THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVII. 



Fiirbringer, in an order Struthiornithes, creates a suborder 

 Struthioniformes, which is further subdivided into a "gens," 

 Struthiones, and the family Struthionidae. The Struthioni- 

 formes is an " order " in Dr. Sharpe's systematic arrangement 

 of the class, an arrangement he clearly sets forth in his Hand- 

 List of Birds (Vol. I, pp. 1-8, London, 1899). And thus we 

 might proceed, giving one classificatory scheme after another, 

 each and all practically presenting the same idea as to the 

 position of the ostrich in the system. Reichenow's scheme, 

 however, is a little antiquated now, while I hardly think that 

 all naturalists will agree with Garrod in placing the cuckoos 

 and flamingoes in the same "cohort," and these in the same 

 order with the ostriches. 



Huxley has said (Proc. Zodl. Soc, 1867, p. 419) the Afro- 

 Arabian genus Struthio is the type of one group of this order 

 (Ratitae) characterized by : 



1. The prolongation of the maxillary processes of the pala- 

 tine bones forwards, beneath the maxillo-palatines, as in most 

 birds. 



2. The thickening of the inner edges of the maxillo-palatines, 

 and their articulation with the facets upon the sides of the vomer. 



3. The shortness of the vomer, which does not articulate 

 with either palatines or pterygoids posteriorly. 



4. The slight, or wanting, ossification of the prefrontal pro- 

 cesses of the primoidal cranium. 



5. The union of the bodies of the sacral vertebras with the 

 anterior ends of the pubes and ischia. 



6. The presence of two shallow notches on each side in the 

 posterior margin of the sternum. 



7. The proportions of the fore limb. The humerus is about 

 equal in length to the distance between the pectoral arch and 

 the ilium, and is therefore much longer than the scapula. The 

 antebrachium is not half as long as the humerus. The man us 

 possesses the ordinary three digits ; and two of these, the radial 

 and the middle, are provided with claws. 



8. The union of the pubes in a symphysis. 



