proximal dorsal cilia lobate, the others 

 short and spiny. 



(5) Proximal barbules small and slender, ventral teeth inconspic- 

 uous, pennulum rather stout, and shorter than base ; well-developed 

 hooked ventral cilia developed in outer vane in Cuculi, but these 

 rudimentary in Psittaci. 



(6) Structure of body feathers mere simplification of that of 

 remiges, the barbicels much reduced. 



(7) Down in most Cuculi with small globular nodes, larger 

 towards base of barbules, and pigment proximal to them ; Psittaci 

 with nodes shaped like eucalyptus fruit, and pigmented. 



12. Order CORACIIFORMES 

 Plates 31-33 



This order includes a large number of diversified birds which 

 may be regarded as forming a more or less natural connecting link 

 between the Cuculiformes and lower birds on the one hand, and the 

 Passeriformes on the other. Although some of the included fam- 

 ilies are undoubtedly near the line of descent of the latter, others 

 are to be regarded as very specialized offshoots, e. g., the Striges, 

 and the Bucerotidae. The suborders Coraciae, Striges, Caprimulgi, 

 Colli, Trogones, Cypseli and Pici, as given by Knowlton and Ridge- 

 way (1909), are not of equal value. In discussing the structure 

 of the feathers in this order, that of a species of the typical sub- 

 order will be described in detail and the other families or groups 

 in which important modifications occur with be taken up in order, 

 regardless of the suborders into which they have been grouped. 



Throughout the order the plumules are more or less suppressed; 

 in the Alcedinidae they are dense in the apteria, but sparse in the 

 pterylae ; in Striges, Caprimulgi and Cypselidae they are present 

 in the apteria only, while in all other forms they are absent en- 

 tirely. The aftershaft is even more variable, being absent in some, 

 e. g., Buceros, rudimentary in others, e. g., Meropidae, and very well 

 developed in others, e. g. Trogones. 



a) Coracias affinis 



(1) Remex 



Shaft about as wide as deep ; median ventral groove small and 

 inconspicuous, striations on sides at junction of barbs slight. Rami 



