﻿90 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



all its quills appear to be nearly of the same length, and 

 the contour forms a semicircle : this is the precise form 

 under which this modification of the wing is most de- 



in proportion to the bird, it seems advisable to restrict 

 the term round to such as accord with the defin- 

 ition here given. Nevertheless there are so many gra- 

 dations between the pointed and rounded shapes, by 

 which the two are immediately connected, that perhaps 

 some term might be used with advantage to designate 

 such as are of an intermediate character. The robin 

 (Erythaca rubecula), for instance, has a wing interme- 

 diate in shape between that of the flycatcher and the 

 wren, the three first quills being graduated ; and there 

 are scarcely any perceptible divisions between the three 

 series of quills ; nevertheless the fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 are much more lengthened than the others, so as to give 

 the wing, when closed, an appearance of being pointed. 

 Such a wing is, therefore, as to length, moderate ; and, 

 as to its form, slightly pointed. By attention to these 

 lesser modifications, much greater precision and accuracy 

 would result than from adopting the present use of the 

 term rounded. 



(83.) A rasorial wing is characterised, not by any 

 particular arrangement in the proportion of the primaries, 



veloped, and our common 

 wren (fig. 45.) exhibits it in 

 full perfection. It is cus- 

 tomary, however, in orni- 

 thological descriptions, to 

 say that a wing is rounded 

 when the three first quills 

 are graduated, that is, of 

 very unequal lengths ; yet 

 as this is not only seen in 

 the wren, but also in the 

 Drongo shrikes, and nearly 

 all the true flycatchers, 

 where the wing, taken as 

 a whole, is decidedly long 



