470 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



bone ;* this was adopted, with modifications, by Dr. Sclater, in 

 1873, f and followed by a Committee of the " British Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union," which, ten years later, was formed for the purpose 

 of drawing up an authoritative ' List of British Birds.' In this 

 classification (followed also in the ' List of Vertebrate Animals 

 living in the Zoological Society's Gardens,' and other works) the 

 scheme commences with the Order Passeres, and the first birds on 

 the list are the Thrushes. 



A few years later (1886) a Committee of American Ornitholo- 

 gists issued an authoritative ' Check List ' of North American 

 Birds,! in which the Order Pygopodes, or Diving-birds, stands first 

 headed by the Grebes ; and this, of course, has been followed by 

 subsequent American writers. In commencing the new edition 

 of Yarrell's ' British Birds,' Prof. Newton saw no reason to 

 depart from Linnseus's lead, in which we quite agree. Messrs. 

 Seebohm and Saunders, on the other hand (with proper con- 

 sistency we must admit), follow the classification which, as 

 members of the B. 0. U. Committee, they helped to make and 

 promulgate. Dr. Sharpe, who in 1874 commenced the famous 

 1 Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum' with the Accipitres, 

 has since altered his views, and, cutting adrift from both the 

 A. O. U. and the B. O. U. (that is to say, in the matter ef classi- 

 fication and nomenclature), now steers a new course, which starts 

 from the Crows ! 



In his prefatory remarks on the Order Passeriformes, section 

 Oscines or Singing-birds (in which, prima facie, it seems very 

 ironical to place the Crows), he observes : — 



" The structure of a Raven or a Crow presents as complete an equip- 

 ment as one can imagiue a bird to require — a powerful bill with well- 

 developed nasal plumes, a compact and regular plumage, strong wings and 

 tail, with every series of wing-covert beautifully patterned, and, lastly, 

 powerful feet and claws, with every scale distinctly indicated. 



" The Crows, therefore, have a right to be placed at the head of the 

 Oscines, in preference to the Thrushes, which excel them only in singiug, 

 beauty of voice being a feature to which the Crows can lay no claim." 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 415. 



f ' Nornenclator Avium Neo-Tropicalium,' 1873. See also ' The Ibis,' 

 1880, pp. 340—350; 399—411. 



\ * The Code of Nomenclature and Check List of North American Birds 

 adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union ' (New York, 1886). 



