THE OLASSIPICATION OF BIEDS. 257 



haunting Kingfisher and the Dipper one after the other, but 

 their essential differences are great indeed. 



The large beaks of the Toucans have suggested ^ to us the 

 large-beaked Hornbills, but in truth, as we shall see, they are 

 in no way akin. Nor are the Colies ' really allied to Toucans 

 or Todies. The brilliant Trogons ' have led us to speak of the 

 Birds of Paradise, but the latter are really nothing but glorified 

 Crows, while the Lyre-bird, on the other hand, is nearly as 

 distinct in its nature as in the form of its tail. The Huia-bird, 

 again, is but a kind of Crow ; and the wonderful Opistho- 

 comus turns out to be not miles asunder from a game-cock, 

 being really an ally of the Curassows. The Bower-birds % on 

 further inquiry, prove to be Birds of Paradise, which have 

 taken to decorating their runs instead of their bodies ! 



The beginner will have deemed it natural that we' should 

 follow popular usage and associate the Swallows with the 

 Swifts, but his studies will show him that they may have as little 

 in common as have the true mole and the rat-mole amongst 

 beasts. 



Creepers and Honey-eaters " have been mentioned together, 

 but they are not really allied ; and the brilliant Humming-birds 

 and Sun-birds ", beyond being passeriform birdi>, have little but 

 their brilliance in common, and are really groups rather distant 

 from one another. 



The Orioles and Waxwings must also be extricated from the 

 company in which they have been provisionally placed, and the 

 wonderful Mocking-bird will be seen not to rank with the 

 Nightingale, but rather vidth the "Wren. 



The Piping Crow, again, is not really a Crow, but a Shrike'. 



The Osprey ^ has once more (unlikely as it seems) an outlook 

 towards the Owls ; while the American Vultures ' have little 

 affinity with real Vultures^" at all, or with Eagles or Owls either, 

 but perch by themselves ornithologically. Thus it is plain what 

 a scientifically heterogeneous group is that which we have spoken 

 of by the term " " Scansorial birds," as also that all those groups 

 which we have distinguished " as having conical, slender, or 

 widely gaping bills are not " natural" groups. 



