358 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



1. Passeres 



Perching Birds. 



2. Picarle . . Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, Hornbills, &c. 



3. Psittaci . . Parrots. 



4. Striges . . . Owls. 



5. Pandiones . . Ospreys. 



6. Accipitres . . Eagles, Falcons, Vultures, &c. 



7. Steganopodes . Pelicans, Cormorants, Gannets. 



8. Herodiones . Herons and Storks. 



9. Odontoglossi . Flamingos. 



10. Anseres . . Ducks, Geese, and Swans. 



11. Palamede^: . Screamers. 



12. CoLUMB^E . . Pigeons, Dodo, and Sandgrouse. 



13. Galling . . Fowls and Game Birds. 



14. Fulicart^ . . Rails and Coots. 



15. Alectorides . Cranes and Bustards. 



10. Llmicol^e . . Plovers, Curlews, Snipe, &c. 



17. Gavi^e . . . Gulls and Terns. 



18. Tubinares . . Petrels and Albatrosses. 



19. Pygopodes . . Divers, Auks, and Grebes. 



20. Impennes . . Penguins. 



21. Odontornithes Toothed Birds (extinct). 



22. Crypturi . . Tinamus. 



23. Stereornithes Patagonian Flightless Birds (extinct). 



24. Ratit^e . . . Ostriches, Emus, &c. 



25. Saurur^e . . Long-tailed Birds (extinct). 



As, according to Mr. Lydekker, the number of species of 

 existing birds is considerably over 10,000, the space at his com- 

 mand has necessitated a much briefer treatment of the class than 

 is the case with the Mammalia, and he seems to have made a 

 fairly good selection of the families and genera to be noticed. 

 We see no justification, however, for the remark that " for the 

 anatomy of the soft parts of birds the reader must be referred to 

 other works." This part of the subject ought surely to have 

 been dealt with in the introduction to the section. 



As a specimen of the illustrations of bird-life given in this 

 volume we are permitted to reproduce the figure of the Pigmy 

 Parrot of New Guinea {Nasiterna pygmcea), and we have selected 

 this not only on account of the excellence of the tone, but because 

 the bird has been drawn life-size, the total length being about 

 three inches, which for a Parrot is, of course, remarkable. 



The last of our illustrations, the Passenger Pigeon (Columba 

 migratoria), has been chosen as a very pleasing example of 

 Mr. George Lodge's engraving, and as representing one of the 



