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X'LI1I.-—Eemarks on the Specific Characters of 
Birds. 
By Mr W. Macgilliveay. 
(Read March 1823.) 
In laying the following observations before the Society, I 
trust that, however fanciful they may at first sight appear, 
they will at least receive an impartial consideration ; and 
if rejected as inadequate to the object in view, they may yet 
not be entirely without their use, as they may tend to ex- 
cite a greater degree of attention to an interesting and im- 
portant subject, and prove the means of ultimately supply- 
ing a desideratum in ornithology, which cannot but have 
been deeply felt by all who have seriously engaged in that 
department of natural history. 
The views which I have taken of the subject, although 
directed toward circumstances of general application, have 
no reference to the various degrees of generic association. 
I have no alterations at present to propose in the divisions 
