Passeres 
class Ares, tyi>ilied by the tfoims Paxxer, com- 
prehending i ( thiin hull' of nil birds, it has 
about (he, taxonoinic or chis.-iiflcatory value of groups called 
JumUim ill departments of zoology other than ornithol- 
ogy. It corresponds inexact |\ to OiMswrw In some o( the 
usesof this word, and exactly to the I 'uvieriaii I'iuseritue U 
i im-mleil by lllylli ; also to tlie .Kiiilliianiiilliir of Huxley. 
It uonsistsuf tin' Owiw*(Mllllcr) and i'tniimlur, , -ol 'I 'aba- 
nis. With some exceptions, these birds(numherlng upward 
of f,,oo<i species) have the following characters. They are 
anomiilogonatoiis, having no ambiens muscle nor IDOOJ 
-"O fc ocaudal. The feinorocaudal and semltendi 
nouns muscles are pre.,enl, as is usually also the accessory 
semltemlinosux. The flexor longus hallucls, the muscle 
which bends the hind toe, Is separated from the flexor 
InngiiHdigitorum, which bends the other toes collectively ; 
and the hind toe is Inserted low down, or Is perfectly in- 
cumbent. The result of this is that the feet arc perfect- 
ly fitted for grasping slender supports, and the birds are 
thus typically insessorlal. Furthermore, the toes are al- 
ways 4, 3 in front and 1 behind (except In Chaliiritis) ; none 
ure versatile from their normal position, and the ratio of 
their phalanges is always 2, . 4, 5, counting from the flrst 
to the fourth digit. As to the means of flight, of which 
no Passeres are deprived, the sternum has with few ex- 
ceptions a particular conformation, being notched on each 
side behind, manubrlated, and provided with prominent 
costal processes ; the tensor piling II brevls has a special 
mode of insert ion ; the primaries are either 10 or In 
number, the secondaries are more than ft, and the greater 
coverts are not more than half as long as the secondaries. 
The tall has 12 rectrlces(wlth few exceptions). The palate 
Is feglthngnathous; the covering of the bill Is hard, with 
a cere or other soft membrane, and the nostrils do not 
openly communicate ; the oil-gland is nude ; the caeca 
are 2 in number; and the carotid Is single and sinlstral. 
Passeres are altricinl and psilopiedic, the young being 
born helpless and naked. In most birds of this order 
the lower larynx, or syrinx, is highly developed as a 
musical organ, and according to this character Passeres 
are divisible into 2 primary groups Osciiieit or Acromy- 
odi, and Claiwtttirex or Mesomyodi. The division of Pas- 
seres, however, has severely exercised alike the erudition 
and the Ingenuity of the systematlsts, and no proposed 
method is fully accepted. The prime division by Oarrod 
and Forbes, Into Kteutherodactuli and Iletmmtat/yti, is 
superfluous, since those alleged ///,..,-,. which are desmo- 
dactylous are not Passeres. Elimination of these obtru- 
sive terms leaves the prime division as before, into Aero- 
myodi and Mesamyodi. In 1874 Wallace divided Passeres 
upon external characters into 4 series : (1) turdoid, with 
1317 
Painted Pinch (fatrffltta cl'rit). 
decussate opposite leaves, and flowers in spikes with broad 
bracts. Liniurut, 1737. 
Passerinae (pas-e-ri'ne), . pi. [NL., pi. of 
Paaserina.'] 1. Tn Cuvier's system of classifi- 
cation, the second order of birds, approximate- 
ly equivalent to the Insessores or perchers: 
primarily divided into two groups, the ordinary 
l'<ixxerin& and the Syndaetyli, and, secondarily, 
the former into four groups, Dentirostres, /'/./- 
nixtfifi. I'oiiini.iti'i:*, and Tenuirostres. As thus 
constituted, It was a thoroughly unnatural group, subdi- 
vided In an equally artificial manner. But removing from 
It certain heterogeneous elements, as Cyasetvs, Capriiiuil 
yus, Podartrus, Colius, Cnracias, I'jAiiia, Merops, Trochiius, 
etc. (as was done by Blytli, fuvler's editor In 1848), it repre- 
sents the Passeres of modern naturalists. 
2. In Nil /seh's classification, the expurgated 
Passerines of Cuvier, or Passeres proper. 
passerine (pas'e-riu), a. and . [< L. passeri- 
nus, of a sparrow, < passer, sparrow : see /'*- 
ser 2 .] I. a. 1. Resembling or related to a 
sparrow ; of or pertaining to the Passerins, in 
any sense, or the Passeres; passeriform. 2. 
About as large as a sparrow: as, the passe- 
rine parrot, Pxittacula paxserina ; the passerine 
ground-dove, C'hamtrpelia pusserina ; the pas- 
passing 
And as he (God) It the Head of that body, he Is vtatibU, 
so he may SUN- i ; ami, a> lie ih the first horn of th< <! 1-1 
he did suffer; so that he was defective in nothing ; Dot 
In power, u i.<-i not in paulhlllty, as nun. 
l':-tuif, Sennom, I. 
passibleness < pn*'i-bl-nes), . Passibility. 
This heresy of Eutyches and IMusoonu . . . drew after 
it tin- hc.e-i of the pauMentme of the Deity, because the 
Hi Ity of Christ was become, In their conceit*, the Mine, 
nature with the humanity that was passible. 
K. Drrmntxi, Diversity of Languages anil Kfllglons 
|(ed. IBM), xzv. 
Passiflora (pns-i-fl6'ra), n. [NL. (Linnwus, 
17:>7i, ii-reg. < I,. puxsio', passion, + jtiin (flor-), 
flower. Karly missionanes to South America, 
and Spanish writers from 159TI, regarded the 
flower as an emblem of the crucifixion, finding 
in the five anthers the live wounds, in the tln-> > 
button-like stigmas the three nails, in the co- 
rona the crown of thorns, in the five petals and 
five sepals the ten apostles then present, in 
the digitate leaves the persecutors' hands, and 
in the tendrils their scourges.] A genus of 
climbing herbs or shrubs, type of the order Pas- 
sifloractie and the tribe Pasirijioreie, character- 
ized by the short calyx-tube, three styles, and 
the calyx-lobes, petals, and stamens each four 
or five; the passion-flowers. There are about 17S 
species, mainly American ; a few are Asiatic and Austra- 
lian. They bear lateral unbranched tendrils, and alternate 
leaves, undivided or tubed, often with a gland-bearing peti- 
ole. Their large and showy flower* are solitary or racemed 
In the axils, followed by dry or pulpy many-seeded berries, 
which In some species are edible. (See granadiUa, rumba, 
maypnp, indiyu berry, 2, vater lemon, and nreet ealabatk 
(under calabash), also cut under rimu.) Some species are 
narcotic or expectorant, ss /'. Jartida, the West Indian 
love-in-a-mist, and the bitter leaves of P. lavr\foiia, the 
Jamaican honeysuckle, are used as an astringent. P. 
macrvcarpa, the pumpkin passion-flower of Brazil and 
Peru, produces a fruit sometimes weighing 8 pounds. 
Many species are cultivated for the beauty of their flow- 
ers, as P. cirnilea, P. Irennesina, etc. See also ImUhoqfiua 
Ihtlcliinan's-lavdaiivm. 
all an arrangement requiring some modiflcatlon upon 
anatomical grounds. The mesomyodfan Passeres are either 
(1) heteromerous, as the families CoKnyidx and Pimidir, 
or they are (2) homajomeroua. The latter are either (1) 
hnploophonous, as the Tyrannidse, J^itiidte, PhUepittidtf, 
and Xenicidte, or they are (2) tracheophonous, as the Fur- 
Hariidtf, Pteroptochidtr, Dendr<>colaptid&, and Fornucari- 
idee. With few exceptions, mesomyodiau Passeres are 
American, and nearly all of these (all but a few Tyran- 
nidie) are Central and South American. As to the acro- 
myodian Passeret, they are either abnormal or normal. 
The abnormal Passerrs are only two Australian families, 
Menuridx and Atricfiiidff, together called Psettdoscines. 
The rest are Otcinen proper, some 4,700 species In all, so 
closely related that they scarcely represent a group of 
higher rank than the average " family" recognized by or- 
nithologists. They are three of Wallace's four series (tur- 
doid, tanagroid. and sturnoidX and are separated by sun 
devall into Cichloinorphte, Ciniinmtren, Cnliomorptue, Certhi- 
omorplur. Cinnyrimorphtc, and Chelidontmwrpfue. Sclater 
has six similar divisions, though in different order and 
under other names : DtKtinttnt, Latirostres, Curcirostres, 
Tenuirostres, Conirostres, and Cultrtrostres. These groups 
may be thus explained or illustrated : (1) Cichlmnorpha or 
Denlirostres, thrushes, warblers, flycatchers, shrikes, etc. ; 
(2) Coliomorphx or Cttltrirostres, crows, jays, tits, etc. ; (3) 
Conirostres, finches, buntings, sparrows, tanagers, etc. ; (4) 
Cinnyrimorphsc or Tentiirostres, honey-suckers; (5) Cer- 
thiomarphaf or Curoirogtre*, creepers ; (0) Chelidonoutor- 
phx or Latirostres, swallows. All these birds agree In 
being laminiplantar ; and among them or near them must 
be found or made a place for the larks, Alaudidte, which 
are scutelliplantar, and which, when not placed with 
Coniroxtreft, form a seventh superfamily known as Cory- 
domorpha. 
passeriform (pas'e-ri-f6rm), a. [< NL. passe- 
riformis, < L. pasxer, sparrow, + forma, form.] 
Sparrow-like in form or structure ; pertaining 
to oscine Passeres or Passeriformes, or having 
their characters; passerine in a strict sense. 
Passeriformes (pas'e-ri-fdr'mez), n. pi. [NL.: 
seepn.swn/'or/M.] In'Forbes's classification, an 
order of anomalogonatous birds composed of 
Turdiformes, Fringilliformes, and 8turnifor*ie?, 
or the turdoid, taiiogroid, and sturnoid Passere.i 
of Wallace, and thus equivalent to osciue Pas- 
seres, or Oacines. 
Passerina (pas-e-ri'nS), n. [NL., fern, of L. 
linxxeriHus, of or for a sparrow: see passerine.] 
1 . A beautiful genus of American Fringillidse; 
the painted finches. The plumage Is of bright or va- 
riegated colors, or both, as in the indigo-bird, P. cyatteu, 
which is rich blue, the lazuli-nnch, /'. amcena, which is 
liluc. white, and brown, and the painted finch, or non- 
pareil, P. drift, which is blue, red, and yellow. I'ifiUot, 
1816. Also Ciianotpita. See cut In next column, and cut 
under indigo-oird. 
2. A genus of heath-like shrubs, of the apeta- 
lous order Tlii/mi'ltrdecee and the tribe Eiitliyme- 
liri'if, known by its four-lobed unappendaged 
urn-shaped calyx, eight exserted stamens, and 
globose stigma. There are 4 species, all South African, 
sometimes cultivated fur their flowers. They bear little 
Also passerota. 
U. n. A member of the Pasxeriiiee, Pasxeres, 
or Passeriformes. 
Passerlta (pa-ser'i-tS), n. [NL. (J. E. Gray).] 
A genus of whipsnakes of the family Colu- 
bridee and subfamily Dryophutiiue, having an 
fatrm'ta ttjfcteriMMU. 
elongated nasal appendage and the pupil of 
the eye horizontal. /'. injrtcri:(iim is an ex- 
ample. 
passeroid (pas'e-roid), a. [< Passer"* + -oid.'] 
Same as pusnerine. 
pass-guard, . See passegarde. 
pass-holder (pas'hol'd^r), n. One who holds a 
free pass or a season ticket, as to a theater, on 
a railway, etc. 
passibility (pas-i-bil'i-ti), n. [< F. possibility 
= Sp. /Hixilii/iildd = Pg. passibilitladc = It. pas- 
siliilili'i. < LL. passibilita(t-)s, < pasgibilis, ca- 
pable of feeling: seepnssi'We.] The quality of 
being passible ; the capacity of receiving im- 
pressions from external ageuts ; aptness to feel 
or suffer. 
passible (pas'i-bl), a. [< F. passible = Sp. pasi- 
ble = Pg. passivel = It. paxsibile, < LL. passi- 
bilis, capable of feeling, < L. pati, pp. passus, 
suffer, feel: see passion, patient.} Capable of 
feeling or suffering; susceptible of impressions 
from external agents. 
Passifloraceae (pas'i-flo-ra'se-e), . pi. [NL. 
(Endlicher, 1836), < Passiflora + -.] An 
order of plants of the cohort Pasaifloralr* ; the 
passion-flower family. It Is characterized by the un- 
divided or three- to five-parted style, four to many sta- 
mens, similar petals and sepals, and especially by the co- 
rona, of one, two, or many rows of filamentous bodies, or a 
tubular membrane, seated on the calyx-tube or tttween 
the petals. It Includes about 23& species, mainly tropical, 
especially of South America, classed in 5 tribes and 27 gen- 
era, of which Paxriftora (the type), Caricn, Jacaratia, and 
TafMinia are the chief. They are shrubs, trees, or herbs, 
with a watry juice, round or angled branches, and erect 
climbing or twining stems. They often bear axillary ten- 
drils and showy three-bracted flowers. 
Passiflorales (pas'i-flo-ra'lez), n. pi. [NL., < 
Pass/flora -4- -ales."] A cohort of polypetalous 
plants of the dicotyledonous series Calyciflitrff. 
characterized by the compound one-celled 
ovary, with styles distinct or slightly united. 
It Includes the passion-flower, gourd, and loasa families, 
mainly vines : the Itegonla family ; and the aatnyda, tnr- 
nera,and datlsca families, mainly tropical trees and shrubs. 
Passifloreae (pas-i-flo're-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. L. 
de Jussieu, 1805),< Ptissiflora + -etf.) A tribe of 
plants of the order Passifloracete, distinguished 
by the perfect flowers, conspicuous single or 
double corona, and flatfish seeds. It Includes 13 
genera, chiefly of the African and American tropics, of 
which about 1:1 species are shrubs or small trees, and 160 
are tendriled climbers. 
passim (pas'im), inlr. [L., hither and thither, 
everywhere, < passus, pp of pandere, extend: 
see pass.] Here and there; in many different 
places; everywhere. 
passimeter (pa-sim'e-ter), . [< L. uasstm, 
step, pace, + Or. iihjiov, measure.] A form of 
pocket-odometer resembling a watch in exter- 
nal appearance. A vibrating lever operates a regis- 
tering device, which indicates the number of steps taken, 
the lever moving synchronously with the upward and 
downward movement of the body In walking or running. 
passing (pas'ing), . [< MK. paxxyity ; verbal n. 
of /HI.**, c.] 1. The act of moving on or by; 
also, the act of departing; dying. 
Yet in these ears, till hearing dies. 
One set slow hell will seem to toll 
The fotnuii of the sweetest soul 
That ever look'd with human eyes. 
TVnnyson, In Memoriam, Ivii. 
2. Passage ; ratification ; enactment. 
If a Lay Lord was attainted, the Bishops assented to his 
Condemning, and were always present at the patting at 
the Bill of Attainder. Selden, Table-Talk, p. . 
3. A gold or silver thread or fine cord produced 
by twisting a flat and very small ribbon of the 
metal spirally around a silk thread. Passing 
is used in embroidery, in couched work, and the 
like, laid on the foundation and sewed to it with 
tin' silk thread. 
passing (pas'ing), a. [ME. passing, passyitge; 
ppr. ofjMiiM, '-. ] 1 . That is or are now happen- 
