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ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



families correspond with those of the Scansores, they do 

 not reciprocally represent the same analogies to other 

 groups. This will he evident upon studying the fol- 

 lowing table : — 



Tribes of Families of 



Insessores. Analogies. Fissirostres. 



Dentirostres. f^SSgjd f0 ° dby the f ° 0t ; billshort >} Capritnulgide. 



Conirostres. Typical in their respective circles. Hirundinidce. 



Scansores. Passing by means of Prionites into the Trogonidce. 



Tenuirostres. Bill very long, slender, and entire. Halcyonidce. , 



Ft^irostrfs f Pursue their prey upon the wing ; feet 7 MertmiAe 

 * issirostres. £ smallj weakj syndactylei j Meropidce. 



In the two first analogies there is no alteration ; since 

 the Caprimulgidce as correctly represent the Dentirostres, 

 as they do the Psittacidce : and the Hirundinidce main- 

 tain the typical station corresponding to the Conirostres 

 and the Picidce. Here, however, the mutual corre- 

 spondence of the groups cease ; for the Trogonidce, which 

 correspond to the Ramphastidce, do not stand opposite 

 to the Fissirostres, but to the Scansores, being that 

 tribe into which they blend. True it is that this ana- 

 logy would seem to be obscure, and even questionable, 

 were it not for the genera Prionites and Nyctiomis ; 

 yet setting aside these forms, every one must perceive 

 that the trogons, of all the fissirostral birds, are those 

 only which exhibit any similarity in their structure to 

 the gallinaceous order. Both have short and remark- 

 ably convex wings, the quills of which are very stiff 

 and curved inwards, while the Calurus pavoninus, Sw., 

 or peacock trogon, makes this analogy comprehensible 

 to the most ordinary observer. We may, therefore, 

 establish the analogy of the trogons to the Scansores 

 by their similarity to the Rasores, and this without 

 insisting on their actually passing into the Ramphastidce. 

 We next proceed to the Haley onidce, which represent 

 the Tenuirostres and the Grallatores ; so also does 

 Cuculus, and therefore nothing more need be said on 

 these analogies : but the case is very different regarding 

 the next. The Meropidce, as we have before seen, 



