﻿144 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



in the absence of all information upon the subject, that 

 the habits of Orthonyoc are terrestrial, that it is, essen- 

 tially, a walking bird, but that it seeks its food not so 

 much upon the barks of trees, as upon steep earthy 

 banks, into which its unusually straight claws could 

 penetrate, and against which the bird may be supported 

 by its tail ; it is also highly probable that these strong 

 claws are used for scratching the ground, after the 

 manner of most rasorial birds. At all events the dis- 

 covery of Sclerurus establishes that link between Z)en- 

 drocolaptes and the bird we have been describing, 

 without which we could hardly have guessed on the 

 situation of either. Both, however, are thus seen to be 

 types of the Rasores, one in the circle of the CerthiancB^ 

 the other in that of Buphagince. 



(125.) The genus Buphaga, known by the common 

 name of beef-eaters, has been by all ifaturalists placed 

 with the starlings, merely, as it would seem, because 

 like them they are often seen on the backs of the 

 African cattle, clearing them of Acari and other trou- 

 blesome insects. This error of arrangement has entirely 



sorial genus. This is evident from its remarkably broad 

 and unusually curved claws, more resembling hooks than 

 those of any bird out of the raptorial circle. Now it is 

 very remarkable that in all the specimens we have seen 

 of this bird, however old, not one has occured in which 

 the points, which are remarkably fine and sharp, have 

 been at all worn : we hence infer that they are not 

 used upon any substance hard enough to blunt their 

 acuteness ; the hard bark of trees would unquestionably 



arisen from ignorance 

 of the different forms 

 which belong to the 

 scansorial structure of 

 foot. We may admit 

 this fact in its econo- 

 my, and yet deny that 

 Buphaga (fig. 78.) is 

 any other than a scan- 



