Od Se 
1 \ 50" eee 
a) 
180 ON THE Aso on 
latores by the side of that which 
Insessores, and the following sinalogienl el 
thus be more clearly stated. 
GRALLATORES and INSESSORES.— Analogies, — 
Families of the 
Grallatores. Typical Characters. “ed of th ; 
Bill long, very straight; each pre- ee 
TRINGIDE. f eminently typical. , mn } Comnos — 
Bill short, upper mandible abruptly * ; 
CHARADRIADZ, curved near the tip, and bent over DENTIROSTE 
the lower. ; a 
Wings long, ample, quill feathers | 
ARDEADE. } emarginate at their tips; seize thet ¢Fissn OSTRES. 
prey by a sudden dart. 
TANTALIDE, Bill very long; plumage metallic. TENUIROSTRES, 
Bill and wings very short; legs strong 
Babahe. 1 toes long; live on the ground, * } Scansones. i 
It! will almost invariably be found, throughout all 
groups in the vast order of perchers, that those whieh 
represent the Conirostres have the bill longer, straighter, 
and more conic than any that belong to the subtypical 
group which follows it. Out of instances almost innu ' 
merable, which confirm. this law, we may cite the wood- 
peckers among the Scansores, the true starlings in the 
circle of the Sturnide, the Coccothraustine among the 
finches, not to mention the same character in ate 
groups: hence, also, in the families before us, the T'rii 
gide have the straightest and most conic bills of ; 
those waders which possess the other typical distinctions 5 
and they thus show the perfection of their circle, just as) 
much as the Conirostres do of the other. We think 
that no unprejudiced ornithologist will deny that | 
Charadriade, or plovers, are closely and intimately con- 
nected to the sandpipers, and that these two families are 
the two most typical of the whole. Their general cor 
formation, and the peculiarity of their being the only two: 
which have the hinder toe, where it exists, elevated! 
above the others, is, in our opinion, demonstrative’ 
evidence on this point: if this be conceded, it folio s 
that the Charadriad@ are the subtypical group, and < 
consequently analogous to the Dentirostres. But how Ww, 
