RAPTORES. 
87 
procured in London were scanty, and not at ail 
adequate for the proper working out of the sub- 
ject. Mr Vigors, in his arrangement, maintained 
the vultures, falcons, and owls, as three of the 
primary groups, but added to them as the type 
of a fourth family, gypogeranus, while he left 
the fifth unfilled up, as either extinct or presently 
unknown to science. Mr Swainson seems nearly 
at the same period to have taken up the study of 
this subject; and soon after the publication of Mr 
Vigors’ views, many ornithological papers by the 
former zoologist appeared in the periodical publi- 
cations, arranging some groups upon different, 
but upon what he considered to be the correct 
principles. The same gentleman has, since 
these writings, given to the public his matured 
views of this curious and interesting subject, 
made out from more ample materials and repeated 
examinations, and he has arranged the raptores 
as vultures, falcons, owls, adding to them, as 
typical of a fourth family, the now extinct dodo, 
(and of whose alliance we think there is little 
doubt,) but placing gypogeranus (Mr Vigors’ 
gypogeranidce ) as the grallatorical type of the 
vultures, and leaving, as before, the fifth family 
still unaccounted for. This is the latest arrange- 
ment up to the present time ; but looking at our 
restricted knowledge of this order of birds, their 
comparatively limited numbers, the difficulty of 
