PEECHINa BIEDS 
Passenfomies 
This great Order is by far the largest division in the bird- 
world. The trivial name h derived from the fact that the feet 
have three toes pointing- to the front and one to the rear 
an arrangement admirably suited for perching* Tiie many 
memljers of the Order^ for the most part small birds, are linked 
together by certain structural characters the most important of 
which are probably the arrangement of certain tendons m the 
foot and the character of the bony palate in the skull. 
Many of the most famiUar birds belong to the Order 
including the well-known song-birds, the thruslies, warblers, 
finches, wagtails ^ swallows, tits and a host of others. Quite 
a number of "passeres" are normally ground dwellers rather 
than arboreal in habits. 
The main divisions of the Order have regard to the struc- 
ture of the organ of voice (syrinx) but the numter of birds with 
which we have to deal is so large that it seems advisable to 
treat each family separately exactly as we did in the case 
of that miscellaneous array, the Comcitformes. 
Evoltitionists consider that the Passen formes include the 
most highly developed of all birds. They are, as it w^ere, at 
the top of the avian tree or, as it can be expressed in another 
manner, the most remote from the reptile-like ancestors of 
birds. 
PITTAS 
Pitt idee 
Pittas, or ant-thrushes as they are sometimes called, are 
found in Africa and thence throoghout the Oriental region as 
far east as Australia. They are birds of very brilliant plumage, 
normally found in deep jungles and very diflRciiU of obser%'ation 
on account of their terrestrial habits. They are furthermore 
of a shy disposition and when disturbed hasten off through 
