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ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



it has some claim by the uncommon length of its legs 

 and its perfectly terrestrial habits. We confess, how- 

 ever, that until a proper analysis of this family has been 

 made, we shall by no means be satisfied that this is the 

 true station of Gypogeranus. Its conspicuous and very 

 remarkable crest, which rises from the back of the head, 

 and can be spread out like a fan, and its aptness for 

 domestication, are all in favour of its being a rasorial 

 type ; more particularly as crests are absolutely unknown 

 in that of the grallatorial. It is barely possible that 

 this perplexing form may prove to be the rasorial sub- 

 genus either of Cathartes or Vultur ; in which case the 

 grallatorial genus of the Vulturidce will be unknown, 

 unless Neophron fills that station. Difficulties of this 

 sort will always attend the determination of those com- 

 paratively few groups in zoology, where the links in the 

 chain are wide apart ; and these difficulties are increased 

 where the requisite analysis has not been gone into. 

 Gypogeranus is evidently a compound, both in structure 

 and habits, of the vulture and the falcon ; and we can 

 incur no risk in placing it as the most aberrant of the 

 former, seeing that, without any reference to our theo- 

 retical views of the subject, such an intervening station 

 has been assigned to it by all the most eminent writers. 

 It must be remembered, also, that the very same objec- 

 tions occur against placing this bird between the Strigidu 

 and the Dididce, as those we have intimated against 

 considering it as the grallatorial type of the VulturicUz. 



(237-) The Falconid^e, or falcons, exhibit the per- 

 fection of the order ; they are distinguished by a much 

 shorter and sharper bill, more or less toothed, and by 

 very acute and strongly curved talons. Their form, in 

 general, is lighter, their flight more graceful, and their 

 courage much greater, than what we see in the vultures : 

 unlike these latter, also, they live almost exclusively 

 upon animals which they themselves have killed, resort- 

 ing only to carrion or dead game when pressed by ex- 

 treme hunger. The geographic range of this family, 

 as a whole, is universal ; for wherever other animals 



