VI 
INTRODUCTION. 
the present state of our knowledge, no one can say whether Pteridophora is a Bower-builder or a true Bird 
of Paradise. Xanthomelus, placed by recent observers on the border-land of the Paradiseidce , may turn 
out to be actually a Bower-builder ; and in this way, in default of anatomical or osteological characters, the 
last link for separation between the Paradiseidce and Ptilonorhynchidce may be broken down. 
It is also not an easy matter to define the distinctive characters between the Paradiseidce and the Cormlce. 
Taking, for example, the gaudy decorative plumage of the Birds of Paradise as their highest characteristic, 
which it undoubtedly is on a first acquaintance, one may ask where this feature becomes of value in 
the dull-coloured genus Lycocorax , whose plumage is more sombre than that of many Jays and Magpies 
belonging to the Family Cormlce. It may he as well, therefore, at. once to confess our ignorance on the 
subject of the division of these groups of Birds and to content ourselves with such characters as are to 
hand, leaving to the future the discovery of more exact definitions of the Families, when ample material 
may be available. 
Sundevall (‘ Tentamen,’ p. 42) separates the Cormlce from the Paradiseidce . The former belong to his 
“ Phalanx 3, Altinares,” with 10 primaries, the first decidedly long, reaching for a long distance beyond the 
coverts ; the nostrils placed high ; the bill straight from the base ; the toes as in most Oscines, the outer 
toe a little longer than the inner one and not much exceeding the first joint of the middle toe; the hind 
toe moderate. 
For his Phalanx 4, Idiodactylce , Sundeyall gives the following characters : — Quills 10, the first elongated. 
The outer toe a little shorter than the middle one, but the inner toe much longer ; the hallux of great size, 
equal, with its claw, to the middle toe with its claw; the third joint of the outer toe equal to the second 
joint of the middle toe. Here he places the Birds of Paradise. 
The Bower-Birds he places far away from the Cormlce and Paradiseidce in his Cichlomorphce (p. 19). 
Thus the characters of these three Families are defined bv Sundevall as follows : — 
%! 
Cohors I. Cichlomorphte. Bill hooked or awl-shaped, with the nostrils placed low down in the bill, 
nearer to the cutting-edge of the mandible than to the culmen. 
The Bower-Birds constitute his Fam. 29, Ptilonorhynchince . “ Birds of the Australian Region, of somewhat 
large size, with a nearly Corvine aspect ; the first quill long, a little shorter than the secondaries. Bill of 
varying dimensions, generally stout, always somewhat arched. The tail moderate and nearly equal as 
regards length of feathers, emarginate or well rounded.” 
According to Sundevall the Crows belong to his Cohors III. Coliomorpiee, with the bill rather strong 
and of large size for the most part, either not deflected at all or only slightly so ; the angle of the chin 
produced in front of the nostrils. . . . Feet generally powerftd and of large size, with the middle claw 
oblique. 
In the third volume of the ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’ I separated the Paradiseidce from the Cormlce on the 
proportion of the toes (p. 4), as follows : — 
Toes normal ; the hallux very strong, but, with its claw, not so long as the middle toe 
and claw ............. Corvidae. 
Toes abnormal ; outer toe a little shorter than the middle one, longer than the inner one ; 
hallux very large, with its claw equal to or longer than the middle toe with its claw. Paradiseidce. 
The Bower-Birds were placed by me far away from the above-mentioned Families in the sixth volume of 
the ‘ Catalogue.’ This was undoubtedly a mistake. 
Taking, therefore, the typical Cormlce , such as Rooks, Crows, and Ravens, we can separate them 
from the Birds of Paradise and the Bower-Birds by the characters given below ; hut the aberrant 
Cormlce , the Jays and Magpies and their kin, especially the Nutcrackers and Choughs, have many 
OSI ' 
